Archive for category Mah Jongg
The Rules of Mah Jongg: What you Need to Know
Posted by oscar in Board Games, Mah Jongg on May 20th, 2009
Mah jongg has evolved from the ancient Chinese game that old people play. This game has a colorful and interesting history that players may not be too familiar. Nevertheless, a lot of people around the world have been creating new varieties of mah jongg as more and more people are starting to play mah jongg. This game originally from china involves skill, luck and yes, even intelligence.
Mah jongg is commonly played by four players. But it can be played by two to five people. There are usually 16 hands being played. These 16 hands are played in four rounds. Each round has a name. The names are after directions so east, then south, west and then north. This is determined by the dice. The direction you are in would determine who will play first.
After this, you have to build a wall. You arrange the tiles in 18 stacks. The stacks are broken down and tiles are given to all the players. Each player would have 13 tiles. The rest will be left in the wall that is in the middle.
And then, every one of the players would discard the tiles and get from the wall. You need to get 4 sets and a pair of tiles. The set would refer to the sequence of three in a row that come from the same suit. This is called a chow. The chow is similar to the mini straight flush in poker. If you get three of a kind, it is called a pung. If you get four of a kind, that is a kong. If a player gets four sets and a pair, the game will end. If no one wins and yet the wall is gone, it is considered a draw.
There are certain rules that are being used during international competitions as there are championships around the world. It has already become an international sport. The rules were first set in 2002 when the first world championship was organized. Before joining one, of course, make sure you have understood each rule in the competition since this will be the start of winning the game.
In the present, mah jongg is entering the world. Through the decades, more people are getting interested in playing this game. Many gamble for fun and as a sport. It has become a part of pop culture as even youngsters are learning how to play it. Pick up the tiles and start playing.
In playing this game, however, it is always important to impose self-discipline as it can also ruin you as a person. The rule of thumb for everything is taking things in moderation, anyway.
History of Mah Jongg
Posted by oscar in Board Games, Mah Jongg on May 20th, 2009
Mah jongg has been played by different people throughout time. There have been different variations of mah jongg. But only four varieties are more accepted:
The oldest variety of mah jongg would be the classical Chinese Mah jongg. This was the variety that was brought to America. From this basic variety many more varieties have been created.
Another variety would be the Cantonese Mah jongg. Another name for this variety would be Hong Kong Mah jongg. It is actually one of the more common ways to play Mah jongg.
The most common form of mah jong is Japanese mah jong. This variety of mah jong is the one that is being played in video games. The main parts of the game would be the riichi and dora.
Another variety would be western classical mah jongg. This is a slightly tweaked version derived from the Chinese classical one. This was brought to America afterwards. Around 1920, bobcock changed this Western Classical mah jongg. In fact Bobcock’s version was the one that was used by other players.
Other varieties of mah jongg would be the Taiwanese mah jongg, Filipino mah jongg, Fujian mah jongg and Vietnamese mah jongg.
There have been so many varieties of this game, so they had to come out with standard rules to be used in international rules. These games were patterned after the Chinese variety and the classical variety.
But despite the many varieties, they still follow some of the basic rules of the Japanese mah jongg game. These rules would include the minimum score of 8 the player needs to have. Another one would be that you would get added scores from the tiles with flowers. Each tile with a flower is equivalent to a point. The player needs to scare 8 point to be able to get his tile with a flower to be credited.
The standard rules came out in 2002 when the first World Mah jongg championship was put together. These rules were put together by the Mah jongg museum, council of the city of Ningbo, China and the Japanese organizing committee of mah jongg. During this championship, players from china, Europe, Japan and America participated. The winner was Mai hatsune. The championships were held in Hainan, Hong kong and Beijing.
But the west also came up with their own tournament in Netherlands last 2005. About over 100 players participated in the Open European Mah jongg championship. The winner was Masato Chiba of Japan.
The new revisions were not widely accepted though as many people have been accustomed to a certain way of playing and they did not like the new rules that came along. They felt it complicated the game. But many new players like the clear cut rules as they said you can better understand the game with the rules given.
With all the new rules, many people are getting to learn to play mah jongg as they now understand it better. The mah jongg in the past had rather vague rules that new players did not seem to appreciate.
Oscar
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