The mah Jong game is played in "four rounds." Many players are interested in more than four rounds, and they play eight rounds and sixteen rounds. It is not infrequent that twenty-four rounds are played. Each round is designated by the wind, such as the East wind round, the South wind round, etc. One round has four games, represented by four winds, known as seat winds. Each player has an opportunity to be the East player. But the number of games in a round may be more than four, if the East player continues to win consecutive games. In that case, the East player remains as the lead player, until an other player wins the game. When East loses his game, the place of the East wind, or the East wind seat, is taken over by the next player in a counter-clockwise direction noted below.

In deciding who shall be East or the "dealer" first, the simplest way is to cast the pair of dice. The person with the highest points becomes East and one with the least points North. In case of a tie, the players involved cast the dice again to determine the order of sequence. Each player takes turns in being East in a counter-clockwise direction.

But note: In playing, tiles are taken from the Wall, to be mentioned later, in a clockwise direction.

All the tiles are shuffled and then arranged in a row of seventeen piles of two tiles with each facedown and assembled in the shape of a wall with four sides or rows, as shown below:

The following chart indicates the side and piles of the row to begin.

  E. Tile Drawing and Discarding

After the side of the row and the ordinal number of pile in the row have been determined, East takes four tiles in two piles. As in the previous example (East casts nine), East takes piles from the tenth position, followed by South, West, and North, each takes four tiles at a time from the wall in a clockwise direction. After ~ the players have taken twelve tiles in six piles, East takes two more tiles, the first and the third upper tiles, and South, West, and North each takes a tile in sequence, as shown below.

Now the four players have in front of them the following number of tiles:

East         14 tiles

South      13 tiles

West       13 tiles

North      13 tiles

Each player puts the tiles upright in front of him. The player looks at his own tiles only.

East begins to discard one tile. South, West, and North each in turn takes one tile from the wall and discard an unwanted one. Tiles are discarded faceup inside the wall. The procedure continues until someone completes the game. In case all tiles are drawn and no one completes the game, East is replaced by South. It is also customary to stop, if no one completes the game, at the last seven piles of fourteen tiles.

In chi (to make a sequence set or run of three tiles), the player can take the tile only discarded by the player on his immediate left, except in completing the game. When completing the game, the player may take a discard of any other player. If the player has in his hand a sequence set, he does not need chi, except for the change of sequence, such as to take "1,, to make 1-2-3 to replace 2-3-4 at hand by discarding his own "4", or for other reasons such as possibly doubling his point score (see Chapter VI).
Note the following rules:
a. Except for completing the game, the player who takes the discard should discard one tile from his hand.
b. The player should expose the sequence set (two of his own plus the discarded own) on the left side of tiles of his hand.
c. This player loses his turn in taking the tile from the wall.

2. Pong

The player may take the tile discarded by any other player to make a pong, a triplet (three matching numbers of a kind). Pong takes precedence over chi. If the player has in his own hand a triplet, the does not need to take the discard except for making a quartet, or melding it with other tiles to make a sequence, or completing the game.
Note the following rules:
a. Except for completing the game, the player who takes the discard must also discard one tile from his hand.
b. The player should expose the triplet (two of his own tiles plus the discarded one) on the left side of tiles of his hand.
c. Ml others except the one on the player's immediate right lose their turns in taking a tile from the wall.

Like pong, the player may take a discard by any other player in making a kong (four matching numbers of a kind). Kong takes precedence over chi. Unlike chi or pong, however, the player in kong must take an extra tile from the far end of the wall. Thus, in kong, the player takes two tiles (one discard and an extra one from the far end of the wall) and then discards one of his tiles. If the player has a quartet by self-drawing, he may either use the tile(s) to be melded with other tiles to make set(s), or use them as kong. Examples are:

When the player exposes his kong by self-drawing, the quartet is exposed with two tiles in the middle facedown to indicate it as a "concealed" kong. See illustrations below:

Note the following rules:

a. The player must take an extra tile from the far end of the wall and discard one tile, when he exposes his kong.

b. The player should expose the quartet to the left side of the tiles in front of him. In case of a concealed quartet (by self-drawing), the exposure is optional. It becomes necessary, however, to expose the quartet and take an extra tile from the far end of the wall, because there is one tile short to complete the game.

c. Ml others, with the exception of the one on the player's right side, lose their turns in taking a tile from the wall.

d. After pong, the player may add to it a self-draw fourth tile to make a kong. Any one may take the added one to complete one's own game, known as "rob the kong." If more than one needs the tile to complete his game, the one on the immediate right of the player who adds the fourth tile has priority.

4. Hu-le

The expression of hu-le is used to signify that the game has been completed. It can be made by either taking a discard or by self-drawing. In case more than one player needs the discard to complete the game, the one on the immediate right of the player who discards the tile has priority.

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