Mahjong was brought to japan in 1904, but the riichi form that is used in modern times. With four of each of the above tiles, a mahjong set consists of 6 tiles. The basic mahjong set has 6 pieces, which contains 36 distinct kinds of pieces 4 of each kind. President of the japan professional mahjong league. In this variation, each player starts with a score anywhere between 20,000 and 30,000, which is typically represented by a series of bars resembling elongated chinese dominoes, in four denominations. If your pdf reader software lacks that functionality it might instead let you open. Special hands are used most widely in the western game. My japanese mahjong guides full pdf guide and primer for. If two players call mahjong for the same discard, the player sitting closest to the discarder in turn order is given the tile. Mahjong has a large number of variants around the world. Mahjong pronounced with a soft j and variously known as mahjongg or mahjong is a charming chinese game played with engraved tiles.
Many yaku are patternbased yaku comparable to poker hands. Mahjong is a traditional tabletop game usually played by four players at a square table. The hand must contain 14 tiles and be composed of four sets and a pair with the exception of special limit hands. Any 3 suits, kongs 8s only, singles 2 and 8 from the same suit example. Singles and pairs are underlined on this practice card as a helpful reminder to a player that a discarded tile cannot be picked up to make a single or a pair, unless it is the 14 th tile the final tile needed to make mah jongg. Any honor tile, along with suit tiles that belong to different knitted sequences for example. Mostly written on scraps of paper, or typed with carbon copies, i have amalgamated them as best i can. Pair of flowers, any 2, pair of white dragons, any 8, two kongs of 8 note. It is permissible to declare riichi when a player is furiten. Feb 5, 2020 1 mahjong japanese riichi mahjong yakulist with notes v1. Mah jong handbook is the allcomprehensive mahjong guide, offering a clear and concise introduction to the classic chinese, western, and japanese rules of the game and outlining its many variants. The points are given a monetary value agreed by the players.
It is commonly played by four players with some threeplayer variations found in japan, south korea and southeast asia. Most of the ryu ga gotoku yakuza games feature playable mahjong minigames that all use the same modern japanese rules and scoring. Riichi 1 fan when your hand is ready and fully concealed, you can call riichi. When your hand is ready and fully concealed, you can call riichi. Declaring riichi means declaring a ready hand, and is a kind of yaku. A lot of the options there are very uncommon though. Explanations and examples of handssequences shown on. Introduction quick reference guide to hands mah jong hands. Although in many variations scoreless hands tui dao hu in mandarin, gai. Threeplayer mahjong as a game evolved for three players played in korea and japan are played differently depending on age and region though they can be divided into three different games.
Threeplayer mahjong or 3ka is a simplified threeperson mahjong that involves hands of tiles with a total of 84 tiles on the table and may use jokers depending on the variation. Japanese mahjong mahjong online free mahjong games. But a variety of other materials has also been used including wood, bakelite, resin and modern plastic. If the discarded tile was claimed for mahjong the riichi declaration does not count. Each tile set contains 3 simple suits stones, characters, and bamboos, 2 honor suits winds and dragons, and 1 optional suit flowers.
This is the complete list of exposed hands used in playing japanese mah jongg. If you prefer that only the winning player receive points as is done in american and japanese mahjongg, then you can change this to only winning hands. Traditionally, the tiles have been made from ivory or bone dovetailed into bamboo. A yaku is a certain pattern in a mahjong hand, or a special condition under which a win is declared. American style mahjong scoring provides mahjong players to play online mahjong games, mahjong online america, america mahjong scoring, america mahjong official scoring, riichi competition scoring. As is indicated in the chart, hands won by the dealer are typically worth 50% more than hands won by a nondealer player. The japanese scoring system is the system that is found in many mahjong video games. May 26, 2019 mahjong yaku pdf admin may 26, 2019 leave a comment japanese riichi yaku list hand composition yaku all simples tanyao 1 hand must not contain terminals, or 1s or 9s triplet of dragons, round wind. Japanese mahjong also known as richi mahjong, is a variation of mahjong. The ultimate object of the game is to accumulate the most points from the winning hands. In addition to all the millions of possible normal mahjong hands, there are a number of special mahjong hands that either 1.
A great way to learn mahjongit presents the complex rules in a clear format, introducing those unfamiliar with the game to its rules and. Hu shis early twentiethcentury anxieties over mahjong were, in many respects, nothing new. In this episode of riichi mahjong guide, i go over the basic shape of a winning hand in mahjong. Oct 12, 2017 in this episode of riichi mahjong guide, i go over the basic shape of a winning hand in mahjong. A player must have a minimum of one yaku in their hand in order to legally win. Yaku conditions may be combined to produce hands of greater value. If the wall is exhausted with out anyone calling mahjong, tenpai hands are. The hand must also have a minimum of 8 points not including points for flowers. The object of the game is to arrange the tiles into sets. All versions of the game can be played with these cards, including american mahjongg and riichi mahjong. I got some of them from imported japanese mahjong games ive played maybe a couple of dozen different titles and some of those options only appeared in one or two games.
The rules that follow are known as modern american rules. A player who takes a tile from the wall that makes a completed mah jong hand, declares mah jong and lays down all tiles. Practice each section on the card to become familiar with how to make a winning hand. Japanese mahjong, especially called riichi mahjong, is a very specific remake from japan of the traditional chinese mahjong. Japanese mahjong scoring rules are used for japanese mahjong, a game for four players common in japan. Mahjong tiles have meaning to learn how to play, you must first be able to identify and understand each mahjong tile. This article is not a full guide to mahjong instead it aims to teach the basics you need to start. Scoring in mahjong, a game for four players that originated in china, involves the players obtaining points for their hand of tiles, then paying each other based on the differences in their score and who obtained mahjong won the hand. The game of mah jongg these instructions are based on the american version of mah jongg.
Yaku conditions may be combined to produce hands of greater. Jul 18, 2017 this reference sheet is intended for chinese classical mahjong, but since chinese classical is the most basic of versions, it can be adapted to teach the basics of any version. Crunchyroll library how to play japanese riichi mahjong. Mahjong hands lisit mahjong tabletop games free 30day. From the games emergence in the 1800s, chinese moralists and reformers wrung their hands as they complained bitterly of its popularitywhile perhaps indulging in a few hands themselves. The tiles are mixed and then arranged into four walls that are each two stacks high and 17 tiles wide. If this discard is claimed for mahjong, the riichi. The chinese game recognizes a small number of special hands. In the west, some players require special hands that is to say, a normal legal hand of chows and pungs and a pair does not qualify for a win. White cloud pung of white dragons pung of the wind of the round. It originated in china but there are now countless variants worldwide. Instead, they are the main factor to determine hand values. If two players call mahjong for the same discard, the player sitting closest to east in turn order is given the tile. It is essential to know the yaku for game strategy, since a player must have a minimum of one yaku in their hand in order to legally win a hand.
If the player wins by ron, then the points for the winning hand are paid by the player who discarded the final tile this penalty places a high emphasis in riichi mahjong for not discarding other players winning tiles. Mah jongg for beginners american practice the hands on. Mahjong on selfdraw tsumo a player who has at least one yaku, can always declare mahjong, even if he is furiten. Unofficial rules and rule variants in german for zung jung mahjong, version 0. When playing special hands required, it is recommended to play with the jokers.
The rules were organized in the taisho to showa period as the game became popular. The japanese name of the yakukokushi musoumeans a peerless distinguished person in a country. It can happen that one player can call mah jong with the discarded tile and another can call. This is also timely since a new yakuza videogame kiwami 2 released in the west.
Most of the rules are the hong kong old style with more fine tuned faan calculations for special hands and flowers. With each turn you get to pick up a 14th tile, and then discard one from your hand. Otherwise, it works with my american ones well enough. Mahjong hands lisit mahjong tabletop games free 30. If the discarded tile is claimed for a chow, pung, or kong the player rotates his next.
A minimum of eight points is needed to call for mahjong. If an abortive draw occurs, players discard their entire hands and begin a new hand. The set includes 8 jokers and players refer to a card that shows the sequences that are needed to complete a mah jongg hand. If you are the first player to collect 4 sets of three tiles plus a single pair of tiles, you win the hand. Unfortunately these do not have any illustrations but all the info is there. Any player who can form a finished mah jong hand with the tile just discarded can call mah jong, take the discarded tile and go out. All the information collected was from players of the game. Unlike poker, yaku types do not supercede each other.
Aug 16, 2019 mahjong tiles have meaning to learn how to play, you must first be able to identify and understand each mahjong tile. Explanations and examples of handssequences shown on the card. Jul 18, 2018 practice each section on the card to become familiar with how to make a winning hand. The red fives are sometimes used to replace normal fives, so that each suit has one red five and three normal fives. Normally in chinese mahjongg, all players receive score for the hands theyve achieved at the time of someone declaring mahjongg. Japanese mahjong is a multiplayer version of mahjong also known as riichi mahjong. A guide to mahjong chinese official international rules 6 introduction to mahjong mahjong is a four player game of skill, originating in china. This reference sheet is intended for chinese classical mahjong, but since chinese classical is the most basic of versions, it can be adapted to teach the basics of any version. The types of tiles youve collected determine how many.
This reference sheet is also available as a pdf, a 4up pdf, and as an odt. Kong of flowers, kong of 2, kong of white dragons, white dragon and any 8. Three player mahjong rules and strategy of mahjong games. Theres classic chinese mahjong, theres american mahjong, and theres the style of mahjong played in saki called riichi mahjong which is the. Going dead it is important to remember that there are many different kinds of mahjongg. While im here i figured i should share my guides to japanese mahjong. Riichi waitingonaconcealedhand,aplayer can declare riichi. When the other player discard the tile what you are waiting for,you can call ron. An exception to this is when a player completes a thirteen orphans hand the turn order does not matter. A great place to start is the website in their mahjong school. Ippatsu 1 fan winning within one turn after declaring riichi. Originally, this file was created in an attempt to learn building pdf files with latex. The only problem i have is it is a tad too small for my chinese mahjong tiles. The winning tile for a hand is called on another players kan.