The player who becomes the first to complete his hand in a definite combination of sets and a pair is the winner. To complete the hand, the player must have four sets of tiles and one pair of tiles with exceptions noted in B1, B7, and B8 in Chapter III, Ad (9) in Chapter VIII, and in Chapter X. The number of a set may range from three to four tiles. A complete hand will have at least fourteen tiles and may have as many as eighteen tiles.

The set may consist of one of the following:

a. A sequence set or run of three tiles - all of the same kind, such as 1-2-3, 4-5-6, and 5-6-7.

b. A triplet - all three matching numbers of a kind, such as 3-3-3, 1-1-1, and 9-9-9.

c. A quartet - all four matching numbers of a kind, such as 4-4-4-4, 3-3-3-3, and 1-1-1-1.

You may make sets or pairs by either drawing from the wall (called self-drawing) or taking the needed ones discarded by other players. The rules for making a set or pair will be mentioned later.

In playing Mah Jong, players use different Chinese words to indicate what they are doing. A beginner should know the following four Chinese words:

Below are three examples. Make a complete hand by rearranging tiles in each example.