Mahjong Rules
This is a basic beginner’s guide to playing Mahjong. We’ll teach you all of the fundamentals of how to play Mahjong, the Chinese tile game that is often compared to traditional Rummy card games, but without paper cards.
Mahjong Rules – Set Up
Mahjong is a game for four players, using 144 tiles. There are two types of tiles, Suits and Honors. Suits are divided into three categories, depending on the style of numbering used (each 1 through 9) – Stones, Bamboos and Characters. Honors come in three varieties as well, Wind Tiles, Dragon Tiles and Flower Tiles.
Mahjong Suits
Stones: These are the tiles depicting colored circles. The number of circles on the tile relates to the number it represents, 1 through 9.
Bamboos: These are represented by bamboo sticks, with the number of sticks on a tile determining the number of the tile, 1 through 9. The only exception is the #1, depicting a bird sitting on a single bamboo stick. Note that the 8 looks like a “W” and an “M” in the English language, but is actually 8 bamboo sticks arranged in such a manner.
Characters: These tiles are numbered with the Chinese symbols representing each number in ten thousands.
Wind Tiles: There are only four styles of wind tiles, each depicting a direction – East, South, West and North.
Dragon Tiles: Dragon Tiles come in three symbols, red, green and blue/white, each having to do with Chinese Imperial Examination. The red tile symbolizes the passing of the examination to clear the way to officialdom. The green tile represents wealth, meaning literally “get rich”. The white tile, surrounded by blue, represents a “clean slate” or freedom from corruption.
Flower Tiles: Last are the flower tiles, used in most Mahjong rules, but sometimes omitted from play. Some players choose not to use the flower tiles since they make it easier to earn bonus points and win the game. There are 8 flower tiles in all, 4 depicting floral artwork of the Plum, Orchid, Chrysanthemum and Bamboo, and 4 depicting seasonal flowers of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. The first 4 flower tiles are also numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4, associated with the Wind Tiles of 1-East, 2-South, 3-West and 4-North.
Mahjong Rules – Starting a Game
The first step is to determine the seating arrangement, or Prevailing Wind. This is achieved by each player tossing 2 or three dice. The highest total becomes the dealer, or banker. This player is in East Wind position. The player to his left is the south Wind, then the West Wind and finally the North Wind.
Note that after a hand, the deal will pass on to the next player on the left unless the dealer wins the hand, in which case he retains the East Wind dealer position. The dealer is always in the East Wind position.
The tiles are placed face down then shuffled. Each player will then stack a row of 18 tiles in front of them, 2 tiles high (36 tiles total).
The dealer now tosses three dice, then begins counting starting with himself as #1 (kinda like “inny-minny-miny-moe”), going around the table until he reaches the sum of the dice. This player’s tile rows are then counted, starting from the right, until reaching the sum of the dice. Where the counting ends, the tiles are divided into two sections. The dealer will take a block of 4 tiles from the left side of the divide.
The player left of the dealer will do the same, taking the next block of 4 tiles, again to the left of the divide. This continues around the table until each player has 16 tiles.
Remaining tiles are moved to the center of the table to make up the draw pile, or Wall.
Mahjong Rules – Game Play
Taking turns, each player will draw one new tile from the Wall, and discard one tile onto the table in face up front of himself, ending their turn.
Mahjong Rules – Melds
In order to win, a player must Meld all of their tiles. If a player has a perfect hand, known as a “Heavenly Hand”, from the moment they are dealt tiles (without ever drawing), they may declare instant victory before the hand ever begins. Otherwise…
The goal is to develop Melds of 3 or 4 tiles, matching tiles and numbers into various sets. If a player discards a tile that will complete another players meld, he may “call” or “bid” for the tile. The next player in succession will take precedence over other players calling for the tile. The player must reveal the meld in its completed form when calling for a discarded tile. When two or more players call for the same discarded tile, if one player can win the game by claiming the tile, he will take precedence over any other player who cannot win by claiming the tile, regardless of his seating position.
Types of Melds
Pong/Pung: A set of three identically matching tiles, or three flower tiles. Some versions allow for the combination of three same numbered tiles, but in different suits.
Kong: A set of four identically matching tiles, or four flower tiles. An extra matching tile may be added to a Pong to achieve a Kong.
Sheung: A meld consisting of 3 suited tiles, in sequence. A Sheung may only be played if calling the discard from the previous player to complete the Sheung, unless melding the Sheung wins the game (it is the last meld needed to complete the hand).
Eye: This is a meld required to complete the player’s hand. It consists of only two, matching tiles. This meld cannot be played until the player melds off all tiles. Therefore, he cannot call for an Eye tile from a discarding opponent unless he is able to play the Eye and win the hand.
Mahjong Rules – Winning the Game
The first player to meld his entire hand wins the game.
Mahjong Rules – Scoring
There are many different ways to score a hand of Mahjong, as no universal rules of scoring have ever been accepted. Points are awarded for specific accomplishments throughout a hand, tile usage and tile combinations (flower tiles, dragon tiles, etc.), and for having the winning hand, of course. The way in which a game is scored is agreed upon by the players before the first hand begins. At the end of 16 hands, the match is over and the point leader wins.
