FOR DUMMYSBy Joel D. Harris 2011

Game can be traced to Ning Po China around later part of 1890

MAHJONG GAME PIECES

Consists of 144 tiles in total plus wind indicator and 3 dice

1,2,3,4 CIRCLES

5,6,7,8,9 CIRCLES

1,2,3,4 BAMBOOS

5,6,7,8,9 BAMBOOS

1,2,3,4 THOUSANDS

5,6,7,8,9 THOUSANDS

WINDS: EAST (E), SOUTH (S), WEST (W), NORTH (N)

RED DRAGON, GREEN DRAGON, WHITE DRAGON

FLOWERS: PLUM (1), ORCHID (2), CHRYSANTEMUM (3), BAMBOO (4)

SEASONS: SPRING(1), SUMMER(2), AUTUMN (3), WINTER (4)

WIND INDICATOR

3 DICE

PUNG SET OF 3 IDENTICAL TILES FROM SUITS,DRAGONS OR WINDS

SHEUNG A RUN OF 3 TILES FROM SAME SUIT 9,1,2 NOT PERMISSIBLE

KONG 4 IDENTICAL TILES FROM ANY SUITS,DRAGONS OR WINDS

Example hand of Mahjong!

TABLE- USE A 36 INCH SQUARE TABLE IS IDEAL SIZE

BONE PILE MIX UP ALL PIECES

BUILD YOUR 4 WALLS- 136 TILES ONLY EXCLUDING 4 FLOWER TILES AND 4 SEASON TILES. EACH PLAYER BUILDS A 2 TIER WALL IN FRONT OF THEM , EACH CONSISTS OF 34 TILES (17 BLOCKS) MIDDLE SQUARE IS KNOWN AS THE WELL FOR UNWANTED TILES THROWN WITH FACE UP.

ROUNDS AND CHANGING ROUNDy MINIMUM LENGTH OF PLAY: 4 ROUNDS (EAST

ROUND, SOUTH ROUND, WEST ROUND, AND NORTH ROUND) y EG: WHEN EAST ROUND GOES THROUGH EAST,SOUTH,WEST,NORTH POSITION AND THE JONG RETURNS TO THE EAST POSITION PLAYER, THIS ROUND WILL BECOME SOUTH ROUND. ETC. y NORMALLY 4 GAMES IN EACH ROUND, MAKING A TOTAL OF 16 GAMES OR MORE IF REPEATING HANDS.

The Jong player throws the dice is always in the East position, the right hand side is South position (lower player),opposite is West and to the left is North (upper player) The Jong throws the dice to decide the starting point of picking tiles in each new game. Direction of game goes Counter -clockwiseWestUpper player Opposite player

North East Jong

South

Lower player

y When one player (except the Jong) wins Mahjong or

Sheek-Woo the lower player will become Jong and the players position rotates relatively. y As according to the direction diagram Lower player will become East position and throws dice. Opposite player will become South position, Upper player will become West position and the Jong will become North position.South West North East Jong

If the Jong wins the game Mahjong or Sheek-Woo, the position remains the same and start a new game Starting a Game: y Throws three dice into the Well after building the walls. y Decide starting position: Using the sum of the dice, counting counter-clockwise from the player (see (a) in the diagram below) who throws the dice to decide the starting position of the East Round.Player throws dice and rolls 4.

y When the dice throwing sequence returns to the

starting position again after a Round (each Round goes through East, South, West and North position) the name of the next Round will be South Round, subsequently followed by West and North.

Picking the tiles:

Based on the total of dice equal to 4. see diagram. 1)counting counter-clockwise from th Jong East the sum of the dice would end at the upper players position North. 2) Counting 4 from the right hand side of the upper players wall Clockwise. 3) The Jong (East) picks the next 4 tiles (2 blocks ab as shown above. Followed by the South,West and North players 4 tiles each, repeat until each player has 12 tiles. Arrange tiles facing toward each player.

y 4)the Jong (East) take one tile from top tier,skips 1

block and take one tile on top (E below), the succeeding players will take one tile in turn. (see diagram below)

The Jong (East) has 14 tiles, the rest of the players have 13 tiles each.

y Special case if the sum of the dice is 17: y A)Jong counts from East counter-clockwise up to 17,

the starting wall is in front of Jong (East) y B) From right hand side of the East wall counting to the end are 17, then the starting point is from the Upper Player (North) where the Jong will pick up two blocks 4 tiles see ab below.

y C) The Jong (East) discards one unwanted tile face

up in the Well , then Lower player (South) picks up one tile (see S in diagram below) and throws one unwanted tile into the Well

y D) The unwanted tile may be good for one player to

make up a set as in the following way:

y (1) Pung (3 identical tiles) y Pung is shouted out, collect the tile from the Well

put three identical tiles face up, place them at his/her corner and throw out one unwanted tile. (Any players can claim) Pung . y (2)Sheung ( a run of 3 tiles in same suit) y Sheung can only be allowed for the Lower Player (South) to pick up in order to make up a run in the same suit. y When Sheung is called, player shows three tiles and throws one unwanted tile.

y (3) Kong (4 identical tiles) y If the player has 3 identical tiles in hand which match

the unwanted tile, Kong is shouted, put four tiles face up, place them at his/her corner, and then pick up one tile from the very end of the Wall then discard one unwanted tile. Any player can have Kong regardless of their position.y If a player picks up an identical tile from the Wall

matching the other 3 tiles in hand, face up 4 tiles , picke another tile from the very end of the Wall , and throw one unwanted tile.

y (4) If a player wants the unwanted tile to win

Mahjong or Sheek-Woo , then he/she have priority to win regardless of others Pung , Kong or Sheung . y (5) Priority: y Kong has priority over Sheung y Pung has priority over Sheung y E)If the unwanted tile is not useful to any player, the next player will pick up one tile from the Wall , rearranges the tiles and throws one unwanted tile. Then followed by the next player. y F)A game is finished when someone wins Sheek-woo or Mahjong .

y If Jong wins the game, the position remain the same. y If other player win ( Sheek-Woo or Mahjong ), y The lower position will become the Jong , then throws

dice and the rest of the position will shift relatively. y G) When there are only 14 tiles (7 blocks) left on the Wall the game has to be repeated with the same Jong and Direction positions. y (10) Winning Hand ( Sheek-Woo or Mahjong ) y A) Every winning hand must have a pair of Ngan (2 identical tiles) and any combination of Pung , Sheung , or Kong except the special hands. Player could pick up a winning tile from other player s unwnted tile to win Sheek-Woo or Mahjong .

y B) If two players are after the same tile to win Sheek-

Woo or Mahjong , the Lower player to the player who throws the unwanted tile will take precedence. y (11) Dead hand y If a player discovers too many or too few tiles in hand, then it is considered as dead hand. The player cannot win this game Sheek-Woo or Mahjong and must continue to play until the game is finished. y (12)Basic scoring y A)Each player has 200 chips to start, each chip represents one point. y B) The player who discards the winning tile has to pay double points in comparison to the rest of the players.

C) If the player picks a winning tile from the Wall ,every player has to pay double points. HAPPY MAHJONGING!!!

EACH PLAYER ROLLS DICE, HIGHEST STARTS THE GAME

DICE MUST BOUNCE OFF OF A WALL WHEN YOU THROW IT TO COUNT.

Roll 4 stack 4 pieces on top of wall

th 4

Pass out first 8 pieces to each player

Pass out remaining 8 pieces to each player

PLAYER 1 HAND

PLAYER 1 HAND

PLAYER 1 HAND

PLAYER 2 HAND

Player 2 hand

Player 2 hand

Player 3 hand

Player 3 hand

Player 3 hand

Player 3 hand

Player 4 hand

Player 4 hand

Player 4 hand

Example hand of Pong

Example hand of Chow

Example hand of putting like piece asleep

Mahjong rules of the Gamey Mah Jongg (or "Maajh", as it is usually called) is a fascinating rummy-like game played with y y y y y y

tiles rather than cards. The game originated in China, dating back to the time of Confucius. It was originally played solely by the ruling classes; the Mandarins refused to permit other inhabitants of the country to enjoy the pleasure of this aristocratic pastime. The introduction of Ma Cheuck, the game of the Sparrows, to all classes was met with instant popularity. To this day, Mah Jongg remains the most popular game in the Orient. Interestingly, the rules in North China differ from those in South China. There are several versions of Maajh, but each fall under two broad categories: American Mah Jongg and Chinese Mah Jongg. American Maajh differs from International Maajh in several ways: It uses a card of Standard Hands, against which all games are played; these cards are changed annually. It uses more tiles, notably the Joker. The game is started with "Charleston", or the passing of 3 unwanted tiles from one player to another. It uses Jokers to complete quints and sextets in several combinations of hands. Mah Jongg is enjoying a resurgence in popularity, with millions of dedicated players around the world and a variety of Internet and computer versions. A very small amount of time and effort is required to master [become familiar with] the elementary principles of the game.Your patience in mastering the fine points of Mah Jongg will be repaid many times by the keen enjoyment invariably derived from the game.