Sichuan Bloody Rules (SBR) mahjong translates to Bloody Battle to the End. Sichuan mahjong has some unique features, distinguishing it from the other styles: the deal continues to the bitter end because after the first win declaration, the gameplay does not stop. The remaining players continue to play until the next win and so forth. The gameplay stops only when 3 complete hands are declared or there are no tiles in the wall.
With each win declaration, the gameplay radically changes the approach to playing a hand. It will not be possible to make neutral moves, the remaining players must immediately choose either: build the quickest hand and leave the game as early as possible, having gained or lost a small amount of points, or on the contrary, continue the game, build the most expensive hand possible and get points for it from the players remaining in the game.
Sichuan Bloody Rules Mahjong Tiles
You can play Sichuan Bloody Rules (SBR) Mahjong uses any type of mahjong set however you will remove remove all honor tiles, flower tiles, red fives, and jokers leaving you 4 of each 1s through 9s of each suit for a total of 108 tiles.
Rules of Sichuan 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 (meld) 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.
Except everyone will continue playing even if someone wins! The game does not end until 3 players have completed their hands.
How to Setup Sichuan Bloody Rules (SBR) Mahjong
Like most variants of mahjong, SBR 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.
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”.
Then, each player should build their segment of the wall, which should be 13 tiles long and 2 tiles high (26 tiles total) except the dealer's wall which should 14 tiles long and 2 tiles high (28 tiles total). Maneuver the wall segments to form a closed square.
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. Fun fact: if you roll a multiple of 4, you will land on the wall 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. The dead wall is like the bottom of the deck, from which players only occasionally draw in order to replace tiles for flowers and kongs (four-of-a-kind melds). The wall must be broken in order to separate the ends of the draw wall and the dead wall.
Dealing the Hand
The next step is dealing the tiles. Starting from the draw wall, deal yourself four tiles (2 stacks). Whoever is sitting in front of the draw wall should help out with this. Continuing to the right (counterclockwise), deal each player four tiles in the same manner. Repeat this for one more round until all players have a total of 12 tiles. After grabbing 12 tiles, each player grabs 1 more tile for 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.
Voided suit
The special rule to SBR mahjong is to void one suit for each player.
After tiles are dealt, but before the 1st turn, each player decides on 1 of the 3 suits to be their “voided suit”. Your winning hand must not contain your voided suit and you must discard all tiles of the voided suit before any other tiles can be discarded.
Each player chooses a tile of the voided suit to be the 1st discard and puts it face down during the 1st round of discards. If no tiles of your chosen voided suit are in hand, put a suit indicator card/paper/whatever face down on the table and reveal it with the 1st discard. If this happens, when discarding a voided suit tile later on, position it as the 1st discard and remove the indicator.
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 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 dead wall. This is necessary for you to have enough tiles to complete a winning hand.
Unlike under varaints, you cannot call a chow (three-tile straight of the same suit) unless it is for 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. 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.
FAQ: What Happens If Two People Want to Call a Discarded Tile?
In general, priority is given based on what the tile is being called for: winning takes precedence over pungs/kongs. If more than one player needs the discarded tile for mahjong, it goes to whoever is closer in turn after the person who discarded the tile.
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, 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 dead 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 dead wall.
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 melds. If you can figure out what other players need, you should try to avoid discarding those tiles.
Arranging Your Discards and Called Tiles
Discards are arranged on the floor in front of their respective discarded in rows of six, placed from left to right.
Tiles claimed are rotated 90 degrees within the set to show which player had discarded it.
Winning in Sichuan Bloody Rules Mahjong
A player can declare hu or mahjong when they have completed four melds and one pair. Otherwise you can with with an alternate winning configuration also known as seven pairs.
Sacred Discard Rule
A player who is one tile away from winning cannot go out on an opponent's discard, if the player in waiting had previously discarded the same tile (This is similar to the Japanese Mahjong Furiten Rule). The tiles discarded can be verified by the rows of discards in front of each player, as well as the rotated tiles claimed by opponents. The waiting player may go out on a tile that was previously discarded if the tile is self-drawn.
Battle to the Bloody End
When completing a winning hand, there can be multiple winning players on the same discard and they will all get paid by the discarder. When somebody wins and there are multiple players who have not won yet, they keep playing. The winning players stop playing and turn their tiles face down. However, the claimed winning tile is shown face up among the face down tiles of the winning hand on the left, right or in the middle to indicate the position of the discarder as a sacred discard indicator and self-drawn winning tiles are turned face down.
When the Game Ends
There are no rule defining how many times to play. Some tournaments play up to 10 times in a session in a tournament. However the standard is a East-South round where everyone gets to be dealer twice.
Points and Payouts in Sichuan Bloody Rules Mahjong
Initial Points
There are no initial points in Sichuan (SBR) Mahjong
How Points Are Determined in SBR Mahjong
Add up the Fan Value in the winning hand, convert to the fan value into points for payment.
| Fan Value | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hand Value (Points) | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
Immediate Payouts for Kong Declarations
Kongs are immediately paid out except when this is a Small Melded Kong (three of kind / pung) declared on a tile that is already in the hand. The tile must be just drawn and immediately added for payment. The kong "gets robbed" (another player declares a win on the tile discarded after the kong is made). Finally if the player who declared the kong when the wall ends.
| Hand Value | Payment Event | Who Pays? | Who Receives? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Concealed Kong is declared | Each player who has not won yet | The player declaring the kong |
| 1 | Big Melded Kong is declared on a discard |
The Discarder |
The player declaring the kong |
| 1 | Small Melded Kong is declared on a self-drawn tile | Each player who has not won yet | The player declaring the kong |
However, if the round ends by exhaustive draw, and a kong-declaring payer is not ready, any kong payments are refunded. If a kong player is holding an excluded suit in their hand at an exhaustive draw, the kong payment is also refunded.
Scoring Payout Tables for Sichuan Mahjong
| Fan Value | Name | Description | Pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Root | Having four identical tiles in a hand, counting both melded and concealed parts. Not necessarily to be a kong. | Same Tile-Based |
| 1 | All Pungs |
4 pungs or kongs + 1 pair (no chows) |
Pung-Based |
| 2 | Full Flush | Hand composed entirely only one suit | Suit-Based |
| 2 | Seven Pairs | Concealed hand consisting of seven pairs. | Special |
| 2 | Golden Wait | Four melds (pungs or kongs) in hand waiting on the winning tile completes the pair. Already counts 1 Fan for "All Pungs" | Going Out |
| 1 | Win after Kong |
Declaring a win on a replacement tile after making a kong |
Going Out |
| 1 | Robbing the Kong |
Declaring a win on the tile used to make an open kong |
Going Out |
| 1 | Shooting After Kong |
Declaring a win on the tile discard after making a kong |
Going Out |
| 1 | Under the Sea | Declaring a win on the last tile in the wall or on the discard after the last tile | Going Out |
Who Pays Out?
| Payment Event | Point Value | Who Pays? | Who Receives? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Win is declared on a discard | Hand Value | The discarder |
Each player declaring a win on this discard |
| Win is declared on a self-drawn tile | Hand Value +1 |
Each non-winning player |
The player declaring a win on this self-drawn tile |
| Exhaustive Draw with 2 or more non-winning players |
Hand Value of the best hand the ready player is ready for |
Each non-winning, non-ready player at draw | Each non-Hu ready player |