Original Copyright © 1996 Thomas Zuwei Feng
Localized version by Exodus
This document describes MahJong rules and their incarnation on the Online MahJong Server.
| MahJong Tiles |
There are a total of 144 tiles in MahJong, they can be classified into the following categories:
The Character Suit
The Ball Suit
The Bamboo (or Stick) Suit
From left to right, the tiles have values 1 to 9. There are 4 tiles for each value.
The Winds and Dragons (collectively called Honors)
The first 4 are wind tiles that correspond to the 4 directions: East, South, West, and North. There are 4 for each of these tiles. This is also the order players' seats are named on the MahJong table: starting from the dealer being East, rotating counterclockwise up to North.
The last 3 are dragon tiles, again there are 4 of each.
The Flowers
All the flower tiles are distinct. They are not normal tiles and play relatively minor roles in MahJong, mostly to introduce the factor of "luck". Some versions don't even use them. However, the usage of flower tiles on this server is quite different from the general "Singapore" rules, for example, "Cat Eating Rat" rule don't apply here.
| Set of Tiles |
Here are some terminologies for certain sets of MahJong tiles. Various people have various different names for them so beware.
- A pair is a set of 2 identical tiles.
For example: or .
- A sequence is a set of 3 tiles of the same suit,
in consecutive values.
For example: or .
Note that you cannot form a sequence with word tiles.
- A triplet is a set of 3 identical tiles.
For example: or .
- A quadruplet is a set of 4 identical tiles.
For example:.
A [normal] winning pattern consists of 5 sets of normal tiles. One of the sets must be a pair, the other 4 sets can be sequences, triplets, or quadruplets. You can also have any number (including 0) of flower tiles.
Here is an example:
| Games and Rounds |
There are 4 players on the table. A random player is chosen to be the dealer. Each player then gets assigned a seat wind, starting from the dealer being East, proceeding counterclockwise in the order of the wind tiles. There is also a round wind for each game, for the very first game it's always East.
If the dealer wins the game or if the game is a draw, then he remains the dealer for the next game. However, if someone other than the dealer wins the game, then the next player in turn (who used to be South) will be the dealer for the next game.
When the dealer has rotated a full round back to the very first one, the round wind rotates to the next one in the wind tiles.
| A Mahjong Game |
In a MahJong game, each player conceals his private hand of tiles and reveals some of them as the game progresses. Once some tiles are revealed, the player can no longer touch them. There is also a big stockpile of concealed tiles to be drawn from.
To draw a tile, a player takes a tile from the stockpile on the table. If it is a flower, he reveals it and keeps drawing until he gets a normal tile.
NB: in normal games, players draw tiles from the beginning or the end of the stockpile depending on the situation. We don't make that distinction in our server.
Initially, each player draws 13 tiles. The dealer draws a 14th one, and the game starts, the dealer having the turn. The player in turn has the following options:
| Discard a tile. |
| To do this in Online Mahjong, click on that tile, and press [Discard]. |
| Form a quadruplet if he has 4 identical tiles in this private hand. |
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Thus he makes a concealed quadruplet: the set of quadruplet has revealed status, but the other players cannot see them until the game ends. The player then draws another tile to compensate for the quadruplet. To do this in the game, click on one of the 4 tiles, and press [Kong x4]. |
| Form a quadruplet if he already has a revealed triplet and now has a 4th tile of the same kind. |
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This play may put the player at the risk of feeding another player's winning hand and count as a robbing quadruplet. If the play is safe, then the player makes a revealed quadruplet, and draws another tile to compensate.
To do this in IMS, click on the 4th tile, and press [Kong x4]. |
| Win the game, if he has a winning pattern. | To do this in the game, simply press [MahJong]. |
If the player doesn't win, eventually he has to discard a tile. Then the other 3 players make bids for that tile and the next turn to play.
For the immediate successor (in counterclockwise order) of the player who just made the discard, he has the following choices:
| Bid to draw another tile. |
| To do this in IMS, press [Draw]. |
| Bid to make a sequence with the discarded tile and 2 other tiles in his private hand. |
| To do this in IMS, press one of the 3 corresponding [Chow] buttons. |
| Bid to make a triplet with the discarded tile and 2 same tiles in his private hand. |
| To do this in IMS, press [Pong x3]. |
| Bid to make a quadruplet with the discarded tile and 3 same tiles in his private hand. |
| To do this in IMS, press [Kong x4]. |
| Bid to win the game (with a winning pattern) after grabbing the discarded tile. |
| To do this in the game, press [MahJong]. |
For the other 2 players, they have the following choices:
| Bid to pass, i.e. do nothing. |
| To do this in IMS, press [Pass]. |
| Bid to make a triplet with the discarded tile and 2 same tiles in his private hand. |
| To do this in IMS, press [Pong x3]. |
| Bid to make a quadruplet with the discarded tile and 3 same tiles in his private hand. |
| To do this in IMS, press [Kong x4]. |
| Bid to win the game (with a winning pattern) after grabbing the discarded tile. |
| To do this in IMS, press [MahJong]. |
Note that only the immediate successor can make sequences. Bids have the following order of precedence:
pass < draw & sequence < triplet & quadruplet < MahJong.
If the table allows multiple wins, then all players who claims MahJong win the game. Otherwise, only the closest successor (in counterclockwise order) of the player who just made the discard wins. The player who just made the discard is the feeder.
If nobody wins, the player who has the highest bid makes his play:
- If his bid is draw, he draws a tile from the stockpile. The game is declared a draw (i.e. nobody wins) if the stockpile has less than 14 tiles.
- If his bid is sequence or triplet, he forms a new revealed set with the discarded tile and his 2 other tiles.
- If his bid is quadruplet, he forms a new revealed set with the discarded tile and his 3 other tiles, then draws another tile to compensate.
Then, this player gets the next turn.
After someone wins the game, or if the game is a draw, the dealer, round wind and seat winds are rearranged (see Games and Rounds) and a new game starts.
| MahJong Table Options |
There are certain options that you can set in the game.
- Use Flower Tiles. This option controls whether or the table will use flower tiles. If used, the possession of them may result in more scores. See the Scoring System for details.
- Allow Multiple Wins. There are rare occasions when one player discards a tile that makes 2 or even all 3 of the other players complete a winning pattern. In some conventions, only the nearest successor (in counterclockwise order) of that player can win, whereas in other conventions, all the players with a winning pattern can win.
- Stricter MahJong. When on, a player cannot win by grabbing a tile that he has discarded. If he choose to let a discarded tile "slip by" without declaring MahJong, he cannot declare MahJong on the same tile before the turn-to-discard passes through him.
- Minimum Fan. The minimum fan value required in order to declare MahJong. This fan value does not include adjustments from the aux value.
- Invitation Only. For some privacy. Spectators cannot be blocked out. Online Mahjong Server is a social center after all!