Mahjong Rules

Flowers American Hong Kong#

In American mahjong, all eight flowers count as the same tile, and you use them in your hand like any other tile.

In Hong Kong play, the four flowers and four seasons are bonus tiles, and many groups play without them. When you draw one, set it aside and take a replacement from the end of the wall. Each one is numbered 1 to 4 for the seats East to North, and your own number scores a bonus. Chinese sets picture a different flower or season on each; we draw one flower for them all.

Jokers American#

American sets add eight jokers. Hong Kong play uses none. Section 5 covers what jokers can do.

Soap as zero American#

In hands that need a zero, such as hands that spell out a year, Soap stands for it.

How a claim works American Hong Kong#

Call out that you want the tile, take it, and lay the finished set face up. Then discard. Play carries on from you, so any players in between lose their turn.

In American play, you can change your mind until the tile is on your rack or you have shown tiles from your hand. A discard stays open until the next player has drawn a tile and put it on their rack, or has discarded.

When two players want the same tile American Hong Kong#

1. MahjongA claim to win comes first.
2. Pung or kongNext. In American play, if two players want the tile for a set, the player next in turn gets it.
3. ChowLast, and only for the player whose turn is next.
   Hong Kong

If two players claim the same tile to win, groups settle it in different ways, so agree on it before you play.

Pairs only to win American Hong Kong#

You can't claim a discard for a pair unless that tile completes your winning hand. American play treats a single tile the same way.

Chows only from your left Hong Kong#

You can claim a discard for a chow only from the player on your left, whose turn comes just before yours. The Chinese Official rules and Japanese riichi work the same way.

American play has no chows, so a tile that would finish a run of numbers can be claimed only when it wins the hand.

Kongs and replacement tiles Hong Kong#

A kong counts as one set, so after you make one, take a replacement tile from the end of the wall, then discard. You can turn an exposed pung into a kong only with a tile you drew yourself, never with a discard. If that fourth tile would win another player the hand, they can take it. This is called robbing the kong.

In American play, you show a claimed set and discard, with no replacement tile.

Swapping a tile for a joker American#

On your turn, once you have drawn a tile, or claimed a discard and shown the set, you can take a joker from any exposed set, even your own. Give the real tile it stands for, from your hand. You can swap more than one joker in a turn. Then discard as usual.

You can't claim a discard just to swap it for a joker, and you can't swap the other way, giving up a joker for a real tile. Jokers in the exposed sets of a dead hand can still be taken.

A discarded joker is dead American#

Once a joker is discarded, nobody can claim it, not even to win.

Jokers stay out of the Charleston American#

You can never pass a joker in the Charleston.

What makes a hand dead American#

• The wrong number of tiles.
• Exposed sets that don't fit any hand on the card.
• A hand that can't be finished, judging by the tiles already exposed and discarded.
• Exposed tiles in a hand the card marks concealed.
• An exposed set that is still wrong after you discard.
• Calling Mahjong and showing a hand that isn't one.

Calling a hand dead American#

Any player still in the hand can say that another player's hand is dead, judging only by tiles everyone can see. If that player agrees, they stop playing at once. If not, play goes on, the hand is checked when it ends, and whoever was wrong pays a penalty.

Calling Mahjong by mistake American#

If you catch the mistake before you show any tiles, take the call back, and there is no penalty. Once you have shown the hand, it is dead, and you pay the winner when the hand ends. If other players threw in their hands because of your call, and only one player can still win, you pay that player double.

A misnamed discard American#

If a player names a discard wrongly, and another player wanted the tile that was named to win, the hand ends. The player who misnamed it pays that player four times the hand's value, and the others pay nothing. If the named tile was wanted only for a set, there is no penalty. Yellow Mountain Imports' guide gives a simpler rule: a misnamed tile can't be claimed at all.

Paying in American mahjong American#

Each hand on the card shows its value. Who pays how much depends on how the hand was won.

If the winning hand has no jokers, every payment doubles again, except for hands in the card's Singles and Pairs section, which can't use jokers anyway. A player with a dead hand still pays. Each group decides what a point is worth.

Who is East next American#

After every hand, won or drawn, East moves one seat to the right.

A winning hand from the start American#

If East's first 14 tiles already make a winning hand, East declares it before the Charleston.

A drawn hand American Hong Kong#

If the wall runs out before anyone wins, the hand is a draw. In American play, nobody pays, and the next player becomes East. In Hong Kong play, the dealer usually deals again.

Scoring in Hong Kong Hong Kong#

Hong Kong hands score in faan, points for patterns such as your own flower or a pung of the round's wind. Each faan roughly doubles what the winner is paid, up to a limit. Many tables require a minimum score to win, most often 3 faan, and payments differ from group to group, so agree on both before you play.

The dealer and the rounds Hong Kong#

The dealer, East, keeps the deal after winning, and usually after a drawn hand as well. Otherwise the deal passes to the right. A full game has four rounds, named for the winds, and at least 16 hands.