Official Chinese rules of "Mah-Jong" (not Chinese Official...)
cymb...@free.fr
http://www.dicj.gov.mo/PT/Regulamento/FortunaAzar/Mahjong.htm
They are dated 1991. Unfortunately the English version is not
available. You may like to read them in Chinese instead.
Note that there are two kinds of "Mah-Jong". (I had never heard of
'Mah-Jong simplificado' and - horror! - nothing in Tom's FAQ 2b.)
Cheers.
Thierry Depaulis
d_...@my-deja.com
cymb...@free.fr wrote:
> They are dated 1991. Unfortunately the English version is not
> available. You may like to read them in Chinese instead.
Well, it is also available in Portuguese. :-)
Interesting find. There is no indication who put this page up, but
from the web address, it could be put up by the government of Macao.
Simplified MJ is played with 112 tiles and 2 dice (as opposed to 136
tiles and 3 dice for traditional MJ). It includes the 3 suits and just
the Green Dragon. It is played with 2-4 players.
That's all I read. Thanks for the pointer.
Cofa Tsui
news:1146496631.8...@y43g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>
[...]
There is no indication who put this page up, but
> from the web address, it could be put up by the government of Macao.
Both the Portuguese and Chinese versions have indications that it is from
the Government of Macau (wording under the "Art. 2" line).
As to the name of the rule, the document provides:
Regulamento Oficial do Jogo de Mah-Jong
or "麻雀法定博彩規則"
From the Chinese it may be translated as "Mahjong Official Gambling Rule"
("gambling" could be beautifully called "gaming" and "rule" could be
"regulation", etc.) I believe its main purpose is for the gambling
operations in Macau.
So, calling this rule set "Official Chinese" or "Chinese Official" is
obviously not appropriate.
But, thanks for the info!
--
Cofa Tsui
www.iMahjong.com
J. R. Fitch
behind it. I wouldn't be surprised if was the result of some councilman
getting cheated at one of the casinos.
Anyway, I'm sure Thierry was speaking "tongue in cheek", given that the
Macau government became defunct in 1999.
--
J. R. Fitch
Nine Dragons Software
San Francisco, CA USA
http://www.ninedragons.com
cymb...@free.fr
Region"...
Anyway, it seems that, in the 1970's, gambling at mahjong became a
threat for the poor casino operators who complained about it. In 1977 a
law was passed banning mahjong gambling. In 1988 the regulating body
(now called Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau) decided that
mahjong for money should be played in casinos. And like all casino
games, they published official rules (Portaria n.º 133/88/M - Aprova o
regulamento provisorio de jogo de Mah-Jong), which were slightly
modified in 1989. This was for "conventional mahjong".
The 1991 official rules added "Simplified Mahjong".
One may sum up its rules thus (more sloperano):
o Uses 112 tiles (no Red and White Dragons, no Winds, no flowers or
seasons).
o 2-4 players.
o Hold 4 tiles in the hand, go out on 5 tiles.
o No special hands.
o Score by counting points for hand characteristics.
o Only the winner is paid.
Thierry
Nath Krismaratala
> seasons).
> o 2-4 players.
> o Hold 4 tiles in the hand, go out on 5 tiles.
> o No special hands.
> o Score by counting points for hand characteristics.
> o Only the winner is paid.
Looks to me a lot like Poker with Mahjong tiles. If a casino dealer is
needed to distribute to tile to players, I would rather add it to the
same category as Mahjong Baccara and Mahjong Bingo (ref. Wonderful
Taiwan Mah Jong, book written by Shiang-Yu "Dragon" Chang, 2003) than
true Mahjong.
Anyway interesting find indeed. Merci Thierry
Nath
tsloper
wonder about the non-simplificado rules, whether those vary
significantly enough from other variants to warrant listing a 35th...
Cheers,
Tom
d_...@my-deja.com
Nath Krismaratala wrote:
> Looks to me a lot like Poker with Mahjong tiles. If a casino dealer is
> needed to distribute to tile to players, I would rather add it to the
> same category as Mahjong Baccara and Mahjong Bingo (ref. Wonderful
> Taiwan Mah Jong, book written by Shiang-Yu "Dragon" Chang, 2003) than
> true Mahjong.
Not really. It is played just like real MJ, not like Poker. Each
player start with 4 tiles, going out on the 5th tile. So there is the
regular 3-tile set plus the 1-pair of eyes. This is more "speed MJ"
than anything else.
It is interesting that for gambling purposes, the hands are limited to
2-fahn maximum for traditional MJ and 1-fahn maximum for simplified MJ.
There are many more "bao" rules though. I am sure someone else who
can read Chinese or Portuguese can provide a complete English
translation.
cymb...@free.fr
While we are at "simplified" forms of MJ I have found this one, called
Pong, in C.T. Dobree's Gambling games of Malaya. Kuala Lumpur : Caxton
Press, 1955, pp. 137-8. According to the author, "Pong is a simplified
form of Mah Jong which is very popular amongst Malays in Kelantan"
One may sum up its rules thus:
o Uses 120 tiles (no winds, no flowers or seasons).
o 4 players.
o Hold 11 tiles in the hand, go out on 12 tiles.
o No special hands. Tile combinations are only made of three id. tiles
(called 'Tong') to which id. numbers or values may be added ('Tong
Serong').
o Score by counting points for hand characteristics.
o Only the winner is paid.
I'll post the rules in a few minutes.
Thierry
cymb...@free.fr
GAMES WITH MAH JONG (ma jiang) TILES
--------------------------
In addition to the ordinary game of Mah Jong (ma jiang) which is so
very popular amongst all Chinese, and in which only four persons may
participate at one time, there are other games in which Mah Jong tiles
are used or are substituted for other "instruments". These are some of
the games:--
Pong. Pong is a simplified form of Mah Jong which is very popular
amongst Malays in Kelantan. Only four persons may participate in the
game at any one time. This is its brief description:--
The Character (wan zi), Bamboo (suo zi), Circle (tong zi) and Honour
(fan zi) tiles only are used = total 120 tiles.
The Kelantan Malay names these tiles thus:--
Character (wan zi) - Surat.
Bamboo (suo zi) - So'och.
Circle (tong zi) - Butir.
Red Honour (hong zhong) - Yu Ho Kee.
Green Honour (fa cai) - Yu Chior.
White Honour (bai ban) - Yu Lichin or Yu Pintu.
These 120 tiles are shuffled face-downwards on the table and are then
built into four walls of 30 tiles each as in the ordinary game of Mah
Jong. (This wall building is not an essential). When the tiles have
been shuffled and arranged, each of the four players draws eleven
tiles.
Therafter, the four players alternately drawing a tile from the walls
and making a discard, endeavour to form their particular tiles into
four sets of three particular tiles which are known as "Tong" or "Tong
Serong". The first player to draw a tile which completes his four
"Tong" or "Tong Serong" wins the round.
A "Tong" is three identical tiles--three tiles each "Five Bamboo" or
each "Six Circle" or each "Red Honour" &c.
A "Tong Serong" is three mixed tiles of identical number i.e.
"Three Character" + one "Three Bamboo" + one "Three Circle".
Two "Five Bamboo" + one "Five Circle".
Two "Green Honour" + one "White Honour".
&c. &c.
During the course of play, instead of drawing a tile from the wall, a
player may take the discard tile of a player immediately preceding him.
But when a player is needing only one tile to complete his four "Tong"
or "Tong Serong" he may take the discard tile of any player immediately
that discard is made.
The player winning a round computes his tiles into points which have a
mutual pre-arranged value i.e. one point may be taken as one cent, or
ten cents, of fifty cents etc. Computation thus:--
Four "Tong" = Full or All Chongs. Value 6 pts.
Three "Tong" and one "Tong Serong" = Three Chongs. Value 5 pts.
Two "Tong" and two "Tong Serong" = Two Chongs. Value 4 pts.
One "Tong" and three "Tong Serong" = One Chong. Value 3 pts.
Four "Tong Serong" = Kar. Value 2 pts.
The winner of the round is paid by the other three players in
accordance with this computation. Payment may be made by chips or
cash, or a written score may be maintained.
As soon as one round is completed and payment made to the winner, the
tiles are shuffled again and the games [sic] proceeds in this manner.
Source: C.T. Dobree, Gambling games of Malaya. Kuala Lumpur : Caxton
Press, 1955, pp. 137-8
(pinyin is mine; Dobree gives sinograms which I cannot write with my
computer)
Cheers,
Thierry
tsloper
Cheers,
Tom
John (Zi Rong) Low
mahjong. It says:
1. The game is suited for 2-4 players. They make 4 walls that are 14
tiles wide, and the dealer rolls the dice. Starting from dealer,
everyone takes 1 stack (2 tiles), then 1 more stack so each person has
4 tiles. The dealer then picks up one more to get 5.
2. The game lasts for all 4 winds (like most Chinese versions) with 4
kyokus (hand) in each one. If the dealer wins or there's an exhaustive
draw, then the dealer keeps his position.
3. Already mentioned before, you win with 1 Group + 1 pair = 5 tiles.
You are NOT allowed to "Pon" or "Chi" off anybody. You can only use
other people's discard to win (Ron). However, if you have 3 of exactly
the same tile, and somebody throws out the 4th one, you can say "Kan".
You can also declare a concealed Kan and draw a supplement tile.
4. If 2 or 3 people want to "Ron" off one person's discard, only the
person who is "Atama Hane" status gets to win (closest to discarder in
anticlockwise direction).
5. There is an error in this document. It says you can't "Pon" off
anybody, yet it says if you pick up the 4th tile, you can add it to a
revealed Pon??!!
6. Chicken hands are crap, they are basically any 1 group and a pair.
You can get 1 fan for "Haitei Tsumo/Ron" (winning on the last tile), a
Pon/Kan of the Green Dragon, and "Chankan" (Kong Rob, but this is
impossible because no one can have a revealed Kan in the first place!
Unless you count stealing a concealed Kan).
7. If dealer wins, the other 3 players each pay 2 units of money. If
non-dealer wins, dealer pays 2 units, others pay 1 unit each.
8. If you discard something out, you can't take it back. Do not peek at
other people's tiles. If somebody wins, pay them the corresponding
money.
There's one more bit at the bottom of the page, but I am getting very
confused about it, hold on...
John (Zi Rong) Low
(revealed Pon, then adding the 4th tile on later) in the first place.
The last bits, it sounds weird but:
7. If you were the one who picked up the last Green dragon (when the
other 3 are already discarded), and discard it, with somebody else
winning later on, you suffer "Bao" penalty. Or maybe it means if you
pick up the last Green Dragon and keep it in your hand (totally
pointless) and somebody wins later, you suffer "Bao" penalty???
8. If you have a winning hand of 1 group + a pair, but don't declare a
win, and then break up your group by discarding a tile, only to get it
"Ron"ned by another person, you must pay "Bao" penalty.
9. If you discarded the 1st Green Dragon and somebody else wins before
the 2nd won has been discarded, you DON'T suffer "Bao" penalty??!!
10. If dealer declares false win, must pay 1 fan payment to each
person. If 2 non-dealers make a false win (this is so stupid unless it
was attempted double ron), they must each pay 1 fan payment to dealer
and the other non-dealer.
I'm not too sure about the above 3, they didn't explain it properly. It
doesn't even say if people discard in orderly rows, or just messily
like Hong Kong style. Sorry.
Tom Sloper
> The last bits, it sounds weird but:
>
> 7. If you were the one who picked up the last Green dragon (when the
> other 3 are already discarded), and discard it, with somebody else
> winning later on, you suffer "Bao" penalty. Or maybe it means if you
> pick up the last Green Dragon and keep it in your hand (totally
> pointless) and somebody wins later, you suffer "Bao" penalty???
>
> 9. If you discarded the 1st Green Dragon and somebody else wins before
> the 2nd won has been discarded, you DON'T suffer "Bao" penalty??!!
What they're saying is that the green dragon (the only non-suit tile in
Macau Simplificado) is a special luck tile. The first one gives the
discarder immunity, and the last one is an automatic penalty for the picker.
There are precedents for this sort of thing in other (non-mahjong) games.
The first green dragon is sort of like the Get Out Of Jail card in Monopoly,
and the last one is sort of like the Old Maid card in the children's game of
the same name.
Interesting that the first green dragon is of benefit only to the one who
discards it, and that the last one penalizes the one who picks it, no matter
what he does (although it sounds like the rule is unclear).
Cheers,
Tom