The Book of Mah Jong. Amy Lo

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      AMY LO

      TUTTLE PUBLISHING

       Tokyo • Rutland, Vermont • Singapore

      Published by Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd., with editorial offices at 364 Innovation Drive, North Clarendon, VT 05759 and 61 Tai Seng Avenue, #02-12 Singapore 534167.

      Copyright © 2001 Amy Lo

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher.

      LCC Card No. 2002727002

      ISBN: 978-1-462-91402-9 (ebook)

      Printed in Singapore

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      North America, Latin America & Europe

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      Contents

INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER ONE	The Game of Mahjong
1.1	The Tiles
1.2	Accessories
1.3	A Hand of Tiles
1.4	A Few Examples of Winning Hands
1.5	Players and Their Respective Playing Positions
1.6	Playing Directions
1.7	Different Rules of Mahjong Game
CHAPTER TWO	The Cantonese Game
2.1	Seat Allocation
2.2	Building the Walls
2.3	Designating the First Dealer
2.4	Breaking the Walls
	2.4.1 Leaping the Tiles
2.5	Matching the Tiles
2.6	Claiming a Discarded Tile
	2.6.1 Sheung — To Match a Sequence
	2.6.2 Pung — To Match a Triplet
	2.6.3 Revealed and Concealed Sets
	2.6.4 Gong
	2.6.5 Priority in Claiming Discards
2.7	When to Declare a Win
2.8	Failing to Claim a Discard to Declare Pung or a Win
2.9	The Dealer and the Duration of a Game
2.10	Scoring
2.11	Computing the Fans
2.12	Awarding the Winner
	2.12.1 Jit Woo — To Intercept a Winning Hand
	2.12.2 Table of Awards
2.13	Payine the Winner
2.14	Bao — Penalty to the Risk Taker
2.15	Penalties
	2.15.1 Falsely Declaring a Win
	2.15.2 Long or Short Hand
2.16	Fortune Hand — a Draw
2.17	Playing with Flower Tiles
	2.17.1 Scoring for Flower Tiles
2.18	Five-Player Game — Dreaming
2.19	Three-Player Game
CHAPTER THREE	Basic Strategy
3.1	Speed
3.2	Taking Advantage of Opportunities
3.3	Keeping Alert
3.4	Safe Discards
3.5	Improving Your Winning Chance
3.6	Improving Your Hand for a Higher Score
3.7	Winning Probabilities
CHAPTER FOUR	Courtesies
CHAPTER FIVE	The Shanghai Game
5.1	Terminology
5.2	Designating the Chair of the First Dealer
5.3	Choosing the First Dealer
5.4	Building the Walls
5.5	Discards
5.6	Displaying Revealed Sequences
5.7	Fortune Hand
5.8	Assembling a Revealed 13-Terminal Tile Hand
5.9	Scoring
5.10	Computing the Fans
5.11	Awarding the Winner
CHAPTER SIX	The 12-Tile Game
6.1	Winning Probabilities
CHAPTER SEVEN	The 16-Tile or Taiwanese Game
7.1	Seat Allocation
7.2	Building the Walls
7.3	Designating the First Dealer, Breaking the Walls, Revealing Flower Tiles, and Drawing Make-up Tiles
7.4	Shuh
7.5	Garng
7.6	Winners
7.7	Scoring

      INTRODUCTION

      The Mahjong Game

      Mahjong is called "Mahjek," which means "sparrow," by Cantonese players. The derivative of this name is uncertain, but it may have something to do with the sound of the sparrow and the fact that mahjong is such a noisy game. It may also describe the players' arms and how they constantly and quickly move the tiles, looking similar to jumping sparrows. Or it may refer back to the old days when seamen played mahjong at sea and the wind blew the game cards (mahjong was originally played with cards) like a group of sparrows flying away.

      For the Chinese, as well as many other Asians, mahjong is a way of life, a favorite pastime that has been fully absorbed into the daily culture. Indeed, in many societies, the typical topic for opening a conversation is talk of weather or sports, but arguably the most prevalent icebreaker in the Chinese community is the previous evening's mahjong score. The game is played at home, in private clubs, and at social occasions—birthdays,