Mahjong is a game of both skill and luck that originated in China many centuries ago and was brought to rest of the world in early 20th century.Mahjong is played with four players seated around a table. Tiles are shuffled, die are cast, and rituals involving the allocation of tiles and then the exchange of tiles begin. The first person to match a hand of 14 tiles and thus "call mahjong" ends the game, whereupon tiles are scored and a winner is declared.
- 16 games are to be played for a single round of Mahjong, so that each player in each round gets to be East, South, West and North. One round of 16 games should take ideally 3-4 hours.
- The 144 tiles of the set are placed in double decker rows along the wooden wall, 18 tiles on each row. So 18 below and 18 on them. (The 4 joker tiles are thrown in only during the North round.)
- The highest throw becomes East and right of her is South, front is West and left is North. (Every Silly Woman Nags or Every Sensible Woman Knows.)
- The wall is counted in 2’s or 4’s from the right then the required no if tiles , top and bottom are lifted and placed on the wall to the right, first the lower and then the upper tile so that the upper one is picked first as the garden/kong tile as the game proceeds. Starting with East everyone picks 4 tiles. East has the privilege to take the 13th and the 14th tile.
- East always claims double if he/she goes Mahjong and gives double to players going Mahjong.
- 1000/2000 i.e. limit or double limit hands to be made in East wind round.
- 500/1000/2000 i.e. half limit/ limit (also called full limit)/ double limit can be made in South wind round.
- West wind round is all Goulash and should be played with kitty increments, e.g. 1000 kitty for First game of East, then 2000, then 3000 and finally 4000.
- In rounds other than West, each time the hand is/game is not made i.e. nobody goes Mahjong then Goulash must be played with a kitty of 1000 which is cumulative if the game goes into the next without anyone going Mahjong.
- Calling hands can claim in goulash games, west wind or otherwise.
- If in any game a player throws a double on the dice, she has a choice of deciding whether to play normal or goulash after seeing her tiles/gardens. A double dice can also be used to double the count once.
- South is always right of East and the game moves anti-clockwise.
Types of Tiles
Suit Tiles
Suits are the numbered tiles in a mahjong set. Unlike a deck of cards, mahjong only has three suits: bamboos, characters, and dots and are numbered 1 through 9. There are four of each suit tile making a total of 108 tiles.
The Rings, Circles or Dots (36 tiles; 4 of each)
Suit Tiles
Suits are the numbered tiles in a mahjong set. Unlike a deck of cards, mahjong only has three suits: bamboos, characters, and dots and are numbered 1 through 9. There are four of each suit tile making a total of 108 tiles.
The Rings, Circles or Dots (36 tiles; 4 of each)
The Bamboos, Boos or Bams (36 tiles; 4 of each)
The Characters or Cracks (36 tiles; 4 of each)
Honour Tiles
Honours are the non-numbered tiles in a mahjong set. The honor tiles are separated into two categories: four winds (east, south, west, north) and three dragons (red, white, green). There are four of each honor tile making a total of 28 tiles.
Winds (16 tiles; East wind, South wind,West wind, North wind, 4 of each)
Dragons (12 tiles; white dragon "Soap", Green dragon, red dragon, 4 of each)
Flowers and Seasons ( GARDENS) (8 tiles - 1 of each)
Dice
Two dice are used to determine the dealer (East) as well as to determine where to break the wall.
Scoring Sticks and Coins
Racks and Pushers
Racks and pushers, while not mandatory, are highly recommended. Racks are assigned to each player to hold their hand of tiles. Alternately, you can line the tiles up on the table in front of you.
Pushers are "arms" that attach to each person's rack. They are very helpful when it's time to bring your portion of the wall to the center of the table for playing. Using a pusher also prevents you from accidentally exposing your hand while bringing your wall forward.
Starting the Game
Place one rack (and attached pusher, optional) in front of each player.
All 144 tiles are placed faced down in the center of the table and shuffled by all players.
Build the Walls:
Each player builds a wall of tiles two tiles high in front of her rack as shown in the diagram using all 144 tiles. Each wall consists of two rows of 18 tiles.
Determining Who is East:
Each player roles the dice in turn. The player with the highest number becomes East (dealer).
The player to her right is South, followed by West and then North.
Break the Wall:
Then, East takes the following four tiles (two from the top row and two from the bottom row).
Moving counter-clockwise, each player then takes turns where the dealer left off, taking four tiles (two from the top and two from the bottom) for herself. The process continues until each player has 12 tiles.
When all players have 12 tiles, East (the dealer) takes two additional tiles - the first and third tile from the top row (as shown below). This gives her 14 tiles. Moving counter-clockwise, the other players take one tile from the end (as shown below), giving each of them a total of 13 tiles.
Picking a Hand
Now the strategizing begins. Each player arranges the tiles on her rack in a logical order so she can start to realize her goal of putting together her mahjong hand.
Each hand is grouped into several different combinations. Some combinations contain non-matching tiles, but most generally have two or more matching identical tiles.
These are known as:
Drawing and discarding tiles
Now the excitement begins as each player tries to improve her hand. Since East has 14 tiles, she starts the game by discarding a tile. The next player draws a tile from the wall. The tile is taken from where the breaking of the walls was left off. When a player draws a tile from the wall, she takes the top tile if the next tile in the stack is two tiles high; otherwise, she takes the bottom tile.
The player either decides to discard the drawn tile or to place it in her hand and then discard another tile from her hand. The name of the discarded tile is announced and placed face up in the center of the table. Caution must be used here since each tile you discard is seen by the other players and it won't be long before they figure out what kind of hand you are trying to build.
A player can pick a discarded tile only if she is going Mahjong with it, with an exception to Goulash. (Note: some hands are own pick hands only…. Ref special hands)
16 games are to be played for 1 round of Mahjong; so that each player in each round gets to be East, South, West and North. One round of 16 games should take ideally 3-4 hours.
East wind round: 1000/2000 i.e. limit or double limit hands
South wind round: 500/1000/2000 i.e. half limit/ limit (also called full limit)/ double limit
West wind round: is all Goulash and should be played with kitty increments, e.g. 1000 kitty for First game of East, then 2000, then 3000 and finally 4000.
Calling hands can claim in goulash games, west wind or otherwise.
North wind round: only 2000 i.e. double limit hands but with 4 jokers.
(North wind round can also be played with drawing of cards, please refer to your Mahjong table for this.)
In rounds other than West, each time the hand is/game is not made i.e. nobody goes Mahjong, then Goulash must be played with a kitty of 1000 which is cumulative if the game goes into the next without anyone going Mahjong.
(East always claims double if he/she goes Mahjong and gives double to players going Mahjong.)
Picking a Hand
Now the strategizing begins. Each player arranges the tiles on her rack in a logical order so she can start to realize her goal of putting together her mahjong hand.
Each hand is grouped into several different combinations. Some combinations contain non-matching tiles, but most generally have two or more matching identical tiles.
These are known as:
- Pair: Two identical tiles.
- Pung: Three identical tiles.
- Kong: Four identical tiles.
Drawing and discarding tiles
Now the excitement begins as each player tries to improve her hand. Since East has 14 tiles, she starts the game by discarding a tile. The next player draws a tile from the wall. The tile is taken from where the breaking of the walls was left off. When a player draws a tile from the wall, she takes the top tile if the next tile in the stack is two tiles high; otherwise, she takes the bottom tile.
The player either decides to discard the drawn tile or to place it in her hand and then discard another tile from her hand. The name of the discarded tile is announced and placed face up in the center of the table. Caution must be used here since each tile you discard is seen by the other players and it won't be long before they figure out what kind of hand you are trying to build.
A player can pick a discarded tile only if she is going Mahjong with it, with an exception to Goulash. (Note: some hands are own pick hands only…. Ref special hands)
16 games are to be played for 1 round of Mahjong; so that each player in each round gets to be East, South, West and North. One round of 16 games should take ideally 3-4 hours.
East wind round: 1000/2000 i.e. limit or double limit hands
South wind round: 500/1000/2000 i.e. half limit/ limit (also called full limit)/ double limit
West wind round: is all Goulash and should be played with kitty increments, e.g. 1000 kitty for First game of East, then 2000, then 3000 and finally 4000.
Calling hands can claim in goulash games, west wind or otherwise.
North wind round: only 2000 i.e. double limit hands but with 4 jokers.
(North wind round can also be played with drawing of cards, please refer to your Mahjong table for this.)
In rounds other than West, each time the hand is/game is not made i.e. nobody goes Mahjong, then Goulash must be played with a kitty of 1000 which is cumulative if the game goes into the next without anyone going Mahjong.
(East always claims double if he/she goes Mahjong and gives double to players going Mahjong.)