Best Mahjong Online Casinos in Hong Kong

Mahjong is a popular game that has been played in China for more than two thousand years, and it has since spread through much of East Asia, including Hong Kong. The game is played with four players and a set of 144 tiles representing different Chinese characters. Players draw and discard tiles until one player has a 'winning hand', which they win the game with.

Mahjong is often seen as a form of recreation or entertainment but can also be seen as a gambling game. It is this variation of the game, known as Chinese Gambling Mahjong (賭麻將), or simply 'Mahjongg' that is now most popular in Hong Kong.

The rules of playing Mahjongg in Hong Kong are much like the rest of East Asia where it has been popularised; these are known as the Hong Kong Mahjong rules. The Mahjongg set is typically composed of tiles with the basic set consisting of 34 types of tiles in total. The main difference is the addition of Dice and Country tiles to the set. There are 8 flower tiles, 3 animal tiles, 10 jokers, 5 dice, 8 country tiles, the four winds, dragons and other bonuses.

The game starts with each player picking up 13 tiles from the wall. The rest of the wall is then placed into the middle of the table (called the ‘dead wall’, or more commonly the ‘remainder wall’) with the remaining tiles left over placed aside for later use. Each player then places some of the country tiles face up on the table, these are known as ‘public tiles’ or ‘melds’, with the remainder of their tiles being kept in their hand. As the game progresses each player takes turns drawing a tile from the middle, discarding one or simply passing their turn. The other players can then declare ‘Pong’ or ‘Chow’ if they draw the discard tile which the other player has discarded, based on the layout of the tiles which would then constitute a hand. This will continue until the dead wall is reached. When it is the turn of the player with the most combinations, they can declare ‘Mahjong’ and claim the game.

Scoring in Hong Kong Mahjong is conducted on an ‘advantage system’, which means for each point which is earned by one player there must be a comparable loss by another player. This can be a difficult system for those that are unfamiliar with it, as there are various payment schedules and win bonuses that come into play. For example, if three or more identical tiles are found it is known as a ‘pung’, which results in a predetermined payment to the player who identified it and similar payments to all players when a ‘chow’ is announced. There is also a bonus payment for the player who declares ‘Mahjong’ and wins the game.

Hong Kong Mahjong is an interesting game with a lot of skill involved, particularly when playing with experienced players. It is important to ‘read’ other players and try to predict what tiles they have, while also keeping track of their possible combinations. There are also various strategies which can be employed, such as gathering three identical tiles quickly to create a pung or melding tiles before declaring mahjong. Furthermore, building a strategy to keep tiles which can be used as discards if you are intending to win can also help improve your chances.

Mahjong is an addicting game of strategy and chance which has its roots deeply planted in history, but remains popular today both as a form of entertainment and as a form of gambling. Mahjongg has taken many different shapes and forms, but the variant most popular in Hong Kong, due to its gambling aspect, has gained a lot of popularity and is a great game to play with friends or in gambling houses. The game itself is easy to learn but hard to master, however, by following basic strategies and rules, one can gain more insight into the game.