Which type of mahjong is most popular?

Hong Kong: This is also known as the Cantonese version, and it is believed to be the most popular version of mahjong. This popular version, like many others, is very similar to the American version.

What is the most common form of mahjong?

Hong Kong Mahjong (also Cantonese Mahjong) – most common form of Mahjong; very similar to the Chinese Traditional. Japanese Mahjong – most common Mahjong found in Japan, and can also be seen in video/arcade games; Japanese Mahjong uses riichi and dora rules.

What is the best mahjong version?

Zung Jung and Riichi are the best choices. If you care about a community, competition, online play, tournaments, strategy articles and so on, choose Riichi. If you just want a game to play with your friends, choose Zung Jung. It's the easiest ruleset to learn that is still interesting.

Which is better American or Chinese mahjong?

When in doubt, we recommend that you purchase an American mahjong set. American mahjong sets contain all of the tiles for Chinese mahjong as long as you substitute dragons for the "zhong"and "fa" tiles.

What is the difference between Chinese mah-jongg and American Mah Jongg?

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.

Types of mahjong players

Is American Mahjong harder than 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.

Is American Mahjong hard to learn?

In general, the rules of Mahjong are not that difficult to learn. However, American Mah Jongg requires players to familiarize themselves with the valid hands, and these hands change on a regular basis (generally annually).

Can you play Chinese mahjong with an American Mahjong set?

NOTE: If you buy an American set, you can use it to play Chinese mah-jongg as well (there are more than the required number of tiles present). But Chinese sets cannot be used to play American mah-jongg (not enough tiles).

What is the easiest version of mahjong to learn?

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 the best winning hand in mahjong?

All Chows without any animal or bonus tiles (平和) and Mixed Suit (混一色) the more common winning hands in a game of Mahjong. These two combinations have a 1 in 16 chance of happening throughout a round of mahjong. It is a winning hand which consists only of consecutive numbers in sets of three.

What is the American version of mahjong?

American mahjong is played with four players using mah jongg tiles. The goal of the game is to be the first, by picking and discarding, to match one's tiles to a specific hand from the annually distributed scorecard published by the National Mah Jongg League (NMJL) and American Mah-Jongg Association (AMJA).

What are the most luxurious mahjong sets?

What is classic mahjong called?

"Old Hong Kong mahjong" uses the same basic features and rules as the majority of the different variations of the game. This form of mahjong uses all of the tiles of the most commonly available sets, includes no exotic complex rules, and has a relatively small set of scoring sets/hands with a simple scoring system.

How do I choose a mah-jongg set?

You should base your selection on: (1) the type of Mah-Jongg you wish to play; (2) whether or not you can read the Chinese characters of the Craks suit without Arabic numerals; (3) what looks and feels nice to you. If you buy a beautiful set but can't use it to play, that's probably not the best set for you.

Are there two types of mahjong?

This game features jokers, the Charleston, and five-tile melds. American Mahjong is therefore considered a separate game by purists. Mahjongg and mah-jongg (with two Gs) are other game variations that are only slightly different in their scoring.

What is the difference between American and Western mahjong?

A: There is no difference between American and Western Mahjongg sets. American and Western refer to the rules playing Mahjongg. Western Mahjongg follow the Wright Patterson rules, while the American Mahjongg go towards the national Mahjongg association rules.

How long does a game of mahjong take?

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.

Why is there American mahjong?

The game offered young Chinese Americans a way to connect with both cultures, according to historian Annelise Heinz. After World War II, the game became popular among Jewish American women: Young mothers, in particular, forged American mahjong culture during the 1950s and 1960s.

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 play mahjong by yourself?

Mahjong solitaire can be played either solo or with a partner, in which case the aim is to accumulate the most pairs, to be the last one to match a pair, or to score the most points.

How long does it take to become good at Mahjong?

"You don't learn it in one sitting. It's something you learn and build on what you learn." Because there is a lot to absorb, Link said it usually takes new players a few weeks to get it. Even then, they will need lots of playing time — at least once a week — between sessions.

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.

Does Mahjong improve IQ?

In this study, children who continuously participated in the Mahjong classes for 1 year demonstrated increased IQ scores. By subscale index, the increase in VCI and PSI was large, whereas the increase in PSI was significant compared with the historical control group (p = 0.02).