So I made this in response to some of us getting around and playing on Tenhou again, a Japanese Mahjong online simulator (it's free and fairly easy to use once you know which buttons to click). And giving the mightily steep and daunting learning curve Mahjong has, I decided to write this up.
Oh, quick link before I forget, Tenhou's link is here:
http://tenhou.net/0/?6377I will write a second post on how to use the interface shortly.
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Step 1. Watch Akagi.
No I'm not kidding. It is often confusing as to why people would put so much effort to learn a game as complicated as Mahjong. The reason is because they have watched Akagi. Have you watched Akagi? No? Solve this.
(Note that Akagi is worth watching even if you have no interest in playing the game. In fact you may develop an interest to do so AFTER watching it. I had zero knowledge and/or interest in Mahjong initially, this show changed that.)
Convenient link:
http://a.scarywater.net/triad/If you are reading this and still think I am joking, I am not. I only got the motivation to learn this game after watching Akagi. Try it first. Really.
Step 2. Actually learning Mahjong.
Well hopefully you actually went and watched Akagi and thus have some idea of what it means when people scream RON! RON! RON! ROOOOOOOOON! at each other and all that nonsense. This will make adjusting to the game much more comfortable. If not, I hope you're patient! It's a fun game once you learn it, though, really.
BasicsIn a lot of ways Mahjong plays like Gin Rummy. The objective of the game is to arrange your tiles in such a manner that you have favorable sequences/combinations that add up to a winning hand.
At the start of the game, you are dealt 13 tiles. Every turn you draw a tile, and end your turn by discarding a tile.
There are two very basic patterns that you want in Mahjong - sequences (for example, 4-5-6 of the same suit) or three-of-a-kinds (three of the same tile). Tiles arranged in this pattern are called
melds. There are also four-of-a-kinds (four of the same tile, as you'd expect). Shorthand, these are referred to as seqs, tris, and quads, respectively.
Of 12 of your tiles, you want to form 4 melds (note that quads effectively count as tris because everytime you form a quad, you draw an extra tile). The remaining 2 tiles (1 from your original 13, and 1 from your draw) need to form a pair. Thus, 4 melds and 1 pair result in a winning hand.
The tileset is as follows:
The first three rows on that chart are the equivalent of suits in playing cards - the
pin (dots),
sou (bams), and
man (craks) tiles. There are nine of them, numbered from 1 to 9. The pin and sou tiles are fairly easy to read, but man tiles take a while to get used to, so don't be afraid to keep this chart handy for reference.
The remaining tiles are called character tiles (or honor tiles). The wind tiles represent the four cardinal directions - east, south, west, north (in that order). The element tiles (or dragon tiles) represent three colors -
haku (white),
hatsu (green), and
chun (red) respectively.
These tiles are special and valuable in ways that will be explained further on; just note for now that they are not like the suits, and do not form sequences, only three-of-a-kinds. You also do not need to concern yourself with reading the wind tiles and figuring out what direction they are, as Tenhou renders it moot for you.
WinningA player can win with a hand by the two following methods:
1. Won on discard (
ron). This happens when another player discards a tile that happens to be your winning tile. In such a case, the money earned from your hand is paid directly from the discarding player (this is called a direct hit).
2. Won on self-draw (
tsumo). This happens when the winning tile is drawn on your turn. In such a case, the money earned from your hand is paid from all other players.
In addition, your hand must have a score multiplier (
yaku) of at least 1.
This is hands down the most important thing to realize as a starting player in Mahjong. See the Multipliers section later on for more detail.FuritenA unique rule to keep in mind is furiten. Basically, this rule states that you cannot win on discard with a tile that you have already discarded sometime that round. (For example, if your wait is a 5-pin but you discarded a 5-pin earlier, you CANNOT ron off someone else who discards a 5-pin. You can, however, still tsumo by drawing a 5-pin.) This basically means that players can look at your discard pile and toss tiles you've already discarded as "safe" discards if you are in tenpai (and especially if you are in riichi).
CallingAside from the standard draw-and-discard you get every turn, you can also call on other people's tiles. This is the main element of strategy in the game. Essentially, calling is taking a player's discarded tile and forming a meld from it. Calling immediately changes the current turn to yours (no matter what the current order was, making it possible to skip other player's turns) and replaces your drawn tile.
The following forms of calling exist:
chi - Calling on a tile that forms a sequence for you (for example, you have a 4-pin and a 5-pin and the tile discarded is a 3-pin or a 6-pin. This also works for something like 3-sou and 5-sou, and the tile discarded is a 4-sou).
You can only call chi on discarded tiles from the player that goes before you. This is not true for other forms of calling.
pon - Calling on a tile that forms a tri for you (for example, you have two chuns and a player discards a chun).
kan - Calling on a tile that forms a quad for you (same as above, except you have three in hand). Forming a quad will cause you to immediately draw an extra tile as well.
self-called kan - This is not a normal form of calling, but it bears mentioning. You can call kan on your own turn if you have a quad from naturally drawn tiles. The advantages (and disadvantages) of this are explained further under the Dora section.
There is a consequence to calling tiles, and it goes back to hand composition: the concept of closed and open hands.
Closed hands are ones where you
never call on other people's discarded tiles (essentially, you never call chi, pon, or kan, although self-called kans are fine, and so is ron). In essence, your hand remains "closed" because it is composed entirely of tiles you drew yourself. Closed hands have a strong score advantage in that you can earn multipliers much more easily with them, since they are harder to compose and maintain.
Open hands are the opposite - hands where you HAVE called chi, pon, or kan. Other than the flexibility of being able to use other people's discards (and the fact that, once you open a hand, you can't make it 'more' open, so you have no reason not to call as much as you want) open hands are worth less and best avoided if possible if you're trying to score high. Usually, people go for open hands if they are trying to score a quick win (perhaps to prevent another player from winning) or if they are struggling to get at least 1 multiplier on their hands (beginners often have trouble doing that).
See the Multipliers section below as to the exact consequences of having closed and open hands.
MultipliersAs stated earlier, in order to have a winning hand in Mahjong, you need to have 4 melds and 1 pair. You also need to have 1 multiplier (
yaku). What is a multiplier? Well, essentially, certain patterns and combinations give more yaku, just like in poker where certain hands are worth more than others.
In this case, think of it this way: in poker, you can still win a hand in theory even if you don't have something as measly as a two pair. In Mahjong, this is not true. You MUST have the equivalent of at least a two pair to win a hand, if not better.
In addition, unlike in Poker, Mahjong allows you to combine patterns. To continue using the poker analogy, if you had a four-of-a-kind, it would be just that. But in Mahjong, it would be a four-of-a-kind, a three-of-a-kind, *and* two pairs all at once. This results in a huge range of possible multiplier combinations.
Multipliers are listed below. Note that many, many multipliers are worth more on a
closed hand instead of an
open hand.
Additionally,
this page provides much more detailed explanation and examples of multipliers than this tutorial will. I will summarize briefly, but all of the information below is drawn more or less from that page and that particular section.
I am also only listing the most common combinations that will likely come up. There are many weird ways to score (for example, winning on the very last tile in the round is worth 1 yaku) that I am excluding for sake of brevity.
Common multipliers to look for as a beginner: riichi (keep a closed hand, Tenhou will automatically tell you if you have a winning hand!), special chars (three of any of the dragon tiles - haku, hatsu, chun - are worth 1 multiplier, as well as your seat wind or the round wind), end-less (no 1's or 9's of any suit, and no character tiles), seven pairs (just that - seven pairs), double-double (no sequences at all, only tris and quads).
RIICHI
When you are 1 tile away from winning (your hand is composed in such a way that one remaining tile will complete the last meld or pair you need to have), you are considered to be in
tenpai ('waiting on tiles'). When in tenpai and with a
closed hand, you can declare riichi. It costs 1000 to declare riichi.
Once you declare riichi, you auto-discard every tile you draw that isn't your winning tile. You essentially wait until you draw your winning tile or someone discards it. In exchange, if you win through riichi, you get 1 yaku, plus you get ura-dora (reverse dora) - see the Dora section for more details on that.
SPECIAL CHARS - 1 yaku. Tri or quad of an honor tile (haku, hatsu, chun). Also tri or quad of your seat wind, or the round wind. (See Tenhou interface picture to figure out what those are.)
END-LESS - 1 yaku. No end cards (1's and 9's of any suit and character tiles).
STRONGLY CLOSED HAND - 1 yaku. A hand that is closed and won on self-draw (tsumo).
ALL SEQUENCE - 1 yaku. Must be closed. No tris or melds in hand. Pair cannot be a character tile. Winning tile must complete a sequence with both sides open (for example, a 2-pin and 3-pin where you're waiting on a 1-pin or an 4-pin whereas 1-2 waiting on 3 is NOT legal)
DOUBLE SEQUENCE - 1 yaku. Must be closed. Two completely identical sequences of the same suit (i.e. 4-sou, 5-sou, 6-sou twice).
DRAGON'S BREATH - 1 yaku (2 if closed). 1 through 9 of the same suit.
DIRTY END-FULL - 1 yaku (2 if closed). Every meld has at least one end card and the pair is composed of end cards (1's and 9's of any suit and character tiles).
THREE SUIT SAME SEQUENCE - 1 yaku (2 if closed). The same sequence in all three suits (i.e. 2-3-4 of pins, sous, and mans).
THREE SUIT SAME TRIPLE - 2 yaku. The same tri in all three suits (i.e. three 4-pins, three 4-sous, three 4-mans).
SEVEN PAIRS - 2 yaku. No melds, just have 7 pairs that are distinct (four of a kinds don't count as two pairs). This is an exception to the 4 melds, 1 pair for winning hand rule. Closed by necessity (you can't call pairs).
DOUBLE-DOUBLE - 2 yaku. No sequences in your melds.
THREE QUADS - 2 yaku. Three quads.
THREE CLOSED TRIPLES - 2 yaku. Must be closed. Three tris or quads.
DIRTY ONE-SUITER - 2 yaku (3 if closed). All tiles are of the same suit or is a character tile.
PURE END-FULL - 2 yaku (3 if closed). All tiles have at least one terminal (a 1 or 9 of a suit). Cannot contain character tiles (this distinguishes it from the DIRTY END-FULL).
DOUBLE DOUBLE SEQUENCE - 3 yaku. Must be closed. Two pairs of identical sequences (i.e. 3-4-5 pin twice, 1-2-3 man twice).
LITTLE THREE ELEMENTS - 4 yaku. Two melds (tris) and a pair of the dragon tiles (haku, hatsu, chun).
DIRTY TERMINALS - 5 yaku. All tiles are ends (1's and 9's of any suit and character tiles).
ONE-SUITER - 5 yaku (6 if closed). All tiles are of the same suit. No character tiles, which distinguishes it from the DIRTY ONE-SUITER.
Yakuman HandsThese hands are basically instant win on the scoreboard and iconic. You see them a lot in Akagi! The equivalent of Straight/Royal Flushes in Poker.
BIG THREE ELEMENTS (Daisangen) - Three melds of the dragon tiles (haku, hatsu, chun).
LITTLE FOUR JOYS - Three melds and a pair of the winds.
BIG FOUR JOYS - Four melds of the winds.
FOUR CLOSED TRIPLES - Must be closed. Four tris/quads.
FOUR QUADRUPLES - Four quads. Incredibly hard to attain (the fourth kan causes the game to end in a draw, so you must draw the winning tile from the kan).
PURE CHARS - All character tiles.
PURE TERMINALS - All terminal tiles (1's and 9's of suits).
PURE GREEN - All "green" tiles only (hatsu, 2-sou, 3-sou, 4-sou, 6-sou, 8-sou).
THE NINE LANTERNS - 1112345678999 in one suit and any other tile in that suit.
PEERLESS KINGDOM/13 ENDS - One of each of the ends (1's, 9's, char tiles) and any other end.
DoraDora is another scoring mechanic. It is not as important as multipliers to beginners because you don't
need dora in a winning hand. However, it plays a big role in making cheap hands worth much much more, and thus should be taken into consideration.
At the start of every round, one tile is flipped on the dead wall - the dora indicator. The tile that comes immediately AFTER this tile is the dora (for example, a 4-pin indicator would mean the 5-pin is the dora; a chun indicator would make the haku the dora).
If you have dora tiles in your hand, it's worth more. The basic principle is to work them into your hand if you can. This only matters if you win, of course, and dora tiles do NOT meet the 1 yaku requirement to make a hand legally winnable.
Additionally, whenever a player calls kan (a quad), an additional dora indicator is flipped. This leads to potential craziness where you have many possible dora tiles and can cause hand values to skyrocket. Note that calling kan four times in one round (and revealing four dora indicators) will cause the game to draw.
Finally, when a player wins with riichi, he gets ura-dora (reverse dora). The dead wall is flipped, and the tiles beneath the dora indicator(s) are also counted as dora indicators (this is particularly devastating when combined with kans). There is no way to predict in advance which ura-doras will show up, so it's a crapshoot, but with a potentially big payoff.
