Berrie Bloem's Mah Jongg - The REAL Game!(TM) Rules

  1. The direction in which the Game advances is always counter clockwise.

  2. Flower and Season tiles are never discarded, but always immediately Exposed above a player's stake and the player is dealt a Loose Tile as a replacement.

  3. The tiles in the Kong Box including the Loose Tiles are only used as replacement tiles for Flowers, Seasons and Kongs. Otherwise they form no part of the Game.

  4. A Chow is always three consecutive tiles of the same suit, a Pung is always three identical tiles and a Kong is always four identical tiles.

  5. Whenever a player is dealt a tile from the Wall or a Loose Tile, providing the tile is not a Flower or Season and the tile does not enable the player to complete a Kong, then the player does not have to show this tile to the other players. Instead the player places the tile on his or her stake and discards one of the tiles he or she has on their stake, a player can discard a tile that they have just picked up should they wish to do so.

  6. Whenever a player is dealt a tile from the Wall or a Loose Tile, and this tile is a Flower or Season, then the player places the tile above his or her stake for all other players to see and is then dealt the next Loose Tile. If the same event happens again then the procedure is repeated until the player does not draw a Flower or Season tile. Rule 5 is then applied.

  7. Whenever a player is dealt a tile from the Wall or a Loose Tile, or uses a discarded tile to make a Chow, Pung or Kong, then the player has to discard one tile from his or her stake.

  8. An Original Hand can only be declared by East Wind.

  9. A Standing Hand can be declared by all players.

  10. Whenever a player claims a tile discarded by any of the other players for a Chow, a Pung or a Kong, the player must show to the other players the combination of tiles he or she made using the discarded tile. That is, the player must place these tiles above their stake so they are Exposed for all other players to see. The combination that the player has achieved will be an Exposed Chow, Pung or Kong. If the discarded tile is picked up and used to make an Exposed Kong, then the player will need a replacement tile and accordingly is dealt the next Loose Tile that is available. The player then discards one tile from his or her stake and the Game continues from this player, missing out the regular turns of players if necessary.

  11. Whenever a player claims a tile discarded by any of the other players to complete a pair of identical tiles AND to go Mah Jongg at the same time, the player can keep the pair of identical tiles on his or her stake. A player cannot pick up a tile discarded by any of the other players to complete a pair of identical tiles and NOT go Mah Jongg at the same time.

  12. When two or more players claim a discarded tile to make a similar combination of tiles (for example, an Exposed Chow) and no other player claims the discarded tile for a more valuable combination (for example, Mah Jongg), then the player positioned nearest in the playing direction to the player who discarded this tile, will get the tile. See Precedences for further information.

  13. A player can't change or take back any of the combinations already Exposed on the table. There is one exception, see rule 17.

  14. A player can't use a tile discarded by any of the other players to add to any of the combinations already Exposed on the table.

  15. A player can only make a Chow in the following situations:

    Exposed Chows

    1. When the player to the immediate left of a player discards a tile the player can pick this tile up to make a Chow - that is, to make a combination of three consecutive tiles of the same suit. A player cannot make a Chow by picking up a tile that has been discarded by any other player than the player that is to the immediate left of a player. The only exception to this rule is explained in the next point.

    2. If a player wishes to pick up a discarded tile to make a Chow AND to go Mah Jongg at the same time then a player can pick up a tile that has been discarded by any player. If a player is not allowed to pick up the discarded tile under these circumstances then see Precedences for further information.

      Note
      In cases where a player wishes to pick up a discarded tile to make an Exposed Chow and one of the other players wishes to use the same discarded tile to make a more valuable combination (for example, a Pung) then the other player will get the tile. See Precedences for further information.

    Concealed Chows

  16. A player can claim a Pung in the following situations:

    Exposed Pungs

      By claiming a tile that has been discarded by any player to complete a combination of three identical tiles.

      Note
      In cases where a player wishes to pick up a discarded tile to make an Exposed Pung and one of the other players wishes to use the same discarded tile to make a more valuable combination (for example, Mah Jongg) then the other player will get the tile. See Precedences for further information.

    Concealed Pungs

      A Concealed Pung is a Pung that a player may keep on their stake. This is because it is made from tiles the player has been dealt and therefore does not have to be shown to the other players.

  17. A player can claim a Kong in the following situations:

    Exposed Kongs

    1. By picking up a tile that has been discarded by any player to complete a combination of four identical tiles. The Kong must be placed above the player's stake (Exposed) and one of the tiles at the end of the Kong must be placed face downwards to indicate that it is an Exposed Kong. The player must now be dealt the next Loose Tile that is available.

    2. If a player has already made an Exposed Pung then the player can turn the Exposed Pung into an Exposed Kong if the player is dealt a tile (from either the Wall or a Loose Tile) that matches the tiles in the Exposed Pung. In such cases the tile is added to the end of the Exposed Pung and placed face downwards to indicated that it is now an Exposed Kong. The player must now be dealt the next Loose Tile that is available. This is the only exception to rule 13. If, however, one of the other players can use this tile to go Mah Jongg, then they get this tile and snatch the Kong from the player.

      Note
      In cases where a player wishes to pick up a discarded tile to make an Exposed Kong and one of the other players wishes to use the same discarded tile to make a more valuable combination (for example to go Mah Jongg) then the other player will get the tile. See Precedences for further information.

    Concealed Kongs

      If a player already has a Concealed Pung on their stake and they are dealt a tile (from either the Wall or the Kong Box) that can turn this Concealed Pung into a Concealed Kong, then the player can place the completed Kong above their stake and the tiles at the ends of the Kong are turned face downwards to indicate that this is a Concealed Kong. A player can choose to wait with showing a Concealed Kong to everybody else, if he or she wishes to do so. This player can at a later stage during the Hand and only when it's his or her turn, decide to put the Kong on the table. The player must now be dealt the next Loose Tile that is available.

  18. A player can claim a Mah Jongg in the following situations:

    1. If a player is dealt a tile from the Wall or a Loose Tile and this tile is the tile that a player requires to complete their Hand and go Mah Jongg.

    2. By picking up a tile that has been discarded by any player to complete their Hand and go Mah Jongg. In cases where one or more players wish to use a tile that has been discarded to go Mah Jongg then whichever player can make the highest valuable combination of Mah Jongg will be given the tile.

      For further information see Precedences.

      A completed Mah Jongg consists of:

    3. Four combinations of three (Chow or Pung) or four (Kong) tiles plus a pair of identical tiles.

    4. One of the Special Hands.
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