What do you say when you win Chinese mahjong?

It is traditional when you win a game of mahjong to say: "Sik wu." In Western circles sometimes winners will instead announce "mahjong."

How do you end a mahjong game?

The game ends when either someone declares "mahjong" or when there are no more tiles in the wall to be drawn. When a 14th tile drawn from the wall or called from a discard completes a hand on the score card, a mahjong is created. The player then declares "Mahjong" and wins the game.

What is a win in mahjong?

The basic rules of Mahjong

A set is three or four identical tiles or three consecutive tiles (also known as 'melds'), and a pair is two of the same tiles (often called 'eyes'). To win mahjong a player must form four sets and one pair. When you know you have a winning hand, you can shout 'mahjong!

What does da san yuan mean in mahjong?

The mahjong combination is: DA SAN YUAN(大三元, Three dragons). Rules: The combination of mahjong pieces must contains three 5z (red dragon), three 6z (green dragon), three 7z (white dragon).

What does sik wu mean mahjong?

Winning (Sik Wu)

When a player completes their hand of four sets and a pair they are the winner of the round (remember to shout “Sik Wu”).

Learn How to Play Chinese Mahjong Step by Step

What does Pung and Kong mean in mahjong?

A Pung - a set of 3 identical tiles e.g. 3 x Red Dragons, 3 x Two circles. A Kong - a set of 4 identical tiles. e.g. 4 x Eight of Bamboos or 4 x North Winds. A Chow - a run of 3 tiles in the same suit. A Chow does not score and so is only helpful because it can contribute to a hand that allows a player to call Mah Jong ...

What does Zhong mean in mahjong?

One tile features a red 中 (zhōng, center). The Chinese character represents 紅中 (hóng zhōng), which connotes passing the imperial exam, a hit in archery, and the Confucian virtue of benevolence. Another tile features a green 發 (fā, wealth). This character is a part of the saying, 發財 (fā cái).

What does the white dragon mean in mahjong?

The Dragons

There are three "dragons": the red dragon (chun), symbolizing the middle or animal order (including humans), the green dragon (fa), symbolizing the lower or plant order of life, the white dragon (pai pan – white tile), symbolizing the higher or spirutual order of beings.

What does Peng mean in mahjong?

Peng 碰 (pèng) – If you have two-of-a-kind in your hand, and another player at ANY point in the game discards a matching tile that would enable you to complete your set of three, proudly shout “PENG!” and before anyone has a chance to react, reach over and add the tile to your hand.

What is the difference between American Mah Jongg 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 is the strongest hand in mahjong?

Mahjong Combination: All Honours (字一色)

If you have a hand made up of either the four Winds or three Dragons, you have an All Honours winning hand. This combination only appears once every 5,200 round.

What does Dora mean in mahjong?

Dora (ドラ) are bonus tiles that add han value to a winning hand. Every kind of tile can become a dora tile. A dora tile adds the same number of han value as the amount of its corresponding "dora indicator" tiles.

What is the secret to mahjong?

Always match tiles that will free and open up the most new tiles. If you have a pair that does not open anything yet, leave it until you need it. Concentrate on matching tiles on horizontal lines, as these are usually more difficult to remove.

What is the 4 of a kind rule in mahjong?

This is a kong - four of a kind. All four of a single tile = "kong." It counts as a special sort of pung. - When you have four identical tiles concealed within the hand, you have the option of melding them, declaring the four to be a kong that counts as concealed, so you can take a replacement tile.

How long is a game of mahjong?

This depends on the level of experience of the players (newbies tend to need more time to think). With experienced players, a game typically takes around 10 minutes.

What does crack mean in mahjong?

“There are Dots, which represent coins, there are Bams, or bamboos, which represent strings of coins, and then there are Cracks, the Chinese word for character, which represents lots of money.

What is a dead hand in Mah Jongg?

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 Chinese mahjong called?

Mahjong (Chinese: 麻將; Pinyin: májiàng) is a traditional Chinese game for two to four players, though mostly played by four players. Sometimes it is played as a gambling game. Tactics, observation and memory are required to master the game.

What is the Flower symbol in mahjong?

Depending on the Mahjong set, the flowers are commonly the Plum Blossom, Iris, Bamboo, and the Chrysanthemum. These four flowers/plants represent the Four Confucian Gentlemen/women.

Why does my mahjong set have 16 flowers?

Sometimes sets come with extra tiles: extra flowers, extra jokers, extra blank tiles. Don't get all a-twitter (or all a-Facebook) over it -- it's perfectly normal for a manufacturer to add more tiles. And sometimes a previous owner may have acquired extra tiles and thrown those in, too.

What is the bird in mahjong?

According to one of the historic stories, mahjong was invented during a time in China when sparrows (meaning of mahjong in chinese) were a problem (too many).

What is a joker in mahjong?

Joker tiles (百搭牌, pinyin bǎidāpái) can be used to replace any suited or honor tile in putting together a hand subject to local restrictions. Four jokers are sometimes used in certain variants of Southeast Asian and Chinese mahjong, including Shanghainese mahjong. American mahjong uses eight jokers.

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.