What are the winds in mahjong?

The winds are east, south, west, and north, beginning with east. 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).

How do you use winds in mahjong?

In a complete session of Mah Jong, which might take a number of hours to complete, once each player has been East wind, South becomes the prevailing wind. Once South is finished, the prevailing wind becomes West and finally North. The session ends when each player has played as the prevailing North wind.

What is the wind of the round in mahjong?

When the game begins East Wind is always 'Wind of the Round'. If East Wind gets Mahjong he/she keeps East Wind. This can occur 3 times before moving to the right. If any other player goes Mahjong East Wind moves round one place to the right – anti-clockwise – so East moves one place to the right = South etc..

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.

What does the wind indicator do in mahjong?

Wind indicators are used to display the current wind. It is usually held with East (dealer). In American mahjong it is referred to as a bettor, as a fifth player will use it to place is bet on which player will win. They come in different shapes and sizes.

Mahjong 101 - How the wind work? Why 4? 麻雀不離四: 風、圈、莊(東南西南)#mahjong #howto #easy #wind #orientation

What are the hands with 4 winds in mahjong?

Big Four Winds （大四喜）is a hand that contains a pung/kong of each of the four winds. In some variations the player who discarded the wind tile that completes the fourth pung/kong when three are already melded, pays the full value of the hand for all players, if that player wins on a self-drawn tile.

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 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!

How many winds are in American mahjong?

The four types of winds are: East, South, West and North, four tiles of each type, 16 tiles in total. For the convenience of American players, letters "E" (for East), "S" (for South), "W" (for West) and "N" (for North) are usually written on the tiles.

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.

Is there a trick to beating mahjong?

Have a clear plan of attack – Think about the direction you want to take your hand and stick with it, while also remaining flexible. Picking up tiles for the sake of it won't work, and patience will always win out in the end. If your strategy isn't working, change tactics and look for other winning possibilities.

Is mahjong a skill or luck?

Mahjong game is dependent on skills , not luck. Although sometimes , getting a wrong card can also result to winning a game. There are instances where a player have very poor basic cards but good skills, thus they utilized rigorous card control to prevent other players from winning.

What wind is the dealer in mahjong?

For any game of mahjong, the player assigned the East Wind is the dealer. The dealer begins play in each hand and receives more points when winning and often loses more points when losing.

Which is harder American or Chinese mahjong?

A: There are around forty known mah-jongg variants - and more than a dozen Chinese variants! Those other variants are not harder to learn than American mah-jongg. American is the hardest to learn of them all.

What does Kong mean in mahjong?

There are three main types of melds: a Pong (three identical tiles), a Kong (four identical tiles), and a Chow (three suited tiles of the same suit in numerical sequence).

What is a dead hand in mahjong?

A hand is considered “dead” if the player has too many or too few tiles. A player should always have 13 tiles, except in the middle of her turn (after picking up and before discarding), as the “dealer” (before discarding the first tile to start the game), and when she has called Mah Jongg.

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).

Why was mahjong banned?

Ironically, mahjong was outlawed under his rule. The early communists viewed it as an unnecessary distraction for the masses, and disliked its links to gambling and capitalism. It was not until 1985 the ban was lifted. Today the game is as popular as ever.

What is the easiest mahjong style?

The simplest ruleset is Hong Kong Old Style (HKOS). It has simple scoring and very few special hands. Other forms may have few special hands but complex scoring - or simple scoring but many special hands to learn - or complex scoring and many special hands to learn (like American Mahjong).

What is a hot wall or cold wall in Mah Jongg?

The last stacks of tiles in the wall to be played are sometimes referred to as a "hot wall." If a discarder throws a "hot" tile during this wall (a "hot tile" is one that the discarder can't account for at least 3 of the same tile - either in an exposure, or in their hand, or on the table) and that tile gives someone ...

What is the bird in mahjong?

The number one tile ​does not have a bamboo stick on it. Instead, it has a bird sitting on bamboo, so this set is sometimes also called "bird." There 36 bamboo tiles in a set.

Who is East Wind in mahjong?

Mahjong is played by four players, each of which is associated with a wind, denoted the player's seat wind. East is the starting player. South is sitting at East's right, West is sitting across from East, and north is sitting at East's left.

Can you use a joker with winds in mahjong?

It is a collection of four single tiles. It is not considered a kong and no jokers may be used as they are four individual tiles and a joker cannot be used as a single tile or in a pair. An individual wind tile may never be called for a "NEWS" exposure unless it is called for Mah Jongg only.