Mah Jong at The Royal George

Mah – Jong is a popular game in Chinese orientated society, played by four players, with each player taking turn to be the dealer depending on the winning player

There are many variants to the game, depending on whether the objective, of the players.

House Rules are usually agreed by the players, before the game begins.

The game consists of 144 tiles, however, there might be additional tiles, played by those in Taiwan and Malaysia. At The Royal George, we will be adopting the Hong Kong style rules

The game is complete when the player achieved 4 melds and a pair of eyes. The eyes are two identical cards.

There are 3 suites of simple tiles; identified here as

Dots 39

Bamboo 38

Characters 38

The following are bonus cards, depending on the players position in the game

Flowers 4 These tiles are not part of the meld

Seasons 4 These tiles are not part of the meld

Winds 16 These tiles can be part of the meld and are played

And give a bonus point in the right position. They, also , assist in forming a complete suite of tiles.

Dragons 12 Possession of a meld of these cards gives the player a bonus point

Position of Winds, Flowers and Seasons

East 1 Plum Bossom Spring

South 2 Orchid Summer

West 3 Chysanthemum Autumn

North 4 Bamboo Winter

Learning the Characters for non – Chinese players

Melds are formed by

Runs e.g. 1, 2,3 or 2,3,4 of the same suite of three tiles. These melds can only be completed by using the tile discarded by the player on your left. Tile discarded by any other player cannot be used

Poms a set of 3 identical tiles of the same suite. These melds can be formed by declaring Poms, and can be collected by the player, when the tile is discarded by any player. You can only have a POMs if you have already have 2 identical tiiles of the same suite in your possession

Kongs a set of 4 identical tiles of the same suite. You can declare a Kong, if you already have 3 identical tiles of the same suite. There are advantages and disadvantages in using KONG. Used wrongly, it would disadvantaged your game. Used correctly, you could gain advantage by gaming early or stopping a high hand player achieving the winning card.

Melds formed by using other players discarded tiles must be shown. This is done by placing the open tiles in front of your ‘unseen’ hand of tiles.

Melds formed by the possession of the tiles by you, are hidden from views of the other 3 players

The 9 TILE Warning

Once 9 tiless of the same suite are displayed by one player, that player must declare a 9 TILE warnig.

When there is a 9 tiles warning, the other 3 players must be aware of the penalty of allowing a full house to be achieved. The player, who discard the winning tile to the player with the 9 tiles warning, and allowing this person to achieve a ‘Win’, will have to pay up for all the other players

The False Mah-Jong

This happens when a player decalare a ‘WIN’ but have not actually completed the MELD. The person decalring a False Mah Jong, will be penalised based upon the points of the Win declared.

So be careful when you declare a WIN, you must have 4 melds and a pair of eyes; to have a WIN

For the purpose of Ease, I have decided that the penalty for False Mah Jong should be that of FULL HOUSE, as that could have deprived the potential winner of a FULL HOUSE

Special Melds / Special Win which achieve a FULL HOUSE

Possession of all the following 13 tiles.

Dots 1 & 9, Bamboo 1 & 9, Character 1 & 9; one tile of each wind; one ti;e of each Dragon. Therefore, the eye can be formed by any of the thirteen cards

Achieving a Win on the first tile at the start of the game, whether from discarded card by the other playes , or by achieving the win from the pack of tiles

A WIN The player must declare a ‘WIN’ that is a chieving 4 Melds and a pair of Eyes

A WIN can be achieved by A RUN

POMS

Mixture of Runs and Poms

HOUSE RULES of The Royal George Group

FULL HOUSE is declared to be at 6 points

This means that any points achieved beyond 6 points is worthless. This is part of the strategy of the GAME

Achieving the points

Mix of runs and poms ( mix suites) 0

A RUN 1

POMS 1

Same Suite ( mix runs and poms ) 3

Same Suite – Runs 4

Same Suite – Poms 4

Flowers in the right position 1

Season in the right position 1

Possession of all the flowers 3

Possession of all the seasons 3

Possession of a meld of any Dragon 1

Achieving a WIN not from a discarded tile 1

Possession of the Meld of Presiding Wind 1

Scoring Table

Points Discarder Other Players Winner Self Win/player

Winner/Others

0 -1 -1 3 3/-1

1 -2 -1 5 6/-2

2 -4 -2 10 12/-4

3 -8 -4 20 24/-8

4 -16 -8 40 48/-16

5 -32 -16 80 96/-32

6 -64 -32 160 192/-64

9 Card Penalty

Points

0 -3 0 3

1 -5 0 5

2 -10 0 10

3 -20 0 20

4 -40 0 40

5 -80 0 80

6 -160 0 160

False Mahjong The Declarer loses 32 point to all other players (-96)

Now, lets PLAY

All players help to build the wall. This is done by scrambling the tiles and each player forming a wall of tiles in front of them; two tiles high and 18 tiles long.

Choosing table position and First Dealer

Choose the person to throw three dices ( usually it is the oldest or younjgest in the group) depending according to superstition, which you want to lose ‘BIG’ and ‘ SMALL’

Based upon the total achieved, start counting from the dice thrower as position 1. Where the count ends, that position would be East and the Commencing Dealer

The Comencing Dealer throws the three dice again, and count the position of the place to start taking the tile. For example if the number of the dices add to 9, then the position of the first tile to be taken would be East Position, the tenth stack position infront of East Position

Each player will take in rotation 4 tiles each time; starting by the commencing dealer. Until 12 tiles are achieved

Then the commencing dealer would take two tiles by taking the first tile and the fifth tile.

The player in no 2 position would take the second tile, the third position take the third tile and the fourth position take the 4^th tile

Examine the tiles in your possession. Take from your stack of tiles, all flowers and seasons, and display them in front of you.

The Commencing Dealer will replaced the Seasons or Flowers tiles, and then the player in position 2, will replaced these tiles next, until all flowers and season tiles in the players hand had been replaced.

Now each player has 13 tiles and the Commencing Dealer has 14 tiless. The Commnecing Dealer must now discard the first tile of the game.

If the player in the position 2, wants the discarded tile, then that player must display the completed Meld. And choose one tile from the pack to discard.

If the player in Position 2, do not need the discarded tile, that the player take one tile from the wall, and decide to keep the tile or discard the tile. If the player choose to keep the tile from the wall, then the player must select another tile from the pack in his / her possession to discard

The Game has now commence

Notes Each round has a presiding ‘WIND’. It starts with the EAST wind , and when that round completes, then the SOUTH wind takes precedent

When a dealer wins, the dealer continue to deal. If another player L

Benefits of Playing Mah Jong

I would describe Mah-Jong as ‘Gin Rummy’ with Strategy

Benefits of Playing Mah-Jong

Eyes, Hands and Brain Co-ordination

Planning a constant changing strategy

Continuous observation of three other players

Assessing and Calculating Probabilities of Losing or Winning

Learning to Sabotage of your opponents ability to win HIGH

Maximise your ability to win the Complete Game

Taking Risks when the time is right

Accepting Realities e.g. your chances of winning against three other players at each round.

Agenda

Welcome

Find out Beginners or Level of Skill

Set up for all those who know how to play

Go through the notes. Copy the Character on notes

Questions and Answers

Famaliarised with the Tiles

Observe a game in action

Practise scrambling card and making wall

Learn to Play

Learn to Count

Mah Jong at The Royal George

The Royal George.

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