When my mom, Anne, passed away in 2008 she left our family her cherished Mah Jongg set. My sister Janie begged me to learn to play and I did so reluctantly – mostly to honor my mother’s memory. I had little interest in learning the game, but I did have childhood memories of loud laughter, clacking tiles, and the totally incomprehensible shouts of 1 BAM 2 DOT coming from our small kitchen.

My obsession with this game didn’t grow until a few years later when I finally realized that you can’t use a joker with a pair and that any day playing Mah Jongg was a good one. It took some time, but I was truly hooked.

For the past decade you could often find me watching Mah Jongg videos, reading Mah Jongg strategy books, or playing Mah Jongg with friends to whom I taught the game. I even travelled from Boston, MA to Mendocino, CA for a Mah Jongg tournament with complete strangers who are now friends.

I have a small salt & pepper shaker collection that I thought needed a Maj Jongg themed set and I hadn’t seen any Mah Jongg plates around that I liked so I decided I wanted to create Mah Jongg products for my fellow players and to give as gifts.

That is how Lucky8Dot™ was born. I chose Lucky8Dot™ as my company’s name because the number 8 is considered lucky in Chinese and other Asian cultures and we all could use a little bit of luck!