So, you want to learn Mahjong. Well, specifically here, we're gonna learn Riichi Mahjong. It is pretty close in it's rules to regular Mahjong, but of course with mechanics like Riichi. This is not puzzle Mahjong, which is probably one the most recognizable Mahjongs outside of countries where it is played. Also, I should clarify, I don't claim to be a mahjong EXPERT. Hopefully this guide is enough to get you on a level of understanding to play a few rounds, but I won't be delving in to crazy detail and might even get some things wrong. With that said, let's start.
In Riichi mahjong, you use 136 tiles. Let's talk about them. There are three Suits, similar Hearts or Spades in a playing card deck. The suits in Mahjong are Pin (筒), or Circles, Sou (索) or Bamboo, and Man (萬) or Characters. These suits are numbers 1 through 9. Then, there are the honor tiles. The four Winds, which include North, East, South and West. Then, there's the three Dragons, which are Red, Green, and White. There are four of each tile. For example, an 8 Bamboo will have three other copies just like it.
Circles
1-9 in order
Bamboo
1-9 in order
Characters
1-9 in order
Winds
East, South, West, North
Dragons
Green, Red, White.
Now that we know the tiles, we can talk about what a game will look like. Typically, it's four players, so you will be against three opponents. You will each draw 12 tiles to start. These 12 tiles are your hand, and they're visible only to you. When it's your turn, you will draw a 13th tile, and then you have to discard one. So, players have 12 tiles unless it's their turn, where they have 13. Your goal is to make a winning hand. A winning hand has 13 tiles. But what hands are winning?
Winning
Mahjong has many, many different hands which you can win with. Except for a very select few, though, these hands almost always consist of 4 Melds, and 1 Pair. A meld can either be a Pon or Chi. A Pon, or Triple, is three identical tiles, while a Chi is a sequence of three numbers in the same suit (i.e. 3-4-5 of Circles). A pair is what it sounds like, two of the same tiles. The most simple hand is probably Tanyao, or 'All Simples,' which is just when you have no Terminals (1 and 9 of the suits) and no Honors. Another easy hand is Pinfu, or 'No Points,' but it is a little harder to explain. First, your hand must be closed, which we will discuss later. Secondly, you must have no Pons. Third, the pair must not be of Honor tiles. Finally, the winning tile must be able to be achieved on both sides of a Chi. For example, if you have a 4-5 of Characters, you'll be waiting for the winning tiles 3 or 6. It sounds complicated, but it isn't hard to form. Other easy hands are having a Pon of dragons, which will net you a point, or a Pon of the wind corresponding to your seat, which will also give you a point. You cannot win unless you have atleast one point.Tsumo
Calling Tsumo is the win achieved by drawing the winning tile yourself . This win will take points from all of your opponents. This can only be done in a closed hand.Ron
Calling Ron is when an opponent discards the winning tile. Ron let's you steal that tile and win, and you take points only from the opponent who discarded it.Stealing
When an opponent discards a tile, you will sometimes have an opportunity to call and steal it. If you have a pair of identical tiles, and someone discards one, you can call Pon to make a triple. If you have two tiles in a chi, you can call a tile needed to complete the meld. For example, if you had a 5 and a 7, you could call a 6. You can only call Chi from the player to the left of you. Finally, you can call Kan. That is if you have a triple in your hand, you can call a fourth tile. This will reveal a Dora, but this will be discussed later. Kans can be self drawn, and if you draw a fourth identical tile, you can call it.Warning!
Calling from an opponent will make your hand "open." People will be able to see the meld, and being open will prevent you from scoring many hands, and also prevent you from declaring Riichi.Riichi
Riichi when you declare that you only need one more tile to win. To riichi, you have to draw the last tile you need to be one tile away from winning, and you call as you discard the last tile you don't need. While in Riichi, you MUST discard whatever you draw, unless it would win. Also, if anyone discards the tile you need, you can Ron it. Riichi gives you extra points if you win, and allows you to score Ura-Dora (will be explained later), but is slightly risky. It tells your opponents to be careful, and makes it so you can't really further tweak your hand. It also requires a bet that you will lose if you do not win the round. By the way, the status of being one tile away from winning (like you have to be for Riichi) is called Tenpai. The status of being one hand away from Tenpai is called iishanten.Dora, and Ura-Dora
Dora are extra points revealed from the Dead Wall. The dead wall are tiles that are removed from play at the start of the round randomly. One tile from the dead wall is revealed, and the tile above it in order will be the Dora tiles. For example, if a 4 of Circles is revealed, then all the 5 of Circles will count as Doras. If the number is a 9, it loops back to 1. For dragons and winds, they follow the graphic above for order, from left to right. Another tile will be revealed from the dead wall when a player calls Kan.Ura-Dora is like Dora, but can only be scored on hands with riichi, and are revealed and computed after the hand is won.