Mahjong Melds Essentials

Mahjong is a classic game played with 144 tiles. Each player starts with 13 tiles, while the dealer receives 14. The aim is to form a legal hand through 'melds'. Many players find forming these melds a bit tricky, so this guide is here to break it down for you.

Melds in Mahjong can seem a bit complex at first, but don't worry, we'll explain everything you need to know. Read on to get the full lowdown on how to master them.

Understanding Mahjong Melds

Your hand in Mahjong is made up of melds, which are collections of Mahjong tiles that form a specific combination like a pong, kong, chow, or eyes. You can create these melds either by drawing a tile from the wall or by claiming a discard from another player. The Mahjong rules dictate who has priority for a discard and whether a meld needs to be shown face-up or can be kept concealed.

Pong Explained for UK Players

• A pong is a set of three identical tiles.
• You can form a pong using any of the suited or honour tiles.
• Bonus tiles can't be used for a pong, as they're set aside, and there aren't three identical bonus tiles in the standard set.
• Crucially, the three tiles must be exactly the same.
• A pong can be kept hidden in your hand or exposed face-up.

The Kong: A Deeper Dive

A kong is formed with a complete set of four identical tiles. Think of it as an extended pong. Here's how you can make a kong:

• Hidden Kong: If you have three identical tiles and draw the fourth one yourself, you can declare a hidden kong. You'd reveal the meld by placing two tiles facing up in the centre and one tile on each end, with one facing up and the other down.
• Exposed Kong: You can claim a discarded tile from an opponent to complete a visible kong using three tiles you already hold. You display your three tiles face-up and then place the claimed discard either face down next to them or on top of the centrepiece.
• Exposed Kong from an Exposed Pong: If you have an exposed pong and then draw or claim the fourth tile, you can upgrade it to a kong. You can either place the fourth tile on top of the centrepiece of your pong or display all four tiles in a row. Note that you can't claim a discarded fourth tile to complete an exposed pong; it must be drawn from the wall.

Key Kong Rules for Players in the UK

• After forming a kong, you usually draw an extra tile from the wall and then discard one, as normal.
• The fourth tile of a kong doesn't count towards your 13-tile hand limit, meaning you'll still have 13 tiles after forming it.
• Just like with pongs, you cannot form a kong using bonus tiles.
• Kongs are worth gathering to gain extra points and prevent opponents from the option to get certain tiles.

Chow

• A chow is created by melding three matching tiles in a row.
• The meld needs to be in the same suit and in exact numerical order.
• Players cannot skip numbers or meld from 8 or 9 to 1 or 2.
• Because they have no numerical value, honor tiles and bonus tiles cannot be utilized to create chows.
• Only the player whose turn came just before their own can steal a discard to build a chow. The person who forms a chow with a seized piece gets the lowest priority for that tile.
• Any other player may take control of that tile in place of the other player if they need it to produce a pong or a kong to win.
• The chow is either hidden or visible, like a pong.

Eyes

Eyes, also known as a pair, are two identical tiles essential to a lawful winning hand. A piece cannot be taken to create a pair of eyes unless the player concurrently completes a valid winning hand.

Interruption of Play

The game can be interrupted by four events. They are the following:

Flower or Season

The last tile of the wall is drawn as a replacement tile whenever a player draws a flower or season, ensuring that they have the 14 pieces required before their discard.

Melding Another Player’s Discard

Other players may take a tile that has been discarded by one player to finish a meld. The advantages of stealing tiles include constructing a winning hand more quickly and earning extra points. At the same time, the drawbacks include having to expose a portion of one's hand to other players and being unable to alter a declared meld.

Moreover, the player must specify the type of meld to be proclaimed when declaring it through a discard before exposing the meld by setting the three or four face-up tiles.

Winning A Hand

Play is stopped when a hand is won in order to evaluate the hand's viability. Following confirmation, the player receives the hand's worth in accordance with the rules of the particular game.

Winning a Hand From a Discard

A player declares victory and reveals their winning hand if, at any time throughout the game, they can utilize another player's discard to finish a legal hand. The hand is over at this point, and mahjong scoring starts.

Based on established table rules, there are several methods to handle the scenario if more than one player can utilize a discard to win the hand. The winner may be determined by adding up the points each player would have gained from the discard, selecting the person who is closest to the discarder in turn order, or concurrently awarding wins to many players.

Winning a Hand From the Wall

A player can also succeed by drawing a tile that finishes a valid hand. This can also be referred to as winning from the wall. Winning from the wall in Hong Kong Mahjong doubles the basic points that each loser must pay.

Winning a Hand By False Win

The declaring of a winning hand is technically permissible at any time. The player must have a full and legitimate hand, though. If not, the player is punished.

• The punishment is based on the table rules.
• The player can hand the other players their points back.
• The player who announces the fake win is also subject to a potential punishment of having to play the remainder of the hand with their tiles face up.
• Some strategies impose punishment at the conclusion of the whole contest.

Robbing a Kong

A play known as robbing the kong is an uncommon yet high-scoring element of Hong Kong mahjong. If a player attempts to declare a kong by adding a fourth piece to a melded pong, but another player can use that piece to finish the hand, the winning player has precedence and may remove that piece from the person who was attempting to declare the kong.

Conclusion

Playing Mahjong is not about just learning the rules or tiles. Knowing about the melds, how to make them, and the different types of melds in mahjong is necessary in order to have a successful game.

Mahjong is not as difficult as it seems. It's just there is so much to learn about the game. But when players have a whole understanding, they undoubtedly have fun.