It was a day dedicated to Mahjong at the Village, as 16 aficionados gathered for non-stop play at the Gainesville Mahjong Rack Pack’s first group event.

At this event on Wednesday, it was American Mah Jong that was the name of the game, as participants sat around tables in groups of four. The game is played with 152 tiles featuring suits, winds, dragons, flowers, and jokers,  as players try to make one of the hands on the National Mahjong League card, updated annually.

Event organizer Elinor Robin thought it would be fun to get a group of people together to play for an extended period of time.

“It’s a wonderful game because it’s a game of strategy and luck. And if it’s not a tournament, you don’t have the stress,” Robin said. “A game like bridge or chess is mostly all strategy. So, if you’re a beginner, you don’t really have a chance. But Mahjong is all about strategy and luck. Each game is short, so it holds our attention span, and when one game ends, we can start again.

“Also, you are sitting there with people and talking, so there’s that aspect. And it’s tactile, you’re touching the tiles. It’s so much better than holding cards.”

The sound of Mahjong tiles being shuffled as players set up for a new game, or the voice of someone who just scored a winning hand, adds acoustical animation to the game.

In fact, Mah Jong comes from the word for sparrow in Chinese, so named because the sound of the tiles being shuffled together resembles the chattering of sparrows. There are some people here who play Chinese-style MahJong, which uses 144 tiles (no jokers), with winning hands following patterns instead of those dictated by MahJong League rules.

Robin talked with outreach teams at The Village to set up the six-hour day of play from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a Continental Breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks included for the $65 fee.

Many of those in attendance were older women in their 60s, 70s and 80s, who have been playing for decades,

“I like the socialization, being with people, and because I live by myself, it’s always nice to be out with people,” said Julie Burns, who has been playing for 40 years and even taught Mahjong for beginners at Santa Fe College. “And I also like making new friends.”

Susan Gaston has also been playing for four decades. She echoes Burns’ sentiments, noting that “it makes my mind keep moving, and it’s very challenging. And I enjoy the company.

The oldest player at the Rack Pack event was 93; the youngest was a 35-year-old woman who just took up the game this year. Erin Peterson said a friend arranged for an instructor to come and teach them. She gave them a 2.5-hour group lesson, and they were off and running.

“We wanted to do something while we were talking,” Peterson said. “And we wanted to get off our screens. And Mahjong is good for our brains.”

Many older women in Gainesville have a regular weekly game that they play with a set group of women, including the author, who learned to play by watching her mother’s Mahjong games when she was a child.

Cindy Dorn started playing in her 20s. For her, it is now a generational game, since her daughter and granddaughter are now Mahjong aficionados.

The Gainesville Newcomers Club has a regular Mahjong session on Thursdays. It has become so popular with 28 people signed up to play, that a second group has just formed that gathers on Tuesdays.  There are also regular Mahjong games at the Senior Recreation Center.

In fact, even celebrities like Julia Roberts play Mahjong, although not here in Gainesville. In a 2019 interview with Stephen Colbert, Roberts said she indulges in a weekly game because it helps her relax and she likes the idea of making order out of chaos.