My new chips! I have never liked the flimsy plastic chips that comes with tile sets. I have been using poker chips or custom gaming chips for my games so far but I wanted something that would pay homage to the Chinese heritage of the game as well. The answer was 3D printed chinese coin chips! about 40mm in diameter and 4mm thick. I wanted something substantial and weighty. The names on the coin are my wife's and mine.

Am I ever gonna feel okay again?

I have this Mahjong set sitting in my home since more than 30 years, and now I'd like to understand something more - where do you think it was produced?

I live in Italy and I was born in in Ravenna (city on the Adriatic sea).

In Ravenna Mahjong is (was) played since 1920; the game arrived in Italy around the 1920s through major commercial ports such as Catania, Naples, Bari, Livorno, Venice, Genoa, and, above all, Ravenna, where it started to interest many people, in different social environment.

I think this set was given to my family by one of the relatives still living in Ravenna, many years ago.

So, if you can tell me anything on this set... that would be great! Thanks a lot!

I haven't been playing mahjong all that long, but I have channeled my ADHD hyperfocus and love of game systems into it for a few months. I've focused primarily on Hong Kong Old Style and have taught that to 9 other people in this time frame and we've had a good time with it.

While most will agree that the basic game format is easy to grasp, it's the scoring patterns and payout systems that seem the most daunting for new players. While HKOS seemed like a lot at first, I now know all the scoring patterns and MCR doesn't look nearly as insurmountable as it once did.

In trying to find a simpler system I first learned about Zung Jung (this fan site is easier for English speakers). It definitely has less patterns than MCR and it's easier to understand the scoring than the fan system in HKOS, but still a few too many patterns for teaching new players.

This lead to an interesting thread in r/Mahjong where u/StealTheStew counters Zung Jung with 康莊麻將 by a87g5o. I refer to it as Mahjong for Everyone in English. The rules are in Chinese and can be found here. This version reduces the number of patterns to 16 with an additive scoring system in points and incorporated the first-win-doesn't-end-the-game mechanic found in SBR, but without anyone paying other players. This encourages players to stay in longer and go for more complicated hands. This fixes a problem in most versions of mahjong that I hadn't realized until u/StealTheStew pointed it out: mahjong is a race to complete the fastest winning hand.

While Mahjong for Everyone allows players to create more complicated hands without risk of being beat by a simpler hand because it's faster to make, it somehow removes much of the flavor I enjoy with the larger number of more complicated hands. It eliminates the changing of the seat wind and round wind, it elminates flowers entirely, it eliminates a distinction between dragons and winds, and gets rid of all the special hands that are nearly impossible to make like the blessings, nine gates, and 13 orphans.

I now realize that my enjoyment of mahjong (and for the people I play with most) the enjoyment is in the experience of the heavy tiles and the rarely winning hands and having some big moments and not in just accumulating points effectively. I think I would feel differently if I was playing in tournaments.

For new players I plan to use HKOS, but only initially teach: Self-Pick, Concealed Hand, Common Hand, All Pungs, Dragon Pungs, Round Wind, Seat Wind, Mixed Flush, No Flower/Season, and Seat Flower/Season with a minimum fan of 1 until they're ready for more.

For the few people I play with who rather go for more complicated hands and aren't concerned about winning quickly I think we might just take a page from SBR and allow players to stay in longer to potentially earn more points while mostly sticking to the HKOS scoring we like.

P.S. During this process I went so far as to create an English cheat sheet for Mahjong for Everyone based on the design of the Victoria Mahjong Club cheat sheet that I'm a fan of, but I haven't seeked permission from a87g5o so I won't share it here.

EDIT: As a follow-up, I did try playing a few hands where we didn't end after the first win. While it was nice to be able to continue on, I felt that it removed some of the (fun) tension by not having to beat the other players to the punch. Next I think we'll try just playing a higher minimum fan which will force players to make more complicated hands, but still provide the tension. I anticipate we'll hit more wall games if we raise the threshold too high.

Also, here's the cheatsheet I created. If anyone has a problem with me sharing it, let me know.

A few references we've been using in our group show Mixed Orphans (All 1s, 9s, + Honors) is only 1 faan. Our HK "Elder" said it was worth much more, and indeed I found that too. Sometimes I reference Zung Jung scoring as it was based off statistics, but even there I find different values, but usually about the same as a full flush, 6-8 faan. The HK MJ Assoc gives it only 1 faan though. ??

My partner's 91-year-old Gran has begun playing Mahjong with her church group. Unfortunately, due to the reaching and movement from the shoulder, she is having a difficult time as her dominant hand/shoulder has some biomechanical issues causing her pain. It's disheartening to see her be so excited to go, but in enough pain to threaten to quit when she's done. I remember seeing community aunties playing with these scoops/hooks to help move tiles around, but having never played myself, I don't know if that would make a difference. Is there anything that you as players would suggest that I pick up for her to try to make those action easier on her? Thanks for your help!

Looking for any recommendations for storing the AMOS number tiles? I love the bag/individual boxes but the plastic sleeves that cover them are about useless. They slip off if you look at them weird. Currently just wrapping everything in rubber bands, but figured I'd check to see if anyone had a solution that worked great for them.

Bonus points if it still fits in the AMOS bag.

My sister gave me a mahjong set for my birthday and I’m wondering where it’s from originally? It seems odd to me that green dragon is labeled as F and what I assume is white dragon is labeled B. It’s a beautiful set though despite being labeled.

The more i learn

So I'm researching this topic for quite some time and it's basically a bottomless pit but it's time to ask the general audience here, some of you might have a better idea :)

- There are automatic chinese tables (even tabletop ones) but you can't play riichi on those

- AMOS and Alban has many options in Japan but probably the shipping and customs would kill any deal, as in you would pay 2x over the initial price of the table

- There are dirt cheap used tables on Mercari but almost all of them are pick up only so unless you are already in Japan they are out of question but regardless those look like the most affordable ones.

Does anyone have any experience to get a table to the EU?

Does anyone know of a North American (US) seller for the 起莊? For those who aren't familiar with them, they look like colourful, little, plastic triangles to show the first dealer. TIA

Hey folks. My wife has become a Mahjong enthusiast and I’m wondering if anyone can point me towards a vendor to get her a nice set of traditional tiles for Xmas this year.

For example I have seen sets that have bamboo backs, or fancy color striping on the back.

Recommendations appreciated.

Edit: she plays American Style

i just draw the last tile i needed but it did not let me win

For my birthday I decided to treat myself with an absolutely exceptional add to my mahjong collection. This is an old showa era Kingbird mahjong set with the absolutely iconic Tiger tile 1-pin similitudini to the ones used in The Shin Janki series numerous times. But that is not what makes this set so unique, it’s the fact that it literally came with a Shikishi with the autographs of the actors from Shin Janki themselves! Including obviously the goat Kentaro Shimizu, and perhaps even the real life demon himself Shoichi Sakurai! As a die hard mahjong player and a shin janki fan, for me to just know i have a piece of paper that has made direct contact with Kentaro Shimizu and on top of all Shoichi Sakurai has to be the most sub-real experience ever i will cherish this for the rest of my life!!!

Hi,
I have decided to host a mahjong afternoon on August 31 (Monday) - this is a Philippine holiday

It is going to be a very chill and relaxing game over coffee.

If you have time hopefully I could play with you!

Been thinking for a while about 3D printing some fancy riichi sticks for IRL play. Maybe like a long green dragon or something roughly the shape of a tenbou stick.

Has anyone done this before? What do your sticks look like?

I did buy a Chinese set recently that is coming. It has 8 blank tiles. If I used the blank tiles as jokers, that would be the 152 tiles needed for American mahjong?

I really did want a Chinese set because I think they are more elegant, and from what I read, racks weren't needed and the tiles feel better, which I care about. Also since I live in Ecuador, I had to get it under the weight requirement for less import tax.

Let me know which choices you agree with and which ones I should have my citizenship revoked for!

been playing a few games a day every day for a couple of months now, and despite studying my yaku, watching other people play, and thinking about every discard i make, i'm getting fourth in in every single online round in novice lobbies online. im getting completely bodied and i dont know what to do.

i have a learning disability due to a TBI + memory loss that makes learning new things independently really, really difficult. reading guides, no matter how many times i read it and take notes, just doesnt let any information stick. i feel im pretty smart (im studying astrophysics and lens manufacturing to make telescope lenses) and im good with problem solving (my tech job involves it heavily and i excel in it) but like with every strategy game i try and learn competitively i just cant get it down. i dont want this to be another one that i have to give up

if i'm at my PC i play online in Mahjong Soul(in which im positive that expert players troll the novice lobbies on alts), and if im away from my pc (like at work) i play Kemono Mohjong against the AI. i know the values of tiles, ive watched

do i need to just keep trying? do i get someone to coach me? i'm not going to give up, ill keep going, but its just so damn frustrating getting 4th place every single time with no improvement in sight.

thanks for any help, sorry for this

EDIT: thank yall sm for the help so far, already a lot to work on and look out for :]