page_title: Mahjong
section_title: Old Hong Kong Mahjong Rules
hierarchical_section_title: Mahjong / Old Hong Kong Mahjong Rules
caption_attribution_description: English: Mahjong tiles on angle
context_page_description: Mahjong is a tile-based game that was developed during the Qing dynasty in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is commonly played by four players. The game and its regional variants are widely played throughout Eastern and South Eastern Asia and have also become popular in Western countries. The game has also been adapted into a widespread online entertainment. Similar to the Western card game rummy, Mahjong is a game of skill, strategy, and calculation, and it involves a degree of chance.
  The game is played with a set of 144 tiles based on Chinese characters and symbols, although some regional variations may omit some tiles or add unique ones. In most variations, each player begins by receiving 13 tiles. In turn players draw and discard tiles until they complete a legal hand using the 14th drawn tile to form four melds and a pair. A player can also win with a small class of special hands. There are fairly standard rules about how a piece is drawn, how a piece is robbed from another player, the use of simples and Honors, the kinds of melds allowed, how to deal the tiles and the order of play.
context_section_description: There are many highly varied versions of mahjong both in rules and tiles used. "Old Hong Kong Mahjong" uses the same basic features and rules as the majority of the different variations of the game. This form of Mahjong uses all of the tiles of the most commonly available sets, includes no exotic complex rules, and has a relatively small set of scoring sets/hands with a simple scoring system. For these reasons Hong Kong mahjong is a suitable variation for the introduction of game rules and play and is the focus of this article.
caption: A set of Mahjong tiles
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