Derailed

I have pieced together the rules from various sources into a set that I think will be simple and easy to use without sacrificing the natural complexity and strategy of the game.  I propose that these be used as the official house rules in our games from now on.  Also if they remain posted here they will be easily accessible during the game.

Columbia Amateur Mahjong Players House Rules

Introduction to the pieces:

Coins or dots:

Each coin or dot represents a copper coin with a square hole in the center.

Bamboo or sticks:

Each piece of bamboo or stick (except for the first) represents either a hollow tube of bamboo filled with one hundred coins, or a string of one hundred coins capped by bamboo on each end.  The “One of Bamboo” piece is usually depicted as a bird.

Characters:

Each Character represents ten thousand coins, or one hundred strings of one hundred coins.

Wind Tiles:

Dragon Tiles:

Season, Flower, and Labor Tiles:

These tiles are considered optional, but the Season and Flower tiles will be used as part of these house rules.

Tiles One and Nine of each suit are known as “Terminals”, while tiles Two through Eight are  “Simple”.

Winds and Dragons are known collectively as “Honor Tiles”.

Set up:

First each player draws a wind tile.  This determines thier chair.  The chairs are arranged like this:

All 144 used tiles are placed upside-down on the table and shuffled.  Then each of the four players takes 36 tiles and builds a wall 18 tiles long by two tiles high.  These walls are then arranged in he center of the table in a square.  The player who is in the East position rolls two dice, then counts around the wall in a counter-clockwisedirection using himself as “one” untill reaching the sum of the dice roll.  This determines the wall that will be broken.  The player whose wall will be broken then rolls two dice and counts along top pieces of the the wall from right to left untill reaching the sum of the dice.  This determines where the wall will be broken.  That player then seperates the wall at the indicated position.

The Dead Wall: The dead wall is the first 14 tiles to the right of the break.  It is always 14 tiles, so even though tiles may be taken from the dead wall, it is remains counted off asthe first 14 tiles to the right of the break.

Dealing tiles:  Each player, starting with East and continuing counter-clockwise,  takes the first four tiles from the left of the break, or “live wall”.  This happens three times untill each player has recieved 12 tiles.  Then the East player takes two tiles, and the remaining players each take one tile.  When play begins with the East player, he or she will have 14 tiles and everyone else will have thirteen.  If any players have drawn a flower or season tile, that tile is placed face up to the side and a replacement is drawn from the dead wall, again with East going first and proceeding counter-clockwise.

Playing the game:

The East player decides which of thier 14 tiles they will discard.  Then places the discarded tile into thier “pond”, the area inside the wall closest to themselves.  Play moves counter-clockwise to South, who takes the first tile on the “live wall”.  South then chooses a tile to discard, places it into thier own pond, and play continues to West, then North, then returns to East.

When a player discards a tile, another player may claim that tile to complete a “Pung” of three identical tiles or a “Kong” of four identical tiles.  Only the most recent tile that was discarded may be claimed.  A discarded tile may be claimed to complete a “Chow” of three tiles of the same suit in sequence (2-3-4 of coins, 6-7-8 of bamboo, etc), but only by the player who was next in the sequence (South may claim a completed chow only if using East’s discard).  If multiple players wish to claim the same discard, priority goes to the following in order:

1. Claiming a tile to complete Mahjong

2. Claiming a tile for a Kong

3. Claiming a tile for a Pung

4. Claiming a tile for a Chow

In the event of two players both claiming a tile to complete Mahjong, the player next in play sequence has priority.

When a player claims a tile, the completed set is revealed, then put to the side for later scoring.  The player then chooses a tile to discard, places it into thier pond, and play resumes from that players right.  This may disrupt the play sequence and skip one or more players.

If a Season or Flower tile is drawn, that tile is immediately revealed and placed to the side for scoring later.  A replacement tile is then drawn from the dead wall.

If a player completes a Kong, the completed Kong is revealed and placed to the side for scoring later.  If the Kong was completed using a tile drawn from the wall, one of the tiles is placed atop the others face down to indicate a “Hidden Kong”.  If the Kong was completed using a discarded tile, then that tile is placed facing up on the other tiles to indicate a “Revealed Kong”.  In either case the player then draws a replacement tile from the Dead Wall to remain at 13 tiles.

A player that only needs one tile to win is in “Tenpai”.  A player in Tenpai that has not drawn a tile from the pond at any point during the current Hand may declare a “Reach”.  That player will then place a token or marker worth ten points into the pond.  That player must, from that point on, only discard the tile that they drew that pass.  If that player draws a tile that completes Mahjong and ends the Hand, they regain the 10 points and gain a bonus on the score for that Hand.  The player may claim the winning tile from the pond.

Winning:

When a player has a Hand complosed entirely of Chows, Pungs, and/or Kongs along with one pair of matching tiles, they have achieved Mahjong and won the Hand.

Scoring Rules:

Each player begins with an agreed upon amount of points depending on how long the players wish the game to last, usually between 500 and 5000.  After a player has declared Mahjong and ended the Hand, players add up the points in their respective Hands.  The winning player recieves points from all other players equal to his Hand’s full value.  The non-winning players each recieve a number of points equal to the value of thier hand from all of the other non-winning players.  Players may choose to compare hands and only give the difference in value between them.  The game ends when one player is out of points entirely or an agreed upon number of Rounds have occured.

Basic Scoring:

Additional Scoring:

The Limit

A point limit is usually determined before the game is started.  The limit is usually  1/4  to 1/2 the starting points given to each player, and is used to cap the number of points any one hand can be worth.

Special Hands

Special hands occur when a player declares Mahjong and his hand contains only a certain type, set, or style of tiles.  While there are numerous special hands accepted in various forms of Mahjong around the world, for simplicity’s sake these rules will only accept the following:

No Points Hand:  A Hand that completes Mahjong using only Chows and containing no Season or Flower Tiles is worth 20 points, and may then be doubled if it contains only one suit, has no Terminals or Honors or the player declaered a Reach.

Seven Pairs:  Exactly as it sounds, this hand is composed of seven pairs of tiles, being only one of two hands that may violate the rule requireing four sets and a pair to win.  This hand is worth 100 points.

Thirteen Orphans:  This hand consists of one of each dragon, one of each wind, a one from each suit, a nine from each suit, and one tile that matches another in the hand.  This is the only onther hand that may violate the rule requireing four sets and a pair to win.  This hand is very difficult to accuire and is worth the limit in points.

Three Color Straight:  A hand containing three Chowsof the same numbers in all three suits, i.e. 3, 4, and 5 of Coins, 3, 4, and 5 of Bamboo, and 3, 4, and 5 of characters. It must also fulfill the other requirements of a mahjong, containing another chow or pung, as well as a pair.  This hand is worth 300 points if it has any revealed components, and 500 points if the entire hand was hidden.

Straight: A hand containing the numbers 1 – 9 in one suit.  It must also fulfill the other requirements of a mahjong, containing another chow or pung, as well as a pair.   This hand is worth 300 points if it has any revealed components, and 500 points if the entire hand was hidden.

Big Three Dragons:  A hand containing a pung of each of the three dragons.  It must also fulfill the other requirements of a mahjong, containing another chow or pung, as well as a pair.  This hand is worth 400 points if it has any revealed components, and 700 points if the entire hand was hidden.

Big Four Winds:  A hand containing a pung of each of the four winds.  It must also fulfill the other requirements of a mahjong, containing a pair of any tile.  This hand is worth 400 points if it has any revealed components, and 700 points if the entire hand was hidden.

All Honors:  A hand containing only wind and dragon tiles, including the pair.  This hand is worth 300 points if it has any revealed components, and 500 points if the entire hand was hidden.

The Jade Garden:  A hand containing only green dragons, plus the 2, 3, 4, 6, or 8 of Bamboo.  This hand must conform to all other requirements of a mahjong.  The green dragons are not required to complete this hand, but are allowed, due to their color.  This hand is worth 300 points if it has any revealed components, and 500 points if the entire hand was hidden.

The Nine Gates:  A hand consisting of the numbers 1-1-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-9-9 of one suit, and any other tile of the same suit.  Statistically this is the most difficult hand to put together.  It is so difficult that a special “double limit” score is awarded for obtaining it.

Mahjong Events

Sometimes a mahjong will occur under special circumstances.  These are so rare as to confer a 20 point bonus to the hand regardless of it’s content.

One Shot:  This occurs when the player is dealt a winning hand, including their first draw.  If the dealer is dealt this hand, the bonus is doubled to 40 points.

To Scoop Up The Reflected Moon From The Seabed:  This occurs when a player draws the last tile of the live wall in normal play to complete a mahjong.

To Scoop Up A Swimming Fish From The Riverbed:  This occurs when the last tile that can be discarded in normal play, when no tiles remain in the live wall, is used to complete mahjong.

Doubling

Any player’s Hand may be doubled in value if it contains any of the following:

A Pung or Kong of the player’s own Wind

A Pung or Kong of the Hand’s Wind

A Pung or Kong of Dragons

A Season or Flower Tile coresponding to the player’s seat

The winning Player’s Hand may also be doubled in value by containing any of the following:

A Hand containing only one suit

A Hand containing only Terminals and Honors

A Hand containing no Terminals or Honors

If the Winner had declared a Reach

If the winner declaered a Reach and declared Mahjong before a full pass (each player draws and discards once) has elapsed

If the player was the dealer for that Hand

All basic scoring is completed before figuring doubled values.

A Hand may be doubled more than once, taking the basic score, doubling it, and then doubling the result.

Advancing to the next Hand or Round:

The game traditionally has four Rounds, each consisting of four Hands.  Each Round corresponds to a wind, as does each Hand within it.  The order is always as follows: East, South, West, North. This makes a complete game a minimum of 16 hands.  After a hand has been won, the dice are given to the player to the dealer’s right, making the next hand of the same Wind as the new dealer’s chair.  If the Hand was won by the dealer, then he or she remains the dealer and the Wind is unchanged.