How to Play Mahjongg

Mahjongg is much more than the solitaire tile-matching game many of us grew up with on the computer. This ancient tile game is a bit like poker and gin rummy combined. There are three suits of tiles--bamboo, characters and circles--each suit numbered one through nine, with four identical copies of each numbered member of the suit. There are also four "flowers" tiles and four "seasons" tiles, which are considered to be bonus tiles. The goal is to be the first to achieve a Mahjongg, which is four valid combinations of tiles and exactly one pair of identical tiles. Valid combinations are groups of three identical tiles, four identical tiles or a run of exactly three tiles in numbered sequence--like 6, 7, 8 in bamboo suit, for example.

Instructions

1. Seat four players, one on each side of a card table.

2. Shuffle all the Mahjongg tiles face down on the playing surface. Each player selects 36 tiles, then lays them out in a straight row of tiles 18 tiles long and two tiles high. All four rows should be built in the center of the table in the shape of a box, with their ends touching as the corners of the box.

3. Wait as the player who won last--or the player in the east seat, if you're starting a new game--rolls the dice and, starting with the wall he built, counts each wall moving clockwise around the square, ending with the number shown on the dice. The player whose wall he ends on then rolls the dice again, adds that roll to the previous roll and, starting at the right-hand edge of his wall, counts tiles moving clockwise for the sum of both rolls.

4. Remove the stack of two tiles the player finishes counting on, along with the 14 tiles to their right. Place the two tiles on top of the 14 and set them aside. This collection is called the Kong Box.

5. Deal 13 tiles to each person around the table, starting to the left of the break where the Kong Box was removed. The player closest to the break does this; tiles should be dealt four at a time--except for the final tile, which is dealt individually.

6. Play by drawing a tile from the wall--the player who rolled the dice first goes first--and then discard a tile from your hand. The player to your left may claim that discarded tile, if he so wishes, instead of drawing a tile from the wall--but any other discards made before yours are considered "dead," no longer available, once you lay yours down.

7. Lay any tile combinations you make down on the table in front of you. If you draw a bonus tile--flowers or seasons--from the wall, just lay it down next to your combinations and draw another tile from the wall.

8. Continue playing until someone makes a Mahjongg--four valid combinations of tiles and a pair of identical tiles.

Tips & Warnings

• Players may claim discarded tiles out of turn if claiming that tile completes a combination--as opposed to a pair--in their hand; this happens between turns, after the discarding player has finished and before the next player begins. A tile may be claimed out of turn to form a pair only if said claim results in an immediate Mahjongg. If a player claims a discarded tile out of turn, play continues from that player around the table--so turns may be skipped as a result. If a player lays down a Kong--that is, a set of four identical tiles--as one of his combinations, he picks up an extra tile from the Kong Box to supplement his hand and make sure he'll have enough tiles to finish the game.