Mahjong anyone?

[NickW]

So @ctreitzell and I don't want to take the "what's in your stove right now" thread further off the rails...

Are there any other Mahjong players here and what rules do you play?

 

[ctreitzell]

Hey @NickW cool of you to make a thread on Mahjong

 

[ctreitzell]

I think the thing about Mah-jong is having a reasonable house rules and understanding scoring

We do a few things as house rules, that aren't in the rule book like announcing the discarded tile when discarding. We also push all the previous discards aside as a matter of course because it is very easy for players to grab whatever they want off the discarded pile. Announcing the tile helps everyone keep track.

I think I'll do a little research before posting too much about how we play...there are probably online vids which correspond with how we play...

 

[NickW]

We also announce discards.

We play Jekyll Island rules. I have tried to get in contact with someone there a few times with a couple of questions and looking for an updated rules pamphlet, but have been unsuccessful in getting a response. I sent an email again the other day. Apparently on Jekyll Island they play both the National rules and Jekyll Island rules. No clue what the difference is.

I'll wait a while and see if there's any other players here before I get into how we play (Jekyll Island rules). I'd like a little rundown at some point of how you play and if it's the National rules or some other variation.

 

[ctreitzell]

We also announce discards.

We play Jekyll Island rules. I have tried to get in contact with someone there a few times with a couple of questions and looking for an updated rules pamphlet, but have been unsuccessful in getting a response. I sent an email again the other day. Apparently on Jekyll Island they play both the National rules and Jekyll Island rules. No clue what the difference is.

I'll wait a while and see if there's any other players here before I get into how we play (Jekyll Island rules). I'd like a little rundown at some point of how you play and if it's the National rules or some other variation.

I don't know those Jekyll Island rules

Hmmm, I'm watching vids and finding little tidbits...especially us playing incorrectly

we play westernized clockwise; I see chinese instructions showing counter-clockwise
which makes a big difference for chows

...I keep looking

 

[ctreitzell]

We started with this booklet which came with our first set, and it is very difficult to follow…bizarrely written

 

[ctreitzell]

so much discrepancy! I'm feeling altogether confused now

I believe we just figured out our own style based upon "common sense" while playing back in the day

we do play with flowers and honor tiles...

but clockwise or counter? seems folks do whatever they want!

 

[NickW]

Our book is absolute nonsense translation wise. The sentences don't make sense, it calls 2 tiles to start a chow (say 2 & 3 plate) a pair, etc.

 

[NickW]

We play counter clockwise.

We also have special hands with very specific criteria that are worth a lot of points but difficult to get. You have to be dealt close to it, recognize it, then get lucky to draw the correct tiles. Many of them don't allow to pick up discards. Some of them you can't have a flower or season, so if you draw one when you are one away from Mahjong you have to completely rearrange your hand and go for something different.

 

[ctreitzell]

now trying to watch World Series of Mah-Jong, I don't really follow...the producers keep cutting from camera to camera...maybe to now look at World Series rules?

Our scoring is heavily leaned at 1s, 9s scoring more than 2-8 and straights don't make points...Dragons double scores in our scoring...and our scoring is from that booklet

 

[ctreitzell]

We play counter clockwise.

We also have special hands with very specific criteria that are worth a lot of points but difficult to get. You have to be dealt close to it, recognize it, then get lucky to draw the correct tiles. Many of them don't allow to pick up discards. Some of them you can't have a flower or season, so if you draw one when you are one away from Mahjong you have to completely rearrange your hand and go for something different.

Direction of play massively affects chow calling for us

I'd love to hear about the special combo melds...sounds intriguing

I always say, mahjong is a game in which players must prepare to destroy your original plans and break your hand from the get go...card players struggle with that...holding onto what was dealt


but sounds like our rules are a little whack; very pong/ pung/ poong focused scoring

 

[ctreitzell]

ok I'm looking into World Series
WSMJ Rules

 

[ctreitzell]

ok! Those rules look pretty good...I will dig into those

Interesting how each player has a wall

we always just break the wall randomly

 

[NickW]

That all sounds really weird. 1 and 9 mean very little in our scoring. 2, 5 & 8 are more coveted because they make eyes (the pair or "pillow") which is extra points. Chows generally score better in our version and we always go for them 1-3, 4-6, 7-9 to make dragons. Virtually never see a 2-4 or 6-8. Suit structure also affects scoring. A 3 suited dragon is worth more than a 2 suited dragon. Scoring is doubled for every point up to 11 points, then 100 is added for every point over 11. We count points using dead tiles from the boneyard at the end of each hand.

One of the special hands is called "Creatures in the Storm". It is all winds & dragons in any combination of pairs and pongs. Sounds really easy if you start with 8 of them, but is ridiculously difficult to get because everyone gets rid of them early before you have pairs to pong them and they all end up dead in the boneyard. You can't pick up a discard to make a pair, so you have to draw throughout the hand at least 4 pairs to be able to pong discards; then you can take a discard (but not a dead tile) to make the final pair.

Many special hands don't have standard melds. Some have 4 tile chows that can't be completed from discards. One hand has words spelled from the letters on the winds along with other certain things. You basically have to start that hand with 2 east winds or it's very unlikely to make it.

All hands only the most recent discard can be picked up, after that it is a dead tile. South seat only can take a dead tile from the boneyard to Mahjong (not to pong or chow). To make a pong anyone can take a discard, to make a chow you can only take from the person immediately before you. Mahjong can come from any players discard. It really sucks when the person across the table discards 3 of the same tile you need for a chow... Breaking the wall I done by rolls of the dice each hand. We just played a full game (16 hands) where my sister didn't break the wall once.

 

[ctreitzell]

Ok after looking into this these past few hours, we essentially score in line with Chinese Classical

Some hands, though, we weren’t aware of

Outlined here
http://mahjong.wikidot.com/rules:chinese-classical-scoring

That said, we do several things “incorrectly “ or not at all that do not reflect traditional play we should modify in our rules:
-roll dice by specific player as to where to break the wall
-seating pre-game process
-gameplay direction
-paying the winner
-pick flower replacements from wrong end of wall

There are surely more

Something I prefer is:
to not show player discards specific to player; I like a pool of discards and players just have to remember who discarded whatever tile

I will look into some other rules, tho

 

[ctreitzell]

That all sounds really weird. 1 and 9 mean very little in our scoring. 2, 5 & 8 are more coveted because they make eyes (the pair or "pillow") which is extra points. Chows generally score better in our version and we always go for them 1-3, 4-6, 7-9 to make dragons. Virtually never see a 2-4 or 6-8. Suit structure also affects scoring. A 3 suited dragon is worth more than a 2 suited dragon. Scoring is doubled for every point up to 11 points, then 100 is added for every point over 11. We count points using dead tiles from the boneyard at the end of each hand.

One of the special hands is called "Creatures in the Storm". It is all winds & dragons in any combination of pairs and pongs. Sounds really easy if you start with 8 of them, but is ridiculously difficult to get because everyone gets rid of them early before you have pairs to pong them and they all end up dead in the boneyard. You can't pick up a discard to make a pair, so you have to draw throughout the hand at least 4 pairs to be able to pong discards; then you can take a discard (but not a dead tile) to make the final pair.

Many special hands don't have standard melds. Some have 4 tile chows that can't be completed from discards. One hand has words spelled from the letters on the winds along with other certain things. You basically have to start that hand with 2 east winds or it's very unlikely to make it.

All hands only the most recent discard can be picked up, after that it is a dead tile. South seat only can take a dead tile from the boneyard to Mahjong (not to pong or chow). To make a pong anyone can take a discard, to make a chow you can only take from the person immediately before you. Mahjong can come from any players discard. It really sucks when the person across the table discards 3 of the same tile you need for a chow... Breaking the wall I done by rolls of the dice each hand. We just played a full game (16 hands) where my sister didn't break the wall once.

View attachment 334905

Interesting stuff!

Yes, us too, only most recently discarded tile is available, the earlier discards are not available

Dang, now I want to play! Gotta wait for a willing group

 

[ctreitzell]

So, watching these guys play, I thought I was fully lost…but the reason they don’t call for Pongs/Kongs is they want closed melds drawn from the wall…Obviously they have their own thing going on too

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[ctreitzell]

This one is worth a watch too!

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