Ningbo Mahjong is a traditional Mahjong variant with roots tracing back to the port city of Ningbo, China, along the ancient Maritime Silk Road. Over a century ago, a man named Chen Yumen, from Ningbo, transformed traditional card games into Mahjong, which is believed to be one of the earliest forms of the game. The game is known for its unique features like the use of "baida" (wild cards) and a strict requirement that winning hands must score at least 4 points (referred to as "tai").
Tiles to Play Ningbo Mahjong With
Ningbo Mahjong uses the standard 144-tile standard mahjong set (Characters/Cracks, Bamboo/Bams, Dots, Dragons, Winds, and Flowers). An American set (152 tiles) can be used, but the eight joker tiles should be removed.
Basic Rules of Ningbo Mahjong
Every turn goes the same way:
- Draw a tile from the wall or by take the tile that somebody just discarded
- 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.
- Discard a tile in the center of the table, officially ending your turn.
- 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 Ningbo Mahjong
Like most variants of mahjong, Ningbo mahjong is intended for four players. Rules and customs for dealing the tiles out vary from version to version and table to table.
Determining The Dealer
The first step is to determine the dealer. At the start of the first game, shuffle one each of the wind tiles face-down, then have each player turn one up and take the respective seat. After each game, the next person to the right (counterclockwise) becomes the dealer. The round wind always starts at East. After each hand, the dealer changes. After 4 hands, one complete rotation of dealers, the round wind changes in order of East, South, West, and North. You can alternatively roll the dice and sit accordingly around the table.
Setting up the Wall
The next step is shuffling the tiles and building the wall. Turn the tiles face side down and give them a good shuffle or “wash,” like they do in Dominos.
Then, each player should build their segment of the wall, which should be 18 tiles long and 2 tiles high (36 tiles total). Maneuver the wall segments to form a closed square(ish). Put the protractor away. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
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) and the tile underneath it and stack them on top of the sixth tile, marking the start of the flower wall. Place the dice on top of the flower wall for good measure to clearly distinguish it. The tiles immediately after the flower wall (away from you) become the draw wall. If the starting wall is the back wall, start counting from either end, dealer’s choice.
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. The flower wall is like the bottom of the deck, from which players only occasionally draw in order to replace flowers and to take gifts (to be discussed later). The wall must be broken in order to separate the ends of the draw wall and the flower wall.
Dealing the Hand
The next step is dealing the tiles. Starting from the draw wall, deal yourself eight tiles. Whoever is sitting in front of the draw wall should help out with this. Continuing to the right (counterclockwise), deal each player eight tiles in the same manner. Repeat this for one more round until all players have a total of 13 tiles. As the dealer, you should grab a 14th tile from the draw wall as your first draw, because you will be the first to discard.
Determining the Baida (Wild Tile)
In Ningbo Mahjong, the Baida (wild tile) is determined at the start of the game by flipping a tile from the wall. Here's the process:
- Dice Roll: The dealer rolls two dice to decide where to break the wall and start drawing tiles.
- Flipping the Baida: After the wall is broken, the tile located at the designated position (based on the dice roll) is flipped over. This flipped tile becomes the Baida indicator tile.
- Counting the Wall: Starting from the dealer's wall and moving counterclockwise, count the walls around the table. The total of the dice roll indicates which player's wall will be the starting point for drawing tiles. For example, if the dice total is 6, you count six walls starting from the dealer's wall in a counterclockwise direction.
- Baida Tile Location: The tile used to designate the Baida is located by counting tiles from the end of the wall where the dice directed you. The total count of the dice also determines which tile is flipped to reveal the Baida indicator. The Baida tile is flipped from the end of the wall and set aside.
- For example: If the dice roll totals 8, the dealer will count 8 tiles from the end of the designated wall. The 8th tile is flipped over, and it becomes the Baida indicator.
- Baida Wild Cards: Once the indicator tile is flipped, the corresponding Baida wild cards are determined as explained earlier (three identical tiles of the flipped tile and the next four higher or lower ranked tiles).
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Baida Wild Cards: The wild cards are determined based on the flipped tile:
- For numbered tiles : The three identical tiles of the flipped tile and the next four are wild cards. If the flipped tile is a 9 of bamboo, the three 9s of bamboo and the four 1 of bamboo tile becomes wild, creating a loop.
- For flower tiles: If a flower tile is flipped, then all other flower tiles are considered Baida wild cards.
Thus, there are 7 wild cards in total: 3 tiles of the flipped rank and 4 tiles of the next higher rank (or the lowest rank if the flipped tile is the highest rank). These Baida wild cards can substitute for any tile in the player's hand except flower tiles.
Calling Flower Replacements
Each player may arrange the taken tiles by type, suit, and number order. The players may then check for any Flower Tiles. If a player has any Flower Tiles, expose them between the wall and one’s standing tiles, and take replacement tiles from the back end of the wall. The dealer replaces flower tiles first until the replaced tile isn’t the flower tile, then followed by South, West, and North follow in turn, until no player has any more Flower tiles concealed in the hand. After Flower replacements, if the dealer cannot declare a win also known “hu”, he will discard one unwanted tile. The whole time from rearranging tiles to the dealer’s first discard should occur within 20 seconds in a competition setting
Getting a Tile
The main way to get a tile is to draw it from the draw wall. If you draw a flower, you must display the flower face up with your other flowers and replace the tile by drawing from the flower 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 set, or a winning hand. The seized 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 seized 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 kang is a four-of-a-kind.
Kang is like a special type of pung, and can also be grabbed even if it’s not your turn. However, you have to also grab an extra tile called a gift from the flower wall. 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 seize 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 hu or mahjong.
FAQ: What Happens If Two People Want to Seize a Discarded Tile?
In general, priority is given based on what the tile is being seized for: pung/kang takes precedence over chow and winning has precedence over everything. If more than one player needs the discarded tile for the win, it goes to whoever is closer in turn after the person who discarded the tile. Real tiles have precedence over Baida (Wild Tiles).
Arranging Your Tiles
Remember, the goal of mahjong is to have all of your tiles arranged into four sets 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 set, you must declare it and get a tile from the dead wall. Turn the outside tiles facedown to mark it as a concealed kong.
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 dead wall.
Discarding a Tile
The only type of tile that cannot be discarded is a flower, since those must be exchanged from the flower wall. 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.
Winning in Ningbo Mahjong
A player can declare a win by forming a valid hand with at least 4 tai and they have completed four complete sets and one pair. Special rules apply to when and how certain hands can be claimed, especially with the use of the wild card tiles (Baida).
Points and Payouts in Ningbo Mahjong
Initial Points
Since Ningbo Mahjong is typically played for money, there are no initial points. Instead, the game focuses on accumulating points (referred to as "tai") through winning hands and specific combinations during gameplay. The scoring system is primarily based on the tai earned from different hand patterns, sets, and special situations like self-draws, flower tiles, and the use of Baida (wild cards). Players only gain or lose points during gameplay as they win or lose hands.
Scoring Payout Tables
| Type | Description | Tai |
|---|---|---|
| Edge Wait | Winning with 1-2-3 or 7-8-9, needing 3 or 7 | 1 |
| Closed Wait | Waiting on a middle tile (e.g., 3-5, waiting on 4) | 1 |
| Single Wait | Waiting on a single tile to complete the hand | 1 |
| Self-Draw | Winning by drawing the final tile yourself | 1 |
| Using Baida | Winning by using a Baida tile | 1 |
| Big Single Wait | Only one tile left to win | 1 |
| All Triplets | Hand consisting entirely of triplets or kongs | 2 |
| Kong Flower Win | Winning immediately after declaring a kong | 1 |
| No Baida | Winning without using any Baida tiles | 1 |
| Robbing a Kong | Winning by claiming a tile from an opponent’s kong | 0 |
| Heavenly Hand | Dealer wins immediately after the first draw | 8 |
| Pure Suit | Hand made entirely of one suit | 4 |
| Mixed Suit | Hand consisting of one suit plus honor tiles | 2 |
| All Honors | Hand made entirely of honor tiles (winds and dragons) | 4 |
| Last Tile Win | Winning with the last tile from the wall | 1 |
| Dragon Pung | Pung or kong of dragon tiles | 1 |
| Wind Pung | Pung or kong of wind tiles (based on seat wind) | 1 |
Doubling and Special Situations
- Robbing a Kong: If a player wins by robbing a kong, the player who declared the kong pays 5 times the base amount.
- Kong Flower Win: Winning after declaring a kong counts as a self-draw and earns a double payout from all players.
- Contract (Bao (包)): If one player pungs or kongs from another player three or more times, a "contract" is formed, and the losing player must pay five times the base score.
Strategy Tips
- Maximizing Baida: Use Baida tiles wisely, as they can substitute for any tile, but don’t depend on them for forming regular melds.
- Aim for Higher Scoring Hands: Focus on building hands that earn multiple tai, such as pure suit hands or all triplet hands.
- Managing Discards: Be cautious about which tiles you discard, as they could be crucial for other players’ hands.
Ningbo Mahjong offers a strategic and engaging experience with its use of wild cards, flower tiles, and a minimum point requirement for winning. By understanding the scoring system and special rules, players can develop effective strategies to maximize their chances of winning.
