Amy Lo - The complete book of Mah Jongg : an illustrated guide to the Asian, American and international styles of play

CHAPTER ONE

THE GAME OF MAH JONGG

A game of mah jongg calls for four players seated at a square table, one on each side. Each player draws a hand of 13 tiles from the center of the table, and the ritual of tile exchange begins. One at a time, the players draw a new tile from the table or pick up a matching tile discarded by another player. At the same time, players discard their unmatched tiles, seeking with each move to create a matched hand.

Thus, the initial objective of each player is to match all the tiles in his or her hand before the other players do. The first player to do so wins the game. The second objective is to assemble the highest-scoring hand at the table. The score, which is based on the probability of achieving a certain combination of tiles, is calculated by totaling the winning points of all the tiles in the hand. In general, the lower the probability of achieving a certain combination, the higher the score awarded. Of course, the converse is true as well.

Mah jongg is a game both of chance and risk as there is not one without the other. Yet another factor is time. A higher-scoring hand takes longer to assemble. In other words, the longer you delay putting together your hand, the greater is your risk of losing the game to a player who may beat you to it.

Mah jongg is also a game of strategy. You must cultivate a keen eye for the pattern of discards and matching of tiles by your opponents. From this observation, you must try to predict what patterns the other players are likely to be assembling. On the one hand, you try to utilize your opponents discards to match your tiles, thus maximizing your chance of winning. On the other hand, you try to prevent your opponents from matching their tiles with your discards.

Arguably, the most intriguing part of the game lies in the decision making. You will constantly wonder whether to risk discarding a tile (thus giving your opponents a chance of matching theirs) to increase your chance of assembling a higher-scoring hand, or to hold on to your hand for a safe win, thereby forgoing the opportunity of a better score. Remorse after a hand is common. For some, it is the regret of not having had the boldness to go for a big hand. For others, it is the recklessly ambitious pursuit of a big hand, only to have another player reveal a matched hand first. Most observers believe that a players behavior reflects his or her true personality.

The magic of mah jongg is the feeling of exhilaration that comes from winning a hand as well as from knowing that a wrong move or the loss of a hand can still lead to victory eventually. A player always sees another chance in the next hand. He or she knows that as the game unfolds, many new opportunities will present themselves, along with an endless stream of hopes and expectations, a situation rarely, if ever, encountered in real life.

1.1 The Tiles

Mah jongg tiles are small rectangular blocks of plastic, with symbols engraved on the face of each one. In the past, the tiles were made of ivory, animal bone, or bamboo. The sizes vary and can range from approximately inch thick by inch wide by 1 inch tall to 1 inch thick by 1.5 inches wide by 2 inches tall.

A standard mah jongg set contains 136 tiles, divided into two major groups: the Common (or Number) tiles and the Honor tiles. In addition, there are 8 optional Flower tiles, making a total of 144 tiles.

(1) The Common tiles consist of three suits, each composed of four sets of tiles. Each set is numbered one through nine.

Note: The No. 1 Bamboo tile is represented by the picture of a sparrow.

(2) The Honor tiles consist of the Dragons and the Winds: (Fan Jee) There are three Dragons, Red, Green, and White, with four tiles each.

There are four Winds, East, South, West, and North, with four tiles each.

(3) An optional group of 8 Flower tiles exists: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, Plum, Orchid, Chrysanthemum, and Bamboo (no relationship to the Bamboo tiles in the Common group). (Far Pai)

1.2 Accessories

Dice

Dice are used for the allocation of seats, for the designation of the First Dealer, and for breaking the wall of tiles for each game. A set of two or three dice may be used, although beginners are advised to use only two dice for all purposes. This is because the highest sum of dots from three dice is 18, which exceeds the number of tile stacks in each section of the walls, thus complicating the breaking of the walls.

First Dealer Indicator (Hei Jong)

The indicator is displayed at the left-hand corner of the First Dealer to remind the players to change the Wind in each round of the game.

Dealer and Wind Indicator (Jong)