Beginner's Guide to Hebei Mahjong

Hebei Mahjong (河北麻将) is a Chinese mahjong variant played in the Hebei Province of China that is arguably one of the most straightforward mahjong variants with it's straightforward scoring and lack of winning restrictions

Tiles to Play Hebei Mahjong With

Hebei Mahjong uses a total of 136 tiles, categorized into suits, honors, and flowers. The suit tiles consist of Dots, Bamboo, and Characters, each numbered from one to nine, with four copies of each tile. The honor tiles include Wind tiles and Dragon tiles. Each honor tile has four copies, contributing 28 tiles. The flower tiles and season tiles will not be used in this variant.

Basic Rules of Hebei Mahjong

Every turn goes the same way:

1. Draw a tile from the wall or by take the tile that somebody just discarded
2. Try to make a winning hand! The goal is to arrange your tiles into four sets of three and one pair. If you can't, go to step 3.
3. Discard a tile in the center of the table, officially ending your turn.
4. Immediately after a tile is discarded, someone else can take it to form a meld 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.

By default, the next player is the player to the right (counterclockwise). 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 call a discarded tile. Also, even if you are unable to call 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.

How to Setup Hebei Mahjong

Hebei mahjong is primarily designed for 3 players, though it can accommodate 4 players with a rotation system. In a 4-player setup, one person sits out each round, and the winner of the previous hand switches with the person who was sitting out.

Determining The Dealer

The dealer is determined at the start of the game using a pair of dice. Each player rolls the dice, and the player with the highest total score becomes the initial dealer. In some variations, the dice are rolled once, and the count proceeds counterclockwise around the table to select the starting dealer based on the number rolled. If the dealer wins the hand, they retain their role for the next round. However if a non-dealer wins, the dealer position rotates counterclockwise to the next player.

Setting up the Wall

The next step is shuffling the tiles and building the wall. After thoroughly shuffling the 136 tiles face-down on the table, players divide into four groups, with each player responsible for building a section of the wall in front of them. Each wall section is constructed by stacking tiles in two layers, with each layer containing 17 stacks of 2 tiles, creating a total of 34 tiles per wall section. These four walls are then pushed together to form a square enclosure in the center of the table.

Breaking the Wall

Once the dealer has been selected, the dealer rolls the dice to determine the starting wall. Let’s say you are the dealer 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.

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 (since you rolled a seven) because it counts from the indicated player's right to his left (not players but tiles this time) the total sum of the rolls. The tiles immediately after become the draw wall. Then the 12 tiles before the draw wall are reserved to becomes the dead wall that are not used in the game.

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 and the dead wall is the bottom of the deck where 12 tiles are not used. 

Dealing The Hand

From this starting point, tiles are drawn in sets of four. The dealer takes the first two sets of four tiles, followed by the other players in counterclockwise order, continuing until each player has 12 tiles. The dealer then takes two additional tiles to form a hand of 14 tiles, while the other players each take one additional tile, ending with 13 tiles per player.

Getting a Tile

The main way to get a tile is to draw it from the draw wall.

You can also get a tile when somebody discards it if it completes a a valid combination of three or four tiles, also known as a meld, or for a winning hand.

The called tile must be displayed face up with the completed meld. This open meld cannot be altered for the rest of the game.  The discarded tile must be called immediately or else the tile becomes dead and will remain in the discarded tile area for the rest of the game. 

Calling Tiles

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 kong is a four-of-a-kind. 

Kong is like a special type of pung, and can also be grabbed even if it’s not your turn. 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 claim a discarded tile to form a pair. The only exception is if you are waiting for 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 mahjong or hu.

Arranging your Tiles

Unlike traditional mahjong where discarded tiles are neatly arranged, in Hebei Mahjong, players scatter their discards randomly in the center of the table. The remaining tiles in the wall after the initial deal are used for drawing throughout the game. 

Discarding a Tile

Generally you want to discard tiles that do not go with any of the other tiles in your hand to help you form appropriate sets. If you can figure out what other players need, you should try to avoid discarding those tiles.  

Arranging your Discard and Called Tiles

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

As discussed above, kong is a four-of-a-kind, which may be formed from a discarded tile. Related to kong is a concealed kong 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 meld, you must declare it and get a tile from the wall. Turn the outside tiles facedown to mark it as a concealed kong. Just like with open meld, your secret tiles will be out of play the rest of the game with no changes permitted.

Another related concept is open melded kong. Open melded kongs 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 kong 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 the open melded kong and set the matching tile on top of the middle tile of the pung. Since this is now a four-tile meld, you must draw a replacement tile from the wall.

When discarding tiles, players don't arrange them in neat rows as like in Riichi mahjong - instead, they scatter them randomly in the center of the playing area. This random scattering is actually a deliberate rule of the game, making it harder for players to remember what tiles have been discarded and by whom. This adds an extra challenge to the game as players must rely more on their memory and observation skills since they can't easily review the previous discards in an organized manner. 

Winning in Hebei Mahjong

In Hebei mahjong, there are several ways to win and specific rules about winning hands. A winning hand must contain either four sets (melds) and a pair, or seven pairs. One important rule is that basic hands without any bonus points (called "Ping Hu") can only win by self-draw - you cannot win these hands off another player's discard.

Initial Points

Decide in advance how long you’ll play for and what “rate” you’ll use. If you plan to play for several hours, you might, for instance, reshuffle seating every hour or so. Also agree on how many “points” each player starts with—represented by chips or some other marker.

Common values are 50 points or 100 points, however you can go as high as you like. These points serve as a baseline for calculating wins and losses.

Instant Payout Table 

Whenever a Kong is declared, the player is paid out instantly. Here is the Instant Payouts used for Kongs.

Hand	Description	Value
Concealed Kong (暗杠)	Declaring a concealed kong. All other players pay 2 points per	6
Exposed Kong on Discard (Fàng Găng 放杠)	Declaring an exposed kong from a concealed triplet in hand. Only Discarder pays 2 points	2
Add-On Kong (Míng Găng )	Declaring an exposed kong by adding on a self-drawn tile to an exposed pung. All other player pay 1 point per	3

Base Score

In Hebei Mahjong, the base point used for hands start at 1. You can use larger values if you would like.

Winning Hand Payout Formula

The payout in Hebei Mahjong is simplified. Just add up all the multipliers. The formula to calculate points is as following:

Total Payout = Base Point x Multipliers

For example, you are the dealer and have a self-drawn, closed hand, with all pungs, your payout would be calculated as such:

Base Point (1) x Dealer Multiplier (2) x Closed Hand (2) x All Pungs (2) so your total payout would be 8 Points.

Points and Payout for Hebei Mahjong

The points and payout system in Hebei mahjong is structured around a multiplier system based on "fan" (scoring elements). Before starting the game, players agree on a base rate, keeping in mind that the highest winning hand will be 8 times the lowest. 

Hebei Mahjong Multiplier Scoring Table

Hand Type	Base Multiplier	Description
Dealer Win (庄家, Zhuāng Jiā)	×2	The dealer's win doubles the payout from all other players.
All Pungs (碰碰胡, Pèng Pèng Hú)	×3	A hand composed entirely of Pungs or Kongs, plus a pair as the eyes.
Closed Hand (门清, Mén Qīng)	×2	Winning with a closed hand without making any open melds.
Robbing a Kong (抢杠胡, Qiǎng Gàng Hú)	×2	Winning by claiming a tile used in another player's Kong declaration.
Kong-Drawn Win (杠上开花, Gàng Shàng Kāi Huā)	×2	Winning on a tile drawn immediately after declaring a Kong.
Single Hanging Tile (大吊车, Dà Diào Chē)	×2	Winning while waiting on a single tile to complete the hand.
Single Hanging Tile (大吊车, Dà Diào Chē)	×2	A hand where the player is waiting on only one tile to complete their winning hand.
Pure One Suit (青一色, Qīng Yī Sè)	×3	A hand composed entirely of tiles from one suit (e.g., only Characters, only Circles, or only Bamboo).
Mixed One Suit (混一色, Hùn Yī Sè)	×2	A hand composed mostly of tiles from one suit, but including some honor tiles (Winds or Dragons).
One Dragon (一条龙, Yī Tiáo Lóng)	×2	A hand containing a sequence of tiles from 1 to 9 in the same suit.
Seven Pairs (七对, Qī Duì)	×2	A hand consisting of seven pairs of tiles, without any melds or sequences.
Thirteen Orphans (十三幺, Shí Sān Yāo)	×10	A rare hand consisting of one of each terminal, honor, and one duplicate of any tile (e.g., East, South, 1 Bamboo).
Mixed Seven Pairs (混七对, Hùn Qī Duì)	×4	A Seven Pairs hand that also meets the criteria for a Mixed One Suit hand (includes honor tiles).
Pure Seven Pairs (青七对, Qīng Qī Duì)	×5	A Seven Pairs hand composed entirely of tiles from one suit.
Luxurious Seven Pairs (豪华七对, Háo Huá Qī Duì)	×8	A Seven Pairs hand with one sets of four identical tiles (quads).
Double Luxurious Seven Pairs	×16	A Seven Pairs hand with two sets of four identical tiles (quads)
Double Luxurious Seven Pairs	×32	A Seven Pairs hand with three sets of four identical tiles (quads).
Flower Dragon (花龙, Huā Lóng)	×5	A hand containing sequences in three suits that collectively form a complete 1–9 sequence (e.g., 123 in Bamboo, 456 in Circles, 789 in Characters).