| MAHJONGG OFFICIAL CUZZINS’ RULES (Originals’ rules are the same. The games are just more expensive.) Please email your questions, concerns, suggestions, and disputes. All suggestions and disputes are subject to a family vote. |
1.
FORMALITIES OF OPENING THE GAME
1.1.
Traditional Mahjongg is played by four players who play as
individuals and not as partners.
1.2.
The game is played with 144 tiles: 36 characters, or Cars,
36 bamboo, or Sticks, 36 dots, or Balls, and 36 Flowers.
The character tiles actually have two characters on them…the
top one is a number from 1 through 9, and the bottom is the character for
“10,000”. So they
are actually 10,000…20,000…30,000…etc.
1.3.
The sixteen “winds” and twelve “dragons”
are treated as Flowers.
1.4.
All 144 tiles are placed face down on the table and thoroughly
mixed or shuffled at the beginning of each round of play.
1.5.
Each player selects 36 tiles at random and arranges them in
front of him face down in a row eighteen tiles long and two high. These four
rows are then shoved forward to form a hollow square in the middle of the
table. This is called the Wall.
1.6.
Each person throws two dice in turn, into the central playing
area surrounded by the Wall. The
high throw becomes the “east wind”, or Dealer.
1.7.
If play is continuing from a previous round, the winner of
that round is the Dealer.
1.8.
The Dealer's side of the wall is called East, the wall opposite
is West, to the right is South, and to the left North.
1.9.
The Dealer (East) throws two dice and counts off the total,
starting with herself and counting in a counter-clockwise direction. Whomever the count lands on is the “mano”.
That player will “open the wall”.
So, if the two dice total 2, 6, or 10, South opens the
wall.
If they total 3, 7, or 11, West opens the wall.
If they total 4, 8, or 12, North opens the wall.
If they total 1, 5, or 9, East (the Dealer) opens the wall.
1.10. The “mano” counts off from the right end of his row clockwise the number of tiles indicated by the dice. He takes out the two tiles (called the “loose tiles”) and lays them to the right of the opening.
2.
THE DRAW
2.1.
After the “mano” opens the Wall, The Dealer takes
(or is served) the first eight tiles to the left of the opening.
Each player is responsible
for “serving” the portion of the wall that faces them, in order
to speed play.
2.2.
The Dealer is entitled to an extra tile. She may take it in the first round of
the draw, or elect to take it on the second round of the draw.
2.3.
After the Dealer takes her first round of tiles, South, West,
and North each draw, in that order.
2.4.
Each player draws eight in turn, going in a clockwise direction
around the wall.
2.5.
After the first round of drawing, there is a second round
of drawing.
2.6.
After the second round of the drawing, each player ends up
with sixteen tiles. The Dealer,
having taken an extra tile during the first or second round, will have seventeen.
2.7.
The total number of tiles held by each player, including those
he has in his hand and on the table must always be 16; except that for every
4 of a kind a player holds, he will have one more tile than 16. If a player
has one 4 of a kind, he will therefore have in all 17 tiles.
2.8.
Flowers are immediately “melded”, or laid down
face up in front of each player away from the playing area.
Proper etiquette dictates
that melded flowers are to be placed to each player’s right.
2.9.
The third and all following rounds of draw are from the Flower
end of the wall. Each player,
beginning with the dealer, now draws enough tiles to replace the flowers that
they have melded. Additional
rounds follow as necessary until each player no longer has any flowers in
their hand and each hand has the correct number of tiles.
The players may then want
to “organize” their hands, arranging the tiles in order of suits
in the hand with each player's hand concealed from the other three as in dominoes.
3.
THE ORDER OF PLAY
3.1.
The Dealer (East) starts the game by discarding one tile face
up in the center of the table.
3.2.
Play always proceeds counter-clockwise. After the Dealer’s first discard,
South takes a turn, then West, then North, then Dealer (East) again, and so
on.
3.3.
In a normal turn, a tile is drawn from the “draw”
end of the wall. The player either
elects to discard that tile or keep it and discard another tile.
A normal turn always consists of a draw and a discard.
3.4.
All tiles discarded and lying face up in the middle of the
table, except the last one discarded, are "dead" and cannot be used.
(The last discard can be used in a special move…see below.)
As a courtesy to others,
each player names his discard in placing it on the table. Each discard should
be placed face up where all may see it plainly and not tossed or shoved among
other discards.
3.5.
If a player draws a flower from the wall, he melds it immediately
with the rest of his flowers and draws a replacement tile from the “flower”
end of the wall.
Should both "loose tiles"
be used, then the two last tiles on the flower end are placed on top of that
end as new "loose tiles."
3.6.
A complete hand consists of five sets of threes (each set
may be either three of a kind of the same suit or a sequence in the same suit
called a "Run"), and an extra pair, called the “back”.
A complete hand has seventeen tiles in all, not counting extra tiles
gained by “konging” …see below.
3.7.
A turn consists of drawing and discarding from the wall or
executing a “special move”.
4.
Special Move: "CHOW"
4.1.
After one player discards, the player on her right, who has
the next turn, has the option to “Chow”, that is, take the tile
discarded to make the third of a run.
4.2.
If he “Chows” the discard, he must meld the three
tiles immediately and then discard one tile from his own hand.
(It’s important to
remember to discard…there will not be the correct number of tiles if
the player doesn’t discard.)
4.3.
Only the player to the right of the discarder has the right
to "Chow".
4.4.
A player who wishes to "Chow" a tile must give way
to any player who wishes to "Pung" (see below) that tile, except
when that tile completes her hand for the win.
5.
Special Move: "PONG"
5.1.
Should a player discard a tile and any other player have a
pair of this same tile, even out of his own turn, he may say "Pong"
and claim this tile.
5.2.
If he “Pongs” the tile, he must meld it immediately
with the pair from his own hand, making three of a kind, and then discard
one tile from his hand.
5.3.
After a “Pong”, play continues on to the right
of the one who "Ponged" and the other players are skipped.
5.4.
A "Pong" can only be made for three of a kind and
not for a run or a pair, except only at the end of the game, when the one
who "Pongs" requires only this one tile to fill a run or sequence
or to make a final pair to complete his hand for game.
5.5.
A "Pong" which completes a hand takes precedence
over any other "Pong."
5.6.
If one player, who is entitled to "Chow" a discard
for a sequence, says "Chow" and picks it up, he will give way to
another player who calls "Pong" and who can use that tile to complete
3 or 4 of a kind, even if the player who "Pongs" is slow to claim
the “Pong”.
5.7.
A player may "Pong" even though the player at right
of the discarder may have drawn from the wall and looked at her drawn tile.
But a reasonable amount of
promptness is expected of each player.
(see next rule)
5.8.
No player has a right to "Pong" a discarded tile
after the next draw has been placed in the following player's hand on the
table.
6.
Special Move: "KONG"
6.1.
A player who has three of a kind concealed in his hand may
"Kong" a fourth of the same kind.
6.2.
If a player “Kongs” a tile, the four tiles must
be melded immediately.
6.3.
A player who “Kongs” receives 10 CENTS from each
of the other players. Payment
is immediate.
6.4.
The player who “Konged” must then draw one of
the two "loose tiles" (the second from the end) to make up the correct
number of tiles in his hand. The player then discards.
6.5.
Players may not "Kong" a fourth tile discarded by
another player, to add to three already melded in order to make four-of-a-kind.
6.6.
If a player draws from the wall to make four of a kind in
his hand he is said to have a “secret”. He keeps the tile and does NOT discard.
6.7.
Any player who claims to have a “secret” receives
10 CENTS from each of the other players. Payment is immediate.
6.8.
Players have the option of paying an additional 25 cents to
see a player’s “secret”.
Players may want to see the
“secret” since this tile may no longer be used to complete a hand.
6.9.
One player’s “secret” no longer pays if
another player completes his hand and wins.
Sometimes a player holds a “secret” in her
hand for a time, instead of declaring it at once, hoping to use the tiles
or part of them to complete one or more sequences. This is allowable and is
sometimes useful.
7.
Special Move: "MAHJONGG"
7.1.
A player wins when she completes her hand either by drawing
the final necessary tile or via one of the “special” moves.
7.2.
When the player who completes her hand declares “Mahjongg”,
she lays down her hand, and play ceases.
7.3.
In the event that the same discarded tile is required to complete
hands for two or three players, the player who sits nearest the player who
discarded the tile, counting in order of play, counter-clockwise, is entitled
to “Mahjongg”.
7.4.
When a player “Mahjonggs”, the score is counted
both for those tiles that have already been melded and for any concealed combinations
now disclosed in her hand.
7.5.
Once the score is counted, the other players pay the winner
and the next round may begin.
7.6.
The winner of a round is the Dealer for the next round.
8.
SCORING
8.1.
The initial score depends on the face value of the last tile
drawn and the value of the “trick” that the tile was used to complete.
8.2.
If the last tile is used to complete a four-of-a-kind, the
initial score is 50 plus the face value of the winning tile.
8.3.
If the last tile is used to complete the Back (the winning
tile completed the pair) the initial score is 20 plus the face value of the
winning tile.
8.4.
If the last tile is used to complete a three-of-a-kind or
a run, the initial score is 10e plus the face value of the winning tile.
8.5.
A one of any suit has a face value of 11.
8.6.
To the initial score is added points for any of the following
that occur in the hand:
Back: 2 points
Run: 3 points (only counts if its suit matches the Back suit)
Three of a kind: 3 points
*Three ones or three nines: 6 points
8.7.
The winning player adds these points to her initial score
and rounds the total up to the nearest five. Bonuses are added next, then honors.
9.
BONUSES
9.1.
No flowers – 10 points
9.2.
“Paningit” - Filling only possible place to win
(see appendix A).... 10 points
9.3.
“All Up” – All pongs or chows…..10
points
9.4.
“Escalera” – 1 through 9 of any suit….50
points
9.5.
“Syete pares” – 1 through 9 of any suit….50
points
9.6.
*Winning tile on special draw of a "loose tile"
after 4 of a kind...........50 points
10.
HONORS
10.1.
“Double Dice” – Winning on double
dice: Double total score
10.2.
“Bunot” - Winning tile drawn from wall:
Double total score
10.3.
To win on original hand (this is very unusual)…Double
total score 3 times
11.
PENALTIES
11.1.
Dead Hand: Should a player's hand at any time contain
more or less than right number of tiles, his hand is "dead." He
must continue to draw and discard but cannot, of course, complete his hand.
The penalty is that he must pay winner anyway. No player pays him any bonuses.
12.
PAYING THE WINNER
12.1.
Each player pays the winner one penny per point.
(All this for a measly
75 cents?)
12.2. *If the winning tile was chowed or punged, the thrower pays double.