What is the order of play 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.

Who starts first in mahjong?

Playing the game

The dealer in the 'east' begins the game by discarding their 14^th tile into the centre of the table. The player to the dealer's right (in the south position) takes his or her turn by picking up one tile and discarding one tile.

How many tiles do you start with in Mah Jongg?

walls come out to the left.

PLAYERS MUST HAVE 13 TILES IN THEIR HANDS AT ALL TIMES. The only time a player may have 14 tiles is at the beginning of a game if she is East, at the moment of picking a tile and before discarding, and at the time she makes a Mah-Jongg.

What is the arrangement of tiles at the beginning of mahjong?

The game of Mahjong begins with the shuffling of tiles. All tiles are to be face-down at this stage. After shuffling, the tiles are arranged in walls that are 17 tiles wide and 2 tiles high. Each player moves a wall to their front, forming a square at the middle of the board.

What is traditional mahjong layout?

The 144 tiles are arranged in a four-layer pattern with their faces upwards. A tile is said to be open or exposed if it can be moved either left or right without disturbing other tiles. The goal is to match open pairs of identical tiles and remove them from the board, exposing the tiles under them for play.

Learn how to play mahjong in 2.5 minutes

How do you start a mahjong game?

In traditional mahjong, you make a wall of tiles in front of each player before dealing, 36 tiles each in stacks of 2. Then you push all the walls together to form a square. The East Wind throws 2 dice, then counts from the right to that point in the wall and pushes 2 stacks of tiles forward to put in their hand.

How many points do you start with in mahjong?

The Japanese scoring system is the system that is found in many Mahjong video games. In this variation, each player begin with a start score. Usually, this number is either 25,000 or 30,000. However, it can be any agreed start value.

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 is the best 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 is a Pung 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 do you say when you win in mahjong?

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

Who has priority Chow or Pong in mahjong?

Pung & Kong has priority over Chow. If Two Players want to claim the same tile to win, 1st player to claim the tile who sits to the right of the thrower wins.

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).

How long is a full 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. When playing online against computer bots, games can be significantly faster and will typically take around 6 minutes on average.

What is the 0 tile in Mah Jongg?

0: soap (white dragon) - when it is being used as a zero in a year hand.

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 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 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 do you become a good mahjong player?

What is the best tile to discard in mahjong?

Honors tiles (Winds and Dragons) are the best choice for discarding because they are hardest to work with; you cannot make sequences out of them, only Pungs or Kongs ("sets").

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).