The Rules for Modern American Mah-jongg
(Prepared by L. Fisher as posted on https://sites.google.com/site/mahjrules/home)
It is important to remember that there are many different kinds of Mah-Jongg. The rules that follow are known as modern American rules. Mah-Jongg is played with four players, and a fifth person may be a bettor. The object of modern American Mah-Jongg is to make the tiles match up with a hand on a Mah-Jongg card.
The National Mah Jongg League publishes a card each year at the end of March. The standard sized card costs $14, and the large print card is $15. You may purchase the card on their website, www.nationalmahjonggleague.org, or by mail. Make check payable to National Mah Jongg League and send to PO Box 50003, Newark, NJ 07101.
When you order a card, you become a member of the League and receive their yearly bulletin. There are other organizations that publish mahjongg cards, but the League is the most popular, with approximately 500,000 members.
The rules below are not the entirety but will get you started.
The modern American Mah-Jongg set has 152 tiles. The tiles consist of:
SUITS
CRAKS (Chinese characters) - 1 through 9 - four each.
BAMS (Bamboo) - 1 through 9 - four each. (1 bam looks like a bird!)
DOTS (Circles) 1 through 9 - four each.
DRAGONS:
(May look like dragons or Chinese symbols)
Four RED dragons
Four WHITE dragons also called SOAP
Four GREEN dragons
WINDS: Four each of:
North, East, West, South
FLOWERS - 8 flowers usually depicting flowers but may show other pictures or scenes.
JOKERS - 8 tiles that usually say "Joker" but may have other design.
Start by mixing tiles face down. Then each player builds a wall in front of the rack - nineteen tiles long and two tiles high. All tiles are used to build the walls.
One person is selected to be the dealer, known as “East.” You can choose East by throwing dice (highest is east) or arbitrarily choosing a player.
East must break the wall by throwing two dice. The number on the dice indicates where to make the break. For example, if East throws 10, starting from the right of the wall, ten stacks of two get counted out and separated from the remaining tiles in the wall. The ten stacks are reserved until the end of the game. The remaining tiles are pushed out to the center of the table. East takes four tiles (two groups of two) from pushed out part. Then the player to the right of East takes four tiles and then the next player to the right takes four, etc. When East's wall has no more tiles, the player to the left of east pushes out the wall and players continue to pick until each player has three groups of four (12 tiles).
When each player has 12 tiles, East then picks the first tile on top and third tile on top (1 and 3) which gives East 14 tiles. The player to the right of East takes the first bottom tile, the next player takes the tile on top, and then the last tile gets picked so that each player has 13 tiles and East has 14. After all players have their deal, each player can place tiles in the sloping part of the rack facing the player (like Scrabble tiles). Players organize their tiles and get ready for the Charleston. (This is the hardest part! Start by putting pairs together and organize by category. See section on reading the card.)
3. PASSING - also known as "Charleston"
Tiles must be passed face down and placed in front of or alongside the player for whom the tiles are intended (not in the center of the table). Do not look at the tiles passed to you until you have passed tiles away.
Passing is organized into two "Charlestons," as follows:
First Charleston (compulsory):
Each player passes 3 tiles to the player on the RIGHT; then Each player passes 3 tiles to the player ACROSS; then Each player passes 3 tiles to the player to the LEFT.
At the end of the first Charleston, any player may decide to halt the passing and proceed to the final Optional pass. If no one halts the passing, then the second Charleston begins, in which:
Each player passes 3 tiles to the player to the LEFT; then
Each player passes 3 tiles to the player ACROSS; then
Each player passe 3 tiles to the player to the RIGHT.
BLIND PASS (“steal”): A player is permitted to STEAL one, two or three tiles on the last pass of each Charleston. For example, if a player only has one tile to pass, player may use two tiles that were received and add them to the one tile, making three tiles to pass to the next player. A player may only "steal" a tile on the FIRST LEFT and LAST RIGHT and may not look at the tiles “stolen.”
At the end of the second Charleston, an OPTIONAL pass is permitted. The players exchange either 0, 1, 2 or 3 tiles with the player opposite. Players exchange the same number of tiles, so if one person wants 3 and another wants 2, only two tiles get passed.
During the passing, players are concentrating on the card and how the tiles they are receiving can fit into a potential hand and must also be careful not to pass tiles that are too helpful to other players. One point to remember: A Joker may never be passed.
4. THE PLAY
After the optional last across pass, East discards a tile from the rack, placing it face up on the table and naming it out loud. The player to East's right then picks a fresh tile from the wall, looks at it, and decides whether to keep it. If not, the tile is discarded face up on the table, with the name of the tile announced. If yes, the tile is placed in the rack and a tile from the hand must be discarded and named.
The play continues in turn, with each player picking and then discarding. When a wall is exhausted, the wall to the left gets pushed out. The last wall to be played is the wall which East reserved in the beginning. Remember, all picking is to the right, the walls come out to the left.
PLAYERS MUST HAVE 13 TILES IN THEIR HANDS AT ALL TIMES.
East will start with 14 tiles, but once the first tile is discarded all players will have 13 tiles. Once East has discarded the first tile, if any player has more or less than 13 tiles, the hand may be called DEAD and the player excluded from play.
5. THE HANDS
The Mah Jongg card is organized in categories. They are:
YEAR hands or other special hands. (Usually the current year.) These hands utilize tiles which make up the year: i.e., 1's and 9's.
for 1999, 2's and 0's for 2000. The white dragon represents a zero, as there is no tile with an actual zero.
2468 - Self-explanatory. Hands concentrate on even numbers. MULTIPLICATION - These hands perform a type of multiplication, such as
FFFF 5555 x 5555 = 25. You would need four flowers, four fives of one suit, four fives
of a second suit, and a 2 and a 5 of a third suit.
QUINTS - Quints (five of a kind) require the use of jokers, since there are only four of each number tile. However, a quint of five flowers is possible.
CONSECUTIVE RUNS - These hands require groups of number tiles in consecutive order, sometimes interspersed with flowers or dragons.
13579 - Again self-explanatory. Hands focus on odd numbers.
WINDS/DRAGONS - Hands made up primarily of wind and dragon tiles, sometimes interspersed with numbers or flowers. Winds and dragons may also be referred to as "honor" tiles.
369 - Guess which tiles you need for these hands!
SINGLES & PAIRS - Singles and pairs are the most difficult hands to attain, since you are not allowed to use jokers. The singles and pairs hands contain a representative sample of all the hands above; i.e., one wind hand, a consecutive run hand, a 2468 hand, etc.
6. READING THE CARD
Mah-Jongg cards are printed in three colors; red, blue and green. If a hand is printed entirely in one color, it means that all tiles in that hand are to be from ONE SUIT.
Similarly, if a hand is printed in two colors, the tiles are to be selected from TWO DIFFERENT SUITS; and three colors, THREE DIFFERENT SUITS.
For example, in consecutive runs, a hand may read: 11 222 3333 444 55, in all one color. In order to make mah-jongg, you must have all the above tiles, in the above order in one suit only. In other words, if you are using dots, you must have two one dots, three two dots, four three dots, etc.
Another hand may read: 444 555 6666 777, written in two colors with a parenthetical following it, (Any 2 suits, 4 consecutive Nos.) This means that you must use two suits, but you may use any four consecutive numbers, you are not bound to play four through seven. You may play the hand 666 777 8888 9999, wherein the sixes and sevens must be one suit and the eights and nines must be another suit.
The instructions may refer to "pung" and "kong."
A "pung" is three of a kind, a "kong" is four of a kind.
A "quint" is five of a kind, of which one must be a joker (except for flowers).
When the instructions refer to matching dragons, they are as follows: Craks match with RED DRAGONS;
Bams match with GREEN DRAGONS and Dots match with WHITE DRAGONS. White dragons are sometimes called "Soap."
Be careful, as some hands require matching dragons and others require opposite dragons. When a hand calls for opposite dragons, if you are using Dots, the dragons must be either green or red; for bams, white or red, etc.
A white dragon (soap) is used for the zero.
Flowers do not belong to any suit and are used wherever there is an F.
7. PICKING A HAND
The most difficult aspect of modern American of Mah-Jongg is to determine which hand to aim for. While you may have many tiles that belong in one category, a player may be missing a whole family, or a pair of tiles that may prove difficult to obtain.
Next to each hand is a number, which tells how much the hand is worth. The harder the hand, the more it is worth. A hand with a value of 25 is usually easier to work out than a hand with a value of 50.
8. CALLING TILES
If the hand you are playing has an X next to the value of the hand, the hand is designated as a calling, or open hand. A hand with a C is a closed hand and if a tile you need is discarded, you may not call it from the table. You may only call a discard on a concealed hand if it is your winning mahjongg tile.
If a tile you need is discarded, and you are playing an open hand, you may call the tile to complete a pung, (3 identical tiles) a kong, (4 identical tiles) or a quint (5 identical tiles) or to make mah-jongg. A tile may not be called to make a pair, unless it is your winning mah-jongg tile. Once you call a tile, you must expose the pung or kong and you may not make any further changes to the exposed tiles. NEWS or 2020 (year) is NOT a kong, but are considered singles and cannot be called for exposure.
If two players call for the same tile at the same time, the one whose turn is next gets the tile. If a player has called a tile and exposed from the hand or placed the called tile on the rack, another player is too late to claim the tile. However, A player calling a tile for mahjong always has priority over a player who needs it for a pung or kong.
Once the next player has picked a tile and fully placed it in the rack, it is too late to call a tile that was discarded and is on the table.
9. JOKERS
A joker may be used as a wildcard to fill in any pung, kong or quint. A pung, kong or quint may be entirely composed of jokers. A JOKER MAY NEVER BE USED TO COMPLETE A PAIR. The singles and pairs hands are worth more because you may not use any jokers in these hands. Keep in mind you cannot use a joker in a singles and pairs set such as NEWS or 2023.
If someone has called a tile and exposed a pung, kong or quint and they are showing jokers, if you have the tile they need, you may exchange it and keep the joker for yourself. In other words, if East has called a six dot and exposes three six dots and one joker, if you have the last six dot in your hand you should do the following:
PICK A TILE WHEN IT IS YOUR TURN.
TAKE THE 6 DOT AND EXCHANGE IT FOR THE JOKER PUT THE JOKER IN YOUR RACK
DISCARD A TILE.
In this way, you will keep the necessary number of tiles (13) in your hand.
Sometimes you may find that you have too many jokers in your hand. This usually occurs when you need to complete a pair and are unable to use a joker. You may discard a joker, and no one can call it.
10. MAKING MAH-JONGG
When all thirteen tiles match a hand on the card, and you either pick the 14th tile needed to complete the hand, or someone discards it, you may declare "Mah-jongg" and you are the winner.
Scoring is as follows:
If you make mah-jongg on a discard, you are paid the value of the hand. Discarder pays double.
If you pick your mah-jongg tile, you are paid double the value of the hand.
If you make mah-jongg on a discard and you were bet on, you get double, and you share your winnings evenly with the bettor.
If you pick mah-jongg and are bet on, you get four times the value of the hand, and share your winnings evenly with the bettor.
Jokerless hands pay double. If a player picks their own mah-jongg tile and the hand is jokerless, winner gets paid four times the value of the hand.
If you are playing with a bettor (fifth player), East leaves the table and the bettor sits in.
11. GOING DEAD
A player cannot declare their own hand is dead. A hand may be declared dead by an opponent. If a hand is declared dead, and the declarer is correct, the erring player stops playing. Some examples of how a hand can go dead are as follows:
There are too many or too few tiles in the rack.
A player has declared Mah Jongg in error.
A player has made an incorrect exposure, for example, put out a one bam with flowers.
Opponent can figure out that a hand cannot be made based on what is visible on the table and on the racks. (For example, based on exposures, it is clear a player needs two flowers. However, three flowers have been discarded and four flowers are on another player’s rack.)
HAPPY MAHJ!
**More comprehensive rules can be found in the book “Mah Jongg Made Easy,” published by and available from the National Mah Jongg League. You may also call the League to resolve disputes at the number on the back of the card, during normal business hours.
“YEAR” HANDS: (Soap = Zero)
“ODD NUMBERS”
222 000 1111 7777
11 333 5555 777 99
FF 2026 2222 2222
11 333 DDDD 333 55 or
55 777 DDDD 777 99
“2468” HANDS:
“WINDS AND DRAGONS”
(May contain numbers)
222 444 6666 8888
FFFF DDDD DD DDDD
22 44 444 666 8888
11 DD 111 DDD 1111
FF 2222 44 66 8888
FF NNNN EE WW SSSS
“ANY LIKE NUMBERS”
“369”
FFFF 1111 11 1111
FF 3333 6666 9999
FF 1111 DDDD 1111
33 66 333 666 9999
333 6 999 333 6 999
“QUINTS” (Must use jokers)
“SINGLES & PAIRS” (No jokers)
11111 DDDD 11111
FF 11 22 33 44 55 66
22 333 4444 55555
FF 224688 224688
112 11223 112233
“CONSECUTIVE RUN”
“ADDITION HANDS”
11 222 3333 444 55 or 55 666 7777 888 99
FFFF 7777 + 6666 = 13
111 2222 333 4444
FFFF 9999 + 2222 = 11
1111 222 3333 DDD