Three-player mahjong

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.

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. The North wall is stacked by the players. 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.

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:

Hands, rounds, and matches

At the end of each hand, the dealership passes to the player to the right (anticlockwise). The dealer is always known as the East player, the player to the right as South, and the third player as West. In other words, your seat direction rotates as the dealer seat rotates.

Three hands make up a round. Thus, in each round, each player is dealer once. Each round is also named after its prevailing wind (East, South and West).

Three rounds make up a match. Thus, the entire match is 9 hands in total (3 hands in the East round + 3 hands in the South round + 3 hands in the West round).

Whether the dealer wins or not, or if there is a winner or not, dealership changes each hand.

Unlike other versions of mahjong, being East (or not) does not give any special bonuses (or penalties).

If a hand ends in a draw (goulash hand), however, the winner of the next hand first receives the usual points from his opponents and then an extra 5 points from each opponent. If, instead, there is a second draw (two goulash hands in a row), the winner of the next round receives 10 points from each opponent in addition to their usual points. And so forth.

Players may choose to continue playing a second match after the first one ends (accumulating the points into a double match) or even a triple match (meaning a total of 27 hands).

Points

The point system is straight forward though may require some time to memorize the various elements. There are two classes of points which are hand-points and bonus points. There is a special class called limit hands which is treated later. In order to win a player needs to have a legal hand which scores the minimum or higher hand-points that players agree on before play (3 hand-points, 6 hand-points, 7 hand-points, etc.)

Unlike many other mahjong variations, only the winner scores and the other players take no points regardless of the content of their hands. Once a player wins he/she adds up all of his/her hand-points. If they meet the minimum hand-points they receive that number of points from the other two players. If they won from a discard then the person who discarded that tile pays for both players (the discarder pays double and the other player pays nothing). The winner then counts his/her bonus points and collects them from both players (even if the game was won on a discard). If a player was waiting for one tile to win, they pay two bonus points less.

Limit hand

If a player wins on a limit hand, the player scores either the agreed limit (usually 40 points) or a half limit (usually 20 points) and there is no need to total the other points. Limit hands can make or break a match.

Hand-points

A winning hand must have the minimum number of hand-points agreed on before the match starts. Points are based on specific melds (i.e. chows, pongs) a combination of melds (i.e. two matching pongs, three concealed pongs) or the entire hand (pure hand, seven pairs). Some melds/hands can score more than once (a kong of green dragons score 1 point for being green dragons and another point for being a kong).

Bonus-points

The winner adds his/her hand-points to all the following bonus points which may apply (which is accumulative). (Both opponents pay)

• 2 points for winning from each player who was not waiting to win. Waiting means waiting for one tile from the wall or a discard that would give a legal hand meeting the minimum required hand-points. Sometimes a player may be able to win with one of two different tiles (exceptionally rarely for three different tiles). A player is not considered "waiting" if the tile they are waiting for has already been discarded (leaving no possibility of receiving that tile).
• 1 point if player wins by a tile from the wall
• 1 point if the tile was the last tile from the wall
• 1 point if the winning tile was used to replace a flower or kong
• 1 point if the winning tile was stolen by another player making a kong
• 1 point for every extra tile player has that matches the tile the player used to win
• 1 point for every flower player has (the number on the flower is not important like other variations)
• 4 points extra if player has all 4 flowers
• 2 points if player has a concealed hand (player scores both hand-points and bonus-points)
• 2 points extra if player has a completely concealed hand (won from the wall and not a discard)
• 2 points if player declared ready
• 2 points extra if a player declared ready and won from the wall

Limit hands

Hands are optional and players may use all hands or choose based on consensus which ones to use. As all are difficult and the limit hands being very rare, all hands are included by most experienced players.

Dead wall

Thirteen tiles are not used in the game and are placed to the side. The dealer turns over one piece. The next tile in sequence is considered a dora (having any of those pieces in a hand will give a bonus point). For example, if the tile turned over is a 3 circle, then all 4 circles will be considered dora and having a pong of 4 circles will score 3 bonus points. If a 9 is turned over then the 1 circle is considered a dora. The sequence of dragons is green, red, white, green (i.e. if a red dragon is turned over, the white dragons are dora tiles). The sequence of winds is north, east, south, north. If a flower tile is turned over then all flower tiles score two bonus points in total and having all three (as the flower turned over is considered a part of the dead wall and not used during the game) then the usual eight bonus points in total are given.

North Wind as normal piece

The North wind is kept in play but can only be used as a pair (scoring two points) or as a kong (scoring six points). A player cannot call mahjong if they have only a pong of the North. Winning a hand by drawing or stealing a North win scores two extra bonus points. The North wind is considered an honour tile but there is no round of North nor a North prevailing wind or a North seat position. North Wind is not part of the three little or three big winds limit hand but is part of the 13 orphans limit hand as well as the all-honours hand.

All bamboos removed

All bamboo tiles are removed

Three declared ready

If all three players declare ready, depending on the variation, either that particular game is considered a draw, or the winner only wins his hand-points from the other players.

Dora Tiles

There are two forms of dora which may optionally be used in three-player mahjong.

Honshū and other parts of Japan

Popular in the western part of Honshu, three-player Japanese mahjong incorporates a few changes which make it more suited to three players and simplified from four-player mahjong. There is no ghost player. Players need a minimum of one yaku to win. Refer to the article on Japanese Mahjong for unique Japanese playing concepts such as dora and furiten.

Tiles 2 through 8 are removed from the character suit. Chii cannot be melded. All four winds are used. Flowers are optional and not normally used. The dora indicator is the fifth tile from the left. Kandora, uradora, and akadora work as in four-player mahjong. The North wind also acts as a dora (Pei-dora) when it is exposed and set aside, or it may also be discarded as a safe tile (although an opponent may rob a concealed kan or a declared / discarded North tile to win with kokushi musou). If the Pei dora is set aside with a declaration (with a call of "Pei!" or "Nuki!"), a replacement tile is drawn from the dead wall, just as when declaring a kan.

Once all North wind tiles are exposed another dora tile is revealed in the dead wall^{[citation needed]}, which consists of fourteen tiles as in four-player mahjong. A player cannot use a discard to win if his hand, prior to using the discard, does not contain a yaku (atozuke-nashi).

One-Han Yaku

• Yakuhai (A pon / kan of dragons, one's own wind, or the prevailing wind) (If a tile counts for both, it counts as 2 yakuhai.)
• Iipeikou (Two identical chii in one suit)
• Pinfu (A concealed hand consisting of four chii with a non-yakuhai pair and able to win with more than one possible tile)
• Riichi (Declaring ready; the hand cannot be modified (i.e., no concealed kans)
• Tanyao (No honours or terminals)
• Haitei / Houtei (Winning with the last tile of the round) (Specifically, haitei is a tsumo of the final tile in the live wall, while houtei is a ron on that last possible discard.)
• Rinshan kaihou (Winning with a kan or Pei-dora replacement tile)
• Chankan (Robbing the kan)

Two-Han Yaku

• Chanta (Honours or terminals in every set)
• Chiitoitsu (Seven different pairs)
• Daburu riichi (Declaring riichi on one's first turn)
• Ikki tsuukan (Tiles 1–9 in one suit)
• San'ankou (Three concealed pon) (Winning on the tile needed to complete the third pon doesn't count)
• Sankantsu (Three kan)
• Iisou sanjun (Three identical chii in one suit)
• Toitoihou (All pon or kan, on chii)

3-Han Yaku

• Hon'iisou (One suit with honours)
• Junchan (Terminals in every set)
• Sanrenkou (Three sequential pon in one suit) (Do not count the groups as three chii. Count them as three pon.)

4-Han Yaku

• Shousangen (Little three dragons) (Two pon/kan of dragons and a pair of the last)

5-Han Yaku

• Honroutou (Honours and terminals only)

6-Han Yaku

• Chin'iisou (One suit only)

Yakuman (Limit)

• Chiihou (Winning as a non-dealer with one's first drawn tile)
• Chinroutou (All terminals)
• Chuuren poutou (Nine gates)
• Daisangen (Big three dragons)
• Suushiihou (Big / little four winds)
• Kokushi musou (Thirteen orphans)
• Paarenchan (Winning after staying the dealer 8 times in a row with any legal hand)
• Ryuuiisou ("All green"; a hand consisting of only 2, 3, 4, 6, or 8 of souzu and hatsu tiles)
• Suukantsu (Four kan; won immediately after the fourth kan is made, even without a pair)
• Suuankou (Four concealed pon)
• Tsuuiisou (All honours)

Double Yakuman

• Kokushi musou, without having discarded any of the tiles previously nor having claimed a North wind tile as Pei-dora
• Suuankou, winning with a single tile to form a pair

Triple Yakuman

• Chuuren poutou, without having discarded any such tiles previously
• Tenhou (Winning as the dealer with one's first drawn tile)

Bonus Han

• Bazoro (2 bonus han for winning)
• Dora (including uradora, kandora, kan-uradora, Pei-dora, and / or akadora)
• Ippatsu (Winning within one round of declaring riichi, with no opponent pon / kan / Pei-dora in the interim)

Scoring, though simplified, is somewhat complex.

Malaysia

Malaysian 3-player mahjong is played with only circles and honours, as well as the extra eight flowers in a Malaysian mahjong set ("face" and "animal" tiles) and jokers ("fly" (飛) tiles), for a total of 84 tiles. There is no fixed game length and the dealer is the winner of the previous round.

A winning hand must be worth 5 fan, to a maximum of 10, earned thusly:

• One face or animal / All four faces or animals: 1
• Four flowers / Four seasons: 1
• Own flower or season: 1
• "Bamboo" flower or "Winter" season: 1
• Pung of dragons / own wind / North / East: 1 (note: the prevailing wind is always East)
• Little three dragons: 3
• One suit with honors: 1
• One suit only: 3
• All chows with pair of circles: 1
• All pungs / kongs: 2
• Winning with kong / flower replacement tile: 1
• Seven pairs: 1
• Stealing kong: 1
• Nine gates: 10 (note: must only be won by self-draw)
• Big / little four winds: 10 (note: "pao" rule applies)
• No flowers / seasons / faces / animals: 10
• Four kongs: 10
• Big three dragons: 10 (note: "pao" rule applies)
• Winning with kong replacement tile after two consecutive kongs: 10
• Four concealed pungs / kongs: 10 (note: must only be won by self-draw)
• Four fly: 10 (note: this only applies to one's starting hand, or else the player must win after drawing four fly tiles later)
• Winning with one's first or last tile: 10
• All honors: 10 (note: "pao" rule applies)
• All flowers / seasons / faces / animals: 10

Winning the hand earns 100 points, with 20 additional points for every fan. Both players pay the winner double this value if the hand is won by self-draw but if by discard only the discarder does so (the other pays the normal value). Kongs immediately score from the other players 100 points if concealed and 50 if open / promoted (open kong points are paid by the discarder for both players). A full set of bonus tiles in one's starting hand also earns an immediate 100 points, or 50 if drawn later. If the winning player does not score 10 fan the non-winner whose hand would have less than 5 fan (going by the first 5 fan in the list above) pays the other non-winner the score of the more valuable hand; if both non-winners' hands are worth more than 5 fan they only pay the difference. Fly tiles earn 50 points as a final bonus score for all players.

Speed

The game is always faster. With one less hand and more tiles available to the other players, the game is speedy.

Wall

The wall remains the same, though playing with dead walls depends on the variation and the players. In very casual play the wall can consist of three sides.

Pieces

In some variations an entire suit is removed. In Malaysian mahjong only the circles and honours are used. In Korean mahjong one suit is removed or in other variations as well as in Japan, numbers 2-8 is removed from one suit. This radically changes the dynamics making certain hands more common such as single suited hands and hands without chows.

East

In many versions east scores or pays double (a little more complicated in Japanese scoring), however in Korean scoring and Korean/Japanese scoring, there is no doubling of any kind.

Ghost player

In some versions there is a ghost player, meaning 13 tiles are not used in the wall to mimic the lack of tiles in 4 player versions. This player also takes one of the four winds, (though no tiles are dealt out to any ghost player nor are points given). In Korean, Japanese and Korean/Japanese mahjong, there is no ghost player and all tiles are used during the games.

Dragons

In some variations, each player has a seat dragon as well as a seat wind which changes the point structure. There is however never a prevailing dragon even if there is a prevailing wind. When there is a seat dragon, East is green, South is red and West is white (fortunately it follows in alphabetical order in English from dealer to last player).

Melded (or declared) chows

In some variations these are not allowed. Only pongs and kongs in three-player games can be melded (or declared) meaning a chow can only be formed by a discard on winning.

In Korean mahjong, three-player Japanese mahjong and in Korean/Japanese mahjong, melded chows are never allowed except if done to complete a hand.

Social nature

It is far more social and less likely to be played for stakes as it is looked down on as a less serious version of mahjong. However, in some versions such as Korean/Japanese three player, the rules can be intricate or complex and playing for small or large stakes forces the players to try to make more complex hands.