| Hong Kong Old Style | Overview | Gameplay | Scoring |
|---|
| Hong Kong Old Style | |
|---|---|
| Game Length | Varies |
| Tiles | 136, 144 |
| Hand | 13 |
| Dead Wall | 14, 16 with Flowers, None |
| Replenishing Dead Wall | Varies |
| Discards | Pool |
| Scoring Type | Exponential |
| Scoring System | Classical |
| Self-Draw Split | x2 x2 x2 |
| Discard Split | x2 x1 x1 |
| Dealer Bonus | None |
| Dealer Curse | None |
| Minimum | 0-2, 3 with Flowers |
| Maximum | Varies |
| Multiple Winners on Discard | Varies |
| Continuous Dealer Wins | Varies |
| Payout | Winner only |
| Concealed Kongs | Displayed |
Hong Kong Old Style Mahjong (HKOS) is one of the most well-known variations of Mahjong.
HKOS rulesets are defined as either "Clear Chapter", which only use Fan from Chinese Classical, and "New Chapter" / Cantonese which use Fan not found in Chinese Classical.
History
Hong Kong Old Style Mahjong (HKOS) uses a Fan scoring system vs. a Fan + Fu scoring system.
HKOS evolved from Hong Kong New Style (HKNS), a late-stage variant of Chinese Classical.
- 1920-50s: "New Style" variants used the same scoring systems found in Chinese Classical, but added way more winning conditions.
- 1950s: "New Style" variants became associated with gambling in HK. The simpler "back to basics" variant known as "Clear Chapter" or HKOS was adopted. Not only were the number of winning conditions shrunk to those in early Chinese Classical rulesets, but the scoring system was simplified. Individual Pungs were no longer scored and Fu were removed.
- 1970s: The 3-3 System is adopted. Hands must be 3 Fan to go out and the value of All Pungs and Half Flush are increased to 3 Fan.
- Early 80s: Although the new simplified scoring system was popular, competitive players felt the low number of winning conditions made the game boring. "New Style" winning conditions were gradually added onto the new ruleset. These rulesets are known as "New Chapter HKOS" or "Cantonese Mahjong".
- Late 80s: The scoring system was simplified further. Fan were removed in favor of an additive system. These rulesets became Taiwanese Mahjong and Guangdong Style Mahjong.
- 1990s-present: New Chapter rulesets were adapted into several synthetic standards: Chinese Official MCR is an attempt at intellectual hygienic Mahjong. Alan Kwan's Zung Jung Mahjong aims to use math to make a truer form of classic Mahjong. Guangdong Mahjong Competition Rules (GMCR) is a competitive ruleset built on the most commonly used Guangdong rules. Also, Hong Kong Taiwanese Style applies Guangdong Style scoring and patterns to the Taiwanese Style 16-tile format.
| Cantonese Mahjong Evolution | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 1920s | 1950s | 1970s | 1980s | 2000s |
| Chinese Classical | Shanghai New Style | Hong Kong Old Style | New Chapter | Guangdong Style | Hong Kong Taiwanese |
Hong Kong Old Style has continued to evolve since its inception. For example, the game as played today rarely uses a Dead Wall.
Guangdong Style development slowed after the introduction of Chinese Official MCR, but continued in Taiwan.
Terminology
Concealed: Self-drawn tiles within the player's hand.
Exposed: Melds made in part from an opponent's discard.
Chow: A run of 3 tiles. Players say "Chow!" to make a Chow.
Pung: A set of 3 identical tiles. Players say "Pung!" to make a Pung.
Kong: A declared set of 4 identical tiles. Players say "Kong!" to make a Kong. There are three types of Kong…
- Self-Drawn: All 4 tiles were self-drawn.
- Called: The first 3 tiles were self-drawn, the 4th was called from a discard.
- Added: The first 3 tiles are an exposed Pung, the 4th was self-drawn.
Mahjong: A valid winning hand. Players say "Mahjong!" or "Hu!" to declare that they have won.
Fan: Refers to both the winning condition and the value of the winning condition.
Fan Table: Used to score the payout. Fan are totaled, and then the Fan Table is used to convert the Fan total into points.
Equipment
Tiles: A basic set of 136 tiles. Playing with 8 Flower tiles is common.
Dice: 2 Dice if playing without Flowers. 3 Dice if playing with Flowers.
Round Wind Indicator: The first East player of the game holds onto this.
Players & Seating
A Round of Mahjong is made up of 4 Hands. There are 4 Rounds in a Game.
Seat Winds: Each Seat at the table has a Wind associated with it…
- The Dealer is always East. East displays the dice to their right.
- If East wins the Hand, the Seat Winds do not rotate. East gets to be Dealer again.
- If Non-East wins the Hand or if it's a Draw, the Seat Winds rotate counter-clockwise. The dice are passed to the new East player.
Round Winds: Each Round also had a Wind associated with it. The Round Wind is shown on the Round Wind Indicator.
Each player starts with the same number of points. This value depends on the Fan limit.
Building the Wall & Dealing
Each player builds a wall 17 tiles long and 2 tiles high. If the group is playing with Flowers, each player instead builds a wall 18 tiles long and 2 tiles high.
- East rolls the dice, counts stacks in their wall from right to left, and makes a break in the wall. To the left of the break is the beginning of the Live Wall; to the right is the end of the Dead Wall.
- Starting with East, players draw 13 tiles starting from the beginning of the Live Wall. Players take turns grabbing 4 at a time (2 stacks) until they have 12. Then each player takes 1 more tile. Tiles are removed from the wall clockwise, but the players take turns counterclockwise.
- The last 14 tiles (7 stacks) form the Dead Wall or the Kong Box. If playing with Flowers, some groups make the Dead Wall 16 tiles long.
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