What does Hu mean in mahjong?

Winning a Game

First game or fifty-thousandth, everyone playing mahjong is aiming to hu, or win. One of the first key phrases our teacher taught us was wo hu le – the cry of the victor. Different places have different patterns but some are universal.

What does Ping Hu mean?

The Chinese term for this hand, 平和 (Mandarin: pínghé but usually pronounced as pínghú; literally a "flat or even" win), seems to indicate that this hand is very ordinary and has no value. This may seem strange to Singaporean players since the pinghu hand is worth at least one double in Singapore Style mahjong!

What is the rarest hand 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 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 do you yell in mahjong?

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

Learn how to play mahjong in 2.5 minutes

What is the secret to winning 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.

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 fu mean in mahjong?

There are two criteria for determining the winning points: han and fu, which correspond to a points table. Han is the unit for the value of yaku, which are particular patterns or conditions of a hand. Fu is the value of melds, waits and "going out".

Can you call a flower in Mah Jongg?

Mah-Jongg tiles are comprised of three suits of One through Nine: Craks (also called Characters, Wan, or Ten Thousand), Bams (also called Bamboos or Sticks), and Dots (also called Balls or Circles), and other tiles known as Winds, Dragons, and Flowers (in American Mah-Jongg, Seasons tiles are referred to as Flowers).

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.

How do you find if it is a winning hand in mahjong?

A winning hand is one in which the tiles form any number of chows, pongs, and/or kongs and one pair.

What is 13 Wonders in mahjong?

The “Thirteen Wonders” is a rare winning hand in the Chinese tile-based game of mahjong – considered one of the hardest to accomplish because it comprises the least versatile and hence most discarded tiles in the game.

Is mahjong clockwise or counterclockwise?

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 are the 4 animals in mahjong?

Singapore mahjong differs from the mahjong played in Hong Kong as it includes four animal bonus tiles: the cat, mouse, chicken and centipede. Curiously enough, these animals come as two pairs with a predator-prey relationship: the cat and the rat, as well as the chicken and the centipede.

What are all 4 flowers 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.

Can you take a Joker from a dead hand in mah jongg?

If a player who declares a wrong mahjong has an exposed hand, the Joker(s) in the exposure may be redeemed by other players with a like tile during their turn. However, if the hand becomes dead, the part of the hand that was in error is returned to the rack, and no Jokers may be redeemed.

What does C mean in mahjong?

Most hands are marked with an X at the end of the row (which means exposed) and others with a C, which denotes a concealed hand. Playing a concealed hand is more difficult, as it's not possible to call a discarded tile (more on that in a future article).

Why is it called crack 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 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.

What is white dragon 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.

When can you eat in mahjong?

You should have 13 tiles at the beginning and end of each turn. You can also chi (literally to eat), which means taking the tile discarded by the person immediately to your left. To do this, say chi, show the tiles you're putting it with (and leave them lying down), then discard a tile yourself as normal.