Mahjong modernised: automatic tables are bringing a new generation to the centuries-old game
Once reserved for professional tournaments, the tables are increasingly popular with consumers – and central to family bonding for two Australian households
Family mahjong nights are a tradition and a regular occurrence for Katie Guan, 25, and Seshni McKowen, 26. But they are a little different from the ones their grandparents’ generation played with their elders. A soft electronic whirring fills the room instead of clacking sounds of tiles hitting the table, and hands are suspiciously still where once there would have been a flurry of washing (shuffling).
This is because Guan and McKowen have automatic mahjong tables – a new way of playing a centuries-old game. It usually takes about 10 minutes to set up a game of mahjong, but that time is reduced to nothing with an automatic table.
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