Mahjong isn’t always a straight draw-and-discard affair. Four things can stop play:
Flower & Season Tiles
When you snag a flower or season tile, you immediately set it aside and draw the last tile from the wall so that you still have 14 before your next discard. This ensures no one ever ends up missing tiles mid-round.
Claiming Discards to Meld
When someone discards a tile you need, you can claim it to finish a pong, kong, or chow. It speeds up your path to victory and can boost your points, but watch out:
• Exposing a meld gives everyone a peek at your hand.
• Once declared, you can’t change your mind or swap that meld.
• You must announce the meld type—pong, kong, or chow—before laying out your tiles.
• Pro tip: If you’re playing on regulated Kenyan sites, top up via M-Pesa or Airtel Money so you’re always ready to snag that perfect discard.
Declaring Victory
As soon as you have a complete hand, the round ends and it’s time for mahjong scoring. There are three main winning scenarios:
Winning with a Discard
If you use someone else’s discard to finish your hand, shout "Mahjong!" and flip up your tiles. On some tables, if more than one player can claim that discard, they might:
– Compare each player’s scores and give the win to the highest.
– Award it based on who’s closest to the discarder in turn order.
– Or pay out multiple winners simultaneously.
Winning from the Wall
If the tile you need pops up when you draw from the wall, you win "self-drawn" and, in Hong Kong rules, the losers pay double the basic points. That’s sweet when you’ve got a solid hand.
Caught with a False Win
Calling mahjong with an incomplete hand is a no-go and comes with a penalty:
– Table rules vary: you might pay each player, lose points, or play the rest of the round with your hand exposed.
– Some clubs even apply penalties to your total score at the end of the session—achi, watch your moves!
Robbing a Kong
In Hong Kong mahjong, robbing a kong (別坎搶槓) is a slick move. Say you’ve got three tiles laid out as a pong, and someone tries to add the fourth. If that tile completes your winning hand, you snatch it from under their nose and call mahjong. At that moment, they lose the kong, you win big, and the table goes wild—just like a last-minute EPL winner.
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