How should a beginner play mahjong? Mahjong rules in detail!

Mahjong is an ancient traditional Chinese game and a popular social activity. It requires four people to play together, each holding a deck of mahjong tiles and winning the game by combining different tiles. For beginners, Mahjong may seem complicated, but once you understand the basic rules, you can easily get started. This article will introduce you to the basic rules and procedures of mahjong to help you become a qualified mahjong player.

I. Basic rules of mahjong

1. Mahjong tiles

The mahjong tiles*** have 136 tiles, which are divided into three suits: cylinder, bar, ten thousand, and there are 1-9 tiles for each suit respectively. In addition, there are 4 South-East, North-West, North-West winds, 3 white boards and 3 fortune tiles, *** counting 136 tiles.

2. The Goal of Mahjong

The goal of Mahjong is to win the game by combining different tiles. Each player has 13 tiles in his/her hand, and he/she needs to keep drawing, playing, eating, touching, konging, etc., and eventually form four sets of tiles (straight, quarter, pair, and sparrow head), and at least one set of tiles is a service tile (such as wind, arrow, etc.), in order to make a hutu.

3. Basic Mahjong Terms

There are some basic terms to understand in the game of Mahjong:

Drawing: Drawing a tile from the pile and placing it in your hand.

Playing: placing unwanted tiles from your hand on the table.

Eat: If another player plays a card and one's hand has two adjacent cards that form a straight with that card, one can eat the card.

Touch: If another player plays a card and you have two identical cards in your hand that form a chow with that card, you can touch the card.

Kong: If you have three identical cards in your hand and another player plays an identical card, you can kong. There are two types of kongs: open kongs and concealed kongs.

Handicap: When one's cards form four sets of tiles (straight, quarter, pair, and bird's head) and at least one of the sets is a service tile, one can play a hand.

4. Scoring Rules of Mahjong

The scoring rules of Mahjong are complicated, but the basic scoring method can be simply summarized as follows: the scores are calculated according to the types of tiles, the service tiles, and the relationship between oneself and other players. Specific scoring rules can be gradually understood during the game.

Two, the operation of mahjong steps

1. opening

In the opening, each person randomly selects a card, whoever gets the largest card, who will become the dealer. The dealer draws a card first and then draws cards in clockwise order, each player has 13 cards in their hand.

2. Drawing

In the game, each player takes a turn to draw a card, and after drawing a card, you can play, eat, touch, kong or hu.

3. Playing

When you have unwanted cards in your hand, you can choose to play them. The cards played must conform to the rules, i.e. you cannot play cards that are not legal.

4. Eat Cards

If another player plays a card and one's hand has two adjacent cards that form a straight with that card, one can choose to eat the card. The following conditions need to be met in order to eat a card:

(1) The card used to eat the card must be a straight.

(2) The eaten card must be a card played by another player.

(3) The card eaten must be a straight made up of two cards from your own hand and a card played by another player.

5. Bumping

If another player plays a card, and you have two identical cards in your hand that form a carve with that card, you can choose to bump the card. The following conditions need to be met in order to touch a card:

(1) The card that is touched must be a carve.

(2) The card must be played by another player.

(3) The card that is touched must be a pokémon consisting of two cards from your own hand and a card played by another player.

6. KONGS

If you have three identical cards in your hand and another player plays an identical card, you can choose to kong. There are two types of kongs: open kongs and concealed kongs. An open kong is a kong that consists of three cards in your hand and one identical card played by another player, and a concealed kong is a kong that consists of four cards in your hand.

7. HUGE HAND

When one's cards form four sets of tiles (straight, quarter, pair, and bird's head) and at least one set of tiles is a service tile, one can choose to play a hu hand. The following conditions must be met for a hand to be dealt:

(1) The hand must conform to the rules.

(2) There must be a service tile.

(3) The rules of draw must be met.

Three, summarize

Mahjong is a very interesting game, which requires players to flexibly use strategies and skills to win in the game. Although beginners may find the rules of mahjong complicated, they can easily get started as long as they understand the basic rules and operation steps. We hope this article can help you become a qualified mahjong player.