A Triplet is composed of any three identical tiles of the same suit. (Hak Jee)
The Eyes can be any 2 identical tiles. (Ngan, Jiang)
1.4 A Few Examples of Winning Hands
A. Chicken Hand: Consists of Sequences and Triplets of more than one suit. It is the easiest way to assemble a winning hand.
B. Common Hand: Consists of only Sequences of more than one suit.
C. All Triplets Hand: Consists of only Triplets of more than one suit.
D. Mixed One-Suit Hand: Combines tiles in one suit and Honor tiles.
E. Pure One-Suit Hand: Consists of tiles in only one suit.
F. All Honor Tiles Hand: Consists of Honor tiles only.
G. 13-Terminal Tile Hand: Consists of one each of numbers one and nine of each Common suit and one each of the Honor tiles, plus one additional tile that matches any of the tiles in the hand.
1.5 Players and Their Respective Playing Positions
A game of mah jongg requires four players. The players sit around a square table, and the game proceeds in a counterclockwise direction. Each player calls the player on his or her right the Lower House, the player on his or her left the Upper House, and the player sitting across the table the Opposite House.
There is a Dealer for each hand of the game. His or her sole function is to commence the game by casting the dice and breaking the walls of tiles.
During each and every hand of the game, the Dealer is called the East House. His or her Lower House is the South House, the Opposite House is the West House, and the Upper House is the North House.
1.6 Playing Directions
The allocation of each player’s seat, the designation of the First Dealer, and the playing of the game proceed in a counterclockwise direction. The order in which the players take turns to retrieve a tile and discard a tile also travels counterclockwise. As has been pointed out, each player calls the player on his or her right the Lower House, the player in front of him or her the Opposite House, and the player to the left the Upper House. The breaking of the walls and the drawing of tiles from the wall proceed in a clockwise direction, however.
Retrieving and discarding tiles
Breaking of the walls and drawing of tiles
1.7 Different Rules of Mah Jongg Game
It is natural that a game played by many ethnic groups for centuries would have developed variations and even very different sets of rules. Today, the most commonly known rules of play are:
(1) The Old Rules, also known as the 13–tile Cantonese Game
(2) The New Rules, also known as the Shanghai Game
(3) The 12-Tile Game
(4) The 16-Tile Game, also known as the Taiwanese Game
In all of these games, the rules are basically the same. The major difference lies in the method of scoring, which changes according to the many variations in the combinations of tiles and the sets in a winning hand. Minor differences include the method of seat arrangement, the selection of the First Dealer, the construction of the wall, the discarding of tiles, the displaying of the revealed sequence, terminology, and so on.
This book provides instructions for all four versions of the game. The Cantonese Game (Old Rules) is considered the most practical for beginners to learn because of its simpler scoring system. Of the four games, the most complicated is the Shanghai Game, due to its many combinations.
CHAPTER TWO
THE CANTONESE GAME
(The Old Rule 13-Tile Game)
Mah jongg is a game of strategy, with one player’s personality and behavior often affecting another player’s chances of winning. An inexperienced or careless player can inadvertently help an opponent to assemble a high-scoring hand. Mah jongg is also a game of luck. Players believe strongly in Feng Shui, a belief that supernatural powers can bring good luck to a person occupying a particular seat at a certain time. For this reason, rightly or wrongly, players can become very finicky about where they sit. Thus, it is not difficult to understand why seat allocation is an important part of the game.
2.1 Seat Allocation (Jup Wai)
Once all four players are seated randomly around a square table, any player may pick out four different Wind tiles and place them face down on the table. After these Wind tiles have been thoroughly mixed, they are stacked up one on top of another.
One player casts a