Mahjong

Mahjong

Mahjong players in Hangzhou in 2006
Genres	Mind sport Tile-based game Abstract strategy game
Players	3 or 4
Setup time	1–5 minutes
Playing time	Dependent on variation or rules
Random chance	Moderate
Skills required	Tactics, observation, memory, adaptive strategies

Mahjong
"Mahjong" in Traditional (top) and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	麻將
Simplified Chinese	麻将
showTranscriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin májiàng Wade–Giles ma2-chiang4 IPA [mǎ.tɕjâŋ] Wu Romanization mo ziang Gan Romanization ma4-chiong4 Hakka Romanization ma jiong3 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization màah jeung Jyutping maa4 zoeng3
Original/Southern Name
Traditional Chinese	麻雀
Simplified Chinese	麻雀
Literal meaning	little sparrows
showTranscriptions Hakka Romanization ma4-jiok3 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization màh-jeuk Jyutping maa4-zoek3 IPA [mȁː.tsœ̄ːk̚] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Moâ-chhiok Eastern Min Fuzhou BUC Mà-chiók Pu-Xian Min Hinghwa BUC Má-chio̤h
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese	mạt chược
Thai name
Thai	ไพ่นกกระจอก
RTGS	phai nok krachok
Korean name
Hangul	마작
Hanja	麻雀
showTranscriptions Revised Romanization majak McCune–Reischauer machak
Japanese name
Kanji	麻雀
Kana	マージャン
showTranscriptions Romanization mājan
Khmer name
Khmer	ម៉ាចុង

Mahjong or mah-jongg^[1] (English pronunciation: /mɑːˈdʒɒŋ/ mah-JONG, Mandarin Chinese: [mǎ.tɕjâŋ]) is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is commonly played by four players (with some three-player variations found in parts of China, Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia). The game and its regional variants are widely played throughout Eastern and South Eastern Asia and have also become popular in Western countries. The game has also been adapted into a widespread online entertainment.^[2][3][4][5] Similar to the Western card game rummy, Mahjong is a game of skill, strategy, and luck.

The game is played with a set of 144 tiles based on Chinese characters and symbols, although some regional variations may omit some tiles or add unique ones. In most variations, each player begins by receiving 13 tiles. 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). A player can also win with a small class of special hands. While many variations of mahjong exist, most variations have some basic rules in common including how a piece is drawn and discarded, how a piece is robbed from another player, the use of suits (numbered tiles) and honors (winds and dragons), the basic kinds of melds allowed, how to deal the tiles and the order of play. Beyond these basic common rules, numerous regional variations exist which may have notably different criteria for legal melds and winning hands, radically different scoring systems and even elaborate extra rules. A group of players may introduce their own house rules which can notably change the feel of play.

Etymology[]

In Chinese, the game was originally called 麻雀 (pinyin: máquè)—meaning sparrow—which is still used in some languages in southern China. It is said that the clacking of tiles during shuffling resembles the chattering of sparrows. It has also been suggested that the name came from an evolution of an earlier card game called Madiao from which mahjong tiles were adapted.^[6] Most Mandarin-speaking Chinese now call the game 麻將 (májiàng). Its name is similar in other languages, except in Thai, where it is called (phai nok krachok), a calque meaning "sparrow cards."^[7]

Old Hong Kong Mahjong rules[]

A set of Mahjong tiles

There are many highly varied versions of mahjong both in rules and tiles used. "Old Hong Kong Mahjong" uses the same basic features and rules as the majority of the different variations of the game. This form of Mahjong uses all of the tiles of the most commonly available sets, includes no exotic complex rules, and has a relatively small set of scoring sets/hands with a simple scoring system. For these reasons Hong Kong mahjong is a suitable variation for the introduction of game rules and play and is the focus of this article.

Game pieces and accessories[]

Old Hong Kong Mahjong is played with a standard set of 144 Mahjong tiles (though cards may be used). Sets often include counters (to keep score), dice (to decide how to deal), and a marker to show who the dealer is and which round is being played. Some sets include racks to hold the tiles, especially if they are larger or smaller than standard tiles or have an odd shape. Mahjong sets originating from the United States, Japan or Southeast Asia will likely have extra tiles or specialized markings.

The tiles are split into three categories: suited, honors, and bonus tiles.

Suited tiles[]

Suited tiles are divided into three suits and each are numbered from 1 to 9. The suits are bamboos, dots, and characters. There are four identical copies of each suited tile totaling 108 tiles.

		Numbers
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Suited	Dots
	Bamboo
	Characters

The bamboo suit is also known as "sticks", "strings" or "bams" suit; the first tile usually has a bird (traditionally, a peacock or sparrow) instead of a single bamboo. The dots suit is also known as the "wheels", "circles", "coins", "stones", "marbles" or "balls" suit. The characters suit is also known as the "myriads", "cracks" or "numbers" suit since the top characters are numbers in the Chinese orthography, and the bottom characters (in traditional Chinese characters) are the Chinese orthography of "ten thousand".^[8]

Honors tiles[]

There are two different sets of Honors tiles: Winds and Dragons. The Winds are East, South, West, and North. In Mahjong, East (not North) is the beginning. The Dragons are Red, Green, and White. The white dragon has a blue or black frame on the face of the piece or in some sets is entirely blank. These tiles have no numerical sequence like the suited tiles (for example the bamboo pieces number 1 to 9). Like the suited tiles, there are four identical copies of each Honors tile, for a total of 28 Honors tiles.

Winds East South West North

Dragons Red Green White

Bonus tiles[]

There are two sets of Bonus tiles: Flowers and Seasons. The flower and season tiles play a unique role in the mechanics of the game. When drawn, the Bonus tile is not added into a player's hand but are instead set aside and kept near the player's other tiles for scoring purposes should they win the hand, and an extra tile is drawn in replacement of the Bonus tile.

In addition, unlike the suited and honours tiles, there is only a single tile of each Bonus tile, so there are a total of four flower and four season tiles in the set. The tiles have a different artistic rendering of a specific type of flower or season.

Flowers No Image Name Character Direction 1 Plum blossom 梅 East 2 Orchid 蘭 South 3 Chrysanthemum 菊 West 4 Bamboo 竹 North

Seasons No Image Name Character Direction 1 Spring 春 East 2 Summer 夏 South 3 Autumn 秋 West 4 Winter 冬 North

It is not necessary to know the names or the Chinese characters of each bonus tile, only the number, as this is associated with a specific direction, and the player receives bonus points when the Bonus tile matches the seat direction. There is no relation between the bonus tile "bamboo" flower and the bamboo suit of suited tiles (ex. 4 bamboo). In traditional Chinese culture, the Four Gentlemen are the plum (winter), orchid (spring), bamboo (summer), and chrysanthemum (autumn) which are regarded as the representative plants of those seasons, but people regard it as plum blossom (spring), orchid (summer), chrysanthemum (autumn) and bamboo (winter) now.

Choosing table positions and first dealer[]

Chinese dice

The dealer is chosen by various means. For example, each player throws dice with the highest count taking the dealer position, second-highest taking south etc. Or one player may place one tile of each wind face down and shuffle them. Each player randomly select one of these tiles and these tiles dictate their wind position. Each player sits down at their respective position (called the wind position) at the table in positions of an inverted compass: East is dealer, the right of the dealer is South, across is West, and the left is North. The order of play is traditionally counter-clockwise.

Hands, rounds, and matches[]

Cubic dealer and prevailing wind marker.

A match consists of four rounds, each representing a "prevailing wind," starting with East. Once the first round is completed, a second round begins with South as the prevailing wind, and so on. Wind position is significant in that it affects the scoring of the game. A Mahjong set with Winds in play will usually include a separate prevailing wind marker (typically a die marked with the Wind characters in a holder).

In each round at least four hands are played, with each player taking the position of dealer. In the first hand of each round, Player 1 (winner of the dice toss) is East and therefore dealer. In the second hand, Player 2 takes the East position, shifting the seat winds amongst the players counterclockwise (though players do not physically move their chairs). This continues until all four players have been East (dealer). A marker is used to mark which player is East and often the round number. (In sets with racks, a rack may be marked differently to denote the dealer.)

Whenever a player in the East position (dealer) wins a hand, or if there is no winner (a draw or "goulash hand"), an extra hand is played with the same seating positions and prevailing wind as in the previous hand. This means that a match may potentially have no limit to the number of hands played (though some players will set a limit of three consecutive hands allowed with the same seat positions and prevailing wind).

Example of games:

Dealing tiles[]

Shuffling tiles[]

All tiles are placed face down on the table and are shuffled. By convention all players should participate in shuffling using both hands moving the pieces around the table rigorously and loudly for a lengthy period. Tiles may get flipped up during this process and players should flip them facing down as soon as possible to avoid identifying the location of the revealed tiles.

Stacking tiles[]

Walls with slight diagonal offset and player positions marked with cardinal directions, including the dealer (E), along with counting order

Each player then stacks a row of 18 tiles, two tiles high in front of them (for a total of 36 tiles). Players then push each side of their stack together to form a square wall.

Regular players usually place their stacks in a slightly diagonal position (about 20 to 30 degrees anti-clockwise); the right end of their stack is pushed slightly further in to the centre of the table to meet almost the middle of the stack of the player on the right. This creates a smaller square wall the length of about half of each stack, with walls extended away from each corner of the square. The diagonally positioned stacks and a smaller square creates a bigger space for players' tiles and also makes an ergonomic position for drawing tiles from the stack.

Drawing tiles[]

The dealer throws three dice in the square wall and sums up the total. Counting anti-clockwise so that the dealer is 1 (or 5, 9, 13, 17), so that south (player to the right) is 2 (or 6, 10, 14, 18), etc., a player's quarter of the wall is chosen. Some house rules may use only two dice but have double throws to increase randomness. In the case of double throws, the player of the chosen wall makes the second throw.

Using the same total on the dice (or the total of the two throws), the player whose wall is chosen then counts the stacks of tiles from right to left. (For double throws, the count may extend to the left side player's stack.) This determines the location where the 'deck' of tiles is cut. Starting from the left of the stacks counted, the dealer draws four tiles for himself, and players in anti-clockwise order draw blocks of four tiles until all players have 12 tiles, so that the stacks decrease clockwise. Each player then draws one last tile to make a 13-tile hand.

Dealing does not have to be strictly this way and may be done quite differently based on house rules. Tiles may flip over when being dealt and players should agree in advance on how to deal with the problem. Solutions include having the dealer penalised points, shuffling the turned over piece back into the wall somehow, allowing the player to whom the tiles were dealt to take the piece or not (meaning the dealer must take it as his/her 14th piece) or other house rules.

Each player now sets aside any Flowers or Seasons they may have drawn and takes turns to draw replacement piece(s) from the wall in the anti-clockwise direction. If a player gets any Flowers or Seasons tiles in the replacement draw, the players must wait for the next turn to draw replacement tiles.

While drawing the 13th piece to complete the initial hand, the dealer (E) will typically also draw a 14th piece (both highlighted in blue) to initiate the game.

Game play starts[]

The dealer draws a piece from the wall in clockwise direction, adding it to their hand. Typically, this draw is performed during the initial deal to speed up play. If this does not complete a legal hand, the dealer then discards a piece (throwing it into the middle of the wall with no particular order in mind).

Rules[]

Local play on the street in Lanzhou

Each player in turn, in counterclockwise direction, draws a tile from the wall; as long as the tile drawn is not one of the Bonus tiles, the player proceeds to discard a tile (either the tile just drawn, or a tile in the hand) to maintain a hand of 13. The discarded tile is thrown into the centre and, if desired, the player announces out loud what the piece is. The other players have an opportunity to seize the discarded tile; if no one takes it, the turn continues to the next player. Play continues this way until one player has a legal winning hand and calls out "Mahjong" while revealing their hand.

There are four different ways that regular order of play can be interrupted:

1. A Bonus tile (Flower or Season) is drawn
2. A meld (Pong, Kong, or Chow) is made from a discard
3. Going Mahjong (declaring a winning hand)
4. Robbing a Kong

During play, each player's hand should always be 13 tiles (meaning in each turn a tile must be picked up and another discarded). The count of 13 tiles do not include any Bonus tiles (Flowers and Seasons), which are set to the side, nor does it include the fourth added piece of a Kong. If a player is seen to have fewer or more than 13 tiles in their hand outside of their turn they are penalised.

Legal hand[]

A winning hand consists of 14 tiles. Since players always have 13 tiles in their hand during play, they must win by either drawing a piece from the wall that completes a 14-tile hand ("winning from the wall") or claiming a discard from another player which completes a 14-tile hand ("winning by discard"). The winning hand is made of four melds (a specific pattern of three pieces) and the eyes (a pair of identical pieces). The exceptions to this rule are the special hands listed below.

Most players play with a table minimum, meaning a winning hand must score a minimum number of points (which can be seen in the scoring section). In Hong Kong Mahjong the most common point set is three but can be higher or lower depending on house rules.

Melds[]

Melds are groups of tiles within the player's hand, consisting of either a Pong (three identical tiles), a Kong (four identical tiles), a Chow (three suited tiles all of the same suit, in numerical sequence), or Eyes (two identical tiles needed in a winning hand). Melds may be formed by drawing a tile from the wall, or by seizing another player's discard. There are rules governing which player has priority for a discard, and whether the meld should be exposed (displayed to all players) or remain concealed, depending on the manner in which the meld is formed.

• Pongs are a set of three identical tiles. For example:

You may form a Pong with any suited or honors tile. Bonus tiles (Flowers or Seasons) cannot be used to form a Pong because they are set aside and there are not three identical bonus tiles in the set. The tiles must be identical (you cannot mix suits). A Pong may either be concealed (formed by drawing tiles) or exposed (formed by seizing another player's discard).

• Kong is a complete set of four identical tiles. For example:

Consider a Kong the same as a Pong with an additional tile to make a complete set of four. There are three ways to form a Kong.

1. Concealed Kong – If a player holds three matching tiles (concealed Pong) and upon drawing a tile completes a set of four they may declare a Kong. They do so by revealing the meld and placing two pieces in the middle face up and two pieces on the ends face down.
2. Exposed Kong – If a player can use a discarded tile to complete three matching tiles (concealed Pong) in their hand, he can take the piece and reveal an "exposed kong" or "melded kong". The player reveals his three pieces face up and places the stolen discard on top of the middle tile, or face down next to the three other face up pieces.
3. Exposed Kong from Exposed Pong – If a player already has a melded Pong and then later in the game draws the fourth piece from the wall, he may announce (then or later in the game) a Kong by placing the fourth tile on top of the middle piece of the melded Pong, or all four tiles placed face up in a row. If a Pong has been melded a player cannot steal the 4th piece if another player discards it, it must be drawn.

Whenever a Kong is formed, that player must draw an extra tile from the end of the wall and then discard a tile. The fourth piece of a Kong is not considered one of the 13 tiles a player must always have in their hand. A Kong may not be formed from Bonus tiles (Flowers/Seasons), since the set does not include four identical tiles. Kongs are worth collecting to score more points and deprive opponents of the opportunity to obtain specific tiles.

• Chow is a meld of three suited tiles in sequence. For example:

The meld must be in absolute numerical sequence and all in the same suit. Players cannot skip numbers or meld from the 8 or 9 to 1 or 2. Honors tiles cannot be used to make Chows because they have no numerical value, and Bonus tiles (Flowers and Seasons) also cannot be used to make a Chow.

A player can steal a discard to form a Chow only from the player whose turn was immediately before theirs; however, a player forming a Chow from a seized piece has the lowest priority for that tile. Any other player who needs that tile to make a Pong, make a Kong, or to win may seize that piece instead. Like the Pong, the Chow is either concealed (formed by drawing tiles) or exposed (formed by seizing the prior player's discard).

• Eyes (also known as a pair) are two identical tiles which are an essential part of a legal winning hand. A piece cannot be stolen (melded) to form a pair of eyes unless the player simultaneously completes a legal winning hand.^[9]

For example:

Interruption of play[]

The regular anti-clockwise order of turns may be interrupted for four events:

1. Flower or Season[]

Whenever a player draws a flower or season, it is announced and then placed to the side (it is not considered a part of the 13-tile hand, but in the event that player wins, he may earn bonus points for them) and the last tile of the wall is drawn as a replacement tile so that the player has the 14 pieces needed before their discard. This may happen successively in a player's turn.

2. Melding another player's discard[]

When a player discards a tile, other players may steal the tile to complete a meld. Stealing tiles has both advantages (quickly forming a winning hand and scoring extra points) and disadvantages (being forced to reveal part of one's hand to other players and not being able to change the meld once declared).

When a meld (Pong, Kong, or Chow) is declared through a discard, the player must state the type of meld to be declared and expose the meld by placing the three (or four) tiles face up. The player must then discard a tile, and play continues to the right. If the player who melds a discard is not directly after the discarder (in order of play), one or two players will essentially miss their turn as play continues anti-clockwise from the player who declared the meld.

If multiple players call for a discarded tile, priority for the discard depends on the declared action of the player stealing the discard.

1. Highest priority goes to the player who needs the discarded tile to win the hand. A player may take the tile to win the hand from any other player.
2. Next priority goes to the player who declares a Pong or Kong using the discard. A player who calls for a Pong or Kong may take the discard from any other player. Only one player can be in this position because there are only four of any tile in a Mahjong set.
3. Last priority goes to the player who declares a Chow using the discard. Players may only call for a Chow from the discard of the player immediately prior to them, unless the tile is the final one required to complete the hand.

3. Winning a hand[]

The act of winning a hand interrupts play to assess the validity of the hand won. Upon confirmation, the player is awarded the hand's value per the specific game's rule.

From a discard[]

If at any point in the game a player can use another player's discard to complete a legal hand (and with the agreed minimum points), they declare a win and reveal their winning hand. This ends the hand, and scoring commences. If more than one player can use a discard to win the hand, multiple ways can handle the situation based on agreed table rules: Either the players count the points they would win with the discard and the winner is the one with the higher score, the winner is simply the player closest to the discarder in order of turn, or multiple players may be granted the win simultaneously.

From the wall[]

Alternatively, a player may also win by drawing a tile that completes a legal hand. This is called "winning from the wall". In Hong Kong mahjong, winning from the wall doubles the number of base points each loser must pay.

False Mahjong[]

Technically, the declaration for winning a hand may be done at anytime. However, the player must have a complete and legal hand. Otherwise, the win declaration is penalized. The penalty depends on table rules. The player may forfeit points to the other players. Another potential penalty is the player who called out the false mahjong must play the rest of the hand with their tiles face up on the table so other players can see them (open hand). Some methods apply the penalty at the end of the entire game. Again, the table rules dictate the enforcement of the penalty.

4. Robbing a Kong[]

A rarely occurring and high-scoring feature of Hong Kong Mahjong is a move called robbing the Kong. If a player declares a Kong by adding a fourth piece to a melded Pong but another player can use that piece to complete a hand, the completing player takes priority to go Mahjong (win the hand) and may steal that piece from the player who intended to declare the Kong.

Examples of winning hands[]

Below are two examples of winning hands. A winning hand must consist of four melds (Pongs, Kongs, or Chows) and a pair (eyes) and must also score the agreed table minimum.

– – – –

Hand formed with four Pongs and the eyes (pair) of East wind. Only bamboo is used (no other suited tiles), scoring extra points (clean hand). No chows are used (an all Pong/Kong hand scores extra points).

– – – –

A high-scoring hand formed using only circles, known as a pure hand. Hand is made of Chows, Pongs and the eyes of circles.

Most players include table variations in their games, of which some non-standard are included. The hands of seven different pairs and 13 orphans are examples which do not have four melds and the eyes. They are described in more detail below.

Repeated hands[]

If the dealer wins the hand, he will remain the dealer and an extra hand is played in addition to the minimum 16 hands in a match.

An extra hand is also played if there is no winner by the time all the tiles in the wall have been drawn. When there is no winner it is known as a "goulash hand". Depending on table rules, the winner of the next game may take an agreed number of points from each player, carrying over the points from the non-winning hand to the winning one. If there are two or three goulash hands in a row then the winner would collect a considerable number of points from each player on top of their scoring hand. Because extra hands may be played every time a dealer wins or if there is a goulash hand, a match of 16 hands can easily become a match of 20 or even much more.

As table rules add a large amount of flexibility for players, they can choose to disregard the rule of extra hands and pass on the dealership regardless of who wins or if it results in a goulash hand. This puts a maximum estimated limit on the game duration and provides some amount of predictability.

Rhythm of play[]

Players may agree on table rules if the pace of the game is brisk or leisurely. For brisk games players may agree that a couple seconds after a discard are allowed for a "window of opportunity" before the next player picks up from the wall. Usually it is agreed once the next player has waited the duration of the "window of opportunity" and draws a tile from the wall, the previous discard is lost and cannot be claimed.

Scoring[]

Old Hong Kong scoring is relatively simple. There is only one winner (or if there is a draw the hand is replayed). The winner must have a legal hand that meets the minimum faan points agreed to in advance (not including any bonus points). Only the winner scores, the other players pay the winner various sums. After each hand ends, the winner counts all of his or her faan points.

• faan points depend on:
  • the composition of the entire hand
  • how the hand was won
  • bonus tiles
  • special patterns
  • and a few other special criteria.
• In order to win, a player needs to have at least the minimum faan value agreed in advance (often 3). Bonus tiles and a few other elements are not included in the minimum faan value a player needs to form a legal winning hand. (i.e. in a three faan minimum game, if a player has two faan points and one bonus point, the player has not met the proper requirements to win and will need to gain another faan point before calling mahjong. Though the bonus points cannot be included in the minimum points needed to win, they are included in the overall score after a player wins
• The other players do not score their hand. Once the winner has added his or her points (faan points plus bonus points) they must be converted into base points (the chart is below). These base points represent how much the opponents pay to the winner
• Players then pay the winner (in money or when not gambling with "chips or points") based on three factors:
  • the base points (faan points and bonus points converted into a payment unit)
  • if the player won from the wall (doubles the points)
  • if the player was the dealer (doubles the points)

Concealed vs. revealed meld and hand[]

A concealed meld is one that contains no tiles stolen from another player's discard. A concealed hand is one made up of only concealed melds. Many variations distinguish between a concealed hand (winning from the wall) and a semi concealed hand (the last tile is a stolen discard). In most mahjong variations having a concealed hand can be valuable in scoring. Hong Kong mahjong doesn't award concealed melds/hands as generously as others. Concealed hands only the case with a few limit hands or half-limit hands (thirteen orphans, heavenly gates, four concealed pongs) as well as a complete hand (seven pairs) and over several melds (three concealed pongs).

Meld summary

Meld Type	Quantity	Eligible tiles			When completed by ...
		Suited	Honors	Bonus	Drawing	Seizing a discard
Pong	3 (identical set)	Yes	Yes	No	Concealed	Exposed
Kong	4 (identical set)	Yes	Yes	No	Concealed (add to concealed Pong)	Exposed (add to concealed Pong)
					Exposed from exposed (add to exposed Pong)
Chow	3 (consecutive within suit)	Yes	No	No	Concealed	Exposed (only from preceding player)
Eyes	2 (identical set)	Yes	Yes	No	For the win, if hand has sufficient value	Only permitted to complete a winning hand

Faan value[]

Basic faan value[]

A winning hand must include an agreed minimum amount of faan value (often 3). Some examples of scoring include:

Bonus faan[]

A player only scores a bonus faan for Flowers or Seasons if it is their own flower or season (East=1, South=2, West=3 and North=4) or if the player has all four Flowers or all four Seasons (scoring 5 faan in total).

Payment[]

The losers pay the winning player points based on several criteria and depending on whether the game is for fun or for money. How points are reckoned is agreed by players beforehand. For example, they can keep a tally, exchange chips or pay one another with money. The faan value of a hand is converted into base points which are then used to calculate the points the losers pay the winner. The table is progressive, doubling the number of base points when reaching a certain faan point target. The following is the Old Hong Kong simplified table, for other tables see Hong Kong Mahjong scoring rules.

This table is based on play where 3 faan is the minimum needed in order to win with a legal hand. If a player has 3 faan then his hand is worth one base point. A winning hand with 9 faan is worth four base points. Losing players must give the winning player the value of these base points. The following special cases result in doubled base points:

• If the winner wins from the wall his base points are doubled
• If the hand was won by discard, the discarder doubles the amount he owes the winner
• If the winner is east all losers double the basepoints
• If east player is a losing player he pays double the points to the winner.

If two of these criteria apply to any player, he must double and then redouble the points owed to the winner.

Examples[]

Hong Kong Mahjong is essentially a payment system of doubling and redoubling where winning from the wall adds great value to the final payment and where the dealer is highly rewarded or penalised if they win or lose.

Limit hands[]

In Hong Kong Mahjong there are a series of "limit hands". These are exceptional hands, difficult to obtain and are very valuable in point scoring. As many table rules put a limit on the number of points a winners hand can score, full limit hands score that maximum. Table rules dictate if these rare and special hands are allowed, which ones, and the limit for scoring. A common scoring limit is 64 points, which is the highest base points doubled twice. A winner receives the scoring limit from each player without any doubling.

Some limit hands by necessity must be completely concealed (not discards used) or semi-concealed (the only discard used is the one needed to go mahjong). This includes the 13 orphans, 4 concealed pongs, heavenly hand and earthly hand. It is usually expected that the heavenly gates hand be concealed or semi-concealed. As for the dragon limit hands and the great winds, table rules dictate if the hand must be concealed or not. Some table rules claim that a semi-concealed hand (winning from a discard) scores a half-limit.

Some groups also play with the "great Flowers" rule. If a player picks up all four Flowers and all four Seasons during their hand, they instantly win the hand and receive the maximum points from all of the players. This is exceptionally rare.

In all the hands that require pongs, each pong can be replaced by the corresponding kong.

Limit Hands (Maximum number of fan agreed)

Hand	Explanation with example
Heavenly hand	The dealer draws a winning hand at the beginning of the game.
Earthly hand	A player completes a winning hand with the dealer's first discard and in most variants, provided the dealer does not draw a kong.
Thirteen Orphans	Player has 1 and 9 of each suit, one of each wind, one of each dragon and in addition one extra piece of any of those thirteen elements
	– – – –
Orphans	Player has only 1s and 9s in the winning hand.
	– – – –
Nine Gates Hand	Player has 1112345678999 of any suit; any one extra piece of the same suit suffices to win. This hand always has 4 melds and the eyes. In the example below, there are two Pongs (111 and 999), two Chows (234 and 678) and the extra 5 forms the Eyes.
	– – –
Self Triplets	4 concealed Pongs
All Kongs	Player has 4 Kongs
	– – - –
Great Winds	4 Pongs of all 4 winds
	– – – –

Other examples of high-scoring hands[]

Other special high-scoring hands

Hand	Explanation with example
All pongs/kongs	All melds are Pongs and/or kongs. (3 Fans)
	– – – –
Clean hand	Hand consists of only a single suit and Honors tiles. The Pearl, Jade, and Ruby Dragon limit hands are special instances of clean hands. (3 Fans)
	– – – –
Pure hand	All tiles are the same suit. (6 Fans)
	– – – –
Little Dragons	2 Pongs of dragons and a pair of the 3rd dragon. (5 Fans)
	– – – –
Little Winds	3 Pongs of winds and a pair of the 4th wind. (10 Fans)
	– – – –
All Honors Tiles	Player has all Honors in the hand (only winds and dragons, no suited tiles) (10 Fans)
	– – – –
Great Dragons	3 Pongs of all 3 dragons. (8 Fans)
	– – – –
Win by Double Kong	Self-pick the winning tile by obtaining it in a replacement after a second consecutive kong. (9 Fans)

Variations[]

Play media

Video of an uncharacteristic 5 player game

Variations may have far more complicated scoring systems, add or remove tiles, and include far more scoring elements and limit hands.

In many places, players often observe one version and are either unaware of other variations or claim that different versions are incorrect. In mainland China alone, there are over thirty variants.^[10] Many variations today differ only by scoring:

Chinese variants[]

• Changsha Mahjong is widely played in Hunan Province. Like Wuhan Mahjong, players need to obtain special Jong consisting of only tiles of two, five or eight. Changsha Mahjong forbids using winds and some special tiles, those tiles are first drawn out from the table when playing. Winners each round get a special drawing session for bonuses, usually doubling the score.
• Chinese classical Mahjong is the oldest surviving variety of Mahjong and was the version introduced to America in the 1920s under various names. It has a small, loyal following in the West, although few play it in Asia. All players score and it is possible to score higher than the winner.
• Competition Mahjong is an international standard founded by All-China Sports Federation in July 1998 that some Mahjong societies have adopted for competition play and in some cases for all play. It includes a large variety of different scoring rules in a way that emphasis strategy and calculation ability.
• Fujian Mahjong, thirteen tile hands. Certain tiles can be wild. No dragons. Winds are treated as bonuses.
• Harbin Mahjong, popular in northeastern China, using only 108 suit and 4 red dragon tiles. The player's hand must meet a set of few conditions (e.g. at least one chow / pong, at least one terminal or red dragon, etc.) and be declared "ready" in order to win, with points earned by discard or self-draw and a bonus tile revealed when the player wins.^[11]
• Hong Kong Mahjong or Cantonese Mahjong is a more common form of Mahjong, differing in minor scoring details from the Chinese Classical variety. It does not allow multiple players to win from a single discard.^[12]
• Shenyang Mahjong using 13 hands in a game, and Shenyang Mahjong has a really fast speed on playing, which allegedly might be said in some regard to perhaps match the personality of north-east people in China. Also in Shenyang Mahjong, the player must have Bamboos, Characters, Circles and number one or nine in his hand. In addition, the players have to Pong before they Chow, so there is no chance to win even if some players win at the first time they have their hands in hand.
•  [zh] is a growing variety, particularly in southern China, disallowing chi melds, and using only the suited tiles. Play continues until a loser is decided or a draw. It can be played very quickly.
•  [zh], or Lisi (lit. 'Raise Four'), the players must win with the first four blocks drawn which are placed separately in front of other. These four blocks cannot be touched until the player has a ready hand.
•  [zh] is the variety prevalent in Taiwan and involves hands of sixteen tiles (as opposed to the thirteen-tile hands in other versions), features bonuses for dealers and recurring dealerships, and allows multiple players to win from a single discard.
•  [zh] using normally seven jokers, with special scoring such as joker-free, joker-waiting-pair, catch-5, dragon, joker-suited-dragon.
• Wuhan Mahjong is growing rapidly and become popular in southern China. It is different from other parts of China such that it has a tile that can be used as everything called Laizi, and the player has to have a set of special two tiles, namely two, five, eight, as prerequisite for winning. Another variation has become the new trend. Special tiles need to be discarded.
• Xiangyang Mahjong is played with 3 players, and without Winds, Seasons, Flowers and one suit of Dots, Bamboo and Characters, It places special emphasis on the 5 tile giving extra points for any hand made using a 5 tile.

Other variants[]

• American Mahjong is a form of Mahjong standardized by the National Mah Jongg League^[13] and the American Mah-Jongg Association.^[14] It uses joker tiles, the Charleston, plus melds of five or more tiles, treats bonus tiles as Honors, and eschews the Chow and the notion of a standard hand. Legal hands are changed annually. Purists claim that this makes American Mahjong a separate game. In addition, the NMJL and AMJA variations, which have minor scoring differences, are commonly referred to as Mahjongg or mah-jongg (with 2 Gs, often hyphenated).
• Filipino Mahjong, sixteen tile hands. Certain tiles can be wild. Honors are treated as bonuses.
• Japanese classical Mahjong is still used in tournaments. It is closer to the Chinese classical scoring system but only the winner scores.
• Japanese Mahjong is a standardized form of Mahjong in Japan and South Korea, and is also found prevalently in video games. In addition to scoring changes, the rules of rīchi (ready hand) and dora (bonus tiles) are unique highlights of this variant. In addition, tile discards are specifically arranged in front of each player by discard order, to take discarded tiles into account during play. Some rules replace some number 5 tiles with red tiles so that they can eventually get more value.
• North Korean Mahjong or just Korean Mahjong is unique in many ways and is an excellent version for three players. One suit is omitted completely (usually the Bamboo set or 2–8 of bamboo) as well as the Seasons. The scoring is simpler and the play is faster. No melded chows are allowed and concealed hands are common. Riichi (much like its Japanese cousin) is an integral part of the game as well. The variant is popular in North Korea.^[15]
• Pussers bones is a fast-moving variant developed by sailors in the Royal Australian Navy. It uses an alternative vocabulary, such as Eddie, Sammy, Wally, and Normie, instead of East, South, West, and North respectively.
• Singaporean-Malaysian Mahjong are two similar variants with much in common with Hong Kong mahjong. Unique elements of Singaporean-Malaysian Mahjong are the use of four animal bonus tiles (cat, mouse, cockerel, and centipede) as well as certain alternatives in the scoring rules, which allow payouts midway through the game if certain conditions (such as a kong) are met. Melds may also be presented in a form different from most other variations.
• South African Mahjong is a variant of Cantonese Mahjong. It is very similar in terms of game play and follows most of the rules and regulations of Cantonese Mahjong. However, there are some minor differences in scoring, e.g. the limit on the maximum points a hand can be rewarded is three or four fan depending on the house rules. A chicken hand (gai wu) is normally considered a value hand. Depending on the house rules Flowers may also be used to boost scoring.
• Thai Mahjong has eight specialized jokers with eight extra flowers and eight animals for a total of 168 tiles.
• Vietnamese Mahjong has the same eight specialized jokers but with only eight different extra flowers for a total of 160 tiles. Modern variant triplicates or quadruplicates the jokers for a total of 176 or 184 tiles.
• Western classical Mahjong is a descendant of the version of Mahjong introduced by Babcock to America in the 1920s. Today, this term largely refers to the "Wright-Patterson" rules, used in the U.S. military, and other similar American-made variants that are closer to the Babcock rules.
• Three-player Mahjong (or 3-ka) is a simplified three-person Mahjong that involves hands of 13 tiles (with a total of 84 tiles on the table) and may use jokers depending on the variation. Any rule set can be adapted for three players; however, this is far more common and accepted in Japan, Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines. It usually eliminates one suit entirely, or tiles 2–8 in one suit leaving only the terminals. It needs fewer people to start a game and the turnaround time of a game is short—hence, it is considered a fast game. In some versions there is a jackpot for winning in which whoever accumulates a point of 10 is considered to hit the jackpot or whoever scores three hidden hands first. The Malaysian and Korean versions drop one wind and may include a seat dragon.^[16]

Equipment[]

Tables[]

Interior of an automatic mahjong table.

Mahjong playing surfaces are typically square and small enough to be within arm's length of all equipment. The edges are raised to prevent tiles from sliding off and the surface is covered in felt to limit wear on the tiles. Automatic dealing tables, often used for high stakes playing and tournaments, are able to shuffle tiles, build walls, and randomize dice. It is an elaborate device built into a table which uses two alternating sets of tiles. It prepares one wall while the players play one hand. After the hand is finished the tiles are dropped into the table and a new wall raises upwards.

Tiles[]

The following chart shows the most generic set of tiles

		Numbers
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8		9
Suits	Dots
	Bamboo
	Characters
Honors/Bonus		Winds				Dragons			Bonus
		East	South	West	North	Red	Green	White	Seasons		Flowers

There are variations that feature specific use of tiles. Some three-player versions remove the North Wind and one Chinese provincial version has no Honors. Korean Mahjong removes the bamboo suit or at least its numbers 2–8 so that terminals can be used. Japanese Mahjong rarely uses Flowers or Seasons. The Seasons are removed in Korean Mahjong, while many Southeast Asian sets have more flower series.

Wild cards and jokers[]

Some mahjong variants accept wildcard tiles. The wildcard tiles are decided at the beginning of the game by choosing one random tile. The wild card could be the immediately following tile on the wall, after distributing tiles to all players, or it could also be separately decided by a dice throw. Wildcard tiles can't be discarded and can only replace tiles in Chows. Wildcard tiles cannot replace tiles in Pongs and Kongs. For example, if a character 4 is chosen, then character 4 and the next sequential tile, character 5, can be used as wild cards in this round. (When the wildcard indicator is chosen and exposed, only 3 tiles remain of the same denomination, so the next tile in the suit will also be used as a wildcard, adding to 7 wildcard tiles for 4 players.) Also, if a tile numbered 9 is the indicator, the suits circle back to 1, after 9. Thus, the number 9 and 1 are wild cards.

Also, if the chosen tile is not in the suited tiles, the wild cards are decided in rules:

Top eight are Vietnamese jokers. Bottom four are Chinese.

The bonus tiles are not available for wild cards.

A feature of several variations of Mahjong, most notably in American mahjong, is the notion of some number of Joker tiles. They may be used as a wild card: a substitute for any tile in a hand, or, in some variations, only tiles in melds. Another variation is that the Joker tile may not be used for melding. Depending on the variation, a player may replace a Joker tile that is part of an exposed meld belonging to any player with the tile it represents.

Rules governing discarding Joker tiles also exist; some variations permit the Joker tile to take on the identity of any tile, and others only permit the Joker tile to take on the identity of the previously discarded tile (or the absence of a tile, if it is the first discard).

Joker tiles may or may not affect scoring, depending on the variation. Some special hands may require the use of Joker tiles (for example, to represent a "fifth tile" of a certain suited or honor tile).

In American Mahjong, it is illegal to pass Jokers during the Charleston.

Flowers[]

Japanese rule sets discourage the use of Flowers and Seasons. Korean rules and three-player Mahjong in the Korean/Japanese tradition use only Flowers. In Singapore and Malaysia an extra set of bonus tiles of four animals are used. The rule set includes a unique function in that players who get two specific animals get a one-time immediate payout from all players. In Taiwanese Mahjong, getting all eight Flowers and Seasons constitutes an automatic win of the hand and specific payout from all players.

Four of the flower tiles represent the four noble plants of Confucian reckoning: