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How to play Mah Jong
The game of Mah Jong, also known as mah-jongg, ma-diao, mah-cheuck, baak-ling, and pung-chow, can be as complicated as figuring out what to call it, but it's also exciting, challenging, and a great gambling alternative to poker or backgammon.
But just because mah-jong can be intense doesn't make it impossible.
The game is actually just a version of gin rummy, but much more complicated, it's about grouping tiles together by either suits or sequences. So if you know how to play gin rummy, you're almost there.
There are various versions of mahjong: the Chinese, the Japanese and the American with each has different rules. Mahjong involves skill, intelligence, estimation as well as luck.
Mahjong, which literally means "the game of a hundred intelligences" in Chinese, has been traditionally used as a gambling game. Ma Chiao, Mo Tsia, Ma Jong, Ma Chiang, Ma Chong, Man Chuk, Mah Diao, Pung Chow, Mah Chong, Ching Chong, Mah Cheuk, Ma Chiang, Kong Chow, Mah Deuck, Lung Chan, Mah Lowe, Pe Ling, Baak Ling are other names for Mahjong.
Mahjong is basically played by four people though it can also have 2, 3 or 5 players. A full game has 16 hands of play in four rounds named - east, south, west and north in that order.
Each player has a particular direction or wind, starting with East for the first player. Generally, the first player is selected by throwing the dice. The player with the highest score gets to be the first player.
The next step is to build the wall i.e. to arrange the tiles in a stack. The tiles are mixed well and arranged in 18 stacks (two tiles one on top of the other) in a horizontal row in front of each player in the form of a square. The stack is then broken and the tiles distributed among the players according to a particular format so that each player has 13 tiles each. The rest of the tiles are known as the wall and are kept in the middle.
Each player begins to discard his tiles and drawing from the wall. The objective is to get 4 sets and a pair. A set of tiles may be a sequence of three consecutive same suit tiles (CHOW) or three identical tiles (PUNG) or a set of 4 of a kind (KONG). The game ends when one player has finished accumulating the 4 sets and a pair. The game is said to be a "draw" if none of the players manages to win by the time the wall is exhausted. There are many variations in scoring in mahjong. It involves determining the points; multiplication of the points according to applicable doubles; and determining the payment. There are also penalties for breaking certain rules. The points defer based on the sets: sequences, melded triplets, concealed triplets, melded fours and concealed fours.
Online versions of mahjong are available for free download over the Internet.
There are several kinds of downloadable mahjong softwares, with attractive options that are sure to keep you playing for hours. All softwares contain hundreds of challenging tile layouts for up to 9 levels, different game types and layouts (360 or even more), and tile sets. They also have interesting choice of backgrounds and background music. The tiles are also being designed innovatively to be more attractive in designs.
New international rules have been formulated for mahjong for international championships and tournaments like the World Championship by the China State Sports Commission in 1998. This has uplifted mahjong from the statues of a gambling game and made it an international sport. These rules were first used in 2002 in the first World Championship. The new rule book contains 80 combinations of patterns and scoring elements based on traditional as well as modern variants of the game.
Remember, just as in other skill games, in the long run, better players tend to win more often.
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