all of these games, the rules are basically the same. The major difference lies in the method of scoring, which changes according to the many variations in the combinations of tiles and the sets in a winning hand. Minor differences include the method of seat arrangement, the selection of the First Dealer, the construction of the wall, the discarding of tiles, the displaying of the revealed sequence, terminology, and so on.
This book provides instructions for all four versions of the game. The Cantonese Game (Old Rules) is considered the most practical for beginners to learn because of its simpler scoring system. Of the four games, the most complicated is the Shanghai Game, due to its many combinations.
CHAPTER TWO
THE CANTONESE GAME
(The Old Rule 13-Tile Game)
Mah jongg is a game of strategy, with one player’s personality and behavior often affecting another player’s chances of winning. An inexperienced or careless player can inadvertently help an opponent to assemble a high-scoring hand. Mah jongg is also a game of luck. Players believe strongly in Feng Shui, a belief that supernatural powers can bring good luck to a person occupying a particular seat at a certain time. For this reason, rightly or wrongly, players can become very finicky about where they sit. Thus, it is not difficult to understand why seat allocation is an important part of the game.
2.1 Seat Allocation (Jup Wai)
Once all four players are seated randomly around a square table, any player may pick out four different Wind tiles and place them face down on the table. After these Wind tiles have been thoroughly mixed, they are stacked up one on top of another.
One player casts a set of two or three dice and the dots are summed. The dice caster counts him- or herself as 1, followed by the player at his or her right as 2, and thus the sequence of counting is carried out counterclockwise until the sum is reached. The player who is the last one to be counted will pick up the top tile on the stack. The player at his or her right picks up the next tile, the opposite player picks up the third, and the player at his or her left picks up the last tile. Whoever picks up the East Wind tile from the stack will have the prerogative of selecting the first seat. The player with the South Wind tile will be seated at the right of the East Wind player and will be the East’s Lower House. The player with the West Wind tile will be seated opposite the East Wind player and will be the East’s Opposite House. The last player, or the one with the North Wind tile, will be seated at the left of the East Wind player, and will be the East’s Upper House.
For example, four players occupy seats A, B, C, and D as shown below. The player at side A casts the dice and the total number of dots is 3 (or 7 or 11). The player at side C should pick the top tile from the stack, the player at side D picks the second tile, the player at side A the third. The last tile belongs to the player at side B.
If the player with the East Wind tile chooses to sit at side A, then the players with the South Wind tile and the West Wind tile will be seated at side B and side C, respectively. The player with the North Wind tile will be seated at side D.
2.2 Building the Walls (Darp Pai)
Once everyone is seated in his or her designated seat, all the players take part in turning the tiles face down and mixing them thoroughly. Each player then forms a row of 17 tiles (18 if the Flower tiles are also used in the game; see Section 2.17, page 64), 2 tiles high and face down in front of him- or herself.
To add sophistication to the game when building the walls, each player first picks up 5 tiles with both hands (6 tiles if playing with the Flower tiles) to make the initial row of tiles. He or she then picks up 3 tiles in each hand and adds them separately to each end of the existing row. The last step is repeated so that the final row consists of 17 tiles. After carefully aligning the tiles against the frame built around the mahjong table, the player makes another row of tiles in the same manner. When this is done, he or she stacks the tiles and pushes the double-deck row toward the center of the table, joining the other rows as connecting walls. Some mahjong sets come with four rulers, each equivalent to the length of 18 tiles. The rulers are useful for gauging the length of the rows and keeping the walls of tiles straight and tidy.
2.3 Designating the First Dealer (Dar Jong)
There is a Dealer for each hand of the game. His or her function is to start the game and break the walls. In the ritual of choosing the First Dealer, the player who picked the East Wind tile during the seat allocation now casts two dice, and the dots are summed. The same player begins to count counterclockwise, making him- or herself 1, the next player 2, and so forth until that sum is reached. The last player counted is named the First Dealer.
Example: The player with the East Wind tile sitting at side A of the table casts the dice and the total number of the dots is five. The counting begins and ends at that player, making him or her the First Dealer.
2.4 Breaking the Walls (Hoi Pai)
The First Dealer commences the game. Starting at the right side of the wall of tiles he or she is facing, the Dealer counts the stacks clockwise according to the total number of dots on the dice cast, in this case five. The First Dealer then separates the first five stacks from the rest of the wall, so as to mark the breaking point. From the breaking point, the First Dealer picks up 4 tiles from the first 2 stacks (the sixth and seventh stacks) from the walls. He or she is followed by the Lower House, Opposite House, and Upper House. Each player proceeds to pick up two stacks at a time for three turns and a single tile at the fourth turn, thus ending with 13 tiles in his or her playing hand.
2.4.1 Leaping the Tiles (Til Pai)
A little ritual is usually performed by the Dealer after he or she picks up the 12th tile. The Dealer does not have to wait until all three players have picked up their 13th tile to make the first draw. He or she can start the exchange process by picking up a 14th tile from the wall at the same time the 13th tile is picked up (leaping over), to save a little time and to add some sophistication to the game.
