Have you ever heard about Mahjong?
Mahjong, one of the Chinese quintessences, is no longer an exclusive entertainment for Chinese. A great deal of expats are now falling in love with such mysterious game.
“Give me the fish! I wanna eat! ”（给我一条，吃！）
“One ball, two ball, three ball.”（一饼，二饼，三饼）
“Billiard table!” （白板！）
Seriously???
Oh well, don’t be so surprise, they are foreigners who are playing Mahjong...
Here, let’s demystify Mahjong and how to play it!👇
Components
136 tiles, including 36 characters, 36 bamboos, and 36 circles, which are in turn divided into four sets of numbers 1-9 in each suit. There are also 16 Wind tiles and 12 Dragon tiles.
(Many sets also include 8 bonus tiles: 4 flowers and 4 seasons, but these are not needed in the basic game.)
See ↓
1 pair of dice, to determine the deal
4 racks (optional)
Play
Total players: 4
Roll the dice to determine the dealer.
Each player builds a wall of facedown tiles in front of himself, 17 tiles long and 2 tiles high, which turns out a large square wall of tiles in the center of the table.
Each player receives 13 tiles, while the dealer starts with an extra 14th tile.
Rules
“Hand End”: the first priority. The hand ends when a player declares Mahjong and reveals a complete 14-tile hand of four sets and a pair. If nobody has revealed a Mahjong by the time wall runs out of tiles, the game is considered a draw and the dealer redeals.
“Pung”: three identical tiles. When calling “pung”, a player turns the completed pung face-up, discards a different tile, and the turn passes to the next player.
“Kong”: four of the same tile (like an extended “Pung”), but any player completing a kong immediately draw an extra tile before discarding.
“Chow”(“Eat”): a run of three consecutive numbers in the same suit. If nobody claims the discarded but it completes a chow for you , you may claim it at the beginning of your turn by saying “chow”, and turn your “chow” face-up. Then discard a different tile and play continues as normal.
Draw the next tile: if the discard does not complete a set for you, the on your turn you draw the next tile from the wall.
Remember:
Only the most recently discard tile can be claimed.
A single tile cannot be used in two sets at once.
Goal
Get a “Mahjong”, which consists of getting all 14 of your tiles into four sets (“pung”/”chow”/”kong”), and one pair (two identical tiles). Now, you win!
Hey, dude, join?
HACOS,Business Services Solutions Master