Before your turn, you must give other players a few seconds to claim the most recently discarded tile. All tiles are shuffled together, and the players build a wall of 34 face-down tiles in front of themselves, 17 tiles long and two tiles high. The result should be a large square wall of tiles in the center of the table. A game of Mahjong Solitaire is won when the playing area is cleared by matching and removing all 144 tiles.

Generally, you play with 4 people, though you can play with 3 as well. The goal is to form 4 melds and a pair, creating mahjong. You’ll find there are many variations of mahjong, so these rules aren’t definitive.

A player completes their hand by using the final tile from the opponent who drew the final tile from the wall. A player completes the hand with the final tile before the dead wall. When playing Mahjong, you need to learn to read the scorecards. In most households, Classic Mahjong with no extra rules is played as a pastime, and with a slightly more simple ruleset, this can serve as a great introduction to the world of Mah-Jongg. In Thailand the game Includes extra tiles, bringing the tile total to 168, one of the highest among all Mahjong styles. Achieved when the East Wind dealer wins with the starting hand and draw.

The payout to the winner is determined by the hand value and how the mahjong was created. Concealed Pungs are in a single suit, along with Winds/Dragons and a pair. The standard bonus for winning Mahjong is 20, although there are other situations when you can get extra points or double your money. No other groupings other than single tiles and pairs of tiles. A player cannot win with an unrevealed Kong in hand and must call and reveal it before winning.

This makes it challenging for someone who is new to the game and who wants to understand mahjong rules. We will help you learn how to play mahjong utilizing the fundamental principles and approaches that apply to most variations of the game. When a player has 14 tiles that match one of the hands on the card, they can declare themselves the winner by calling “Mah Jongg”.

• It’s similar to rummy, but it’s played with tiles instead of cards.
• The act of winning a hand interrupts play to assess the validity of the hand won.
• Each tile has a Chinese character with a number ranging from one to nine.
• All tiles are shuffled together, and the players build a wall of 34 face-down tiles in front of themselves, 17 tiles long and two tiles high.
• If a win results from a claimed discard, the discarding player needs to pay double, whereas the other players simply pay the point value of a hand.
• In turn, players draw and discard tiles until they complete a legal hand using the 14th drawn tile to form four melds (or sets) and a pair (eye).

Hong Kong mahjong does not award concealed melds/hands as generously as others. The basic game has 136 tiles, including 36 characters, 36 bamboos, and 36 circles, which are the suits. These are, in turn, divided into four sets of numbers 1 to 9 in each suit.

For instance, a winning hand could be a pair of 2-cracks, a pung of 4-cracks, a kong of red dragons, a pung of six-cracks and a pair of 8-cracks. In addition to regional rules, many players have their own “house rules.” These are unique variations or adaptations of the standard rules that a group of friends or family might enjoy. For example, you might have specific rules about how to deal with bonus tiles or scoring.

Mahjong: The Tiles

Japanese mahjong has a special rule called sanchahō, which is, if three players claim the same discard in order to win, the hand is drawn. One reason for this is that there are cases in which bars of 1,000 points for declaring rīchi cannot be divided by three. The dealer marker is a round or square object that the dealer places to the side to remind players who the dealer is. The wind marker may be used which indicates the current prevailing wind.

South is then the first to draw and discard a tile, followed by West and North. Drawing begins from the wall in front of the East Wind player. Each player then draws tiles to form their hands, beginning with the East Wind player.

How To Play Mahjong

Winning with the last tile from the live wall discarded by another player. If the dealt hand contains flower or season tiles, they are placed face up above and to the side of the hand and replaced with regular tiles taken from the wall’s back end. The National Mah Jongg League determines a list of hands for scoring (NML). Each player keeps a card for reference when my stake casino building hands and employing Mahjong strategies. Singaporean – Malaysian Mahjong is based on the Hong Kong version and adds in 4 special Animal tiles, and uses special melding conditions not seen in other variations of the game. Changsa Mahjong is similar to Wuhan where specific tiles have to be in hand to win, but removes Honor tiles to streamline gameplay.

Can I play competitive Mahjong with

With the Season tiles, you’ll have ones representing spring, summer, fall, and winter. Each one has an illustration or symbol reflective of that time of year. The ban on gambling after the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949 led to a decline in playing. The game itself was banned during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976).[21] Today, it is a favorite pastime in China[29] and other Chinese-speaking communities. The developer, Mahjong, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy.

What version should I start with?

When a round is finished, the position of dealer shifts to the player on the dealer’s right. The game is oft compared to gin rummy, a card game which similarly relies on both luck and skill. Players play to a pre-determined number of points, or 16 rounds, or until players agree that they are done. Simple scoring awards one point to whoever achieved the mahjong and won the hand. By changing the rules, you can play Mahjong with five people too.

As discussed earlier, for consecutive runs, any sequence of consecutive numbers can usually be used, but for this one, only these specific numbers are allowed. Each line on the card has a clarifying note in parenthesis next to the hand. When there’s ambiguity in the hand representation, the note explains what is actually permitted and what is not. We will discuss these associations in more detail when we discuss how to read the card. Explore different variations, play with different people, and enjoy the evolving adventure that is Mahjong. Finally, don’t be afraid to adapt your strategies and learn from your experiences. The more complete your hand becomes, the closer you are to declaring Mahjong.

For example, the ‘5 Character’ tile is from the Characters suit and has a rank of 5. It should be noted that the ‘1 Bamboo’ tile is illustrated as a sparrow. Once all tiles have been picked from the active wall, the next wall (in clockwise order) is pushed out. Each player tells the person opposite them how many tiles they wish to pass (0-3 tiles). Players exchange tiles equal to the lower of the two numbers. There are a few organizations that produce cards, but the most prominent one is the National Mah Jongg League (NMJL).

Play mahjong like a pro: Comprehensive guide to rules, suits, melds, and winning hands

At the start of the game, it’s crucial that everyone is aware of the regulations and equipment you need, including any additional rules. Sichuan Mahjong is a simplified version taking inspiration from the American variant, with no Chows allowed, resulting in a fast-paced game. For example, let’s say Mary has exposed two 5-cracks https://playmystake.com/fr/ and two jokers. If you have a 5-crack, you can exchange this tile for Mary’s joker. If you had two 5-cracks you could exchange these for both jokers. You can also swap a tile you have in your hand for a joker in one of your own exposures. For example, line 1 of consecutive runs generally includes the note "These numbers only".