Japanese mahjong: Difference between revisions

'''Japanese mahjong''' {{kana|麻雀、 麻将、 or マージャン}} is the Japanese varation to the 4-player table card game of mahjong, whose objective can be best described as a combination of gin rummy and poker. Tiles are primarily used to play the game, and the game is available online.  It can also be played with regular [[Mahjong_equipment#Playing_cards|mahjong playing cards]]. It's a four player game that combines the elements of calculation and strategy with the elements of risk assessment, observation skills, and luck.

The Japanese variation is primarily played in Japan. Yet, it is available to everyone via a few Internet sites and video games.  With the past 10 years or so, the game is spreading its way into Western cultures.  While a few Westerners were exposed to the game prior to the creation of mahjong anime and manga, Western interest had significantly sparked a new wave of Western riichi players.  The formation of play groups across North America and Europe is indicative of that trend.

Gin rummy can trace its origins back to the mahjong that was played in China. Gin rummy is a card game which centers itself towards developing [[mentsu|tile groups]] of sequences (1-2-3, 6-7-8) and/or triplets (9-9-9).

Besides the tile groups, players also need to meet another condition called [[yaku]]. The yaku can be synonymous to "poker hands", where yaku are a set of patterns or conditions. Just like a poker hand, for example the "full house", each yaku is associated with a name. In addition, yaku directly affect the value of a player's hand, as each yaku has an associated value. The yaku add richness and depth to the game but at the same time requires some additional starting knowledge. When mahjong is not played on/via a computer, scoring by hand also requires additional starting knowledge.  The game is otherwise known as '''riichi mahjong''', due to a feature in the game rules allowing [[riichi]].

Finally, the game is a zero-sum game.  All players begin with a certain number of points, usually 25,000. Player hands are used to take points from other players.  So, it is the objective of each player [[Tile efficiency|to develop their hands]] to accumulate more points than any of the opponents.  Individual hands are scored with appropriate yaku and [[dora]].  Each [[Agari|winning hand]] value is determined with the number of [[han]] and [[fu]], that corresponds to a specific number of [[Scoring|points]].  On the flip side, it is also the objective of each player to [[Defense|minimize point losses]] against opponents.  

Mahjong overall is only a 100 year old game or so.  Originating in China, the game managed to spread across the country, East Asia, and even to the United States during the 1920s.  The riichi variant itself only started emerging in Japan after World War 2.  The modern variant today began in the 1960's, while the addition of red 5's started appearing in the 1980's.

There are three suits of number tiles each with sequences from one to nine. The three suits are the '''manzu''' (characters), the '''pinzu''' (coins/circles)<!--Coins seems to be the best from a historical viewpoint and they do look like coins. Oh, but pinzu may actually mean circles in Japanese.-->, and the '''souzu''' (bamboos). These three suits have the value of 1-9 according to their own suit. The face of the one of bamboo tiles have a bird design on them. The number one and nine tiles are called terminals. The number two through eight tiles are called simples. Runs don't wrap-around from nine to one.

A fourth set of mahjong tiles is composed of the '''[[jihai]]''' (honor tiles). This set of tiles can be further divided into '''[[kazehai]]''' (wind tiles) and '''[[sangenpai]]''' (dragon tiles). Unlike the standard suits previously mentioned, these honor tiles have special properties towards determining [[Han|hand value]].  They can also be referred as "word tiles". Unlike the "numbered suits", the different honor tiles cannot be mixed together to form [[mentsu|tile groupings]].

Newer Japanese mahjong sets also come with four red-five [[dora]] tiles. One number five character tile, two number five circle tiles, and one number five bamboo tile are replaced with their matching red tiles. These red dora tiles can replace the appropriate number of standard five-tiles. Usage of the red dora tiles is optional. In addition, sets also come with flower and season tiles, but these are not used in the Japanese game. Instead, flower and seasons are used in other variations like Chinese and American styles.

The game's setup features the 136 tiles, arranged in four walls of 17 tiles long double-stacked. After shuffling the tiles, all four players are responsible for creating the initial setup, which has every tile face down.  A dice roll is used to determine both the initial dealer at the start of the game as well as the '''wall break''' at the beginning of each hand. After this process, both the [[dead wall]] is separated; and the tiles are dealt to each player to produce their [[haipai|starting hands]]. Play begins once the dealer makes the initial draw and discard.

The game begins with the dealer's initial discard. From here onward, each player gets a turn to draw a tile from the wall, all players, except the discarder, has the option of [[Naki|claiming a discarded tile]] by '''chii''', '''pon''', '''kan''', or '''ron'''.

If no claims of the discard are made, then the next player draws from the wall and makes a discard, unless the hand is a winning hand with the declaration of '''tsumo'''. The turn order are as follows: East-South-West-North, and the cycle repeats. However, in the event of a discarded tile claim, then the next turn belongs to the player to the right of the claimer. This means, it is possible to skip a player's turn with calls of pon or kan.

 

Every player's discard is organized and [[discard pile|arranged in front of them]]. Per convention, players line up their discarded tiles in rows of six. This is not a necessary convention, but it is the preferred convention. The arranged discard pile is used for two primary purposes: as record of a player's discards, and as an indicator of [[Genbutsu|safe-tiles]] for [[defense|defensive play]].  Additionally, players learn and are able to discern player hand states by reading the discard piles.

The '''furiten rule''' applies to player's hands and the tile discards, by which specific discarded tiles may indicate a player in '''furiten'''. For this reason, players must discard their tiles in arranged rows, normally of 6 tiles per row.  If a player has a winning tile in the player's discard pile, then the player is in furiten. While in furiten, the player's ability to win off a discard is disabled. In other words, the player cannot claim ron.

In addition, the disabling of ron by furiten applies to all winning tiles, not just a particular tile in the discard. If the player's hand looks like this:

This example hand is a tenpai hand waiting three tiles . If any of those tiles are in the player's discard pile, then the player cannot claim ron. A player can get out of furiten by changing the hand composition.

This rule forces players to take extra consideration, when making discards.  Often, a player must have good reason to discard particular tiles, especially when they are already part of a tile group.

{{main|Shanten|Tenpai|Tile efficiency}}

The process of drawing and discarding, as well as making claims to discard is the process of hand development. As a player, after the initial deal of hands, players have a ''start hand''. So, the aim of a player is to develop this hand into a '''[[tenpai]]''' hand, and eventually a '''complete hand'''. Typically, a complete mahjong hand is composed of '''4 tile groups and a pair'''. The hand may be open or closed and have '''at [[Yaku|minimum 1-yaku]]'''. This is a total of 13 tiles plus 1 (the winning tile), like so:

:{{#mjt:234m666s11p567p11z}} May win with: {{#mjt:1p}} or {{#mjt:1z}}

Per [[atozuke|the yaku rule]], it is impossible to win with the first tile by discard unless [[riichi]] has been declared.  However, the the second tile may be claimed for a win under any circumstance in the [[East round]], or for the [[dealer]].

A hand that is one tile away from being complete is in [[tenpai]]. A hand that is one tile away from tenpai is one [[shanten]]. A hand that is two tiles away from tenpai is two shanten, and so on. Experienced players may sense how likely they are to win a hand based on their initial shanten number.

There are two notable '''exceptions''' to the 4 tile groups and a pair pattern. Players can try to form [[Chiitoitsu|seven pairs]] or the rare [[Kokushi musou|thirteen orphans]] hand. Both of these hands are closed by default.

{| class=wikitable style="width:30%; min-width:215px;"

|align=center| {{#mjt:123m}} ||align=center|  {{#mjt:4'35p}}

{| class=wikitable style="width:30%; min-width:215px;"

After the declaration for a quad, then a player gains special access to the [[dead wall]].  This is one of the first four tiles to the left of the dora-indicator. Afterwards, if the the extra tile does not complete the hand, the player must discard and play moves on to the right. As a sidenote, for each call kan, the player's tile count increases by one for each quad. Yet once again, a quad counts as a triplet plus one.

Furthermore, when a player calls or declares a kan, an additional dora indicator tile is flipped. This is called the kandora. Some rules may allow the kandora to be flipped immediately after the kan call. Other rules have stricter procedures on when the kandora tile is flipped. Some make the distinction between the open kan and the closed kan. Finally, a tile is shifted from the end of the regular wall to the dead wall, in order to maintain 14-tiles in the dead wall.  Because of the additional dora, a play using quads can be very risky or rewarding.

Usually, a player's hand value decreases in the event of an open hand, but this may not always be the case, especially for some [[yakuman]] hands. Japanese mahjong strategy centers on knowing when to appropriately make the above calls. Knowledge of the yaku plays a large part in this decision making process.

The procedure of drawing, discarding, and maintaining a hand ends with many different scenarios.  The ideal for any player is the completion of the hand and winning it. A hand may end when all the tiles, except for the dead-wall tiles, are drawn, or when a player chombos, meaning making an illegal play. After the end of the hand, points are exchanged accordingly. Then afterwards, the tiles are reshuffled to setup the next hand, or [[renchan]].

Also, known as '''ryuukyoku''', the hand ends in a draw.  In this case, all the tiles from the wall are drawn, except for the 14 tiles in the dead wall. The player(s) in tenpai receive points from those in noten. However, that needed tile was never claimed. Nearly 40% of professional games go to an exhaustive draw due to players immediately dropping out of the race when a player declares riichi.

{{main|Tochuu ryuukyoku}}

The '''chombo''' is a penalty to the player, who performs specific illegal procedures. Other illegal procedures may be forgivable if done accidentally, like accidentally drawing a tile from a different part of the wall. However, things like cheating or winning without a yaku are more serious offenses. In the event of a chombo, the player must play out a penalty of points to the amount of a [[Scoring|mangan]].  Otherwise, the rules to chombo may be [[Rule_variations#Chombo|modified]].  A more common practice involves docking penalized points after the game to expedite it and not waste time enforcing the penalty.

==Hand scoring==

{{main|Scoring|Han|Fu}}

Out of all the mahjong variants, this is the most complicated scoring system.  Winning hands are awarded points based on their composition. So, the appropriate amount of points are exchanged between players according to the tables in the [[Scoring|scoring rules]] of the game. The scoring for this game features two variables: [[han]] and [[fu]].  These two factor into the game's scoring equation and other factors to generate the game's [[scoring table]]. Naturally, the point exchanges are already handled by software and mahjong game sites. Even some automatic tables are capable of scoring calculations.  Otherwise, players go on to [[Score table memorization|memorize the point values]].

Dealers receive roughly 50% more points when winning than non-dealers. However, if a non-dealer wins by draw, then the dealer must pay roughly 50% while non-dealers pay roughly 25% each. The winner of a hand collects any riichi bets on the table and additional points allowed by [[honba]].

===Wind rounds===

 

Games are organized into wind rounds. For each wind round, every player has the chance to be the dealer once.

 

 

For shorter games, players may play a single East Round.  Here players only have the opportunity to hold the dealer seat once. After the conclusion of four wind rotations, then the game is brought to the end.  Yet, the points may invoke the extra round and bring the game into the South Round.

* '''Extra rounds'''. The game may play out an extra round, when a regular game ends with all of the players under 30,000 points.  In the case of [[tonpuusen]], the game extends into the '''South round'''.  For a [[hanchan]], the game extends into the '''West round'''.  This overtime round ends as soon as any player has over 30,000 points. If all the points remains below 30,000 after another full round, then another overtime round may be played in the next prevailing-wind.

 

Finally, the player with the greatest number of points at the end wins. For additional scoring, another final [[Uma|uma score]] or +/- score may be applied.  While this additional calculation has its origins around gambling, the adjusted points also allows comparison between games.  For example, in two different games, a player may score exactly 34,000 points.  However, in one game, the player finished 1st; while in the second game, the player finished 2nd.  The point adjustment becomes a better reflection on player performance, rather than just using the raw scores.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The game has been featured in a number of television series and movies.

===Video games===

A number of video games featuring mahjong have been developed.  The history of mahjong video games stretches as far back as the history of video gaming itself.  By the 1980's, mahjong has been big enough in Japan, such that it was natural for the game to progress within the then fledgling video game industry.

* [http://uspml.com/documents/japanese_mahjong_guide_v103.pdf Barticle's Japanese Mahjong Guide]

* [https://mahjong-saikyosen.com/?page_id=365 Saikyosen rules]

: Rules from the annual [[Mahjong Saikyousen|Saikyousen tournament]]

[[Category:Game rules|1]]