About Japanese Mahjong [麻雀]

[FrozenFlame]

Anyone here have ever played Mahjong ?

I tried it once and got confused pretty easily =_= , in addition to that, I hardly know the rule and unable to understand the rule clearly.

Anyone care to explain the rule ?

The tiles :


[edited the title ^^ thanks for correction

[JaySee]

I doubt you'll find anyone willing to type up an explanation of the entire game as there are many variants and most of them have lots and lots of rules, but in a nutshell you can think of it as rummikub made unnecessarily complicated. I've already posted the below in this thread, but here it is again:

--

I always found this site very useful. The layout is a bit chaotic, but it has a lot of info on the game and everything related to it, plus tons of links to sites that have rules of different variants (on the site itself you can also find some basic rules).

(Also, I'm not sure if you intended to write "mahjong" in kanji in the thread title, but if so, you're missing one character - 麻雀, pronounced マージャン)

[Yudan Taiteki]

rummikub

Also known as "rummy" in English.

[JaySee]

Isn't rummy the card game though?

I was kind of thinking about this game, which I thought was also called rummikub in English (we used to have it at home, though I have no idea how popular it is/was in general). I guess it doesn't really matter that much, the two games are almost the same so you can think of mahjong as an overcomplicated version of rummy as well if you want...

[hyperconjugated]

Anyone play リーチ?

My best hand was haneman (7 han). Full set of dora tiles were in use though, so it was rather lucky sum of them instead of impressive limit hand.

[becki_kanou]

I haven't played in a while, but a few years ago I used to play almost every night. My best ever hand was Su-anko-tanki. And I've gotten Tsu-i-sou before as well. Eleanor Whitney's book of Mah-jong for beginners is pretty good if you need an introduction. You can find it on Amazon.

[NocturnalOcean]

I play a lot on Tenhou.net , you can sign up and play for free. The rules are Riichi Mahjong.

Talking about yakuman, I have gotten 3. Suuankou, daisangen and kokushi musou.

[Harisenbon]

I was kind of thinking about this game,

I grew up on Rummikub, and only did I find out later that it is played chiefly by little old jewish grandmothers. =)
Always wondered why every old lady I knew had a set.

I love playing Mahjong, but even just going out (上がり) so difficult for me, I can never seem to get any points.
My mother in law always gets mad at me when I play because I never seem to get any points.

[becki_kanou]

I was kind of thinking about this game,

I grew up on Rummikub, and only did I find out later that it is played chiefly by little old jewish grandmothers. =)
Always wondered why every old lady I knew had a set.

I love playing Mahjong, but even just going out (上がり) so difficult for me, I can never seem to get any points.
My mother in law always gets mad at me when I play because I never seem to get any points.

We had a Rummikub set in our house growing up and my family loved to play it. My sister used to do the longest most intricate moves, and she almost always won.

And speaking of little old jewish grandmothers, I was under the impression that was who mainly played Mah-jong in the US too. Well, them and little old Chinese grandmothers.

[FrozenFlame]

I doubt you'll find anyone willing to type up an explanation of the entire game as there are many variants and most of them have lots and lots of rules, but in a nutshell you can think of it as rummikub made unnecessarily complicated. I've already posted the below in this thread, but here it is again:

--

I always found this site very useful. The layout is a bit chaotic, but it has a lot of info on the game and everything related to it, plus tons of links to sites that have rules of different variants (on the site itself you can also find some basic rules).

(Also, I'm not sure if you intended to write "mahjong" in kanji in the thread title, but if so, you're missing one character - 麻雀, pronounced マージャン)

I searched thread before 'Mahjong' but found none, so I decided to create the thread >_< ,, sorry if it's reposting another 'thread'

Well, is mahjong like poker ? we collect the same tiles and win from that ? is there any 'straight' set ?

what are the most common set of winning moves in Mahjong ?

( I just know riichi, and how to declare one correctly ? ), the point system sometimes confusing and the wind system ( east, west, north and south adds in the complication >_< )

[AJBryant]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong

It's not that hard.

[ryuubu]

Basically you have to make hands to form a 'yaku.' The hands themselves are numerous, but you need at least one yaku in order to ... uhh... agaru... errr... in order to get out (i.e. finish first).

First thing to do would be to read up about the basic rules about stealing (naki) and the wind directions and the significance and usefulness of the daisangenpai (haku hatsu chun) etc. Read up: http://www.japanesemahjong.com/reachmahjong/intro.htm

Note that even Japanese tend to use the chinese pronunciations for the pieces.

After you got that under your belt, try out a game:

http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/mahjong/mahjong_e.html

But note that there are a lot of strategies in this game. Mahjong seems to be associated a lot with gambling halls and gangsters. Luckily three of my friends play to a high level so I've managed to pick up a fair amount. There are also a lot of online Mahjong games available.