The colorful illustrations. The delicately carved Chinese characters. The ever-eroding tile walls. The smell of small bills and copper and silver coins as they change hands. The clatter of tiles shuffling and the whoosh as they slide across the felt. The exclamations of triumph. The cries of defeat. This is mahjong, a fixture of any Filipino gathering, played with deft hands still oily from lumpia and empanadas. In between “chow!” and “pung!” and the occasional “kang!”, it’s a chance to catch up—births, deaths, graduations, new jobs—but more often the latest chismis (I hear Maritess and her boyfriend are moving in together).

Originally from China, mahjong is played across East and Southeast Asia, and is similar to melding type card games such as tong-its and gin rummy. The rules may vary, but the spirit is the same: complete your hand and rack up as many special points as you can along the way. 

If you’re looking for somewhere to start, try Filipino mahjong. Filipino mahjong strips the game down to the basics with a quick gameplay that emphasizes strategy over luck.

The Tiles

Filipino Mahjong uses the standard 144-tile Chinese set. An American set (152 tiles) can be used, but the eight joker tiles should be removed.

The most important set of tiles for Filipino mahjong are the 108 suited tiles, which consist of three suits: sticks, balls, and characters. Each suit has four copies of nine unique tiles, numbered 1 to 9.

STICKS (also bamboo)

Notice that 1-stick is styled as a bird. 8-sticks has the sticks arranged in mirror-image “W” and “M” shapes.

BALLS

Notice that 1-ball is styled as a large colorful circle, and looks kind of like a flower. Do not be fooled.

CHARACTERS 

The blue or black characters on top are the numbers one through nine in Chinese. Some sets have the Arabic numerals, but you may just have to learn Chinese.

FLOWERS

The remaining tiles can be categorized as dragons, winds, seasons, and flowers. However, in the basic Filipino game, all of these tiles are called “flowers.”  In most forms of mahjong including Filipino mahjong, flowers are collected for bonus points. 

Setup

Like most variants of mahjong, Filipino mahjong is intended for four players. Rules and customs for dealing the tiles out vary from version to version and table to table. This is how my family does it.

Building the Wall

The first step is shuffling the tiles and building the wall. Turn the tiles faceside down and give them a good shuffle or “wash,” as we like to say. When I was a kid, this looked like the most fun part of the game. 

Then, each player should build their segment of the wall, which should be 18 tiles long and 2 tiles high (36 tiles total). Maneuver the wall segments to form a closed square(ish). Put the protractor away. It doesn’t have to be perfect.

Identifying the Máno

The next step is to determine the dealer, also referred to as the “máno.”  At the start of the first game, the players roll a pair of dice. High roller deals first. After the first game, if the máno wins, they will be the máno again (they basically hold onto their position until they lose). Otherwise, the next person to the right (counterclockwise) becomes the máno.

Breaking the Wall

Once the máno has been selected, the máno rolls the dice to determine the starting wall. Let’s say you are the máno and you roll a seven. 

Starting with your own wall, count the walls in front of each player, moving counterclockwise around the table: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. You should now be pointing at the wall of the player to your left. Note: if you roll a multiple of 4, you will land on the wall in front of you. However, it is taboo to deal from your own wall (because experienced mahjongeros are ninjas, notorious for sleight of hand and card counting), so if this happens, proceed to the wall on your right.

The next step is to determine where to break the wall.

Use the same number from determining the starting wall.  Starting on the end of the wall segment closest to you, count out seven tiles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Pick up that seventh tile and the tile underneath it and stack them on top of the sixth tile, marking the start of the flower wall. Place the dice on top of the flower wall for good measure to clearly distinguish it. The tiles immediately after the flower wall (away from you) become the draw wall. If the starting wall is the back wall, start counting from either end, mano’s choice.

The wall is basically like a long deck of cards wrapping around the table in a square. The draw wall is like the top of the deck where the tiles will be dealt from and where the players will draw tiles from during gameplay. The flower wall is like the bottom of the deck, from which players only occasionally draw in order to replace flowers and to take gifts (to be discussed later). The wall must be broken in order to separate the ends of the draw wall and the flower wall.

Dealing the Hand

The next step is dealing the tiles. Starting from the draw wall, deal yourself eight tiles. Whoever is sitting in front of the draw wall should help out with this. Continuing to the right (counterclockwise), deal each player eight tiles in the same manner. Repeat this for one more round until all players have a total of 16 tiles. As the máno, you should grab a 17th tile from the draw wall, because you will be the first to discard.

All players can now turn their tiles facing towards them in a row, concealed from other players. The first thing all players should do is to sort out their flowers. Line them up face up so that they are exposed to other players and tell the máno how many replacement tiles you need. Similar to the deal, the máno should deal out replacement tiles from the flower wall to each player in a counterclockwise direction. Repeat another round of flower replacement as needed.

After replacing all flowers, players should make sure they have a total of 16 suited tiles in their hand (the máno should have 17). Players can arrange their tiles to begin forming báhay.

The máno begins gameplay by discarding one of their tiles. 

Game Na!

Now that the first tile has been thrown, the game is afoot!  By default, the next player is the player to the right (counterclockwise). Every turn goes the same way: 

1. First, you get a tile, either from the draw wall or by seizing a tile that somebody discarded, discussed below.
2. Then you examine your hand and rearrange your tiles as needed to incorporate your new tile.  The goal is to arrange your tiles into one pair (called an eye) and five sets of three (called báhay).
3. The last thing you do is discard a tile in the center of the table, officially ending your turn. Immediately after a tile is discarded, someone else can take it to form a báhay or to complete their winning hand. If nobody takes the discarded tile, that tile is out of play for the rest of the game and the next player draws from the wall.

Even if it is not your turn yet, this is not a time to sit idle.  Although the next person is the player to the right by default, there are certain circumstances that allow somebody to jump ahead to seize a discarded tile.  Also, even if you are unable to seize the tile, it is important for you to know what is thrown and what is out of play, so that you are not waiting for it in vain later on.

Getting a Tile

The main way to get a tile is to draw it from the draw wall. If you draw a flower, you must display the flower face up with your other flowers and replace the tile by drawing from the flower wall.

You can also get a tile when somebody discards it if it completes a báhay or a winning hand. The seized tile must be displayed face up with the completed báhay. This open báhay cannot be altered for the rest of the game.  The discarded tile must be seized immediately (#yolo), or else the tile becomes dead and will remain in the discarded tile area for the rest of the game. 

A pung is a three-of-a-kind.

If you need the discarded tile to complete a pung, you have to say “pung,” grab it, and display the completed pung face up next to your flowers. Pungs are powerful because you can seize it even if it isn’t your turn, and everyone before you will lose their turn.

A kang is a four-of-a-kind. 

Kang is like a special type of pung, and can also be grabbed even if it’s not your turn. However, you have to also grab an extra tile called a gift from the flower wall. This is necessary for you to have enough tiles to complete a winning hand.

A chow is a three-tile straight of the same suit. 

Unlike pung and kang, you can only chow when it’s your turn. This makes chows harder to get since you can only get it from the person right before you. The only exception to this is if the chow would result in you winning.

Generally you cannot seize a discarded tile to form a pair. The only exception is if you are waiting. Waiting means you only need one more tile to win. You might be waiting to complete a pung, a chow, or an eye in order to win. No matter what you’re waiting for, you can seize it if somebody discards it, anytime. Winning using a discarded tile is called tódas.

Conflict Resolution: What Happens If Two People Want to Seize a Discarded Tile?

Conflicts are resolved by table rules. In general, priority is given based on what the tile is being seized for: pung/kang takes precedence over chow and tódas has precedence over everything. If more than one player needs the discarded tile for tódas, it goes to whoever is closer in turn after the person who discarded the tile.

Others use a strict speed rule, i.e., the first one to call it and/or grab the tile gets to keep it. And some people lose their cool and flip the table, scattering tiles everywhere. They are not invited back to mahjong night.

Arranging Your Tiles

Remember, the goal of mahjong is to have all of your tiles arranged into five báhay and one eye (pair).  After getting a tile, you should arrange your tiles and attempt to incorporate your new tile into your hand.

As discussed above, kang is a four-of-a-kind, which may be formed from a discarded tile. Related to kang is a secret. A secret is when you have four-of-a-kind that’s hidden in your own hand, which means that you drew it yourself and did not complete it using a discarded tile. In this case, because it’s concealed, the identity of the tile is valuable information and should not be displayed. But because it is a four-tile báhay, you must declare it and get a gift from the flower wall. Turn the outside tiles facedown to mark it as a secret. Just like with open báhay, your secret tiles will be out of play the rest of the game with no changes permitted.

Another related concept is sagása. Open báhay are generally locked in and cannot be changed. If you created a pung from a discarded tile, and later on, somebody throws the fourth matching tile, you will not be able to kang the discarded tile, because your pung was already open. However, there is a special exception: if it’s your turn and the tile that you draw from the wall happens to be the fourth matching tile, then you can add it to your completed pung. Declare “sagása” and set the matching tile on top of the middle tile of the pung. Since this is now a four-tile báhay, you must draw a gift from the flower wall.

Kangs, secrets, and sagása are “ambitions,” or special groupings of tiles which receive immediate payout from other players. Here are some more special ambitions.

thirteen flowers, any thirteen flowers

no flowers, may be paid if you have no flowers after the tiles are dealt, and again at the end of the game

escaléra, three chows in a full sequence, tiles 1-9

siete pares, seven pairs (and a báhay)

In the Filipino twittersphere, #sietepares or #syetepares are popular hashtags on social media, akin to #blessed. Siete pares is a unique winning hand that replaces the five báhay and one eye with seven eyes and one báhay (chow or pung). If the báhay is a pung, this is an even more special ambition called “international.”

Sometimes you draw a tile that does not really go with any of your existing tiles.  This is probably a good candidate for the tile to discard.

Discarding a Tile

The only type of tile that cannot be discarded is a flower, since those must be exchanged from the flower wall.  Generally you want to discard tiles that do not go with any of the other tiles in your hand to help you form appropriate báhay. If you can figure out what other players need, you should try to avoid discarding those tiles.  

Winning

A player can declare tódas when they have completed five báhay and one eye.

An alternate winning configuration is known as siete pares or international.

A player can declare búnot if their winning tile was drawn directly from the wall. Búnot pays double.

Payouts

Of course, you don’t have to play mahjong for money. Growing up, we certainly never did. But knowing the payout rules gives you a good sense of what separates a good hand from a great hand.

One payout is typically $1. A half payout is 50¢. A quarter payout is 25¢.

INSTANT PAYOUT

Get payout from other players immediately upon declaration of ambition.

• Sagása, Secret ½
• Kang ¼
• Thirteen Flowers ¼
• No Flowers ¼

FINAL PAYOUT

Get payout from other players upon declaration of tódas, a win. Final payout is 1 for tódas plus special payouts for ambitions. 

• Tódas 1
• Escaléra +½
• Siete Pares +½
• Búnot ×2

For a regular tódas where the winning tile was picked up from the discard pile, the discarder has to double the final payout to the winner. 

For búnot, all players have to double the final payout to the winner. 

Special Rules

Here are some special rules, which are optional to gameplay.

Doubles

At the start of the game, two dice are rolled to break the wall. A roll of doubles means all payouts are doubled.

Jai Alái

Players put a share, typically $1, into the jai alái (pronounced hai-a-lai). At the end of each game, the winner gets one marker, two for búnot. The first player to get five markers wins the jai alai.

Joker

This is a good way to mix up the game and make it go faster. At the start of the game, after all players have their tiles dealt and their flowers declared and replaced, the máno can roll the dice again to determine a joker tile. Say you (the máno) roll a 7. Count seven blocks down the flower wall. Turn over the top tile. (If the tile is a flower, keep turning over the next one until you have a suited tile.) This tile is now the joker and can represent any other suited tile. 

Other Ambitions

If you want to up your game, here are some other ambitions that can earn you more payout.

• Bisaklát, when the dealer’s opening hand is a winning hand +1
• Before the 5th, when you win before the fifth discard +1
• All flush, when all the tiles are of the same suit +½
• All chow, when all báhay are chow. +¼
• All pung, when all báhay are pung (or kang) +¼
• All up, when none of your tiles are declared +¼
• All down, when all of your tiles are declared +¼
• Single, waiting on a single tile to complete your eye +¼
• Back to Back, waiting on two pairs to complete a pung +¼
• Paníngit, waiting on an incomplete chow with middle tile missing +¼

That last group of ambitions (single, back to back, and paníngit), I hesitate to call ambitions, because they are lower probability waiting scenarios that you generally try to avoid. Perhaps the payout is better thought of as recompense for the undue stress caused by these waiting scenarios.