subject: Chinese Mahjong - Learn How The Game Works [print this page] These days, there is a great push for gaming companies to produce the next breakthrough electronic game which offers stunning graphics, interesting storylines and a fluid interface. However, there is something to be said for games that don't need gimmicks and which have been around for hundreds of years. A case in point is the game of mahjong which has been around since the days of Confucius approximately 500 B.C. The game's longevity just speaks to the fact that it has elements of gameplay for everybody.
If you play the traditional version of mahjong you would be playing it between four players. These four players would be seated in positions across from each other as either East, South, West or North. The East position is the person who plays first and this one is the dealer. The advantage of being in this position is that if you win the hand, you continue in this role and you can also score higher on a hand.
A standard set of Mahjong tiles consists of 144 tiles. Of these 36 are in suits of bamboo, characters and circles. Then you get 12 dragon tiles and 16 wind tiles. Along with this there are 8 flower tiles but these are not actually used while playing the game. They just act to give players extra points while distributing and the drawing of tiles.
The game starts with each player receiving 13 tiles. You should aim to create 4 melds of 3 each of which consists of pung (triplets) or chow (a series) by taking discarded tiles or drawing them yourself. To complete a winning hand you need to add a pair of eyes. That means that you will end up with a winning hand of 14 tiles.
You will receive bonus points for a number of hands. If you have all pungs, chows, the same suit or the triplets are made from dragon tiles extra points are added. You get even more points if you pung your own directions wind tiles
You might get confused when you first play, but you should be playing without a problem after a few rounds. Players who previously played gin rummy usually catch on a lot faster as there are many similarities between the two games.
Mahjong is definitely one of those games that are not to difficult to learn, but takes a long time to master. Only by playing regularly you will pick up the subtleties of the game. As you get better at the game you will learn how to play your opponents and calculate odds on the fly.
