Rules overview: Difference between revisions

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The '''rules of [[Japanese mahjong]]''' are not completely fixed. The core mechanics are the same everywhere, so any comprehensive rules description is suitable for learning the game. [[#Specific rulesets|Specific rulesets]] may then differ in finer details.
Japanese mahjong is quite complex with its many rules and special cases. This section provides an overview of the game, but a beginner will not be ready to play after reading just this.  For more detailed documentation on the rules, see [[Japanese mahjong]], as well as other articles covering various game topics.


== Rules summary ==
This article is a brief and quick layout to the most basic rules of the game, just to get new players started.
{{Main|Japanese mahjong}}
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=== Tiles and suits ===


Japanese mahjong is quite complex with its many rules and special cases. This section provides an overview of the game, but a beginner will not be ready to play after reading just this. They should follow up with a tutorial linked below under ''[[#Learning to play|Learning to play]]''.
* Mahjong is played by four players  
 
* These tiles work similar to playing cards
=== Game setup ===
* All in all, there are 34 tile types, and there are 4 copies each
 
* In total, there are 136 tiles
Mahjong is played by four players with a set of 136 tiles. These tiles work similar to playing cards: There are three suits with numbered tiles from 1 to 9, and some suitless honor tiles. There are four copies of each individual tile in the set.
* The following are the three main suits, plus a class of "honor" tiles:


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These tiles are shuffled on the table, then the players build walls of face-down tiles. These walls serve as a stockpile to draw tiles from. Every player receives a hand of 13 tiles.
== Setup ==
* After tiles are shuffled, the players build walls of face-down tiles
* Each wall is 17 tiles long, double stacked
* The four walls serve as a stockpile to draw tiles from
* Each player starts with 25000 points
:* One 10,000 point stick
:* Two 5,000 point sticks
:* Four 1,000 point sticks
:* Ten 100 point sticks
 
== Starting the deal ==
* At the start of each hand after the walls are built, players are dealt 13 tiles each
* One player throughout the game is designated as the dealer, marked by an indicator
* The dealer is begins by rolling the dice, to determine the wall break
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== Dealing the tiles
* The dealer is always seated East
* Player to the right of the dealer is South
* Player across the dealer is West
* Player to left of the dealer is North
* Regular turn order: East, South, West, North
* Per the turn order, each player gets 4 tiles per turn, until each has 12 tiles
* Finish the deal process by drawing one tile each, for 13 tiles in the hand
* '''Dealer always gets first draw and discard'''


=== Objective ===
=== Objective ===
On each turn, the player picks a new tile from the wall, then discards an unnecessary one. It is sometimes possible to call and pick up an opponent's discard instead of drawing from the wall.
On each turn, the player picks a new tile from the wall, then discards an unnecessary one. It is sometimes possible to call and pick up an opponent's discard instead of drawing from the wall.


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