Beginner's Guide to Wanzhou Change Three Mahjong

Wanzhou Change Three Mahjong, also known as Wanzhou Mahjong (万州麻将) and locally known as Hit Big Hand (Zhuàng Dà Hú, 撞大胡) or Change Three (Huàn Sān Zhāng, 换三张), originates from Wanzhou, a district of Chongqing, China. This variant is notable for (1) its distinctive tile exchange at the start of each game similar to the American Mahjongg Charleston tile exchange to start each deal and (2) a rule that allows only quality hands (similar to Yaku in Riichi Mahjong) to win on a claimed discard.

Tiles to Play Wanzhou Mahjong With

Wanzhou Change Three Mahjong, uses a total of 108 tiles. This only includes 108 suit tiles, which consist of Bamboo, Dots, and Characters numbered 1 through 9, with 4 of each tile.

The 28 honor tiles: 16 Wind tiles (East, South, West, North, with 4 of each), 12 Dragon tiles (Red, Green, and White, with 4 of each), and Flower and Season tiles, often used in other Mahjong variations, are not used in Wanzhou Mahjong.

Basic Rules of Wanzhou Change Three 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 Wanzhou Mahjong

Like most variants of mahjong, Wanzhou Change Three 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 next step is to determine the dealer, in Change Three Mahjong, one Wind tile each (East, South, West, North) is shuffled face down on the table. Players randomly select seats and one player rolls two dice. The total from the dice roll determines which Wind tile corresponds to the dealer's position, counting clockwise from the roller's position. For example, if the total is 5, the fifth position clockwise becomes the dealer, starting the first round as the East Wind (dealer). The dealer’s position may rotate in subsequent rounds based on the outcome of the game. If the dealer wins or the round ends in a draw, they retain their position for the next round.

Setting Up The Wall

The next step is shuffling the tiles and building the wall. All 136 tiles are shuffled thoroughly on the table. Each player then stacks tiles into rows of 17 pairs, creating a wall two tiles high in front of their position. This results in a complete square of walls surrounding the play area. The walls are aligned tightly, forming a continuous loop.

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 in front of you.

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.

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.

Dealing The Hand

The next step is dealing the tiles. To deal the hand in Wanzhou Mahjong, the dealer begins by rolling two dice. The total value of the roll determines the starting point for drawing tiles, counting clockwise from the dealer’s wall. 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.

Change Three Charleston

The Change Three (Huàn Sān Zhāng, 换三张) is a Charleston-esque action performed after a hand is dealt before play starts.

After each player has been dealt 13 tiles (the dealer will have 14 tiles), each player studies their hand and choose 3 tiles of the same suit and places them face down near their remaining tiles. 

After everyone has chosen 3 tiles of the same suit and places them face down, the Dealer (East) will roll one die to indicate the direction to pass the tiles. If 1 or 4 is rolled, the tiles pass to the player's right, if 2 or 5 is rolled, the tiles pass across, and if 3 or 6 is rolled, the tiles passes to the player's left

At this point, each player selects three tiles of the same suit and places them face down in front of their remaining tiles. After everyone has chosen, East rolls one die, which indicates the direction the tiles are passed. If 1 or 2 is rolled, the tiles pass to the player on the right. For a roll of 3 or 4, tiles pass across. For 5 or 6, tiles pass to the left.

In the next hand, the Dealer (East) will roll again to determine the direction of the Change Three Charleston and this process will continue until the game is over.

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. However, you have to also grab an extra tile from the wall. There is no dead wall in this variant of mahjong. This is necessary for you to have enough tiles to complete a winning hand.

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 and you have a "Big Hand". You might be waiting to complete a pung or an eye in order to win. No matter what you’re waiting for, you can seize it if somebody discards it, anytime (if you have a Big Hand). Winning using a discarded tile is called Mahjong or Hu.

Arranging your 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, four-tile meld, you must declare it publicly 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 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.

Discarding a Tile

The choice of tiles to discard depends on the player’s strategy and hand composition. The primary goal is to discard tiles that are least useful to your own hand while minimizing opportunities for opponents to claim them.

Arranging your Called and Discard Tiles

Discards are haphazard in the center of the table and called tiles are placed to the right. You are free to arrange your discards neatly however there is no need given the lack of locked discard rules (as found in Riichi Mahjong).

Declaring a Ready Hand

Declaring Ready can occur a player is one tile away from winning with a valid hand, a Ready Hand (Ting Pai (听牌)). Unlike other variants of Mahjong like Riichi Mahjong, you do not have to have a fully concealed hand and it can only be declared within the first four discards. In Wanzhou Mahjong, a player can Declare Ready by simply announce "Ready" on their turn and discard a tile. From this point onward the player is essentially playing on autopilot, and they cannot change their hand in any way.

The player picks up a tile on their turn, and if it is not his winning tile, they must discard it. The only exception to this is that the player can turn any closed triplet into a closed quad (kong), providing it does not change the validity of their hand.

Also unlike Riichi Mahjong, a player who has Declared Ready can call Hu or Mahjong whenever they please instead of on their first possible opportunity. The player can wait for their winning tiles to be discarded by specific players even if they have already been discarded by somebody else.

The benefit of declaring ready is add +1 point (Fan) to their hand and being able to win off of discards.

Winning in Wanzhou Change Three Mahjong

Winning in Change Three Mahjong requires forming a valid hand composed of four sets or melds and one pair. A player can only win through self-draw unless the hand has a specific pattern or condition in it to make it a "Big Hand". Also, multiple players can go out and win on the same claimed discard. In that case, the discarder becomes the new dealer. Otherwise, the winner becomes the new dealer.

End of Game

The game will end in a draw when last tile is drawn. If the game ends in a draw, you will start a new hand with the same dealer continuing.

Points and Payout in Change Three Mahjong

In Wanzhou Mahjong, points and payouts are determined by the specific winning hand and various multipliers. The game uses a base scoring system tied to the types of winning hands, which are then adjusted based on specific game circumstances.

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 point or 100 points, however you can go as high as you like. These points serve as a baseline for calculating wins, losses, and any multipliers.

Instant Kong Payout Table 

Whenever a Kong is declared, the player is paid out instantly and separate from winning hand payouts. Here is the Instant Payouts used for Kongs.

Hand	Description	Value
Concealed Kong (暗杠)	Declaring a concealed kong. All other players pay.	2
Exposed Kong on Discard (Fàng Găng  放杠)	Declaring an exposed kong from a concealed triplet in hand. The discard pays.	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*

*A player can win off of the tile from the declaration of the Add-On Kong as if it was discarded. If a player wins, the instant payment for an Add-On Kong is nullified.

If an opponent robs a kong or wins on the discard immediately after a kong is melded, the kong payment is canceled.

Winning Hand Payout Formula

The payout in Change Three Mahjong is relatively simplified. 

Total Payout for Self-Draw from each other player = 2 Points for Hand (x4 If it is Big Hand) x (2 x Additional Fan) x (2 If Robbing a Kong)

Total Payout from Discarder = 12 Points (Must be a Value Hand) x (2 x Additional Fan)

For example, if you self-drew an All Pung Hand (1) that is also a Full Flush (1) hand, it would be as follows:

Each opponent would have to payout 16 because: 2 Points for the Hand x4 since it is All Pungs Hand and x2 again since it's an additional Fan for a total of 16 points.

For example, if someone discarded the tile you needed for an All Pung Hand (1) that is also a Full Flush (1) hand, it would be as follows:

The discarder would have to payout 24 because: 12 Points for the Hand and x2 again since it's an additional Fan for a total of 24 points.

Points and Payout Table for Wanzhou Mahjong