Three-player mahjong is a variation of mahjong for three players rather than the more common four-player variations. It is not a mere adaption of four-player mahjong to suit only three players but has its own rules and idiosyncrasies that place it apart from the more standard variations. The equipment used and the basic mechanisms are much like four-player variations though some tiles are removed, certain plays are prohibited and the scoring system is simplified.The Great Mahjong Book: History, Lore, and Play The game is embraced in some Asian countries while ignored or snubbed in others.
Three-player mahjong is played mostly in Japan, Korea and Malaysia. This article focuses on rules from the earlier two (Japan/Korea) while other variations are covered in the following section. The rules given below are the most commonly used rules in Korean/Japanese three-player mahjong while optional house rules (extra rules which groups may opt to use) are listed afterwards. There are numerous possible house rules meaning three-player mahjong can be as simple or complex as players prefer.
Vanilla three-player rules
There are basic rules common among the three-player Mahjong variations played in Korea and Japan.The Great Mahjong Book: History, Lore, and Play The following presents the most commonly used rules with a list of variations afterwards. Those familiar with common versions of four-player mahjong will note the removal of several tiles (most notably most of the bamboo tiles), chows cannot be melded on a discard, discards are placed in front of the player, a player cannot win on a discard they have previously discarded themselves (sacred discard) and a notably different scoring system.
Tiles
Three-player mahjong is played with a standard mahjong set with several tiles removed. First, the north wind is removed. The 2-8 of bamboo is also removed. The four season tiles are also removed, but the four flowers are kept. There are no jokers or any other extra tiles.
Circles (dots) 1 to 9:
Characters 1 to 9:
Bamboo 1 and 9 (all four tiles of each; bamboo 2 to 8 are removed):
East, South and West (North is removed):
Red, Green and White Dragons:
The four flowers (there is only one tile of each):
The circles, characters, and bamboo are called simple tiles (they are numbered 1 to 9 and only tiles 1 and 9 are used in the bamboo suit). Of the dragons and winds (called honours), there are three kinds of each with no numerical value. Of both simples and honours, there are four matching tiles for each value (i.e. there are four red dragons and there are four 2 of circles).
Deal
Tiles are dealt just like other variations of mahjong except the walls are only thirteen or fourteen tiles long and only two dice are used. For those unfamiliar with stacking the wall, the following explains it for three-player mahjong.
Shuffling tiles All tiles are placed face down on the table and are shuffled. By convention all players should participate in shuffling using both hands moving the tiles around the table rigorously and loudly for a lengthy period. Tiles may get flipped up during this process and players should flip them facing down as soon as possible to avoid identifying the location of the revealed tiles.
Stacking tiles
Each player then stacks a row of 13 or 14 tiles, two tiles high, in front of them (for a total of 26 or 28 tiles). East and West stack a row of 14 tiles, South and North stack a row of 13 tiles. One of the three players also stacks the North wall. Players then push each side of their stack together to form a square wall. Players may instead more informally build a triangle wall (18 tiles wide on each side – which also allows the use of three dice, if desired, for randomizing the wall cut).
Drawing tiles The order of play is traditionally anticlockwise (counterclockwise) but some house rules may go the other direction, as South and North would be swapped when compared to cardinal direction order.
The dealer throws two dice in the square wall and sums up the total. Counting anticlockwise so that the dealer's wall is 1, 5 or 9, South is 2, 6 or 10, etc. This determines which side of the wall will be cut and the tiles dealt from.
Using the same total on the dice, the dealer counts each stack of tiles on that side of the wall from right to left, and cuts the wall to the left of the count. Starting from the left of the cut, the dealer draws four tiles for himself (two stacks of two tiles) so that the wall decreases in a clockwise direction. Players in anticlockwise order draw blocks of four tiles until all players have 12 tiles. Each player then draws one last tile to make a 13-tile hand.
Dealing may be done more informally (without using dice and the dealer randomly cutting the wall wherever they choose). In some house rules the dealer deals out all of the tiles.
Objective Each player's hand consists of 13 tiles. In sequence, players pick up a tile from the wall and discard one until a player has a legal hand. The majority of legal hands consists of 4 melds of three tiles and one pair of identical tiles. Melds can also consist of four tiles under certain conditions and there are a few uncommon and very specific winning hands that have a unique composition that break all the rules. These game rules are commonly interrupted by specific plays which include stealing a player's discard, forming a kong, putting a flower tile to the side, and a few other special rules.
Composition of Hands
Hands consist of four melds and one matching pair of tiles.
Melds
Chow A chow is a set which consists of three tiles in one suit (either circles or characters) in numerical sequence (i.e. 5-6-7 of characters or 2-3-4 of circles). It can only be made of circles or characters as the remaining bamboo suit allows for no consecutive numerical sequence anymore. Chows must contain three tiles; two- or four-tile chows are not permitted. Unlike in four-player mahjong, chows can only be formed through the deal and drawing from the wall (and not by another player's discard), with the usual exceptions for the final move of a win.
Pong A pong is a set which consists of three identical pieces of any tile (except flowers, which are bonus tiles and are always set aside). Examples would be three red dragons or three 2 of circles.
Kong A kong is a special type of pong which consists of all four pieces of any tile. See below for the procedures for declaring a kong. It is the only set that permits four tiles.
Eye
On top of the 4 melds (chows and/or pongs/kongs) a winning hand must also include an eye. The eye is a pair of tiles (two matching identical tiles) such as two green dragons or two 9 of bamboos. Any simple tile or honour tile can be used.
General play
All players start with 13 tiles. The dealer starts the game by drawing the next available tile from the wall (going clockwise around the wall) adding it to their hand. (Typically, this draw is performed during the initial deal to speed up game start.) If this draw does not complete a legal hand, the dealer then discards a tile.
All players must have only 13 tiles in their hand, not including flowers (which are set aside) and the 4th tile of any kong they might have (which is considered an extra tile). Any kong declared or flower set aside, is replaced by a tile from the wall.
After the dealer discards, the next player, in anticlockwise order, draws the next available tile from the wall and discards a tile. Play continues until a player forms a legal, 14-tile hand. Play may be interrupted for any of the following reasons:
Flowers The moment a player draws a flower, they should announce so, place it face-up to the side, and draw a replacement tile from the wall.
Stealing a pong If a player can use an opponent's discard to complete a pong, the player calls this out (before the next player in turn has a chance to draw from the wall). The player takes the discarded tile, reveals the two matching tiles, and places all three face up on the table in front of their hand. This forms an "exposed" or "stolen" pong. The player then discards a tile when ready. Play continues with the next player (anticlockwise to the player who stole the pong, possibly skipping a player) taking their turn and drawing a tile from the wall. Note: A previously discarded tile cannot be used to make a pong (nor for any other reason) after the next player draws a tile from the wall, meaning all discarded tiles beforehand are untouchable.
Stealing a kong If a player can use an opponent's discard to complete a kong from a pong concealed in their hand, the player calls this out (before the next player in turn has a chance to draw from the wall). The player takes the discarded tile, reveals the three matching tiles, and places all four face up on the table in front of their hand (placing three in a row and one on top of the one in the middle). This forms an "exposed" or "stolen" kong. The player must then draw an extra tile from the end of the wall (to have a full hand after completing a kong). (Technically, this is shorthand for stealing a pong with two matching tiles from your hand, and then promoting an exposed pong to an exposed kong with the third matching tile from your hand.) Play continues same as stealing a pong.
Promoting an exposed pong to an exposed kong At any point during a player's turn they may add a tile in their hand to an exposed pong (a pong which was formed by stealing another player's discarded tile). The player adds it to the pong (placing three in a row and one on top of the one in the middle) and draws a tile from the wall to compensate for the extra fourth tile of the kong. This forms an "exposed", "stolen" or "promoted" kong.
Revealing a concealed kong During a player's turn they may choose to reveal a concealed kong (four matching tiles) if they want to claim a replacement tile for the fourth tile in the kong (while also revealing to the other players that all four tiles are taken). The player reveals the tiles by placing all four in a row with the end two face down and the middle two face up. This forms a "concealed" kong. The player must then draw an extra tile from the end of the wall (to have a full hand after completing a kong).
Robbing the kong If a player declares a kong and another player needs that tile to make a chow and win the game, the player may declare so and "go mahjong" (win). This is called "robbing the kong" and does not occur often. Note that this is limited to chows in this variant.
Winning from a discard A player lacking only one tile to form a legal hand (whether completing a chow, pong, eye, or special hand) may steal the discard to win. The exception to this rule is the sacred discard (see below).
Sacred discard
Unlike many variations of mahjong, a player may not win from a discard if they, themselves, have discarded a matching tile previously. In order to keep track of discards, tiles are not thrown into the centre as in other versions of mahjong but are placed directly in front of their hand so that their discard history is easily seen. A player's discards are usually arranged in neat rows of six to ten tiles (depending on table preferences).
Irregularities
Changes No changes can be made to a pong or kong which has already been declared (it cannot be taken back to form anything else).
Stealing chows Stealing chows is allowed in some versions of mahjong but not in this version (or in Korean mahjong). You cannot meld a chow from another player's discard.
Stealing kongs A discard cannot be stolen to add the fourth tile to a pong which has already been declared (stolen and revealed to the other players). This can only be formed by players taking the 4th tile from the wall on their turn.
Priority of stealing tiles