What are the direction symbols in mahjong?

These tiles each feature the character for compass directions: north (北, běi), east (東, dōng), south (南, nán), and west (西, xī).

What do directions mean in mahjong?

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.

What do the symbols mean in mahjong?

Both the circles and bamboo represent ancient Chinese currency. The former represents a tong, a coin with a square hole in the middle, and the latter, strings of such coins.

What direction is clockwise in mahjong?

In Chinese tradition, the four wind tiles are shuffled face down and dealt to the players. Players then sit according to their tile and sit clockwise in the order north, west, south, east. East starts as the dealer. Modern players may simply roll the dice to determine the dealer.

What direction is wind in mahjong?

When the game begins, east is the Prevailing wind. When the player who started the game as East, becomes East again after all other players have played at least one hand as East, the south round begins, and south is the Prevailing wind.

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What does the west wind mean in mahjong?

Take a look at the picture, there are tiles with hieroglyphs in it. Those tiles are Wind tiles. And each of those Wind tiles has its own meaning. The West Wind tile symbolizes the element of metal, tiger, white color, and autumn. The South Wind tile can represent the element of fire, phoenix, red color, and summer.

Why is east and west reversed in mahjong?

Because that's were the directions are. If you're sitting at the east side of a table, west is across from you, the north side is to your right and the south side is to your left.

How do you determine who is east in mahjong?

Determining Who is East.

Each player rolls the dice in turn. The player with the highest number becomes East (dealer). The player to their right is South, followed by West and then North.

What is east rotation in mahjong?

In Hong Kong Mahjong If East (the Dealer) wins the game he stays as East. Also, in case of a Dead Hand, the wind / seating position stays in place. Otherwise, the player to the right becomes the new dealer (East) as the wind / seating position rotate counterclockwise.

What are the wind symbols in mahjong?

The winds (the first four tiles on the left) are one of six tile sets in a Mahjong game. Wind is one of two honor suits. These tiles each feature the character for compass directions: north (北, běi), east (東, dōng), south (南, nán), and west (西, xī).

What is the rarest win in mahjong?

No prize for guessing, but the Big Four Winds/Big Four Blessings winning hand has the lowest probability in a game of mahjong. With a rare 1 in 57,856 chance of happening, this combination definitely needs to go onto your Instastory!

What does wind indicator mean in mahjong?

The wind indicator is placed by the first player who deals (this player is called "Original East"), to indicate the prevailing wind, which determines the structure of an "un-American" game.

What is the direction for picking tiles from wall and playing in mah jongg?

Play continues in a counter-clockwise direction, with each player picking a tile from the wall and discarding a tile until someone calls Mah Jongg or there are no more tiles to pick (this is called a “wall game”).

What is the difference between south and East in mahjong?

Also mentioned in an earlier lesson was the concept of a “seat wind”. Each player has a seat wind that is determined relative to their position to the dealer. The dealer is east, the player to the right of the dealer is south, the player across from the dealer is west, and the player to the left of the dealer is north.

Is the dealer always east in mahjong?

Example 1: The player on the right of the dealer goes out by self-draw. (The dealer's wind is always East in Japanese rules.) The winner's hand is closed and has a closed triplet (ankō) of Souths.

What is a Pung and Kong in mahjong?

There are 3 types: Chow – a run of three tiles in the same suit. Pung – a set of three identical tiles. Kong – a set of four identical tile.

What are the hardest mahjong hands?

Big Four Blessings (大四喜) is the hardest winning hand, with a probability of only 1 in 57,856 Mahjong rounds.

What is the difference between American and Western mahjong?

A: There is no difference between American and Western Mahjongg sets. American and Western refer to the rules playing Mahjongg. Western Mahjongg follow the Wright Patterson rules, while the American Mahjongg go towards the national Mahjongg association rules.

What is the difference between Chinese mahjong and Western mahjong?

American mahjong sets have 166 tiles (Chinese sets only have 144) and include a set of racks to hold the tiles. More tiles, the addition of racks, and a larger box makes the entire set more expensive.

Should you push or fold in mahjong?

In general, you should push if: You are in tenpai and your minimum value is above 3900 points with a good wait. You are in tenpai and your minimum value is above 7700 points with a bad wait. You are 1-shanten and your worst hand development guarantees you 7700 points and a good wait.

What are the wind numbers in mahjong?

Some tile sets will have the seasons and flowers numbered 1-4; these numbers correspond to the wind direction it is associated with: 1=East, 2=South, 3=West, 4=North. Some tile sets have bonus tiles adorned with different pictures with no relation to season or flower.

What is four small winds in mahjong?

Little Four Winds is a hand that contains a pung/kong of three winds and a pair of the fourth.

What is it called when no one wins in mahjong?

Within each round, the winds / seating position will rotate as follows: East, South, West, North (counterclockwise). This also happens in the event of a dead hand (where nobody wins).

What are lucky tiles in mahjong?

What are Lucky Tiles? Lucky Tiles will provide you with more strategic choices and additional goals while playing! Each game will have a randomized number of Lucky Tiles for you to match! When a Lucky Tile is matched then up to two sets of other tiles will automatically match.