Gambling Guide

Mahjong
Players	4
Age range	> Any
Setup time	2-5 minutes
Playing time	0-3 hours
Rules complexity	High
Strategy depth	Medium
Random chance	Yes
Skills required	Tactics, observation, memory

Mahjong (Traditional Chinese: 麻將; Simplified Chinese: 麻将; pinyin: Májiàng; Cantonese: Màhjeung; or Chinese: 麻雀; pinyin: Máquè; Cantonese: Màhjeuk; other common English spellings include mahjongg, majiang, and hyphenated forms such as mah-jong or mah-jongg) is a game for four players that originated in China. It is a game of skill, strategy, intelligence, calculation and luck. Depending on the variation which is played, the amount of luck may vary from 20 to 80 percent. In China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, and other countries mahjong is often used for gambling. The Chinese character 麻将 literally means "hemp general". In Cantonese an alternate writing, 麻雀, is more common (the same kanji are used in Japanese). In Cantonese this literally means "sparrow", while in Japanese it means "hemp sparrow", and is pronounced mā-jan.

In English, in addition to Mahjong, the name of the game is variously written as Mah Jong, Mahjongg, Majong or simply "M-J"; there are other, less common variations as well. The spelling "Mah-Jongg" was trademarked by Joseph Park Babcock in 1920.

The closest Western analogue is probably the card game gin rummy. Both games involve selecting or discarding units (tiles in one case, cards in the other) to score points by forming groups or runs of similar units.

The game pieces (tiles) and scoring rules used in the game are slightly different depending on regional variations. The game play in general is very similar in all versions, as players compete to build sets including the highest point value.

The object of the game is to build complete suits (usually of threes) from either 13 or 16 tiles. The first person to achieve this goal is said to have won the game. The winning tile completes the set of either 14 or 17 tiles.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Mahjong in China 1.2 Mahjong in the western world 1.3 Current development 2 Variants 3 International rules 4 Equipment 5 Setting up the board 5.1 Prevailing Wind and Game Wind 5.2 Dealing tiles 5.3 Charleston 6 Gameplay 6.1 Flower tiles 6.2 Joker tiles 6.3 Melds 6.4 Ready hands 6.5 Draws 6.6 Abortive draws 6.7 Winning 6.8 Turns and rounds 7 Scoring 8 Trivia 9 References 10 Footnotes 11 External links

History

Mahjong in China

Different kinds of Chinese playcards (from left to right): Bógŭ Yèzí (博古葉子), Caozhou Paí (曹州牌), Three Kingdoms Yèzí (三國葉子), Dongguan Paí (東莞牌).

One of the myths (probably originating in the West) regarding the origin of Mahjong suggests that Confucius[1], the great Chinese philosopher, had developed the game about 500 BC. The appearance of the game in various Chinese provinces coincides with Confucius' travels at the time he was teaching his new doctrines. The three dragon (Cardinal) tiles also agree with the three Cardinal virtues bequeathed by Confucius. Zhong ( , lit. middle) the Red, Fa ( , lit. prosperity) the Green, Bai ( , lit. white) the White represent Benevolence, Sincerity, and Filial piety respectively. Confucius was said to be fond of birds, which would explain the name "Mahjong" (hemp bird).

Terms used in the play of the game Pong, Chee and Kong also give evidence to this theory. Confucius was of the Kong family, his full name being Kong-Qiu; he married a girl named Che and adopted the term Chee, meaning 'to connect', which Westerners corrupted into Chow.

Another possible theory implies that the game had been developed from existing Chinese card and domino games sometime around 1850. Some historians believe it was based on a Chinese card game called Mádìao (馬吊) (also known as Ma Tiae, lit. Hanging Horse; or Yèzí (葉子), lit. Leaf) in the early Ming dynasty.[2] This game was played with 40 paper cards similar in appearance to the cards used in the game Ya Pei. These forty cards, numbered 1 to 9 in four different suits along with four extra flower cards, are quite alike to the numbering of Mahjong tiles today. There is still a healthy debate about to whom the creation of the game should be attributed. One theory is that Chinese army officers serving during the Tai Ping Rebellion created the game to pass the time. Another theory is that a noble living in the Shanghai area created the game between 1870 and 1875. It is thought that around 1850 in the city of Ningpo two brothers had created Mahjong from the earlier game of Mádìao.

Mahjong in the western world

Mahjong Taikai, a Japanese Mahjong computer game on PSP, produced by Koei in 2005.

By 1895, Stewart Culin, an American anthropologist, wrote a paper in which Mahjong was mentioned. This is the first known written account of Mahjong in any language other than Chinese. By 1910, there were written accounts in many languages including French and Japanese. An important English read was Joseph Park Babcock's Rules of Mah-Jongg, which, simplified in 1920, was simply known as the "red book". Although this was the earliest version of Mahjong that had been introduced to America, many of Babcock's simplifications are abandoned nowadays. The book introduced many similar English language rulebooks, with a large number of inaccurate rumors (including those of the National Mah Jongg League, the governing body of American Mahjong). A patently false claim was made that Mahjong had originated in ancient China in order to bring an air of mystique into the game. Ironically, many of these hearsay information about Mahjong's ancient origins are used today in much the same way for Mahjong solitaire, a much newer game.

The game was a sensation in America when it was imported from China in the 1920s, with the same Mahjong game taking on a number of trademarked names, such as Pung Chow or the Game of Thousand Intelligences. Part of Mahjong nights in America were to decorate rooms in Chinese style and dress like Chinese.^[3] Several hit songs were also recorded during the mahjong fad, most notably Since Ma is Playing Mah Jong by Eddie Cantor^[4].

American mahjong, which was mainly played by women during the time, grew from this craze, and in the 1930s, after many revisions of the rules (including some that were considered fundamentals in other variants, such as the notion of a standard hand) led to the formation of the National Mah Jongg League in 1937, along with the first American mahjong rulebook, Maajh: The American Version of the Ancient Chinese Game. Despite it being Chinese in origin and accepted by players of all racial backgrounds when first introduced by Babcock, American Mahjong is considered a Jewish game,[5] as many American mahjong players are of Jewish descent, and the NMJL was founded by Jewish players and considered a Jewish organization. But, at the same time, this traditional Chinese game was banned in its homeland in 1949, when the People's Republic of China was founded. The new Communist government forbade any gambling activities, which were regarded as symbols of capitalist corruption. After the Cultural Revolution, the game was revived, and once again Mahjong has become one of the favorite pastimes of the Chinese people.

Current development

Today, the popularity and demographic of players of Mahjong differs greatly from country to country. In America, most players of American mahjong are women. In Japan, there has been a much greater emphasis on gambling before other le gender of the players is much less divided. There are also many governing bodies of Mahjong, many of them hosting exhibition games and tournaments. In Japan, video arcades have introduced Mahjong arcade machines that can be connected to others over the internet, as well as video games that allow a victorious player to view pictures of women in varying stages of undress.

Mahjong culture is still deeply ingrained in the Chinese community: Sam Hui wrote Cantopop songs, using mahjong as their themes. Chinese movies have always included scenes of mahjong games. Gambling movies have been filmed time and again in Hong Kong, and a recent sub-genre is the mahjong movie.

Variants

Beijing residents playing Mahjong in public.

Four Filipino women playing Filipino Mahjong.

There are many variations of mahjong. In many places, players observe one version, and are either often unaware of other variations, or claim that other variations are incorrect. Although many variations today differ only by scoring, there are several main variations of Mahjong.

• Chinese Classical Mahjong is the oldest variety of Mahjong, and was the version introduced to America in the 1920s under various names.
• Hong Kong Mahjong or Cantonese Mahjong is the most common form of Mahjong, differing in minor scoring details with the Chinese Classical variety.
• Japanese Mahjong is a standardized form of Mahjong in Japan, found prevalently in video games. In addition to scoring changes, the rules of riichi and dora are unique highlights of Japanese Mahjong.
• Western Classical Mahjong is a descendant of the version of Mahjong introduced by Babcock to America in the 1920s. The evolution of Mahjong in America led to American Mahjong. Today, this term largely refers to the Wright-Patterson rules, used in the U.S. military, and other similar American-made variants that are closer to the Babcock rules.
• American Mahjong is a form of Mahjong standardized by the National Mah Jongg League and the American Mah-Jongg Association that has the greatest divergence from traditional Mahjong, with the introduction of Joker tiles, the Charleston, as well as melds of five or more tiles, and eschewing the Chow and the notion of a standard hand. Because of this divergence, the NMJL and AMJA variations (which differ from each other by minor scoring differences) is commonly referred to as Mahjongg (with two Gs, possibly hyphenated). Purists of Mahjong claim that the divergence from standard Mahjong makes American Mahjong not a "true Mahjong", and thus should be considered a separate game in and of itself.

Other variants include Fujian Mahjong (with Dadi Joker 帶弟百搭), Taiwanese Mahjong (each player would have 16 tiles), Vietnamese Mahjong (with 16 different kinds of joker), and Filipino Mahjong (with Window Joker). ^[6]

International rules

In 1998 the China State Sports Commission, in the interest of changing mahjong from an illegal gambling game to an approved 'healthy sport', published a new set of rules, now generally referred to as Chinese Official rules or International Tournament rules. The principles of the new, ‘healthy’ mahjong are: no gambling – no drinking – no smoking. On international tournaments, players are often grouped in teams to emphasize that mahjong from now on is considered a sport.

The new rules are highly pattern-based. The rulebook contains 80 combinations, based on patterns and scoring elements popular in both classic and modern regional Chinese variants. Some table practices of Japan have also been adopted. In order to go out, players must score at least 8 points. Points for flower tiles (each flower is worth 1 point) may not be added until the player has scored 8 points. The winner of a game receives the score of his winning hand in points from the player who discarded the winning tile, plus 8 basic points from each player; in the case of zimo (self drawn win), he receives the value of his winning hand plus 8 points from all players.

The new rules were used in an international tournament first in Tokyo, where in 2002 the first World Championship in Mahjong was organized by the Mahjong Museum, the Japan Mahjong Organizing Committee and the city council of Ningbo, China, the town where it is believed mahjong most likely originated. One hundred players participated, mainly from Japan and China, but also from Europe and the United States. Miss Mai Hatsune from Japan became the first world champion. The following year saw the first annual China Majiang Championship, held in Hainan. The next two annual tournaments were held in Hong Kong and Beijing. Most players were Chinese, but players from other nations attended as well.

In 2005, in the Netherlands, the first Open European Mahjong Championship was held, with 108 players. The first prize was won by Masato Chiba from Japan.

Critics say that these new rules are unlikely to achieve great popularity outside of tournaments, since regional variations are well-entrenched. They also complain that the game is excessively complex, even by normal mahjong standards. But those who advocate the New Mahjong claim that it is not meant to replace existing rules, but only to act as a standard for international mahjong events.

Equipment

Basic equipment: chips, tiles and dice.

Mahjong houses provide a convenient venue for Mahjong old hands. This is a typical scene of Mahjong house in Wan Chai, Hong Kong.

Mahjong, can be played either with a set of Mahjong tiles, or less commonly, a set of Mahjong playing cards (sometimes spelled 'kards' to distinguish them from the list of standard hands used in American mahjong); one brand of Mahjong cards calls these Mhing). Playing cards are often used when travelling as it reduces space and is lighter than their tile counterparts, but are of a lower quality in return. In this article, "tile" will be used to denote both playing cards and tiles.

Many Mahjong sets will also include a set of chips or bone tiles for scoring, as well as indicators denoting the dealer and the wind of the round. Some sets may also include racks to hold tiles or chips (although in many sets the tiles are generally sufficiently thick so that they can stand on their own), with one of them being different to denote the dealer's rack.

Computer implementations of Mahjong are also available: these allow you to play against computer opponents, or against human opponents on the Internet.

A set of Mahjong tiles will usually differ from place to place. It usually has at least 136 tiles, most commonly 144, although sets originating from America or Japan will have more. Mahjong tiles include:

• Circle suit: named as each tile consists of a number of circles. Each circle is said to represent copper (tong) coins with a square hole in the middle.

• Bamboo suit: named as each tile (except the 1 Bamboo) consists of a number of bamboo sticks. Each stick is said to represent a string (suo) that holds a hundred coins.

• Character suit: named as each tile represents ten thousand (wan) coins, or one hundred strings of one hundred coins.

• Wind tiles: East, South, West, and North.

• Dragon tiles: red, green, and white. The term dragon tile is a western convention introduced by Joseph Park Babcock in his 1920 book introducing Mahjong to America. Originally, these tiles are said to have something to do with the Chinese Imperial Examination. The red tile ("中"榜) means you pass the examination and thus will be appointed a government official. The green tile ("發"財) means, consequently you will become financially well off. The white tile (a clean board) means since you are now doing well you should act like a good, incorrupt official.

• Flower tiles: typically optional components to a set of mahjong tiles, often contain artwork on their tiles.

Setting up the board

Shuffling of the Mahjong tiles is needed before piling around the table.

All players throw three dice and the one with the highest total would be the dealer.

Players picking up their own tiles after rolling the dice.

The Charleston.

The following sequence is for setting up a standard Hong Kong (or Singapore) game. Casual or beginning players may wish to proceed directly to gameplay. Shuffling the tiles is needed before piling up.

Prevailing Wind and Game Wind

To determine the Player Game Wind (門風 or 自風), each player throws three dice (two in some variants) and the player with the highest total is chosen as the dealer or the banker (莊家). The dealer's Wind is now East, the player to the right of the dealer has South wind, the next player to the right has West and the fourth player has North. Game Wind changes after every round, unless the dealer wins. In some variations, the longer the dealer remains as the dealer, the higher the value of each hand.

The Prevailing Wind (場風) is always set to East when starting. It changes after the Game Wind has rotated around the board, that is, after each player has lost as the dealer.

A Mahjong set with Winds in play will usually include a separate Prevailing Wind marker (typically a die marked with the Wind characters in a holder) and a pointer that can be oriented towards the dealer to show Player Game Wind. In sets with racks, a rack may be marked differently to denote the dealer.

These winds are also significant as winds are often associated with a member of a Flower tile group, typically 1 with East, 2 with South, 3 with West, and 4 with North.

Dealing tiles

All tiles are placed face down and shuffled. Each player then stacks a row of tiles two deep in front of him, the length of the row depending on the number of tiles in use:

• 136 tiles: 17 tiles for all players
• 144 tiles: 18 tiles for all players
• 148 tiles: 19 tiles for dealer and player opposite, 18 for rest
• 152 tiles: 19 tiles for all players

The dealer throws three dice and sums up the total. Counting counterclockwise so that the dealer is '1', a player's row is chosen. Starting at the right edge, 'sum' tiles are counted and shifted to the right.

The dealer now takes a block of 4 tiles to the left of the divide.

The player to the dealer's right takes 4 tiles to the left, and players (counterclockwise) take blocks of 4 tiles (clockwise) until all players have 12 tiles for 13-tile variations and 16 for 16-tile variations. In 13-tile variations, each player then takes one more tile to make a 13-tile hand. In practice, in order to speed up the dealing procedure, the dealer often takes one extra tile during the dealing procedure to start their turn.

The board is now ready and new tiles will be taken from the wall where the dealing left off, proceeding clockwise. In some special cases discussed later, tiles are taken from the other end of the wall, commonly referred to as the back end of the wall. In some variations, a group of tiles at the back end, known as the dead wall, is reserved for this purpose instead. In such variations, the dead wall may be visually separated from the main wall, but it is not required.

Unless the dealer has already won (see below), the dealer then discards a tile. The dealing process with tiles is ritualized and complex to prevent cheating. Casual players, or players with Mahjong playing cards, may wish to simply shuffle well and deal out the tiles with fewer ceremonial procedures.

Charleston

In the American variations, it is required that before each hand begins, a Charleston is enacted. This consists of a procedure where three tiles are passed to the player on one's right, followed by three tiles passed to the player opposite, followed by three tiles passed to the left. The dealer can demand for a second Charleston, followed by an optional pass to the player across of one, two or three tiles. This is a distinctive feature of American-style Mahjong that may have been borrowed from card games.

Gameplay

View from a player going to discard a tile in an ongoing gameplay.

Players may read the name of the discarded tile out loud.

The flower tile on the left should be replaced by a tile from the dead wall promptly.

Each player is dealt either 13 tiles for 13-tile variations or 16 tiles for 16-tile variations.

A turn involves a player's drawing of a tile from the wall (or draw pile) and then placing it in his hand. The player then discards a tile onto the table. This signals the end of his turn, prompting the player to the right to make his move. As a form of courtesy, each player is encouraged to announce loudly the name of the tile being discarded. Many variations require that discarded tiles be placed in an orderly fashion in front of the player, while some require that these be placed face down.

Flower tiles

Flower tiles, when dealt or drawn, must be immediately replaced by a tile from the dead wall, or if no dead wall exists, the back end of the wall. They are immediately exposed (placed in view on the table on front of the player's tiles). At the start of each round, where two or more players may have flower tiles, flower tiles are replaced starting with the dealer and moving to the right. Flower tiles may or may not have point value; and in some variations, possession of all the flower tiles wins the round regardless of the actual contents of the hand.

In American Mahjong, however, Flower tiles are not instantly exposed and replaced, as they may be melded with other Flower tiles in the same group (in essence, they are treated as if they were another set of honor tiles) or be used as a requirement of a winning hand. Early versions of American Mahjong used Flower tiles as Joker tiles.

Joker tiles

A feature of several variations, most notably American variations of Mahjong, is the notion of wild card or Joker tiles. They may be used as a substitute for any tile in a hand (or, in some variations, only tiles in melds). Depending on the variation, a player may replace a Joker tile that is part of an exposed meld belonging to any player with the tile it represents.

Rules governing discarding Joker tiles also exist: some variations permit the Joker tile to take on the identity of any tile, and others only permit the Joker tile to take on the identity of the previously discarded tile (or the absence of a tile, if it is the first discard).

Joker tiles may or may not have an impact on scoring, depending on the variation. Some special hands may require the use of Joker tiles (for example, to represent a "fifth tile" of a certain suited or honor tile).

In American Mahjong, it is illegal to pass jokers during the Charleston.

Melds

When a player discards a tile, any other player may "call" or "bid" for it in order to complete a meld (a certain set of tiles) in his or her own hand. The disadvantage of doing this is that the player must now expose the completed meld to the other players, giving them an idea of what type of hand he or she is creating. This also creates an element of strategy, as in many variations, discarding a tile that allows another player to win the game causes the discarding player to lose points (or pay the winner more in a game for money).

Most variants (again, with the notable exception of American Mahjong) allow three types of melds. When a meld is declared through a discard, the player must state the type of the meld to be declared and place the meld face-up. The player must then discard a tile, and play continues to the right. Because of this, turns may be skipped in the process.

Pong:

• Pong or Pung (碰 pinyin peng, Japanese pon) - A pong or pung is a set of three identical tiles. In American Mahjong, where it is possible to meld Flower tiles, a pong may also refer to a meld of three of the four flower tiles in a single group. American Mahjong may also have hands requiring a knitted triplet - three tiles of identical rank but of three different suits. For examples:; ; ; .

Kong:

• Kong (槓/杠 pinyin gang, Japanese kan) - A kong is a set of four identical tiles. Because all other melds contain three tiles, a Kong must be immediately exposed when explicitly declared. If the fourth tile is formed from a discard, it is said to be an exposed Kong (明槓/明杠, pinyin ming gang). If all four tiles were formed in the hand, it is said to be a concealed Kong (暗槓/暗杠, pinyin an gang). It is also possible to form a Kong if the player has an exposed Pung and draws the fourth tile. In any case, a player must draw an extra tile from the back end of the wall (or from the dead wall, if it exists) and discard as normal. Play then continues to the right. Once a Kong is formed, it cannot be split up (say, if you wanted to instead use one tile as part of a Chow), and thus, it may be advantageous not to immediately declare a Kong. For examples: ;

The woman sitting on the left may make a chow with a tile discared by the player on the right.

• Chow (吃 chi, in some versions 上 shang) - A chow is a meld of three suited tiles in sequence. Unlike other melds, an exposed Chow may only be declared off the discard of the player on the left. American Mahjong does not have a formal chow (that is, you cannot declare chows), but some hands may require that similar sequences be constructed in the hand. Some American variations may also have the knitted sequence, where the three tiles are of three different suits. Sequences of higher length are usually not permissible (unless it forms more than one meld). For examples: ; ; ;

Two are the eyes of this completed set of tiles.

• Eye (將 jiang, in some versions 眼 yan, also Pair) - The pair, while not a meld (and thus, cannot be declared or formed with a discard), is the final component to the standard hand. It consists of two identical tiles. Two are the eyes in this case:

It is to note that American mahjong hands may have tile constructions that are not melds, such as "NEWS" (having one of each wind). As they are not melds, they cannot be formed off discards, and in some variations, cannot be constructed in part or in whole by Joker tiles.

When two or more players call for a discarded tile, a player taking the tile to win the hand has precedence over all others, followed by pong or kong declarations, and lastly chows. In American Mahjong, where it may be possible for two players needing the same tile for melds, the meld of a higher number of identical tiles takes precedence. If two or more players call for a meld of the same precedence (or to win), the player closest to the right wins out (but the game may be declared an abortive draw if two or more players call a tile for the win, again depending on the variation). In particular, if a call to win overrides a call to form a kong, such a move is called robbing the Kong, and may give a scoring bonus.

There is generally an informal convention as to the amount of time allowed to make a call for a discarded tile before the next player takes its turn. In American Mahjong, this "window of opportunity" is explicitly stated in the rules, where in other variants, it is generally viewed that when the next player's turn starts (ie. the tile leaves the wall), the opportunity has been lost.

Ready hands

Ready hand: waiting for or

When a hand is one tile short of winning (for example: , waiting for: or ), the hand is said to be a ready hand, or more figuratively, "on the pot". The player holding a ready hand is said to be waiting for certain tiles. It is common to be waiting for two or three tiles, and some variations award points for a hand that is waiting for one tile. In 13-tile Mahjong, the most amount of tiles that you can wait for is 13 (the thirteen terminals, a nonstandard special hand).

Some variations of Da Mahjong, most notably Japanese variations, allow a player to declare riichi (立直 - sometimes known as reach as it is phonetically similar). A declaration of riichi is a promise that any tile drawn by the player is immediately discarded unless it constitutes a win. A player who declares riichi and wins usually receives a point bonus for their hand, while a player who declares riichi and loses is usually penalized in some fashion. When four players declare a riichi, the game is a draw. Declaring a nonexistent riichi is penalized.

Draws

If only the dead wall remains and no one has won, the round is drawn (流局 liu ju, Japanese Ryuukyoku) or "goulashed". A new round begins, and depending on the variant, game wind may change.

Abortive draws

In Japanese Mahjong, abortive draws (draws where the game is declared drawn while tiles are available) are possible. They can be declared under the following conditions:

• 九種幺九倒牌 (kyuu shu yao kyuu tou pai): If, on a player's first turn, and with no melds declared, a player has nine different terminal or honor tiles, the player may declare the round to be drawn (for example: ; but could also go for the nonstandard thirteen terminals hand as well).
• 三家和 (san ka agari): If three players claim the same discard in order to win the round, the round is drawn.
• 四風子連打 (suu fontsu renda): If, on the first turn without any meld declarations, all four players discard the same wind tile, the hand is drawn.
• 四家立直 (suu ka riichi): If all four players declare riichi, the round is drawn.
• 四槓流れ (suu kan nagare): The round is drawn when the fourth kong is declared, unless all four kongs were declared by a single player. In this case, the round is drawn when another player declares a kong.

Winning

"Che hu!"
The three great scholars:

A player wins the round (胡, hu) by creating a standard mahjong hand (in Western Classical variants, this is known as creating a Mahjong, and the process of winning is called going Mahjong) which consists of a certain number of melds, four for 13-tile variations and five for 16-tile variations, and a pair. Some variations may also require that winning hands be of some point value.

Variations may also have special nonstandard hands that a player can make (in this sense, American Mahjong is a variant where only special hands exist).

Turns and rounds

If the dealer wins the game, they will stay as the dealer. Otherwise, the player to the right becomes dealer and the player's wind becomes the Game Wind, in the sequence East-South-West-North.

After the wind returns to East (ie. each player has been the dealer), a round is complete and the Prevailing Wind will change, again in the sequence East-South-West-North. A full game of mahjong ends after 4 rounds, ie. when the North Prevailing Wind round is over. It is often regarded as an unlucky act to stop the gameplay at the West round, as West has a similar sound to death in Chinese.

Scoring

When gambling with mahjong, scores are typically directly translated into sums of money. Poker chips are used in transaction throughout the playout.

Scoring in Mahjong involves points, with a monetary value for points agreed upon by players. Although in many variations scoreless hands are possible, many require that hands be of some point value in order to win the round.

While the basic gameplay is more or less the same throughout mahjong, the greatest divergence between variations lies in the scoring systems. Like the gameplay, there is a generalized system of scoring, based on the method of winning and the winning hand, from which Chinese and Japanese (among notable systems) base their roots. American mahjong generally has greatly divergent scoring rules (as well as greatly divergent gameplay rules).

Because of the large differences between the various systems of scoring (especially for Chinese variants), groups of players will often agree on particular scoring rules before a game. Like with gameplay, many attempts have been made to create an international standard of scoring, but most are not widely accepted.

Points (terminology of which differs from variation to variation) are obtained by matching the winning hand and the winning condition with a specific set of criteria, with different criteria scoring different values. Some of these criteria may be subsets of other criteria (for example, having a meld of one Dragon versus having a meld of all of them), and in these cases, only the most general criteria is scored. The points obtained may be translated into scores for each player using some (typically exponential) functions. When gambling with mahjong, these scores are typically directly translated into sums of money. Some criteria may be also in terms of both points and score.

Trivia

Little known to most players, the suits of the tiles are money-based. In ancient China, the copper coins had a square hole in the center. People passed a rope through the holes to tie coins into strings. These strings are usually in groups of 100 coins called diao (弔 or variant 吊) or 1000 coins called guan (貫). Mahjong's connection to the ancient Chinese currency system is consistent with its alleged derivation from the game named ma diao (馬吊).

In the mahjong suits, the coppers represent the coins; the ropes are actually strings of 100 coins; and the character myriad represents 10,000 coins or 100 strings. When a hand received the maximium allowed winning of a round, it is called man guan (滿貫, lit. full string of coin.)

A Mahjong game is described in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie, ending with the very unusual event of a player getting a complete winning hand on the initial draw. This success makes the character unduly talkative, which leads to significant plot developments.

British superspy James Bond plays a dangerous game of mahjong in Zero Minus Ten, a suspense novel by Raymond Benson.

In the 1940 film Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise, the title character remarks, In China, mahjong very simple; in America very complex - like modern life.

The character that translates to "centre" is found on the super-hero suit worn by The Greatest American Hero. Since the character is typically painted red, the tile is commonly called "red centre." For this reason the HongKong TV station TVB named the Chinese-dubbed The Greatest American Hero "the Flying Red Centre Hero" [飛天紅中俠]. (ABC, 1981-83).

Mahjong is featured in Amy Tan's novel The Joy Luck Club, and its 1993 film adaptation.

Mahjong has always appeared in one way or another in Hong Kong made movies or TV drama, since it is considered as a "daily life" of a Chinese lifestyle. Two recent Cantonese movies, Fat Choi Spirit and Kung Fu Mahjong, parody the game's subculture.

The tile that translates to "Red Dragon" is used as a major plot point in the same titled Thomas Harris novel, as well as its two film adaptations, Manhunter and Red Dragon.

Graham Edwards' Stone trilogy features mahjong prominently. Much of the books' imagery focuses around the mahjong symbols, and one character owns a set of mahjong tiles, on which she paints throughout the trilogy.

References

Print matter

• Lo, Amy. The Book of Mah jong: An Illustrated Guide. Tuttle Publishing. 2001. ISBN 0804833028
• Oxfeld, Ellen. Blood, Sweat, and Mahjong: Family and Enterprise in an Overseas Chinese Community (Anthropology of Contemporary Issues). Cornell University Press. 1993. ISBN 0801499089.
• Pritchard, David.Teach Yourself Mahjong. McGraw-Hill/Contemporary. 2001. ISBN 0658021478.

Websites

• Zango's Free Mahjong
• Play Mahjong OnlineOnline live games. You can play against other players 24/7, no download required.Chinese official and Hong kong versions available.
• Jade Dragon Mahjong game multiplayer play Chinese official, Hong kong, Taiwan 16 tile, European & American rules with help for beginners.
• Mahjong FAQ of newsgroup news://rec.games.mahjong
• Rules of Singapore Mahjong
• National Mah-Jongg League
• How to Play the Japanese Three Player Mahjong Variation on the Standard 4-Player Game
• Japanese Mah Jong Rules Description of game play, rules, exceptions, hands listings.
• Nan's Mah Jong Notes
• MahjongNews specialized in international news and mahjong tournaments
• Mah-Jongg: The Tiles that Bind is a documentary about the Jewish and Chinese women who play
• Jim May's Mah Jong Museum
• Yahoo! Online Mah Jong
• Wright-Patterson Officers' Wives' Club Mah Jongg website
• Mahjong in MAME Guide to Japanese Mahjong arcade games.
• Pussers Bones is a set of mahjong rules developed by sailors in the Royal Australian Navy
• Mahjong Escape: Ancient China - mah jong solitaire game free download
• Mahjong Premium is a free online Mahjong flash game with a rank of scores (English and Spanish)
• Mahjong games for download Download free Mahjong games

Footnotes

1. ^ Butler, Jonathan. The Tiles of Mah Jong. 1996.
2. ^ Yèzí in Ming Dynasty 
3. ^ Chapter 16, Made in America, Bill Bryson.
4. ^ Eddie Cantor and his Mahjong song
5. ^ Why are so many players of American mah-jongg Jewish?
6. ^ Variants of Mahjong in Chinese Wikipedia

External links

Mahjong bulletin boards

• The Maj Exchange Bulletin Boards

Mahjong organizations

• National Mah Jongg League
• Japan Professional Mahjong League
• Nihon Pro Mahjong association 
• New Japan Mahjong Association 
• Open China Championship 
• Deutsche Mah-Jong Liga 
• Fédération Française de Mah-Jongg 
• Mah-jong Montréal  
• Mahjong Denmark  
• Nederlandse Mahjong Bond 
• Mahjong Hungary 
• Mahjongverband Österreich 
• Federazione Italiana Mah-Jong 
• Deutsche Mah-Jongg Liga 

Mahjong strategy

• tilehog.net Strategy site for Chinese Official Rules
• Mah Jong Solitaire Strategy tips & hints for PC Mah Jong Solitaire games