Equipment

To play mahjong all you need are dice and four of each of the following tiles, for a total of 136 tiles.

Bamboo Tiles

In most sets 1-bamboo looks like a bird.

Characters Tiles

If you haven’t learned Chinese numerals yet, make sure to play with a set that has Arabic numerals too!

Dot Tiles (Also known as circles, disks, spots…)

Dragons (Green, Red, and White dragon tiles)

These are the Green, Red, and White dragon tiles. If your set has English letters, the green dragon is labeled F, red is C,
and white is P or B. In Japanese sets, the White dragons are completely blank tiles.

Winds

East, South, West, and North wind tiles

If your set has English letters, they are labeled E, S, W, and N, respectively.
The Objective
For every hand, your basic goal is to be the first player to get a hand composed of four sets and a pair. Each set can
be either a pung, Runs, or Gong. And now to introduce the sets:

A pung is a set of three identical tiles. (examples below)

… …

A run is a set of three tiles of the same suit and consecutive numbers. (examples below)

… …

Dragons and winds can't be used in a Runs. A Runs cannot loop from 9 back to 1. (below are NOT Runss)

… …

A gong is a set of four identical tiles. (examples below)

Each set can either be concealed or melded. Concealed sets are made of tiles from your initial dealt hand and/or from
tiles drawn from the wall. In other words, they are not shown or revealed to any other player. Melded sets are explained
later in the special moves section.

As explained earlier, the goal is to get four sets and a pair. The first player to reach this goal wins the hand. Most of the
time, the winning hand will have exactly 14 tiles. If the hand includes Gongs, it will have more than 14 tiles. The following
are all valid winning hands:

Example 1

Runs Runs Runs pung Pair

Example 2
 Gong pung pung Runs pair

Example 3

Runs pung Runs pung Pair

Building the Wall

Get three friends and sit randomly around a table, facing towards the center. Ideally you want to play on a square or
circular table that's small enough that you can reach across easily. Each player will be assigned a wind. A good analogy
is to think of this as board game, but instead of being assigned a colored token you are assigned a direction for your seat.
Randomly assign one player to have the East seat wind. The rest of the players assume seat winds as specified by the
image below: the player to the right of east is South, the player across is West, and the player to the left is North. Note:
this assignment of winds DOES NOT match the cardinal directions on a compass.

Dump out your tiles on the table. Turn all the tiles face-down and swirl them around with your hands to shuffle them. After
the tiles are shuffled, each player makes a wall 17 tiles across and 2 tiles high. All players move their walls towards the
center of the table, making a big square like this:

Playing order: East, South, West, North

Breaking the Wall

The East player starts by rolling two or three dice and adding up the sum of the rolls. East uses this number to determine
whose wall to break and where to break it.

Counting himself as number one, East counts the players counter-clockwise around the table until he reaches the sum on
the die. This determines whose wall he will break. For example, if East rolled 12, then he would break North's wall.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
E S W N E S W N E S W N

Next, starting from the right side of the indicated player's wall, East counts off stacks clockwise the sum of the dice rolls.
He then takes the next two stacks (four tiles) to the left of the last stack he counted. South takes the next two stacks, West
takes the next two, then North takes the next two. All players continue to take stacks in turn until each player has six
stacks (12 tiles). Note: players take turns going counter-clockwise, but tiles are drawn from the wall going clockwise. This
applies to dealing tiles as well as general gameplay.

Lastly, the players take their final tiles as follows. East takes his two tiles, then South takes one, West takes one, and
North takes one. After this step, east should have 14 tiles, and the rest of the players should have 13.

Gameplay
East starts the game by discarding one tile from his hand and placing it face-up in the area in the middle of the walls. If
nobody claims East's discard, then play resumes with the player to his right, South. Remember, players take turns going
counter-clockwise. Many of the moves below require you to "use the most recently discarded tile." That refers discards
from other players, not your own discards. For example, you can't discard a tile and then immediately claim it for a melded
pung.

Normal Turn
At the beginning of your turn, you can

1. Claim the most recent discarded tile to make a melded pung, melded Runs, or big melded Gong, OR if you can’t
or choose not to, you can
2. Draw a tile from the wall.

If you claim the discard, follow the corresponding procedure in the Special Moves section.

If you simply want to draw a tile, you must:

1. Draw a tile from the wall. Remember, take tiles from the wall going clockwise. If the next stack in the wall is two
tiles high, take the top tile. Otherwise, take the bottom tile.
2. Optional: Declare a concealed Gong or a small melded Gong. (These are explained in the special moves section.)
If you declare one of these Gongs, DO NOT go on to step 3. Instead, follow the procedure listed under Concealed
Gong or Small Melded Gong.
3. Discard a tile. If nobody claims the discard, play resumes with the player to the right.

For most turns, you will simply draw a tile and then discard a tile. DO NOT draw a tile immediately after the previous
player discards. It is common courtesy to give the other players a second or two a chance to claim the discard before you
draw.

Special Moves

Melded Pung

If you want to use the most recently discarded tile in a pung, you must already have two concealed tiles in your hand that
match the discard. You must:

1. Declare “pung”.
2. Take the discard. (Do not place the discard in your hand).
3. Lay down the three tiles of the pung face-up as a set in front of your hand. This set is called a melded pung.
 4. Discard a tile. If nobody claims the discard, play resumes with the player to the right. Note: some players
might/will get their turns skipped.

+ =

Two concealed identical tiles + discarded matching tile = melded pung

Melded Runs

If you want to use the most recently discarded tile in a Runs, you must already have two concealed tiles in your hand that
would make a Runs with the discarded tile, and the discard must come from the player to your left. You must:

1. Declare “Runs”.
2. Take the discard. (Do not place the discard in your hand).
3. Lay down the three tiles of the Runs face-up as a set in front of your hand. This set is called a melded Runs.
4. Discard a tile. If nobody claims the discard, play resumes with the player to the right.

Example 1

+ =

Concealed 4- and 5-bamboo + discarded 6-bamboo = melded Runs

Example 2

+ =

Concealed 4- and 6-bamboo + discarded 5-bamboo = melded Runs

Big Melded Gong

If you want to use the most recently discarded tile in a Gong, you must already have a concealed pung in your hand that
matches the discard. You must:

1. Declare “Gong”.
2. Take the discard. (Do not place the discard in your hand).
3. Lay down the four tiles of the Gong face-up as a set in front of your hand. This set is called a big melded Gong.
4. Draw a replacement tile. (Replacement tiles are explained later.)
 5. Optional: Declare a concealed Gong or a small melded Gong. If you declare one of these Gongs, do not go on to
step 6. Instead, follow the rules concerning the concealed Gong or small melded Gong.
6. Discard a tile. If nobody claims the discard, play resumes with the player to the right. Note: some players might
get their turns skipped.

+ =

concealed pung + matching discard = big melded Gong

Small Melded Gong

If you draw a tile that matches a melded pung you already have, you may promote the pung to a Gong. Note that you DO
NOT have to promote the pung. If you do want to promote the pung, you DO NOT need to do it on the same turn you
drew the matching tile. You can declare a small melded Gong on any of your turns, but only immediately after you draw a
tile from the wall or a replacement tile. You must:

1. Declare “Gong”.
2. Add the matching tile to your melded pung. This set is called a small melded Gong.
3. Draw a replacement tile.
4. Optional: Declare a concealed Gong or a small melded Gong. If you declare one of these Gongs, do not go on to
step 5. Instead, follow the rules concerning the concealed Gong or small melded Gong.
5. Discard a tile. If nobody claims the discard, play resumes with the player to the right.

+ =

melded pung + drawn matching tile = small melded Gong

Concealed Gong

If you draw a tile that matches a concealed pung you have in your hand, you may declare a concealed Gong. Note that
you DO NOT have to use the tiles as a Gong. If you do want to use the tiles as Gong, you DO NOT need to do it on the
same turn you drew the matching tile. You can declare a concealed Gong on any of your turns, but only immediately after
you draw a tile from the wall or a replacement tile. You must:

1. Declare “Gong”
2. Lay down the four tiles of the Gong face-down as a set in front of your hand. This set is called a concealed
Gong.
3. Draw a replacement tile.
4. Optional: Declare a concealed Gong or a small melded Gong. If you declare one of these Gongs, do not go on to
step 5. Instead, follow the rules concerning the concealed Gong or small melded Gong.
5. Discard a tile. If nobody claims the discard, play resumes with the player to the right.
Note: if you wish to use a concealed Gong as one of your sets but you do not declare it, then you will not have enough
tiles to complete the four sets and the pair you need to win.

+ =

concealed pung + drawn matching tile = concealed Gong

Order of Claims
If players claim the same discard, a pung or Gong will supersede a Runs. However, a claim of mahjong trumps all other
claims. If two or more players claim mahjong, then the next player counterclockwise from the discarder gets the discard to
win.

Replacement Tiles
When you declare a Gong, you must draw a replacement tile from the back end of the wall. That is to say, you draw a tile
from the end of the wall you normally WOULD NOT draw tiles from. If you don't get a replacement tile, you won't have
enough tiles to make the four sets and a pair you need to get mahjong.

Players may not declare Gong when the wall is exhausted and there are no replacement tiles to take.

Mahjong
When you have a hand that requires only one more tile to make four sets and a pair, then your hand is ready. If you draw
the last tile you need, then you can declare "mahjong" to win by self-draw. If another player discards the last tile you
need, then you can declare "mahjong" to win by discard.

If you declare mahjong, reveal your entire hand so that everybody else can see it and verify that your hand is valid. After
you win a hand, typically you would calculate your score and make your opponents pay up. If you want to learn a simple
scoring system, I suggest you look up the scoring rules for Hong Gong Old Style.

For the next hand, rotate the dealer and seat winds counterclockwise. The South player of the first round becomes the
new East and dealer, and the other players change seat winds accordingly. Shuffle the tiles, rebuild the wall, and start
again!
Pts Hand Description
Hand consists of all Runss and no honors.
1 All Runs

Hand includes two identical Runss in the same suit.

Identical run in
1
same suit

Two Runss in the same suit that run consecutively after one another to make a six-tile straight.
1 Short Straight

Hand includes a 123 Runs and a 789 Runs in the same suit.
Old and Young
1
Runs

1 Missing a Suit Hand uses tiles from only two of the three suits. The hand cannot include honors.
1 2-8 only No 1’s or 9’s in the hand. The hand cannot include honors.
Waiting solely for a tile to form a pair or middle tile of a Runs or 3 to form a 123 Runs, or for a 7 to form
1 Single Wait
a 789 Runs. This tile must be the only one that will complete four sets and a pair.
1 Self-Drawn Winning on a tile drawn from the wall.
All helped by
1 All sets were from others including the winning tile
others
Hand includes a pung (or Gong) of dragons.
1 Dragon Pung

Hand includes a pung (or Gong) of the prevalent wind or the player’s seat wind.
Seat Wind or
1
prevalent Wind

Hand includes two melded Gongs.

2 Two Gongs

Hand uses all four of a suit tile without using them as a Gong.(example below for 5 of stick)
2 Tile Hog
and
Hand includes two pungs of the same number in two different suits.
2 Double Pung

Hand in which each set, including the pair, is composed of a different type of tile (characters, bamboos,
dots, winds, and dragons).
3 All Types

Hand includes three Runss of the same numerical sequence, one in each suit.
Mixed Triple
3
Runs

Hand consists entirely of concealed sets. (4 points if won by self-draw – see above).
3 Concealed Hand
Pts Hand Description
Hand includes three consecutive Runss in the same suit, making a nine-tile straight.
1 Dragon
3
(1-9 Straight)

Hand includes two pungs (or Gongs) of dragons.

Two Dragon
3
Pungs

Hand includes four pungs (or Gongs) and a pair.

3 All Pungs

Hand composed entirely of honors and suit tiles of only one suit.
3 Partial Flush

5 Last Tile Win Win on the last tile of the wall.

5 Gong Tile Winning on the replacement tile drawn after declaring a Gong. Counts as self-drawn.
Hand consists of seven pairs. May combine with Fully Concealed Hand if Self-Drawn.
7 Seven Pairs

Hand includes three pungs of the same number, one in each suit.
7 Triple Pung

Hand uses a certain number (5 in example below) suit tile in every set, including the pair.
10 All one number

Hand includes three Runss of the same numerical sequence and in the same suit.
10 Pure Triple Runs

Hand consists of 123/789 Runss in two suits, and a pair of fives in the third suit.
Three-Suited
10
Terminal Runss

Hand consists entirely of suit tile of the same suit.

12 Full Flush

Hand includes pungs (or Gongs) of three of the winds.

12 Big Three Winds

Hand includes three pungs (or Gongs) of the same suit, each shifted one up from the last.
Pure Shifted
12
Pungs

Hand consisting entirely of 7, 8, and 9 suit tiles.

12 Upper Tiles
Pts Hand Description
Hand consisting entirely of 4, 5, and 6 suit tiles.
12 Middle Tiles

Hand consisting entirely of 1, 2, and 3 suit tiles.

12 Lower Tiles

Hand includes three Gongs. May combine with Three Concealed Pungs if the Gongs are all concealed.
12 Three Gongs

Hand consists entirely of terminals and honors.

All Terminals and
12
Honors

Hand includes four Runss of the same numerical sequences in the same suit.
20 Quadruple Runs

Hand includes four pungs (or Gongs) in the same suit, each shifted up one from the last.
Four Pure Shifted
20
Pungs

Hand includes three pungs of dragons.

20 Three Dragons

Hand made with only terminal suit tiles.

20 All Terminals

Hand includes three pungs of winds, and a pair of the fourth wind.
24 Little Four Winds

Hand is composed entirely of only honor tiles.

24 All Honors
Scoring
(Note: Often it is played where only the giver pays. Also, often there is an agreed upon minimum # of points to win)

Points Giver Others

1 4 2
2 8 4
3 16 8
4 24 12
5 32 16
6 48 24
7 64 32
8 80 40
9 96 48
10 112 56
11 128 64
+16 for +8 for
each each
12+ point point
,