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Men that Mahj: Today’s feature: Ray Heaton
Brought to you by the Facebook group: Mahjong Community (MC) and Mahjong Dice

MC: When did you first start playing? Who taught you?
RH: I started playing mahjong about 10 years ago. I saw a friend using an app on his iPad, a variant that played with hands of 17 tiles, and I was intrigued. I soon found this version too simple and learned the Chinese Official variant MCR, playing solely online. MCR is straightforward to play but has a somewhat complex scoring mechanism and specific means of declaring a win. I then learned how to play Riichi (now my favoured version) and, more recently, the NMJL rules.
But, it’s not the playing of mahjong that I enjoy the most. I also translate ancient Chinese poetry into English and find old Chinese literature and mythology so interesting. Finding that mahjong sets include flower tiles that often depict episodes from Chinese stories established a new passion for me. I provide collectors with knowledge about the flowers in their sets that had been hidden from them by using my experience and understanding of Chinese stories to translate the meanings of their flower tiles.
About four years ago, I and a group of collectors and mahjong historians established the The Mahjong Collector magazine, which we published several times a year. We’ve stopped now though, so I expect copies have themselves become collectable!

MC: How often do you play? Do you play in tournaments? With other men, family, friends?
RH: Living as I do on a small island off the northern coast of Wales in the UK and knowing of nobody that plays close by, I play online only. I play NMJL on Mahjong Time using the Welsh name Cymraig. Sometimes I play several times a day and sometimes I can go weeks without playing at all. I play Riichi on a site called “Tenhou”. My username is “Aitch". Several thousands of people play on this site from across the world, though it is dominated by Japanese players. Tenhou has a league and player ranking system and I’m about half way up the higher league. Riichi is serious stuff...no time for niceties as everyone is out to better their opponents...coming fourth can be pretty disastrous to your ranking!

MC: Do you collect sets?
RH: No, I am not a collector of sets. I don’t collect anything except my Chinese literature and poetry books. I have been sent hundreds of photos of sets with their flower tiles so I’m in the lucky position to have seen some of the best and most collectable sets that exist. I’m happy that they are in the hands of people that treasure them, and even more happy that their new found knowledge of the stories hidden in their flower tiles adds to their enjoyment.

MC: Do you teach people how to play mahjong?
RH: No, but I have thought about doing so when I retire. There are a number of older people’s communities here on my island and I would love to introduce them to the game! There’s not much of a tradition of playing here in the UK, so how successful I would be remains to be seen. So far, I haven’t even managed to convince either my wife or daughter to learn!

MC: What does mahjong mean to you?
RH: Friendship. I have made a number of friends across the world through mahjong. Mostly they are in the U.S. One day I will come over and hope to meet them all in person!
We wanted to thank Ray for his time. We hope you enjoyed this feature in our #menthatmahj series.
Why do you play? If you or someone you know would like to be featured on our #menthatmahj or #whyImahj series, please Email us at [email protected]

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