Terminology

• Chi (chow) - Three tiles in a sequence, 2,3,4; 7,8,9 etc.
  
• Pon (pung) - Three of a kind, 6,6,6; 8,8,8 etc.
  
• Kan (kong) - Four of a kind, 7,7,7,7 etc.
  
• Dora (bonus tile) - A tile which is worth 1 fan.
  
• Ron - Win on a discarded tile.
  
• Tsumo - Win on a self-drawn tile.
  
• Furiten - Missed win.
  
• Tenpai - A ready hand waiting for a tile to win.
  
• Chombo (foul) - A foolish error incurring a points penalty.

Seating

Before the tiles are shuffled and the wall is built, each player sits down arbitrarily at the table. Set aside one of each wind tile, an even, and an odd numbered tile. Shuffle the wind tiles face down and arranged them sandwiched in between the odd and even tile.

A player rolls two dice and counts off, starting with himself as one, the next player as two, etc. continuing counterclockwise. The indicated player, then rolls the dice once more noting both the total and if the total is an even or odd number. This will determine who draws first and from which side. Again, he counts off starting with himself.

Wind tiles face up for illustration purposes.

If the number is odd, for example, the indicated player draws the face down wind tile closest to the odd-numbered tile (in this case South). The next player in turn draws the next wind tile (North), and so on (East and last West). The wind tile drawn is your seat wind. The player who is east remains stationary while the other players arranges themselves accordingly. Shuffle up all of tiles and build the wall.

Playing order: East, South, West, North

Winds

Seat winds are winds assigned to each player

The player sitting at the star is East in the first hand

If the deal passes when the hand is over the player’s wind change. The player who was originally East position is now North, the player starting as South is now East, etc. In other words, the winds rotate counterclockwise.

The player sitting at the star is now South

When the player who was originally East becomes East again (deals again) a new round begins.

Each round is assigned a wind, known as the prevalent wind or round wind. After each round the prevalent wind changes. For the first round the prevalent wind is East, for the second South, third West, and fourth North. A marker or indicator is commonly used to keep track of the round.

Dealing

Tiles are then dealt accordingly to each player. The wall will be 17 tiles in length. The last 14 tiles are set aside as the dead wall.

Dora Indicator

The third tile from the end of the dead wall is turn face up. This tile indicates which tile is dora.

The object of the game is to complete a hand before anyone else using 14 tiles. The hand will consist of four sets and a pair (with the exception of special hands). The number of points — not the number of wins — at the end of the game determines the winner.

Gameplay

This gameplay section assumes you know the basic rules of mahjong.

During the game a player may call to complete any one of the following sets:

• Chow: Claimed from the player to your left or for mahjong.
• Pung: Claimed from any player.
• Kong: Claimed from any player. A replacement tile is drawn afterwards. Another tile in the dead wall if turned face up to reveal the kan dora.
• Concealed and Small Melded Kong: Announced only after drawing a tile (i.e. not after claiming a tile). A replacement tile is drawn afterwards. Another tile in the dead wall if turned face up to reveal the kan dora.

Arrangement of Tiles

Discards
Discards are placed rows of six in front of the respective players' wall.

Sets
Tiles claimed are rotated 90 degrees within the set to show which player had discarded it.

Concealed kongs have two outer tiles face up and two tiles face down. This is the distinguish concealed and exposed kongs when scoring.

Post Hand

The dealer wins the current hand or earns points for tenpai (one tile away from a complete hand) he/she deals again, retaining the East position, otherwise the deal passes. The hand ends in draw the deal passes to the player to the right. A round is over when all players get a chance to deal.

Noten Penalty

If a draw occurs any player who is tenpai can show their hand. Players who are noten (not one tile away from winning) have to pay a total of 3000 points to players who are tenpai. For example, Player A is in tenpai whereas B, C, and D are not, Player A receives 1000 from each player. A 100-point counter is placed to the dealer's right-hand side.

Abortive Hands

An abortive draw may occur under these four conditions:

• Nobody wins after four kans are declared.
• All four of the same wind tile is discarded within the first go around.
• A player has nine different terminal and honor tiles within the first uninterrupted go around.
• Four player's declare riichi. Hands are shown if nobody can win on the last discard.

Under these conditions the noten penalty is not applied. A 100-point counter is placed to the dealer's right-hand side.

Counters

A counter is placed on the dealer's right-hand side after a draw or after East wins. Each counter increases the payout to the winner by 300 points. In case of a self-drawn win each opponent plays 100 for reach counter. Counters are removed when another player declares a win. When there are five or more counters on the table a minimum of two yaku are need to win. If the deal passes the previous dealer's counters are returned and the new dealer replaces the counters with the appropriate amount.

Riichi bets

Riichi bets are collected by the winner. Should a draw occur the riichi bets remain on the table.

Post Round

After the round is over the prevalent wind changes. The order of the winds are East and South.

Post Game

The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.

Uma

At the end of the game a scoring adjustment is made to reward the top players and punish the losing players.

Rank	Adjustment
1	+ 9000
2	+ 3000
3	- 3000
4	- 9000

A minimum of one yaku is needed to call for mahjong. Emphasis is placed on concealed hands. After winning add up all the minipoints and yaku then convert the values using the charts below.

Initial Points

As these rules are based on tournament play there are no initial starting points. If you are playing casually everyone can start arbitrarily with 25000 points.

Criteria

A minimum of one yaku is needed before going out. When there are five counters out (due to Dealer's consecutive wins or draws) a minimum of two yaku are needed to go out. Dora and red five tiles do not count towards the yaku minimum. The dealer usually pays more upon losing but on the same token receives more when winning.

• Win by a discarded tile: Discarder pays winner full score plus values for other players as well.
• Win by self-drawn tile: All player's pay the value of the winner's hand.

Outline

If you have less than five yaku in your hand you must add up any mini points and follow the values based on the charts below. The minipoints (fu) are then rounded up to the nearest multiple of 10. If you have five or more yaku in your hand you must use the limit hands chart below.

The winner of the hand will also collect any riichi bets on the table. If there is more than one winner, the player closest to the discard collects the riichi bets.

Scoring Table

Yaku Table

Value	Hand	Japanese	Description	Pattern Type
1	Ready	Riichi	Waiting hand with declaration and 1000 point buy in. Hand must be concealed.	Special
1	One Shot	Iipatsu	Winning within the first uninterrupted go around after declaring riichi .	Special
1	Daburu Riichi		Declaring riichi within the first uninterrupted go around.	Special
1	Fully Concealed Hand	Menzen tsumo	Winning on a self-drawn tile. Hand must be concealed.	Going Out
1	All Simples	Tanyao chuu	Hand contains all simple tiles. Hand must be concealed.	Suit-Based
1	All Chows	Pinfu	All chows hand with valueless pairs. The hand must be completed on a chow with a two-sided wait. Hand must be concealed.	Chow-Based
1	Pure Double Chow	Iipeikou	Two identical chows. Hand must be concealed.	Chow-Based
1	Mixed Triple Chow	San shoku doujun	Three chows of the same numerical sequence of different suits. +1 if concealed.	Chow-Based
1	Pure Straight	Itsu	Three chows of the numerical sequences from 1-9 of the same suit. +1 if concealed.	Chow-Based
1	Dragon Pung	Fanpai/yakuhai	A pung/kong of dragons.	Terminals/Honors
1	Seat/Prevalent Wind	Fanpai/yakuhai	A pung/kong of seat or prevalent wind.	Terminals/Honors
1	Outside Hand	Chanta	Hand contains terminals/honors and one terminal chow. + 1 if concealed.	Terminals/Honors
1	Out on a Replacement	Rinchan Kaihou	Winning after drawing a replacement tile.	Going Out
1	Robbing the Kong	Chan Kan	Winning on off a tile used to extend a kong.	Going Out
1	Last Tile Draw/Discard	Haitei/houtei	Winning on the very last tile or the following discard.	Going Out
2	Seven Pairs	Chii toitsu	Seven unique pairs. Hand must be concealed.	Special
2	Triple Pung	San shoku dokou	Three pungs of different suits.	Pung-Based
2	Three Concealed Pungs	San ankou	Three concealed pungs/kongs.	Pung-Based
2	Three Kongs	San kan tsu	Hand contains three kongs.	Kong-Based
2	All Pungs	Toi-toi hou	Hand contains all pungs/kongs.	Pung-Based
2	Half Flush	Honitsu		Suit-Based
2	Little Three Dragons	Shou sangen	Two pungs/kongs and a pair of dragons.	Terminals/Honors
2	All Terminals and Honors	Honroutou	Hand contains all terminals or honors.	Terminals/Honors
2	Terminals in All Sets	Junchan taiyai	Hand contains sets with terminal tiles. Hand must contain one terminal chow. +1 if concealed.	Terminals/Honors
3	Twice Pure Double Chow	Ryan peikou	Two times two identical chows. Hand must be concealed.	Chow-Based
5	Full Flush	Chinitsu	Hand contains one suit. +1 if concealed.	Suit-Based
5	Nagashi Mangan		Only discarding terminal/honor tiles (none claimed). Game ends in a draw.	Special
Yakuman	Thirteen Orphans	Koku shimusou	One of each honor/terminal and a pair of honors/terminals. +1 yakuman if 13-sided wait.	Special
Yakuman	Nine Gates	Chuuren pooto	1112345678999 of one suit and a matching tile of the same suit. + 1 yakuman if 9-sided wait.	Suit-Based
Yakuman	Blessing of Heaven	Tenho	East goes out on the initial draw. Hand must be concealed.	Going Out
Yakuman	Blessing of Earth	Chinho	Player goes out in the draw. Hand must be concealed.	Going Out
Yakuman	Blessing of Man	Renho	Player goes out on a discard in the first go around. Hand must be concealed.	Going Out
Yakuman	Four Concealed Pungs	Suu ankou	Four concealed pungs/kongs and a pair. +1 Yakuman for unique wait.	Pung-Based
Yakuman	Four Kongs	Suu kan tsu	Hand contains four kongs and a pair.	Kong-Based
Yakuman	All Green	Ryuu kan tsu	Hand consists of 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, of bamboo or Green Dragon tiles.	Suit-Based
Yakuman	All Terminals	Chinrouto	Hand consists of all terminal pungs/kongs and a pair.	Terminals/Honors
Yakuman	All Honors	Tsuu Iisou	Hand consists of all honor pungs/kongs and a pair.	Terminals/Honors
Yakuman	Big Three Dragons	Dai sangen	Hand consists of three pungs/kongs of dragons.	Terminals/Honors
Yakuman	Little Four Winds	Shoo suushii	Hand consists of three pungs/kong of winds and a pair of winds.	Terminals/Honors
Double Yakuman	Big Four Winds	Dai suushii	Hand consists of four pungs/kongs of winds.	Terminals/Honors

Minipoints

Minipoints for sets	Open	Concealed
Pung of simples	2	4
Pung of terminals/honors	4	8
Kong of simples	8	16
Kong of terminals/honors	16	32

When going out
Pair of dragons	2
Pair of seat/prevalent wind	2
Edge, closed, single wait	2
Self-draw (not in case of pinfu)	2
Open pinfu	2
For winning
Concealed hand	30
Seven pairs (no further minipoints)	25
Open hand and/or self-drawn	20

Payment

Limit Hands

Limit hands
Hand	Fan	East	Others	Dealer
Mangan	5	4000	2000	4000
Haneman	6-7	6000	3000	6000
Baiman	8-10	8000	4000	8000
Sanbaiman	11-12	12000	6000	12000
Yakuman	13+	16000	8000	16000

Chombo

A chombo is a severe penalty. The offender pays 4000 to East and 2000 to others. If East is the offended he pays 4000 to each. Chombo penalty occurs under these circumstances:

• Invalid declaration of a win
• Declaring riichi on a hand that is not waiting (determined in case of a draw)
• Declaring a concealed kan after declaring riichi (determined in case of a drawn or the player wins)
• Exposing five or more tiles from the wall, the player's hand or opponent's hand.
• Claiming a tile after a dead hand.

After a chombo, riichi bets during that hand are returned and there is a re-deal. No counter is placed and the deal does not rotate.

Late to Game

• If a player is late by < 10 minutes the player is penalized 10 points; 11-15 minutes the player is penalized 20 points; after 15 minutes the player has forfeited the game.

Erroneous Call

• If a player makes an error in making a chi, pon, or kan, and fails to correct the error, he forfeits the right to win the current hand.

Empty Call

• Calling a tile. A player will be penalized 10000 points second or 20000 points third time during a session.

Touching a Tile

• If a tile is touched from the wrong side of the wall and was revealed or touched the image surface the player forfeits the the right to win the current hand. The tile is returned.
• Exposing tiles from an opponent's hand or from the dead wall results in a dead hand.

Wrong Tile Count

• A player with more than 13 or fewer than 13 tiles forfeits the right to win the current hand.
• A player who does not take a replacement tile after a kan before discarding has a dead hand.

Source: http://mahjong.wikidot.com/rules:riichi-competition-rules-resources