Mah Jong
Group meets 1st and 3rd Wednesday at St James Church Hall, Wollaston from 10.00am - 12 noon.
Mah Jong is an old Chinese game played with tiles which are used in a similar way to cards. It is usual to have 4 players although it is possible for 3 to play. There are 3 suits - bamboo, circles and characters. In addition there are tiles representing east, south, west and north winds and green, white and red dragons.
There are rituals to setting up the game to start, playing and scoring.
Tiles are placed face down and mixed up at the beginning of the game. Each player builds a wall 18 tiles long and 2 tiles high, these walls are brought together to form a square. A dice is thrown to decide which wall tiles should be dealt from then thrown a second time to determine at which point in the wall dealing should commence. Tiles are then dealt to each player in turn. Each player begins with 13 tiles with the first player having 14 to allow for discard.
Players are identified as East, South, West and North. Unlike most card and board games the order of play moves anticlockwise around the table.
The object of the game is to collect 4 sets of 3 tiles each and a pair by picking up and discarding tiles. Discarded tiles can be picked up by other players. Sets can be displayed or concealed in the player's hand until the end of the game. Tiles that remain concealed score more points.
The best way to learn the intricacies of the game is to start playing! We are always happy to welcome new players and to teach the game.