Mahjong
A game of mahjong calls for four players seated at a square table, one on each side. Each player draws a
hand of 13 tiles from the center of the table, and the ritual of tile exchange begins. One at a time, the
players draw a new tile from the table or pick up a matching tile discarded by another player. At the same
time, players discard their unmatched tiles, seeking with each move to create a matched hand.
Thus, the initial objective of each player is to match all the tiles in his or her hand before the other
players do. The first player to do so wins the game. The second objective is to assemble the highest-scoring
hand at the table. The score, which is based on the probability of achieving a certain combination of tiles,
is calculated by totaling the winning points of all the tiles in the hand. In general, the lower the
probability of achieving a certain combination, the higher the score awarded. Of course, the converse is true as well.
Mahjong is a game both of chance and risk as there is not one without the other. Yet another factor is time.
A higher-scoring hand takes longer to assemble. In other words, the longer you delay putting together your hand,
the greater is your risk of losing the game to a player who may beat you to it.
Mahjong is also a game of strategy. You must cultivate a keen eye for the pattern of discards and matching of tiles
by your opponents. From this observation, you must try to predict what patterns the other players are likely to
be assembling. On the one hand, you try to utilize your opponents' discards to match your tiles, thus maximizing
your chance of winning. On the other hand, you try to prevent your opponents from matching their tiles with your discards.
Arguably, the most intriguing part of the game lies in the decision making. You will constantly wonder whether
to risk discarding a tile (thus giving your opponents a chance of matching theirs) to increase your chance of
assembling a higher-scoring hand, or to hold on to your hand for a safe win, thereby forgoing the opportunity
of a better score. Remorse after a hand is common. For some, it is the regret of not having had the boldness
to go for a big hand. For others, it is the recklessly ambitious pursuit of a big hand, only to have another
player reveal a matched hand first. Most observers believe that a player's behavior reflects his or her true personality.
The magic of mahjong is the feeling of exhilaration that comes from winning a hand as well as from knowing
that a wrong move or the loss of a hand can still lead to victory eventually. A player always sees another
chance in the next hand. He or she knows that as the game unfolds, many new opportunities will present themselves,
along with an endless stream of hopes and expectations, a situation rarely, if ever, encountered in real life.
THE TILES
A standard mahjong set contains 136 tiles, divided into two major groups: the Common (or Number) tiles and the Honor tiles.
1. The Common tiles consist of three suits, each composed of four sets of tiles. Each set is numbered one through nine.
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| The Circle Tiles |
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| The Bamboo Tiles |
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| The Character Tiles |
2. The Honor tiles consist of the Dragons and the Winds:
There are three Dragons: Red, Green, and White, with four tiles each.
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There are four Winds: East, South, West, and North, with four tiles each.
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PLAYERS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE PLAYING POSITIONS
A game of mahjong requires four players. The players sit around a square table, and the game proceeds in a counterclockwise direction. Each player calls the player on his or her right the Lower House, the player on his or her left the Upper House, and the player sitting across the table the Opposite House.
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There is a Dealer for each hand of the game. His or her sole function is to commence the game by casting the dice and breaking the walls of tiles.
During each and every hand of the game, the Dealer is called the East House. His or her Lower House is the South House, the Opposite House is the West House, and the Upper House is the North House.
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PLAYING DIRECTIONS
The allocation of each player's seat, the designation of the First Dealer, and the playing of the game proceed in a counterclockwise direction. The order in which the players take turns to retrieve a tile and discard a tile also travels counterclockwise. As has been pointed out, each player calls the player on his or her right the Lower House, the player in front of him or her the Opposite House, and the player to the left the Upper House. The breaking of the walls and the drawing of tiles from the wall proceed in a clockwise direction, however.
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| Retrieving and discarding tiles |
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| Breaking of the walls and drawing of tiles |
MATCHING THE TILES
The tiles are matched in an exchange process. The exchange process begins with the Dealer, who discards the first tile from his or her hand of 14. Moving counterclockwise, each player takes a turn drawing a tile from the remaining walls and discarding the least desirable tile from his or her hand. The least desirable tile could well be the one just drawn from the walls. Alternatively, instead of drawing a tile from the walls, a player can claim a tile discarded by another player, that will go toward making a matched set. Thus, a matched set can be assembled by using only the tiles in the playing hand or by claiming a tile discarded by another player. In any case, by retrieving a tile to replace the one immediately discarded, each player always keeps 13 tiles in his playing hand. Through this exchange process, the players try to rid themselves of their undesirable tiles in order to put together a winning hand. The same procedure is continued until one player matches all of the tiles in his or her hand.
REVEALED AND CONCEALED SETS
When a tile that completes a set is taken from a discard, the matched set must be displayed face up on the table. This is called a revealed set.
When a matched set is formed in the first 13 tiles drawn from the wall or is formed with a tile drawn from the wall by the player, the matched set is kept in the hand, unrevealed to the other players. The set is called a concealed set.
CLAIMING A DISCARDED TILE TO MATCH A SEQUENCE(CHOW)
When a player holds 3 of the 4 tiles necessary to form a Sequence, he may claim the third matching tile only from his Upper House (that is, the player to the left) by declaring Chow. By doing so, he or she picks up the matching tile, adding it to the two matching tiles, and then displays the Sequence face up on the table. Of course, the player must also discard a tile to keep the total number of tiles in his or her hand at 13. After that, the player's Lower House continues the game as usual.
CLAIMING A DISCARDED TILE TO MATCH A TRIPLET(PONG)
When a player holds a pair of identical tiles, he or she may claim a third matching tile when it is discarded by any of the other three players by declaring Pong. By doing so, he or she picks up the discarded tile, adding it to the two matching tiles, and displays the Triplet face up on the table. The player then discards a tile and the person on the right (his or her Lower House) continues the game as usual. Because the player who declares Pong has higher priority over any player who declares Chow, he must declare Pong as soon as the matching tile is discarded on the table and before the Lower House of the discarder has had a chance to declare Chow.
A player who fails to declare Pong cannot claim the same tile discarded by other players until after he or she has made a discard. Of course, all the players must keep track of the recent discards.
CLAIMING A DISCARDED TILE TO MATCH A QUADRUPLET(Kung)
1. Drawing the fourth identical tile. When a player who has a revealed or concealed Triplet draws the fourth identical tile from the wall, he or she has the option of keeping it to match an already-held concealed Sequence or to declare Kung. By declaring Kung, the player adds the drawn tile to the revealed or concealed Triplet and displays the Quadruplet on the table.
2. Claiming the fourth identical tile. It is only when a player has a concealed Triplet that he or she can declare Kung and claim the fourth identical tile discarded by any player. But the Quadruplet must be revealed on the table afterward.
Remember, each time a player declares Kung and adds the fourth identical tile to a Triplet, he or she must immediately draw a makeup tile from the end of the wall and discard a tile. The game is continued by the player's Lower House.
PRIORITY IN CLAIMING DISCARDS
First Priority: To match the last set of the tiles in a winning hand by declaring WIN or SIK, one can claim the winning tile discarded by any other player.
Second Priority: To match a Triplet by declaring Pong, or to match a Quadruplet by declaring Kung, one can claim the discard from any other player.
Third Priority: To match a Sequence by declaring Chow, one can claim the discard only from his or her Upper House (that is, the player to the left).
WHEN TO DECLARE A WIN
Since a winning hand consists of 14 tiles (except when a hand consists of one or more Quadruplets, each of which has an extra tile), when a player matches all the 13 tiles in his or her hand, only one final matching tile is needed to complete the hand.
The 13 matched tiles are called a Ready Hand, and the holder of a Ready Hand is called a Calling Player. The final matching tile is called the Winning Tile.
A Calling Player can complete a hand by drawing the Winning Tile from the walls during his or her turn, or by claiming the Winning Tile when another player discards a tile or declares a revealed Kung. Note that if a player fails to claim the Winning Tile when it is first discarded by a player, he or she cannot claim the Winning Tile discarded by other players until after making his or her own discard. The player can declare a win, however, if the same Winning Tile is self-drawn.
When a player declares a Win or Sik, he or she must first turn all of his or her tiles face up on die table and then add the Winning Tile to the hand, so as to allow the other players to examine the hand, and to calculate the score. But if the Winning Tile is self-drawn, the winner must first reveal the self-drawn tile before turning all the tiles face up on die table.
When two or more players declare a win by claiming the same discarded tile, the Lower House of the discarder has first priority, while the Upper House has lowest priority. There is only one exception to this: when the holder of a 13 Terminal Tile Hand claims the discarded tile to complete a winning hand, he or she can declare a win regardless of his or her position relative to the tile-discarding player. Also, there can be more than one winner if the players have agreed to such a rule before starting the game.
A player must always know what his or her Winning Tiles are, in order to declare a win whenever one presents itself. A player must be careful not to declare a false win, however, or he or she will be subject to a penalty, which can upset the other players.
After each hand, the tiles are turned face down, mixed well, and the walls are built again, ready for the next hand.
FAILING TO CLAIM A DISCARD TO DECLARE PONG OR A WIN
If a player fails to claim a discard to declare Pong, he or she is not permitted to claim the same tile subsequently discarded by the next players until after making his or her own discard.
If a player fails to claim a discard to declare a win, he or she is not permitted to claim the same tile or another Winning Tile subsequently discarded by the next players until after he or she has made a discard.
THE DEALER AND THE DURATION OF A GAME
Each hand of the game always has a Dealer. The Dealer will keep the role until another player wins a hand. In such a case, the dealership is passed on to the Dealer's Lower House. When each player has been Dealer at least once and the fourth Dealer loses the hand, a round of the game is completed. The game will continue in the second round with the first-term Dealer announcing the Wind of the new round. The first round of the game is called the East Round, which is followed by the South Round, the West Round, and the North Round. The game is completed when the last Dealer in the North Round loses his or her hand in the fourth round.
A complete game consists of four rounds. Players may continue the game by starting another four rounds. But the seat allocation procedure and the designation of First Dealer are usually determined all over again.
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The Dealer of each game is called the East House. Other players will have corresponding titles. The Dealer's Lower House is the South House, the Dealer's Opposite House is the West House, and the Dealer's Upper House is the North House.
The Dealer commences each game by casting the dice to decide which one of the walls is to be broken and which stack of tiles is to be the first stack to be picked up.
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