01 · Which mahjong are we learning?
Mahjong has many regional rules. This lesson uses a 136-tile, no-flower structural exercise: draw, discard, and recognise a basic four-sets-and-pair shape. It does not implement Chinese Official scoring, riichi yaku or regional payments; a completed shape is not automatically a legal win everywhere.
Set 1: sequence
Set 2: sequence
Set 3: sequence
Set 4: sequence
Final pair
Four players manage their own hands, normally with the dealer discarding first. Dealer here means a seat with particular starting duties, not the hand called Banker in baccarat. This exercise does not require betting; importing baccarat's process would be misleading.
02 · Characters, dots, bamboo and matching tiles
Number tiles have three suits: characters, dots and bamboo, each numbered one to nine with four copies of every tile. One character and one dot are not identical. Winds and dragons are honours without numerical sequences; East-South-West is not equivalent to 1-2-3.
All rank one, different suits
Four winds
Three dragons
Sequence: consecutive, same suit
Triplet: three identical tiles
Pair: two identical tiles
Not a pair
Same rank, different suits.
Honours cannot form a sequence
Three consecutive numbers in one suit form a sequence; three identical tiles form a triplet; two identical tiles form a pair. A basic completed shape needs four sequences or triplets plus one pair. The final two tiles must match, not merely be leftovers.
Our base set has three numbered suits with 9 designs and 4 copies each: 108 tiles. Seven honours with 4 copies add 28, making 136. Find one character, one dot, one bamboo, East and White Dragon in the pictures. The bird on one bamboo still means rank one, not a flower. Regional courses explain changes to this set.
03 · Understand a turn as 13 → 14 → 13
Ignore calls and kongs at first. You hold thirteen tiles before your turn, draw from the wall to fourteen, then discard one if not complete, returning to thirteen. The wall is the draw pile; discards have left your hand and cannot be swapped back on a whim.
1. Before drawing: 13
2. Draw this from the wall
Add it to your hand: now 14.
3. Discard White Dragon
White leaves your hand; nine dots stays.
4. After discarding: 13
The example starts with characters 1-2-3 and 4-5, dots 2-3-4, bamboo 6-7-8, East and White Dragon. Draw dot 9 to reach fourteen, then click White Dragon to discard it. Check both the reduced hand and the new discard.
04 · Build a complete shape over several turns
After the other three players take their turns, this example draws character 6 to join 4-5; discard the unconnected dot 9. After another round, draw East for the pair. The full split is characters 1-2-3, characters 4-5-6, dots 2-3-4, bamboo 6-7-8, East-East.
Before: 13, waiting on East
The new draw
Set 1: sequence
Set 2: sequence
Set 3: sequence
Set 4: sequence
Final pair
Completing with your own draw is a self-draw; completing with a discard is a discard win, with terminology varying by ruleset. This exercise validates only the shape; it does not assert a Chinese Official minimum score, a riichi yaku or a universal payout.
05 · Preview: calls depend on the chosen rules
The chow picture explains an action allowed in riichi and MCR, not our Sichuan Blood Battle course. Sichuan forbids chow calls but still allows sequences assembled through draws. Separate a valid group from the action used to obtain it.
Before chow: your tiles
Previous player discards 4 → chow
Expose the set, then discard; no ordinary draw.
Before pung: your pair
Opponent discards 5 → pung
Kong: four identical tiles
One set, with a replacement draw; not four consecutive ranks.
A chow takes the previous player's discard to complete a sequence with two tiles from your hand. A pung takes any player's discard to complete a triplet. Expose the set, then discard without an ordinary draw. You cannot take any discard merely because you like it.
A kong is four identical tiles treated as one set and normally requires a replacement draw, so the physical tile count differs. Our first exercise omits kongs deliberately. Later choose one complete ruleset for winning requirements, robbing a kong and scoring rather than mixing favourable rules from different variants.
06 · After the basics, choose one of three routes
Check yourself: why do one character and one dot not form a pair? Why discard after drawing nine dots? Which tiles make the final pair after drawing East? Revisit the pictures and guided turns if unsure.
Return to the Mahjong tutorial list and choose Japanese Riichi, MCR or Sichuan Blood Battle. These are parallel branches, not levels one through three. Learn one branch and its legal winning conditions before practising it.
The illustrated vocabulary is an optional reference, not compulsory Lesson 2. Consult riichi, yaku, dora and furiten for Japanese play; use MCR patterns and its eight-point threshold for MCR; follow the Sichuan course for missing suits, no chow and retiring after a win. Do not universalise a branch rule.