What direction do you draw tiles in mahjong?

During the course of play, players always take turns counterclockwise (even during the deal) - and tiles are always removed clockwise from the wall (even during the deal). Keep on going like that until every player has taken 6 stacks (12 tiles).

What direction do you pick tiles in mahjong?

The Deal. Starting after the break (i.e. continuing in a clockwise direction around the wall), four tiles are dealt to each player in turn starting with East and working anti-clockwise until each player has 12 tiles.

Is it clockwise or counter-clockwise 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 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 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).

How to Play Singapore Mahjong! Part 2: How to Play & Draw Tiles

Why are north and south backwards 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.

What is the rotation of east in mahjong?

After a game is completed (whether by a winning hand or no winner after the last tile in the wall has been picked), the player to the right becomes the new dealer (East) as the wind / seating position rotate counterclockwise.

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 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 ...

Is there a trick to 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.

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 is the difference between American and Chinese mahjong?

What is the difference between American and Chinese mahjong? Traditional Chinese mahjong sets have 144 tiles, while American version is played with eight additional joker tiles and different score cards.

What does mahjong mean in English?

or mah-jongg (ˌmɑːˈdʒɒŋ ) noun. a game of Chinese origin, usually played by four people, in which tiles bearing various designs are drawn and discarded until one player has an entire hand of winning combinations. Word origin. from Chinese, literally: sparrows.

Can you call for Mah Jongg on a closed hand?

A hand with a C is a closed hand and if a tile you need is discarded, you may not call it from the table. If a tile you need is discarded, and you are playing an open hand, you may call the tile to complete a pung, a kong, a quint or to make mah-jongg.

Can you take a joker from a dead hand in Mah Jongg?

Can you redeem a Joker from a “dead” hand? A. Yes. You may exchange Jokers from any exposures that were made before the hand was declared “dead.” Once a hand is declared “dead,” any Jokers that were exposed at the same time as that declaration cannot be redeemed as that is when the error was made.

Can you call a joker for Mah Jongg?

One of the most important rules of Mahjong is that a player cannot use a joker for a single or pair. A joker can substitute for a tile(s) in a pung, kong, or quint combination. Accordingly, a player cannot use a joker for “NEWS” or for the year (ex. “2021”), as these are a group of singles.

Why are mahjong directions reversed?

Going counterclockwise around the table, players' winds are East, South, West, North. In Chinese mah-jongg, seat winds do not correspond to the expected compass directions on a map (East, North, West, South) as if looking down on the table from the heavens. They were never intended to!

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.

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. The player also has two Whites as the pair (toitsu) and the winning tile is a White.

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 is the 1 4 7 rule in mahjong?

o The "1-4-7 rule" is a good playing strategy (for all forms of Mah-Jongg except American (style similar to NMJL) in which there are no "chows"). If the player to your right discards a 4, and you don't have another of those to discard, you /might/ be all right if you discard a 1 or a 7.

What is a Pung and Kong in mahjong?

Types of sets

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.

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.