The Chinese Game that American People Want to Play

How to Play

Tiles

The Circle Suit

The Bamboo Suit

The Character Suit

There are also four tiles of each of the four Winds and four tiles of each of the Dragons (Red, Green, and White).

The Winds

The Dragons

Starting the Hand

East is the first dealer and it is his job to throw the dice to determine who breaks the wall. Counting himself as '1' and proceeding in a counter clockwise manner, the dealer counts around the players up to the sum of the spots shown on the dice. The dealer then uses the same amount on the dice again and counts the tiles comprising the section of the tile wall starting from his rightmost to the left. The two stacks following the counted tiles are taken by the dealer, the next two by the player to his right, and so on. After each player takes 3 double stacks (12 tiles total), players take one more tile (for a total of 13) in turn. After each player has 13, the dealer takes one more to give him the first discard to start the game.

The Play of a Hand

Picking up Discards

When a discard is taken, the set is placed face up next to the player to prove that the tile was drawn correctly. In the case of a "Kong", the player draws another tile from the stack at the end of the wall that is removed from the rest of the wall. Then a discard is made. In the case of drawing an in-hand "Kong" from the wall, the tiles involved are placed face-up, with the middle two face-down to show that this "Kong" is still in-hand (called a closed "Kong"), and a tile is drawn from the end of the wall before discarding a tile.

Winning the Hand

Normal Win (start with 2):

 

4 Pongs (start with 6):

 

4 pongs UNREVEALED (start with 24):

 

Same Suit With Honors (start with 6):

 

4 Pongs Same Suit With Honors (start with 12):

 

Same Suit With No Honors (start with 12):

 

4 Pongs Same Suit With No Honors (start with 18):

 

All Honors (start with 24):

 

Small Wind (start with 18):

  + any set
    the set can be any kind of set (chow, pong, or kong) - no extra bonus for all pongs here

Big Wind (start with 24):

  + any pair
    the pair can be any kind of pair (bamboo, character, or circle)

Minor Jade Dragon (start with 18):

 
    the set consists of all pong - the dragon set must be a pair (not a pong)

Jade Dragon (start with 24):

 
    the set consists of all pong - the dragon set must be a pong (not a pair)

Minor Ruby Dragon (start with 18):

 
    the set consists of all pong - the dragon set must be a pair (not a pong)

Ruby Dragon (start with 24):

 
    the set consists of all pong - the dragon set must be a pong (not a pair)

Minor Pearl Dragon (start with 18):

 
    the set consists of all pong - the dragon set must be a pair (not a pong)

Pearl Dragon (start with 24):

 
    the set consists of all pong - the dragon set must be a pong (not a pair)

Seven Pairs UNREVEALED (start with 12):

 

Seven Pairs UNREVEALED Same Suit With Honors (start with 18):

 

Seven Pairs UNREVEALED Same Suit With No Honors (start with 24):

 

13 Unique Wonders UNREVEALED (start with 18):

   +1 shown
    the winning tile can be any tile shown above

Gates of Heaven UNREVEALED (start with 24):

   +1 shown
    the winning tile can be any tile shown above

Seven Flowers (15 points flat from everyone):

   
    the person that holds the last flower pays double    

Fast Win (start with 24):   

    the person wins within the first round of turns

Scoring (extra points)

drawing your win:

drawing your winning tile is (+2) and everyone pays you.

flower points:

  for every flower you have, is (+1). Having no flowers is also (+1).

honor points:

for every set of honor you have, is (+1). Pair of honors does not count. Having no honors is also (+1).  This bonus point does not apply to the "All Honors", "Small Wind", or "Big Wind" hand.

kongs (4-of-a-kind):

  this is equivalent to one flower (+1).

all winds:

all winds     in your hand is (+6). This bonus can only be applied to "13 Unique Wonders" & "Seven Pairs".

all dragons:

all dragons     in your hand is (+4).

dealer:

winning from the dealer is (+1). Being the dealer is (+1).

triple 6's:

you instantly receive 6 points from each player of you roll triple 6's.

no flowers, no honors:

having no flowers and no honors is (+1).

straights:

having four straights in your hand is (+1).

all tiles revealed:

having 4 sets revealed before you win is (+2).

lucky flower:

winning from a flower is (+1).

stealing the kong:

winning from someone's kong is (+1).

solo piece win:

winning with only one possible tile is (+1).

tile of the day:

winning with the "tile of the day" is (+5). The tile of the day must be chosen before the first game is played.

all tiles unrevealed:

an unrevealed winning hand is (+2). This does not apply to the UNREVEALED special wins!

three pongs UNREVEALED

having three UNREVEALED pongs in your hand is (+4).  This does not apply to the "4 pongs UNREVEALED" special win.

dice retain:

for every time the dice is retained, it is (+2) if dealer wins. If the person wins from a dealer who retained the dice at least once, it is (+2) for each time the dice was retained.

last tile:

if the winner self picks a winning hand on the very last tile of the game (look at cases below), the winner gets rewarded (2 times) what his hand is worth.  And remember, this is a self pick.  If someone wins from the discard of the last turn, it is just like a normal win.

or

Penalties (minus points)

throwing a self pick a.k.a. pulling a James (24 points to each player):

if your winning card comes up and you choose not to win, you may not win until after you draw your next card. We won't hold beginners to this rule.

wrong amount (cannot win):

the person cannot receive an extra piece as a penalty, the game continues and the player must deal with a hand they cannot win with.

No Winner Possibility

Playing a Full Game