Automatic mahjong table: Difference between revisions

'''Automatic [[mahjong]] tables''' are specifically designed to handle tile shuffling and wall building.  Without an automatic table, players shuffle tiles and build walls manually.  This process can be time consuming. Instead, with an automatic table, the tile shuffling and wall building process can be performed with the push of a button.  Some are even able to keep score and produce [[haipai|starting hands]].

 

The tiles are shuffled in a bin underneath the playing surface.  A series of motors, a rotational bin, and magnetic tiles perform the shuffling and wall building.

The automatic mahjong table is a table with a circular drum underneath the table surface. At the very center of the table surface is an interface to trigger tile shuffling, the raising of the tile walls, and the dice roll. In front of each player, a long trap door opens and closes for the tile walls. Otherwise, players use the normal procedure for dealing tiles.  More advanced tables even have additional trap doors to give players their starting hands.

Tile shuffling is accomplished inside a chamber with a rotating "floor". The tiles are moved around and eventually they move into ramps in the four slots. There, the walls are built with mechanisms stacking the tiles. To ensure tile alignment, the tiles contain magnets. This allows the machine to place the tiles face down for wall building.  Once stacked, players simply press a button to raise the walls up to the table surface. For expediency, automatic tables come with two sets of tiles. During game play, players play with one set of tiles, while the machine shuffles and stack the walls.  To keep the tiles separate, the two sets have different colored backs.