16-Tile Taiwanese Mahjong with Flower and Character Tiles（ENG)

Taiwanese Mahjong has two playing styles:
 "with flowers and characters" and "proper
 flowers and characters." This article explains
 the "with flowers and characters" style, 
which requires all flower tiles (a total of eight) 
to be in the tile arrangement.
Mahjong consists of 144 tiles, including 8 

flower tiles (flower and character in one tile)

and character tiles:

4 Winds: NEWS /3 Dragons 

• East (東)
• South (南)
• West (西)
• North (北)
• Center/Red Dragon(中 CHINA)  
• Fortune/Green Dragon (發 FORTUNE)
• White Dragon (白 PI PARKING)

         resembles a parking area)

Stacking Tiles (砌牌, qi pai)

• 4 players, 4 rows (18 cards × double decks)

Determining Seating Positions (抓風)

  1.First cover the East, South, West, and
    North tiles. Any player rolls the dice, and

    their position becomes East.

 2.The dice number determines everyone's 

    seating positions:

    East東:   1/5/9/13/17: The dice thrower 

    West西 :3/7/11/15: Opposite the dice thrower

    South南: 2/6/10/14/18: To the right of the 

                      dice thrower 

    North北:4/8/12/16: To the left of the dice 

                     thrower 

Thank jingji game for the center picture as a sample: 

https://cmj2.com.tw/knowhow/%E9%BA%BB%E5%B0%87%E8%A6%8F%E5%89%87%E6%94%BB%E7%95%A5.aspx

  3.Then in counter clockwise order, the person 

      who draws East sits in the dice  thrower's

      position. Everyone sits in counter clockwise 

      order, then rolls the dice again to determine

      who will be the dealer.

 4. 3 dice throw decide who is dealer.  

      If total numbers is even ➗2= odd(will be

      on your right side next player) 

     If total numbers is even ➗2= even (will be

      on your left side upper player)

         

      Quick tile drawing method: If the dice 

      number exceeds 10, use 16-10=6

      (remainder 6).   one line is 18-2(dealer

       2 stacks)-10=6  ( take 2 left 6) then don't 

       have to count from the beginning.

How to choose seating and decide 1st dealer

  5.Each person draws four hands (four tiles at 

    a time). Then the dealer (莊家)   opens and 

    takes one tile, giving the dealer extra 1 to 

    start =17 tiles. 

    The dealer then replaces flower tiles (花牌

    放前面,然後補牌). 

    Replacement tiles are drawn from the  

    opposite side of the opening. If a

    replacement tile is a flowers. you must let 

    others replace their flowers first before

    replacing yours.   Say "Please replace" first, 

    then replace.

   😐Tips for organizing cards faster: Place 

         single character tiles or tiles

         numbered  1 and 9 in the front row first,

         then arrange the rest gradually.

6.  Straight/Sequence (順子): 345, 567, 234 

     consecutive tiles. You can only "eat" (吃牌,

      chi) tiles discarded by the player to  your left.

7. Pung (碰): A triplet of three identical tiles.

    Gong(槓): Four of a kind 

   (requires replacement).

 8.Exposed Gong (明槓): When someone 

    discards a tile and you already have three 

    identical tiles, you can declare an exposed

    gong. If you've already exposed a pung

    (3 tiles)  for other players to see, you 

     cannot gong the fourth tile discarded 

     by others.                       

 9.Secret Gong (暗槓): When you have 3 

     matching tiles in your hand and draw the

     fourth one, you can declare a secret Gong ,

     then remember to draw a replacement tile.

     

10.Ready Hand (聽牌): When all combinations

     are complete without needing to eat or 

     pung, and you're just waiting for one 

     specific tile to win.

 11.Win (胡牌HU): You can win with

      any tile discarded by others. If you draw the

      needed tile yourself, that's a self-draw (自摸).

 12.Fake Win (詐胡): If you mistakenly think

      you've won and push your tiles down, you 

      must pay each player a base amount.

      If you call "hu" by mistake but haven't 

      pushed down your tiles, you  can continue 

      playing.

 13. Wrong Hand (相公): Having more or less 

       than 16 tiles is called "wrong hand." 

       If you discover you have a wrong hand, 

       you can't eat or pung anymore and 

       must be careful not to let others win 

       off your discards (chuck).

  14.Let Pass (過水): Sometimes when your luck

      is too good, you might feel bad about 

      constantly winning  off a player who has 

      no money and   keeps letting you win. 

      So you must pass on yourself, and can 

      only win  on the next tile. 

      Or if you're trying for a self-draw, you let

     the discarding player pass  meaning you

     pass on yourself and can only win on the

     same tile when it's your turn.

 15.Missed Pung (漏碰): Sometimes you forget

      to pung, but the player after the discarding

      player  has already played. 

      This is called a missed pung. Usually, you

      then decide to use your pair as safe tiles or 

     "eyes"   (a pair needed for winning).

 16.Letting Others Win (放槍=放炮, chuck):

     The person who discards a tile

      that lets someone else win must pay.

 

17.Unwritten Withdraw Winning Rules:

     If you draw a tile and are uncertain your

     winning chances, place it aside without

     touching the tiles inside your hand. 

 😱Don't drop it on the table. You can place it 

       next to your exposed flowers and tiles. 

       If any of these rules are broken, the win

       won't count, and you'll have to wait for the

       next opportunity.

thanks for reading  and hope it helps you play 

better Mahiong😁💕Hsia夏

Phone Apps Practice Ref.

🔍Joy Chinese Mahjong

it plays 13 tiles, same method

 

 

 

 

To Get Start:

chi (chow) -take from your upper player in 

consecutive tiles

Pung (碰): A triplet of three identical tiles.

 Gong(槓): Four of a kind(requires replacement).

Ready Hand (聽牌): When all combinations 

are complete without needing to eat or pung, 

and you're just waiting for one specific tile to win. 

(for App, can't change tile)

Win (胡牌)