| Japanese Modern: | Overview | Gameplay | Scoring | Penalties & Errors | Resources |
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The object of the game is to complete a hand before anyone else using 14 tiles. The hand will consist of four sets and a pair (with the exception of special hands). The number of points — not the number of wins — at the end of the game determines the winner.
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Table of Contents
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Gameplay
This gameplay section assumes you know the basic rules of mahjong.
During the game a player may call to complete any one of the following sets:
- Chow: Claimed from the player to your left or for mahjong.
- Pung: Claimed from any player.
- Kong: Claimed from any player. A replacement tile is drawn afterwards. Another tile in the dead wall if turned face up to reveal the kan dora.
- Concealed and Small Melded Kong: Announced only after drawing a tile (i.e. not after claiming a tile). A replacement tile is drawn afterwards. Another tile in the dead wall if turned face up to reveal the kan dora.
Arrangement of Tiles
Discards
Discards are placed rows of six in front of the respective players' wall.
Sets
Tiles claimed are rotated 90 degrees within the set to show which player had discarded it.
Example 1
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| Chow. |
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3-character is claimed from the person to our left.
Example 2
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| Pung. |
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5-dot is claimed from the person across from us.
Concealed kongs have two outer tiles face up and two tiles face down. This is the distinguish concealed and exposed kongs when scoring.
Example
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| A concealed kong of 3-dots. |
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Furiten
A player who has previously discarded a tile that would complete his hand, cannot win on that tile unless it is self-drawn.
Post Hand
If the dealer wins the current hand or earns points for tenpai (one tile away from a complete hand) he/she deals again, retaining the East position, otherwise the deal passes. The hand ends in draw the deal passes to the player to the right. A round is over when all players get a chance to deal.
Noten Penalty
If a draw occurs any player who is tenpai can show their hand. Players who are noten (not one tile away from winning) have to pay a total of 3000 points to players who are tenpai. For example, Player A is in tenpai whereas B, C, and D are not, Player A receives 1000 from each player (
). A 100-point counter is placed to the dealer's right-hand side.
Abortive Hands
An abortive draw may occur under these four conditions:
- Nobody wins after four kans are declared.
- All four of the same wind tile is discarded within the first go around.
- A player has nine different terminal and honor tiles within the first uninterrupted go around.
- Four player's declare riichi. Hands are shown if nobody can win on the last discard.
Under these conditions the noten penalty is not applied. A 100-point counter is placed to the dealer's right-hand side.
Counters
A counter is placed on the dealer's right-hand side after a draw or after East wins. Each counter increases the payout to the winner by 300 points. In case of a self-drawn win each opponent plays 100 for reach counter. Counters are removed when another player declares a win. When there are five or more counters on the table a minimum of two yaku are need to win. If the deal passes the previous dealer's counters are returned and the new dealer replaces the counters with the appropriate amount.
Riichi bets
Riichi bets are collected by the winner. Should a draw occur the riichi bets remain on the table.
| Yakitori. (Optional). At the beginning of the game each player starts with a yakitori marker. Upon winning a hand the yakitori marker is removed. At the end of a full game any player who has a yakitori marker pays an additional penalty. |
Post Round
After the round is over the prevalent wind changes. The order of the winds are East and South.
| Short Game. (Variation). For shorter games, players can opt to play for one round, known as East-only games. Longer Game. (Variation). For longer games, players can opt to play an additional round (West round) should no player finish with more than 51,000 at the end of the South round. A third round, North round, can also be played should no player finish with more than 51,000 at the end of the West round. |
Post Game
The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.
Uma
At the end of the game a scoring adjustment is made to reward the top players and punish the losing players. For example,
| Rank | Adjustment |
| 1 | + 9000 |
| 2 | + 3000 |
| 3 | - 3000 |
| 4 | - 9000 |
Other common variations on the ranking bonus are +10, + 5, -5, -10 or +20, +10, -10, -20 for first through fourth place, respectively.
