Mahjong: A Skill Game with Tiles

The skill game of Mahjong dates back to 500 AD when the game became legal entertainment among the common people living in China. Over two thousand years back, during the era of King of Wu, this lucrative pastime was for the royal class only.
This lesson at the Learn Skill Games program continues with history.

Who Invented the game?
In all probability, this game was devised by Confucious, who traveled in China during that era. He was fond of birds – perhaps that is why the game was christened as Mahjong, which denotes a sparrow. Some experts say that the three cardinal virtues professed by Confucious were represented through three dragon tiles – red, green, and white.
However, some feel that Confucious is not the inventor of this skill game. Why was there no evidence of the game before the 19th century? Perhaps, Mahjong was an evolved version of Ma Tei. This game lost its legal status when China was taken over by the Communist party.
Later, with cultural changes, the game was accepted as one of the most entertaining gambling skill games not only in China, but other countries as well.

The Rules of this Skill Game
The main goal for winning this skill game of tiles is to complete a hand before anyone else does. In addition, a completed hand would have four sets of three tiles in a suit. Additionally, there would be an identical pair of any other suit.

The game starts with each player sitting at the four sides of a square table – denoting the four winds from North, South, East, and West. At first, the tiles are not revealed as they are placed faced down on the table. Shuffling takes place and each player is required to collect a total of 36 tiles. These tiles are arranged in 2 rows with equal tiles in each and stacked one on top of the other. Next, the dice is rolled and in the end, flowers are exchanged.

Players use various types of bids such as Tse, Pung, and Gaung.
If money is placed on the bid, the loser has to pay the score difference between them and the winner.
The winner earns 20 points. The other players win points based on the type of tiles they have. Each tile has a certain amount of points.

Strategies vs. Luck
Often, players feel that luck has a greater role in winning this game. However, a comprehensive survey suggests otherwise.
Though luck is a factor in this game, one can supersede chance if a prudent strategy is followed. Therefore, enhancing your game skills can diminish the luck factor.

What you need to do is eliminate the Flower tiles and Season tiles. Additionally, you try to allow minimum hands. To ensure these factors, you need to begin with your statistics in place. How many tiles do you need to go out as quickly as possible?
If it is 4 or less, you can then play to win the game. At this point, you need to play aggressively, abandon even lucky tiles that you don’t really need, and consider chow and pung bids after 6 to 7 turns.
If you are playing to draw the game, don’t discard a dragon or wind, don’t consider chow and pung bids, and avoid playing doubles. 

Mahjong Terms
Mastering the game is easier when one knows the terms of Mahjong. The lingo identifies with the subtle mysticism of the game. Mahjong tiles can be divided into three divisions – Suits, Honor, and Flowers.

The suits can be Stones, Bamboo, or Characters depending on what the tile represents. For instance, if a tile consists of a number of bamboo sticks, it is a Bamboo Suit.
The Honor suit is divided into Wind tiles and Dragon tiles.

Flower Suit has flower tiles such as plum, chrysanthemum, orchid, and bamboo.
It also has the four plants that were often referenced by Confucius. A player completes a Meld when he/she abandons a tile and any other opponent calls or bids for it.
A Pong or Pung represents 3 similar tiles while a Kong represents 4 identical tiles. When three tiles of the same suit are in a particular sequence, it is termed as a Chow.
An Eye, on the other hand, consists of two similar tiles.

If you like playing Rummy, you will certainly be drawn to Mahjong.
Mahjong is a much more illustrative gambling game and very entertaining.

Mahjong Skill Game is followed by How to Play PaiGow
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