Table-side reference
Mahjong Beginner Cheat Sheet
A table-side reference for Chinese / MCR structure. This version covers structure and basic flow—not full MCR scoring.
Tile families
- Characters 1–9
- Bamboo 1–9
- Dots 1–9
- Four Winds
- Three Dragons
- Flowers and Seasons are bonus tiles in many Chinese rules
Basic melds
- Chow: three consecutive suited tiles
- Pung: three identical tiles
- Kong: four identical tiles plus a replacement draw
- Pair: two identical tiles
Winning structure
- Common shape: four melds plus one pair
- Usually 14 tiles when winning
- Special hands exist
- MCR also requires at least 8 scoring points
Turn flow
- Draw: Take one tile from the live wall unless resolving a declared kong.
- Evaluate: Check the new tile against your planned groups and pair.
- Discard: Return to the normal hand size by discarding one tile face up.
- Claim or continue: Other players may claim under the active ruleset; otherwise the next player draws.
Useful terms
- Mahjong / hú: declare a win
- Chow / chī: claim for a sequence
- Pung / pèng: claim for a triplet
- Kong / gàng: declare four identical tiles
- Fan: a scoring unit; meaning varies by ruleset
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