Three player mahjong


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 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 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 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 various three-player Mahjong, variations played in Korean and Japan. The following presents the most commonly used rules with a list of variations afterwards. For those most familiar with common versions of four-player mahjong will note the removal of several tiles, chows cannot be melded on a discard, discards are placed in front of players, a player cannot win on a discard they have already previously discarded themselves 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 or Dots Numbered 1 to 9

Characters Numbered 1 to 9

All Four of 1 and 9 bamboo are used with 2–8 removed

The East, South and West

The White, Green and Red Dragons

The four flowers
The circles, characters and bamboo are called simple tiles. Of the dragons and winds there are three kinds of each with no numerical value. Of both simples and honours there are four matching tiles for each value.

Deal

Tiles are dealt just like other variations of mahjong only the walls are made of only thirteen 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 pieces 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 tiles, two tiles high in front of them. Players then push each side of their stack together to form a square wall. One of the three players has to create the fourth wall.

Drawing tiles

The dealer throws two dice in the square wall and sums up the total. Counting anti-clockwise so that the dealer's wall is 1, 5 or 9 while south is 2, 6 or 10 and west is 3, 7 or 11. All other numbers represent the fourth wall. This determines which side of the wall the tiles will be dealt from.
Using the same total on the dice dealer counts each stack of tiles on that wall from right to left. Starting from the left of the stacks counted, the dealer draws four tiles for himself and players in anti-clockwise order draw blocks of four tiles until all players have 12 tiles, so that the stacks decrease clockwise. Each player then draws one last tile to make a 13-tile hand.
Dealing may be done more informally. Players may also more informally put the wall into a triangle for easier three player usage. In some table rules the dealer deals out all of the tiles.

Objective

Each players 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 players 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 pieces in one suit in numerical sequence. 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 created by the player.

Pong
A pong is a set which consists of three identical pieces of any tile. Examples would be three red dragons or three 2 of dots.

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 a winning hand must also include an eye. The eye is a pair of tiles such as two Green Dragons or two 9 of bamboos. Any simple tile or honour tile can be used.

General play

Turns

Three players start with 13 tiles and the dealer with fourteen. The dealer begins by discarding one tile. All players must have only 13 tiles in their hand, not including flowers which are set aside nor the 4th piece of any kong they might have. Any Kong declared or flower set aside, is replaced by a tile from the wall. After the dealer discards, the next player picks the next available tile from the wall and discards a tile. Play continues until a player forms a legal hand with the 14th tile drawn from the wall. Play may be interrupted for any of the following reasons

Stealing a pong

If a player can use an opponent's discard to complete a pong the player calls this out. He or she picks up the discarded tile, reveals the two matching pieces in his or her hand and sets them down face up on the table in front of his hand and then discards a tile. Play continues with the next player taking his turn and drawing a tile from the wall. A previously discarded tile cannot be used to make a pong after the next player draws a tile from the wall meaning all discarded tiles beforehand are untouchable.

Stealing a kong

At any point during a players turn they may add a piece in their hand to a declared pong. The player adds it to the pong and takes a tile from the wall to compensate for the extra fourth tile of the kong. If a player has four identical tiles, during his/her turn, they may reveal it to the other players in what is considered a concealed kong and draws another tile from the wall to compensate for the fourth tile in the kong.

Robbing the kong

If a player declares a kong and another player needs that piece to make a chow and win the game, the player may declare so and "go mahjong". It is called robbing the Kong. This does not occur often.

Winning from a discard

A player, lacking only one piece to form a legal hand may steal the discard and wins (this takes precedence over any other players attempt to steal the tile. If two players can use the tile to go mahjong, the player with the most hand-points takes the tile. If their hands are equal, the player closest to the player who discarded the tile wins the hand.

Revealing kongs and flowers (clarified)

Revealing a kong

During a players turn, at any point if they have all four of one tile, they may declare a hidden kong. The player reveals the pieces to the opponents putting all four in a row with two face down and the middle two face up. The player takes an extra piece from the "end" of the wall to make his hand complete and then may discard.

Turning a pong into a kong

During a players turn, if a pong has been stolen and they now have the fourth piece, they may add the fourth piece to the pong to form a kong. The player take an extra piece from the end of the wall.

Flowers

The moment a player picks up a flower they should announce so, put it to the side and take a replacement piece from the middle.

Irregularities (clarified)

Changes

No changes can be made to a pong or kong which has already been declared.

Stealing kongs

A discard cannot be stolen to add the fourth piece to a pong which has already been declared. This can only be formed by the player him or herself taking the 4th piece from the wall on his or her turn.

Two players claiming a discard to win

If two players both need a piece to win then the player who can form the hand with the most hand-points takes it and wins. If both players have the same hand-points, then the player with the most bonus-points takes it and wins. If this is also equal, then the player first clockwise to the player who discarded takes the tile and wins. Winning always takes precedence over forming a pong or kong. Two players cannot both steal a piece to form a pong or kong.

Stealing chows

Stealing chows are allowed in some versions of Mahjong but not in this version nor in Korean mahjong. You cannot meld a chow from another player's discard.

Mistakes

If it is noted that a player has 14 pieces in their hand after a discard or for that matter more than fourteen or having 12 or less, if a player robs a piece but cannot form the right set, forgets to put aside a flower or has any other irregularity they are usually heavily punished. It depends on the house rules of each group of players. Serious flaws like having 14 pieces should involve having points deducted. Claiming to win mahjong while not having a legal hand should be seriously punished. Knocking over another players tile should be punished. Calling out the wrong name of a tile may be one of the worst offenses possible, especially if another player reveals that they could have stolen it.

Sacred discard

Unlike many variations of mahjong, a player may not win on a discard if they have already discarded that piece 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. It is usually done in neat rows of seven to ten pieces.

Match

At the end of each hand, the dealership passes to the player clockwise. The dealer is always known as the east player and to his or her right as the south and the third player as west. These directions alternate with the dealer. Three games are known as a round. Each round is also named after a wind. The entire match last 3 sets of 3 hands : The East round, South round and west round. In each round, each player is dealer once playing in the East position once and the other players taking the south and west positions.
Hand NumberPrevailing WindPlayer 1Player 2Player 3
1EastEast SouthWest
2EastWestEast South
3EastSouthWestEast
4SouthEast SouthWest
5SouthWestEast South
6SouthSouthWestEast
7WestEast SouthWest
8WestWestEast South
9WestSouthWestEast

Whether the dealer wins or not, or if there is a winner or not, wind position changes each time. Unlike other versions of mahjong being East does not give any special bonuses, it does not double the players scores in any way. If a hand ends in a draw, the winner of the next hand first takes the proper points from his opponents and then an extra 5 points from each player. The dealer passes to the next player, even on a goulash hand. If there is a second draw the winner of the next round takes 10 points from each player in addition to their other points.
The wall is usually four sides but can be three in informal play. Players may choose to continue playing a second match after the first one ends or even a triple match meaning a total of 27 hands.

Minimum hand-points

Only the winners hand is scored. Points are counted based on the individual sets a player has, if they are made of simples or honours, if these sets match the players seat, how the hand is composed as a whole and special patterns. As well bonus-points are scored for having kongs, flowers and other criteria mentioned later. When being introduced to a game, the mechanics may be so overwhelming that no points may be scored and players simply try to win with any legal hand until the mechanics of the game is understood. Once this is achieved, the player should be introduced to the minimum point chart and should be encouraged to form hands of at least three minimum points. The scoring chart below gives all possible points. Experienced players will play for a higher minimum.

Melds and point settlement

Even if a player has a legal winning hand, most house rules requires that a player has a minimum number of hand-points first. Typically they are three points for novice play, six points for intermediate play and 7+ points for advanced play. Bonus-points are included in the winners final score but do not count towards the minimum hand-points a player needs to go mahjong.

Discarder pays

If a player wins by stealing a discard, the player who discards has to pay the winner double the winners hand-points. Both players pay the winner bonus-points.
If a player wins from the wall, both players pay the winner hand-points plus bonus-points.

Sacred discard

The sacred discard is in effect. It means that a players must place their discards in front of them in neat rows showing the history of their discards. A player cannot use a discarded tile from another payer to win based on a previously discarded tile by him/herself.

Declare ready

A player with a concealed hand may declare ready. They can only do so if they are waiting for a single piece to complete a legal hand. The player puts his/her pieces face down and on their turn will take a piece from the wall and must discard it if it doesn't complete a legal-hand. The player gains points if they win though they become completely unable to change their hand.

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
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 piece pays for both players. The winner then counts his/her bonus-points and collects them from both players. 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 or a half limit 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 a combination of melds or the entire hand. Some melds/hands can score more than once.

Hand-points based on melds

The winner adds his/her hand-points to all the following bonus-points which may apply.
Playing with all the points above and all possible variations is impracticable and complicated. Players chose which points they want to use and will periodically change or add some as long as there is a full consensus. The following variations can be regional. All variations can be incorporated into the basic game.
Experienced players will raise the minimum hand-points needed to four points or more. There are a few limit hands. Limit hands are special hands that a player may have which score a set number of points. The amount is high, and depends on whatever limit the players set. If playing for stakes, the limit may be low to avoid having to pay large amounts to each other. A couple patterns, much like seven pairs, are special hands. They are the only three hands a player can have which do not fit the pattern of four melds and an eye. They must be concealed hands though may be won on a discard or from the wall. They are optional and players do not need to include them in their game if not desired. A limit hand may effectively end a match if not playing for stakes as players may not be motivated to continue as beating a player who has won a limit has is incredibly difficult as winning limit hands are exceedingly rare.
Only the winner of each game scores points for his/her hand. The winner will collect his/her total points from each player if he/she wins from the wall. If the winner wins on the discard of a player, that player pays the winner and the bonus-points for the other player. There are no doubles nor faan systems as in continental versions of mahjong. Points are never doubled for any reason. In the case of a player winning a half limit or limit hand, both players pay the winner either the limit or half of the limit and if he/she wins on a discard, the player who discards pays double.
Players may place a limit on how many points may be awarded for consecutive goulash hands.
Players in Western countries may shift the winds from E, S, W to N, E S to align with Western culture centering their compass on the North.

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.

Half limit

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. 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. 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 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 or as a kong. 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.

Red Dora Tiles

In some Japanese mahjong sets, one five circles tile is coloured red and one five characters tile is coloured red. There are thus only two of these tiles. A player who has one red dora tile in their hand scores one bonus-point and if they have both red dora tiles they score six bonus-points. These dora tiles count as bonus-points and do not count as hand-points nor towards the minimum hand-points needed to go mahjong.
Revealed Dora Tiles
The second form of dora which is distinct from the first, is the revealing of one tile from the wall before the game begins. If a simple tile is revealed, then the next tile in order becomes a dora tile.
If a nine is revealed then the 1 of the same suit becomes dora. If a 1 bamboo is revealed then a 9 bamboo becomes dora. If a wind is revealed then the next wind in compass order becomes dora. If a dragon is revealed then the next dragon in alphabetical order becomes dora: Green-Red-White-Green.
A player scores one bonus-point for each of these dora tiles used in the winning hand. The player scores one extra point if the player forms the eye using these tiles, two extra points if the player forms a pong and scores six extra points if the player forms a kong using these tiles.
The red dora tiles are considered distinct from the revealed dora tiles and they should not be confused with each other. Table rules might include the red dora tiles but not the revealed dora tiles or the reverse. If table rules include both dora tiles, care should be taken not to mix the points scored for having them in their winning hand but to do so separately.

Dummy hand

The last thirteen tiles of the wall are not used in the game.

Variations from specific regions

Honshū and other parts of Japan

Popular in the western part of Honshū, 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. Chows cannot be melded. All four winds are used. Flowers are optional and not normally used. A dora tile is revealed at the beginning of the round, with more dora used or revealed later on as popular additions. The North wind also acts as a dora when it is exposed and set aside, or it may also be discarded as a safe tile. Once all North wind tiles are exposed another dora tile is revealed in the dead wall, 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.
One-Han Yaku
Two-Han Yaku
3-Han Yaku
4-Han Yaku
5-Han Yaku
6-Han Yaku
Yakuman
Double Yakuman
Triple Yakuman
Bonus Han
Scoring, though simplified, is somewhat complex.
HanRon Ron Tsumo Tsumo
310001500300 / 500500
420003000500 / 10001000
5400060001000 / 20002000
6-7 8000120002000 / 40004000
8-9 12000180003000 / 60006000
10-12 16000240004000 / 80008000
13-15 24000360006000 / 1200012000
Yakuman32000480008000 / 1600016000
Double Yakuman640009600016000 / 3200032000
Triple Yakuman9600014400024000 / 4800048000

Malaysia

Malaysian 3-player mahjong is played with only circles and honours, as well as the extra eight flowers in a Malaysian mahjong set and jokers, for a total of 84 tiles.

Recap

The following is an overview of set up, game play and scoring. Experienced players should be able to understand the game based on the following and using the scoring table further below. Each element however is detailed in the following sections.
The North wind is removed. Walls are formed as walls of 13 for dealer and the wall without a seated player and 12 for opponents, or in informal play, dealer with a wall of 19 and opponents with walls of 18 having no fourth wall. Each round includes three matches of three hands and there is no North round. Chows cannot be melded by discards, only pongs and kongs. Seasons are not used. 2-8 of bamboo is removed from the game with the option of using two 5 bamboo pieces which can only be used as a pair. Sacred discard is in effect. Discards are placed in front of players in rows of 6. There is not doubling and dealer passes to next player in all cases. In the case of a goulash game the next winner takes one point from each player extra. Limit hands are optional and the limit starts at 40 points. Half limit hands in such a case being 20. Limit hands must be concealed. There is a distinction between hand-points and bonus-points. A minimum of 3 hand-points is necessary to win. Only winner scores, taking his total score from each player with no doubling of any kind. Discarder pays the other players score and only the bonus-points if the player was ready to win. Seat dragons match seat winds. Seasons are omitted. Flowers score one bonus-point each regardless of which numbered flower it is.

Changes in dynamics

The game dynamics in three player mahjong, regardless of the rule set vary based on speed, the use of tiles, point keeps, using ghost players or not and how the lack of a fourth seat wind is dealt with.

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, 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,. 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.

Melded (or declared) chows

In some variations these are not allowed. Only pongs and kongs in three player games can be melded meaning a chow can only be formed by a discard on winning.
In Korean mahjong, 3 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.

Point systems

The point system may or may not change depending on the variation of mahjong. In some variations a higher minimum point is expected or less points are given for certain hands. Table rules are common in three player versions and a comprehensive list of variations or versions would be a massive undertaking not in the known works in any. In Hong Kong Mahjong, the doubling system is used in which certain points pay off a certain amount of money which doubles each subsequent level. For instance 1 or 2 points pay nothing. 3 or 4 points pay one unit, 5 or 6 points pay two units, 7 to 10 points pay 4 units and anything more pays 8 units. The Japanese system is rather complicated, though is simplified in the three player version. The Korean system and Korean/Japanese system is a simple 'pay a unit per point' to the winner. country.

Rule agreement

The best rule set to use is the one you are familiar with, adapting them to three players as you are comfortable. Korean/Japanese mahjong has a comprehensive set of rules well attuned for three player gaming, for those with some experience in mahjong. The Malaysian version is a very simplified way for social playing. House rules of are the essence and players will decide their own rules over time.

History

Three-player mahjong is probably as old as mahjong itself, though it is speculated that mahjong originated as a game for only two players.
Korean/Japanese Three Player Mahjong, played in east Asia is an amalgamation of Old Korean Mahjong rules with some elements of Japanese rules including sacred discard and many bonus-points. Korean mahjong in the past included many elements of both traditional Chinese mahjong and the Japanese scoring system. The rules have changed and there are no standard rules, though this variation shown here reflects the old rules though adapted for modern three player play. An experienced player should be able to read the recap at the bottom of this section and understand the rules well. Non experienced players would need to read the following to understand the game.

Motivations

One of the motivations for playing with three players, is that finding a fourth may be difficult or that having one cancelling player ruins the possibility of playing at all and thus knowing how to play three player mahjong means players can play, or always playing three player mahjong limits the likelihood of someone cancelling. However, the dynamics of playing with three players is also a good motivation, especially when playing traditional Korean rules.