Learn Mahjong

01The tiles

Hong Kong mahjong uses 136 tiles: three suits numbered 1 to 9, plus the honours. There are four copies of every tile.

Characters · 萬maan — the number is written above the character for ten thousand

一萬一萬1二萬二萬2三萬三萬3四萬四萬4五萬五萬5六萬六萬6七萬七萬7八萬八萬8九萬九萬9

Dots · 筒tung — count the circles

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Bamboo · 索sok — the 1 Bamboo is traditionally a bird

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Winds · 風East 東, South 南, West 西, North 北

東東南南西西北北

Dragons · 三元Red 中, Green 發, White 白 — the white dragon is a blank or framed tile

中中發發白

Jade Room’s wildcard mode adds the eight Flowers and Seasons and lets them stand in for any tile. Traditional mode plays without them.

02What you’re building

A winning hand is 14 tiles arranged as four sets and a pair — the pair is called the eyes 眼. A set is one of three things:

Chow · 上Three consecutive tiles of one suit

四萬四萬4五萬五萬5六萬六萬6

Pung · 碰Three identical tiles

中中中中中中

Kong · 槓Four identical tiles. Still one set — you draw a replacement tile

5

5

5

5

Pair · 眼Two identical tiles, the eyes of the hand

9

9

一萬一萬1二萬二萬2三萬三萬3

4

5

6

3

3

3南南南南南南白白

03Setting up

Seats. Each seat has a wind: East, South, West, North. East is the dealer 莊 and plays first; the turn then moves counter-clockwise — East, South, West, North. Jade Room assigns seats and shows the wind on every plaque.

The deal. Everyone takes 13 tiles. The rest is the wall you draw from.

Rounds. If the dealer wins or the hand is a draw, they deal again; otherwise the deal passes to the right. Once all four seats have dealt, the prevailing wind changes — East round, then South, West and North. A full game is four rounds.

04Your turn

The whole game is one loop: draw one, discard one.

1. Draw the next tile from the wall — or claim the last discard instead (next section).
2. If that tile completes your hand, declare Mahjong.
3. Otherwise discard one tile face up in front of you. You always hold 13 tiles between turns.

Every discard stays on the table in front of the player who made it. Reading them is half the game.

05Calling a discard

The moment a tile is discarded, anyone who can use it may call it. In Jade Room the buttons appear whenever a call is possible — you have a few seconds to decide.

Priority. Mahjong beats Pung and Kong, which beat Chow. Play continues from whoever called, so the players in between lose their turn.

Kongs from your own hand. Four identical tiles in hand can be declared as a concealed Kong, and a fourth tile you draw can be added to an exposed Pung. Either way, draw a replacement from the back of the wall.

Exposed or concealed. Claimed sets are turned face up and locked in. Sets you complete by drawing stay hidden in your hand — and a fully concealed hand earns an extra Fan.

06Winning

Calling 聽牌. When you are one tile away, you are waiting. Say nothing; just watch for it.

Two ways in. Self-draw 自摸: you draw the tile yourself and all three opponents pay. By discard 出銃: another player discards it and only they pay.

The minimum. Your hand must be worth at least 3 Fan in traditional play (4 in Jade Room’s wildcard mode). Below that you cannot declare Mahjong — keep building.

Nobody wins? If the wall runs out, the hand is a draw 流局 and the dealer deals again.

07Scoring in one minute

Every pattern in your hand adds Fan 番. More Fan means a bigger payout on a doubling scale, capped at a Limit hand — 10 Fan in traditional play. Jade Room tallies it for you at the end of every hand; these are the patterns you will hit first.

• All Sequences 平糊1 Fan

  Four Chows and a pair.

  一萬一萬1二萬二萬2三萬三萬3四萬四萬4五萬五萬5六萬六萬6

  2

  3

  4

  6

  7

  8

  5

  5
• Honour Pung 番子1 Fan each

  A Pung or Kong of Dragons, or of any Wind. Your Seat Wind and the Round Wind each add one more.

• Concealed hand 門前清1 Fan

  You never claimed a Chow or Pung. Self-draw 自摸 is worth another 1.

• All Triplets 對對糊4 Fan

  Four Pungs or Kongs and a pair.

  一萬一萬1一萬一萬1一萬一萬1

  7

  7

  7東東東東東東中中中中中中

  9

  9
• Mixed One Suit 混一色4 Fan

  One suit plus honours, nothing from the other suits.

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9東東東東東東中中中中
• All One Suit 清一色8 Fan

  Every tile from one suit. No honours at all.

  一萬一萬1二萬二萬2三萬三萬3三萬三萬3四萬四萬4五萬五萬5五萬五萬5六萬六萬6七萬七萬7八萬八萬8八萬八萬8八萬八萬8九萬九萬9九萬九萬9
• Limit hands 爆棚Limit

  Thirteen Orphans 十三么, Great Dragons 大三元, Great Winds 大四喜, All Honours 字一色 and friends. The top payout.

Fan values differ a little from table to table; these are Jade Room’s house values. The full list with payouts sits under House rules at every table, and the Fan calculator in the game menu scores any hand you lay out.

08Five tips for your first games

1. Read your hand as runs and pairs. Jade Room sorts by suit and number for you — look for tiles that connect.
2. Chase one or two suits. Fewer suits means more Chows connect, and Mixed One Suit is the easiest big hand.
3. Keep your pairs. A pair is a Pung waiting to happen, and you need one as your eyes anyway.
4. Discard lonely tiles first. Single honours, and 1s and 9s that connect to nothing.
5. Watch the discards. A tile out three times is dead. Late in the hand, discard what others have already thrown so you never pay for someone else’s Mahjong.

09Say it like a local