Variations

Overview

It has been said that whereas the Chinese have played Mah Jong one way for a thousand years, the Americans have played it in a thousand ways in one year. Actually, nothing could be farther from the truth.

First, the history of the game is only about a hundred years long, and it is played with considerably varying rules already in Asia, partly because of discontinuation of the tradition (the game was long depressed in China mainland), but also because local traditions have always been strong and there has never (until recently) been in China any official body governing the rules of Mah Jong. 

Secondly, the Western variations of the game are not that numerous – anymore. When the game was first introduced in the United States in the 1920's, several retailers published their own rules for which they claimed authenticity, but which in fact were greatly simplified versions of the classical game. Later on the American rules included more and more features that were purely American in nature (e.g., restrictions on the winning hand, introduction of dozens of new limit hands, etc.). Though this development can still be seen in the American Mah Jong, the rules are more or less stabilized. And while there are Mah Jong associations in the United States, which use rules that differ radically from the classical rules (e.g., the National Mah Jongg League, Inc. changes the acknowledged winning hands – all of which are irregular – on a yearly basis), the great majority of Western versions of Mah Jong are clearly based on Chinese Classical rules.

This is particularly true in Europe, where the American restrictions on the winning hand were often rejected (or only partially applied), so the basic concept of the classical game – approving any hand with four sets and a pair as a winning hand – was not abandoned. Though some national variations have clear traces of the American cleared-hand or one-chow game (the practice where no mixed suits are allowed in a winning hand and where the maximum number of Chows is limited to one), and though e.g. the French rules accentuate the meaning of limit and special hands, most European players still play the game practically in a way it was once played in China.

However, it is true that while several different versions are played in Asian countries, the game has essentially stayed unaltered in the respect that its strategic versatility is not arbitrarily narrowed by applying restrictions on the winning hand (other than a possible minimum point requirement), though e.g. in the modern Japanese version the gambling aspects of the game, and meaning of luck, are greatly accentuated and tend to make the game more capricious and strained. On the other hand, the American innovations – intended to improve the game and make it more interesting – focused on collecting limit hands (several new were added, many of which are irregular), but actually resulted in depriving much of the intellectual depth from the game. The central aspect of American game is in memorizing dozens of special hands and the main strategy lies in figuring out the most probable at the start of the deal, trying to achieve the determined goal, and trying to prohibit other players from collecting a valuable hand. However, this kind of a game has other merits, and combined with additions like Charleston and jokers (the latter are actually used sometimes in Asian games, as well), continues to attract a large number of players in the Western world.

It can be generalized that most of the variations in Asian countries – where Mah Jong is often played for money – deal with a number of acknowledged scoring patterns, scoring assignments, paying methods, fixing the Limit, duration of the game (number of rounds, whether deal passes on draw, etc.) while the Western versions differ from each other mainly by the degree they deviate from the Chinese Classical rules and have adapted American (and also some Asian) innovations. In addition, in both Eastern and Western Mah Jong there are several minor rule and scoring variations, which can be considered as "house rules": agreements between players on use of certain optional features (e.g., payments for dealer's extra hands, interpretation of the limit hand Hidden Treasure, use of Kitty or Ding Dong, etc.).

Though there have been efforts for standardization and "purification" of the rules, Mah Jong continues to develop in different directions and local variations are nearly endless. Several organizations (both in East and West) have tried to establish official national rules, but without significant success. Aiming at standardized rules is important, though, since otherwise the game would eventually lose its character and become a trivia of isolated local groups.

Variations, however, have helped the game to become richer and more interesting to different kinds of players. The nature of the game changes radically depending on the chosen rules. The American and French rules, for example, emphasize memorizing aspects of the game and delight players who enjoy collecting aesthetically appealing high-scoring hands. In the other extreme, the Chinese New Style or Chinese official rules with complex pattern scoring, or Modern Japanese rules with specialties like Dora tiles, Riichi and rule of Sacred Discard, require strategic skills and expertise achieved only after several years' practicing.

Four Winds makes it easy to get acquainted with different versions of Mah Jong. The game comes with over 20 pre-defined rule presets from which you can easily select your favorite. For instructions on how to choose a rule preset, see Choosing a rule preset.

Four Winds also allows you to fine-tune the rules to better suit your personal taste by offering several customizable options. Different rule combinations can be saved as user-defined rule presets which can later be chosen by just a couple of mouse clicks. In addition to rules, Four Winds allows you to change scoring of any of the over 350 supported hands and patterns and even lets you change the names of all scoring patterns.

Rule variations
Rule presets
Special tiles: Flowers and Seasons, Jokers, Dora tiles, Omitting Bamboo tiles
Kongs: Declaration of Kong, Hiding concealed Kongs, Kongs as concealed sets
Restrictions on the winning hand: Minimum points or doubles/faan/han, Maximum number of Chows, Prohibition of mixed suits, Require Limit/Special hand, Exceptions
Claiming rules:  Chows, Pair, Overclaiming, Sacred Discard, Missed Discard, Kuikae, Competitive claims for going out
The rule of Ready: Obligatory ready declaration, Voluntary Ready declaration, Ready on original hand, Ready on first turn
Draw rules: Deal passes on draw, Paying points after a draw, Playing a Goulash deal after a draw, Dead hand rules, Check true ready state of hand
Miscellaneous: Using five sets, Number of rounds, Round wind sequence, Dead Wall, Specifying how discards are placed on board, Using extended discard information, Charleston, Pass deal after East's win

Scoring variations
Initial and Limit points
Creating and managing custom rule presets
Logic of scoring system
Inclusion and scoring of hands and patterns
Rounding
Settling tables
Paying method
Penalties

Extra Payments
Dealer bonus
Bonus for dealer's extra hands
Kitty

Procedures:
Creating and managing custom rule presets
Printing scoring items
Renaming scoring items
Resetting the names of scoring items