London: Thos. De La Rue & Co. Ltd.
Price Sixpence

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My mother learned Mah Jong in Malaya in the 1950s when her mother and father were living there. These are the rules which they learned and played by, and therefore also the laws which I first learned.

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Guide to Mah Jong

In playing Mah Jong the use of tiles or dominoes is not essential. Their use involves the building of Walls and consequent loss of time. In fact, Mah Jong was originally and for a great many years played with cards. This Booklet shows how this practice can be continued.

Full set
A full set of Mah Jong contains 144 cards divided into six suits of which ordinarily only five suits containing 136 cards are used.

Optional
The inclusion of this last suit of Seasons and Flowers is entirely optional and it is not advisable to use this extra suit until the player is thoroughly acquainted with the game. They do not affect the playing of the hand but merely the scoring.

Object of Play
The object of the play is to develop one's hand so that it will ultimately consist of four groups of three cards each, and a pair.

Group
A group is the name given to a combination consisting of either of the following:

1. "Three of a kind" of the same suit, such as:
   
   



2. "A Sequence of three" in the same suit, such as:
   
   

The first player to collect the cards necessary to make a complete hand is the winner. This for instance, is a Mah Jong hand:

Chief opens the game by discarding a card. Each player follows in turn obtaining a card either by a "pung," a "chow" or by drawing from the pack. He then discards and the turn passes.

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1. At the commencement of the game drawing of the Wind Markers shall determine the order of seats. East Wind or Chief shall have the choice of seats. South Wind shall sit at Chief's right. West Wind opposite Chief and North Wind opposite South. This relative order shall be maintained throughout the whole game.



2. The players having taken their seats, place the cards face downwards in the centre of the table and shuffle them thoroughly.



3. Each player then forms a small heap of cards aproximately even size. (It is not necessary to count them as it is quite immaterial whether one heap contains more or less than another.)



4. The heap from which the deal is to be made shall be determined by one throw of two dice, the Chief throwing and counting around the table to the right, beginning with himself as 1.



5. The selected heap is then cut, added to the next heap in rotation, Chief proceeds to deal 13 cards to each player in the ordinary way, but gives himself a fourteenth card. The remaining heaps are then collected and added to any cards in dealer's hands. The top two are placed face downwards on the table and become the original loose cards. Loose cards are replenished from time from the bottom of the pack.



6. The direction of play shall be from left to right.



7. The privilege of being East Wind or Chief shall pass after each declaration of Mah Jong to the next player in the direction of play, the Wind Marker being passed to the next player at the right at the same time. Exception: If East Wind declares Mah Jong he shall be Chief again and the Wind shall not pass.



8. Four rounds shall be a game, each player in turn being Chief four times, subject to the exception noted in Law 7. A lesser number of rounds may be played at the option of the players if agreed upon before the first throw of the dice.



9. The stakes and limits shall be agreed upon by all players before the commencement of the game.



10. Settlement shall be made after the play of each hand, East Wind paying or receiving double the difference between value of his hand and the other players.



11. After four rounds (or any agreed number) have been played, a fresh game shall be started according to Law 1.



12. A three-handed game shall be one of three rounds only or as previously agreed upon.



13. In a three-handed game the play shall be as in the full game, the absent Wind (and Season) being ignored.



14. Play shall be deemed to commence with first discard of Chief.



15. After the discard a player shall have neither more nor less than 13 cards in his hand, or it shall be dead. Play, however, shall continue till one player shall declare Mah Jong or all hands are declared dead. The dead hand shall pay to all players, but shall not collect. The fourth of a "four of a kind" if exposed shall not be counted as one of the 13 cards in the normal hand.



16. To declare Mah Jong a player's hand shall be composed of four groups and a pair.



17. A group shall consist of either a "sequence" of three cards in the same suit or of "three of a kind" in the same suit.



18. A set of "four of a kind" shall be deemed a group for the purpose of declaring Mah Jong.
19. If no player can declare Mah Jong and the last cards of the pack (including the two Loose cards) readied, all hands shall be declared dead. No scores shall be counted. A fresh start shall be made, the Wind passing to the next player whose turn it shall be to become the East Wind or Chief.



20. To Pung a card, a player shall already hold a similar pair. The punged group shall be exposed.



21. To Chow a card, a player shall need this card to complete a sequence. The chowed group shall be exposed.



22. Only the player immediately following the person discarding a card may chow it.



23. A Pung shall have precedence over a Chow.



24. After a Pung play shall continue to the right of the player who punged.



25. The player who only requires the discarded card to complete his hand shall have precedence over all other players.



26. Where two or more players require the same discarded card in order to declare Mah Jong priority shall be given to the next player in rotation to the player discarding it.



27. A discarded card that is not chowed, punged, or claimed before the subsequent player's discard shall be dead and out of play for the rest of the hand.



28. In order to score for a set of "four of a kind" the player must expose it before another player declares Mah Jong.



29. A fourth card may be punged to a group of three already held by a player.



30. A fourth card shall not be punged to a group of three already exposed (i.e., to a group of which one card has already been obtained by a Pung).



31. If a fourth card be drawn it may be added to a punged group.



32. In place of a fourth in a set of "four of a kind," the player shall draw an extra card from the Loose cards.



33. A player declaring Mah Jong shall expose his hand at once, and if found complete, all the other players shall expose their hands on the table in front of them, and leave them till all scores shall have been settled.



34. A player declaring Mah Jong shall expose his hand at once. If it shall be found incomplete, it shall be declared dead, and play shall continue. At the end of play the dead hand shall pay, but shall not collect.



35. A player shall not reclaim a card once discarded. (exception: Law 36).



36. A player discarding out of turn shall lose his turn to draw or chow, but shall take back his discard.

Seasons and Flowers
These are all the laws governing the play of hands with 136 cards. If the extra suit of Seasons (or Flowers) is added, four more simple laws must be added as follows :

1. A Season (or Flower) shall be considered an extra card.



2. 2. On drawing a Season, a player shall expose it at once on the table and draw an additional card in its place from the Loose cards.



3. Two Seasons, one of each colour, shall be deemed to belong to each Wind as follows: No. 1 Season to East Wind, No.2 Season to South Wind, No. 3 Season to West Wind, and No. 4 Season to North Wind.



4. The Seasons bearing the corresponding numbers shall be deemed the Wind's own Seasons.

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