Three player mahjong

Three-player mahjong is played with a standard mahjong set with several tiles removed. First, the north wind is removed. The 2-8 of bamboo is also removed. The four season tiles are also removed, but the four flowers are kept. There are no jokers or any other extra tiles.[2]

Circles (dots) 1 to 9:

Characters 1 to 9:

Bamboo 1 and 9 (all four tiles of each; bamboo 2 to 8 are removed):

East, South and West (North is removed):

Red, Green and White Dragons:

The four flowers (there is only one tile of each):

The circles, characters, and bamboo are called simple tiles (they are numbered 1 to 9 and only tiles 1 and 9 are used in the bamboo suit). Of the dragons and winds (called honours), there are three kinds of each with no numerical value. Of both simples and honours, there are four matching tiles for each value (i.e. there are four red dragons and there are four 2 of circles).

Tiles are dealt just like other variations of mahjong except the walls are only thirteen or fourteen tiles long and only two dice are used. For those unfamiliar with stacking the wall, the following explains it for three-player mahjong.

All tiles are placed face down on the table and are shuffled. By convention all players should participate in shuffling using both hands moving the tiles around the table rigorously and loudly for a lengthy period. Tiles may get flipped up during this process and players should flip them facing down as soon as possible to avoid identifying the location of the revealed tiles.

Walls with cardinal directions, including the dealer (E), along with counting order

Each player then stacks a row of 13 or 14 tiles, two tiles high, in front of them (for a total of 26 or 28 tiles). East and West stack a row of 14 tiles, South and North stack a row of 13 tiles. One of the three players also stacks the North wall. Players then push each side of their stack together to form a square wall. Players may instead more informally build a triangle wall (18 tiles wide on each side – which also allows the use of three dice, if desired, for randomizing the wall cut).

The order of play is traditionally anticlockwise (counterclockwise) but some house rules may go the other direction.

The dealer throws two dice in the square wall and sums up the total. Counting anticlockwise so that the dealer's wall is 1, 5 or 9, South is 2, 6 or 10, etc. This determines which side of the wall will be cut and the tiles dealt from.

Using the same total on the dice, the dealer counts each stack of tiles on that side of the wall from right to left, and cuts the wall to the left of the count. Starting from the left of the cut, the dealer draws four tiles for himself (two stacks of two tiles) so that the wall decreases in a clockwise direction. Players in anticlockwise order draw blocks of four tiles until all players have 12 tiles. Each player then draws one last tile to make a 13-tile hand.

Dealing may be done more informally (without using dice and the dealer randomly cutting the wall wherever they choose). In some house rules the dealer deals out all of the tiles.

While drawing the 13th tile to complete the initial hand, the dealer (E) will typically also draw a 14th tile (both highlighted in blue) to initiate the game.

Each player's hand consists of 13 tiles. In sequence, players pick up a tile from the wall and discard one until a player has a legal hand. The majority of legal hands consists of 4 melds of three tiles and one pair of identical tiles. Melds can also consist of four tiles under certain conditions and there are a few uncommon and very specific winning hands that have a unique composition that break all the rules. These game rules are commonly interrupted by specific plays which include stealing a player's discard, forming a kong, putting a flower tile to the side, and a few other special rules.

Hands consist of four melds and one matching pair of tiles.

A chow is a set which consists of three tiles in one suit (either circles or characters) in numerical sequence (i.e. 5-6-7 of characters or 2-3-4 of circles). It can only be made of circles or characters as the remaining bamboo suit allows for no consecutive numerical sequence anymore. Chows must contain three tiles; two- or four-tile chows are not permitted. Unlike in four-player mahjong, chows can only be formed through the deal and drawing from the wall (and not by another player's discard), with the usual exceptions for the final move of a win.

A pong is a set which consists of three identical pieces of any tile (except flowers, which are bonus tiles and are always set aside). Examples would be three red dragons or three 2 of circles.

A kong is a special type of pong which consists of all four pieces of any tile. See below for the procedures for declaring a kong. It is the only set that permits four tiles.

On top of the 4 melds (chows and/or pongs/kongs) a winning hand must also include an eye. The eye is a pair of tiles (two matching identical tiles) such as two green dragons or two 9 of bamboos. Any simple tile or honour tile can be used.

All players start with 13 tiles. The dealer starts the game by drawing the next available tile from the wall (going clockwise around the wall) adding it to their hand. (Typically, this draw is performed during the initial deal to speed up game start.) If this draw does not complete a legal hand, the dealer then discards a tile.

All players must have only 13 tiles in their hand, not including flowers (which are set aside) and the 4th tile of any kong they might have (which is considered an extra tile). Any kong declared or flower set aside, is replaced by a tile from the wall.

After the dealer discards, the next player, in anticlockwise order, draws the next available tile from the wall and discards a tile. Play continues until a player forms a legal, 14-tile hand. Play may be interrupted for any of the following reasons:

The moment a player draws a flower, they should announce so, place it face-up to the side, and draw a replacement tile from the wall.

If a player can use an opponent's discard to complete a pong, the player calls this out (before the next player in turn has a chance to draw from the wall). The player takes the discarded tile, reveals the two matching tiles, and places all three face up on the table in front of their hand. This forms an "exposed" or "stolen" pong. The player then discards a tile when ready. Play continues with the next player (anticlockwise to the player who stole the pong, possibly skipping a player) taking their turn and drawing a tile from the wall. Note: A previously discarded tile cannot be used to make a pong (nor for any other reason) after the next player draws a tile from the wall, meaning all discarded tiles beforehand are untouchable.

If a player can use an opponent's discard to complete a kong from a pong concealed in their hand, the player calls this out (before the next player in turn has a chance to draw from the wall). The player takes the discarded tile, reveals the three matching tiles, and places all four face up on the table in front of their hand (placing three in a row and one on top of the one in the middle). This forms an "exposed" or "stolen" kong. The player must then draw an extra tile from the end of the wall (to have a full hand after completing a kong). (Technically, this is shorthand for stealing a pong with two matching tiles from your hand, and then promoting an exposed pong to an exposed kong with the third matching tile from your hand.) Play continues same as stealing a pong.

At any point during a player's turn they may add a tile in their hand to an exposed pong (a pong which was formed by stealing another player's discarded tile). The player adds it to the pong (placing three in a row and one on top of the one in the middle) and draws a tile from the wall to compensate for the extra fourth tile of the kong. This forms an "exposed", "stolen" or "promoted" kong.

During a player's turn they may choose to reveal a concealed kong (four matching tiles) if they want to claim a replacement tile for the fourth tile in the kong (while also revealing to the other players that all four tiles are taken). The player reveals the tiles by placing all four in a row with the end two face down and the middle two face up. This forms a "concealed" kong. The player must then draw an extra tile from the end of the wall (to have a full hand after completing a kong).

If a player declares a kong and another player needs that tile to make a chow and win the game, the player may declare so and "go mahjong" (win). This is called "robbing the kong" and does not occur often. Note that this is limited to chows in this variant.

A player lacking only one tile to form a legal hand (whether completing a chow, pong, eye, or special hand) may steal the discard to win. The exception to this rule is the sacred discard (see below).

Unlike many variations of mahjong, a player may not win from a discard if they, themselves, have discarded a matching tile previously. In order to keep track of discards, tiles are not thrown into the centre as in other versions of mahjong but are placed directly in front of their hand so that their discard history is easily seen. A player's discards are usually arranged in neat rows of six to ten tiles (depending on table preferences).

No changes can be made to a pong or kong which has already been declared (it cannot be taken back to form anything else).

Stealing chows is allowed in some versions of mahjong but not in this version (or in Korean mahjong). You cannot meld a chow from another player's discard.

A discard cannot be stolen to add the fourth tile to a pong which has already been declared (stolen and revealed to the other players). This can only be formed by players taking the 4th tile from the wall on their turn.

If two players both need a discard to win (or from robbing the kong, which would be unspeakably rare) then the player who can form the hand with the most hand-points takes it and wins. If both players have the same hand-points, then the player with the most bonus-points takes it and wins. If this is also equal, then the first player anticlockwise to the player who discarded takes it and wins. Winning always takes precedence over forming a pong or kong. (Note that it is not possible for two players want to steal the same tile at the same time to form a pong or kong.)

If it is noted that a player has too many or too few tiles in their hand (not including flowers or the 4th tile of a kong), robs a tile but cannot form the right set, forgets to put aside a flower, or has any other irregularity, they are usually heavily punished. Punishment depends on the house rules of each group of players. Serious flaws like having too many tiles (long hand or "big husband") typically involve having points deducted. Claiming to win mahjong while not having a legal hand should be seriously punished. Knocking over another player's tile should be punished. Calling out the wrong name of a tile (while discarding) may be one of the worst offenses possible – especially, if another player reveals that they could have stolen it had it been correctly named.

At the end of each hand, the dealership passes to the player to the right (anticlockwise). The dealer is always known as the East player, the player to the right as South, and the third player as West. In other words, your seat direction rotates as the dealer seat rotates.

Three hands make up a round. Thus, in each round, each player is dealer once. Each round is also named after its prevailing wind (East, South and West).

Three rounds make up a match. Thus, the entire match is 9 hands in total (3 hands in the East round + 3 hands in the South round + 3 hands in the West round).

Whether the dealer wins or not, or if there is a winner or not, dealership changes each hand.

Unlike other versions of mahjong, being East (or not) does not give any special bonuses (or penalties).

If a hand ends in a draw (goulash hand), however, the winner of the next hand first receives the usual points from his opponents and then an extra 5 points from each opponent. If, instead, there is a second draw (two goulash hands in a row), the winner of the next round receives 10 points from each opponent in addition to their usual points. And so forth.

Players may choose to continue playing a second match after the first one ends (accumulating the points into a double match) or even a triple match (meaning a total of 27 hands).

Only the winner's hand is scored (the other players' hands take no points). Points are counted based on the individual sets a player has, if they are made of simples or honours (e.g. circles or dragons), if these sets match the players seat (wind tiles), how the hand is composed as a whole (e.g. only one suit or all pongs and an eye), and special patterns. Bonus-points are then scored for having kongs, flowers and other criteria mentioned later. When being introduced to a game, the mechanics may be so overwhelming that no points may be scored and players simply try to win with any legal hand (0 points) until the mechanics of the game are understood. Once this is achieved, the player should be introduced to the minimum point chart and should be encouraged to form hands of at least three minimum points (passed on sets and/or overall composition of hand and/or special patterns). The scoring chart below gives all possible points. Experienced players will play for a higher minimum.

Even if a player has a legal winning hand, most house rules requires that a player has a minimum number of hand-points first. Typically they are three points for novice play, six points for intermediate play, and 7+ points for advanced play. Bonus-points are included in the winner's final score but do not count towards the minimum hand-points a player needs to go mahjong (that is a player must have a minimum of hand-points and not a minimum of hand-points plus bonus points).

If a player wins by stealing a discard, the player who discards has to pay the winner double the winners hand-points (the other player pays nothing). Both players pay the winner bonus points.

If a player wins from the wall, both players pay the winner hand-points plus bonus points.

A player with a concealed hand may declare ready. They can only do so if they are waiting for a single tile to complete a legal hand. The player puts his/her tiles face down and on their turn will take a tile from the wall and must discard it if it doesn't complete a legal-hand. The player gains points if they win though they become completely unable to change their hand.

The point system is straight forward though may require some time to memorize the various elements. There are two classes of points which are hand-points and bonus points. There is a special class called limit hands which is treated later. In order to win a player needs to have a legal hand which scores the minimum or higher hand-points that players agree on before play (3 hand-points, 6 hand-points, 7 hand-points, etc.)

Unlike many other mahjong variations, only the winner scores and the other players take no points regardless of the content of their hands. Once a player wins he/she adds up all of his/her hand-points. If they meet the minimum hand-points they receive that number of points from the other two players. If they won from a discard then the person who discarded that tile pays for both players (the discarder pays double and the other player pays nothing). The winner then counts his/her bonus points and collects them from both players (even if the game was won on a discard). If a player was waiting for one tile to win, they pay two bonus points less.

If a player wins on a limit hand, the player scores either the agreed limit (usually 40 points) or a half limit (usually 20 points) and there is no need to total the other points. Limit hands can make or break a match.

A winning hand must have the minimum number of hand-points agreed on before the match starts. Points are based on specific melds (i.e. chows, pongs) a combination of melds (i.e. two matching pongs, three concealed pongs) or the entire hand (pure hand, seven pairs). Some melds/hands can score more than once (a kong of green dragons score 1 point for being green dragons and another point for being a kong).

• 1 point any Dragon Pong
• 1 point extra for having two dragons (three points in total)
• 1 point any Wind Pong
• 1 point more if the wind is players seat wind (two points in total for relevant winds)
• 1 point More if the wind pong is the prevailing wind or round wind (two points in total for relevant winds)
• 1 point every Kong
• 3 points extra for 3 kongs (6 points in total)
• 1 point Pong of 1 or 9 bamboo
• 4 points extra for having both 1 and 9 bamboo (6 points in total)

• 2 points for having two identical chows
• 3 points for having 3 concealed pongs/kongs

• 3 points for having all pongs/kongs and any pair
• 6 points extra if player has all terminals (1s and 9s) and honours
• 3 points for having a clean hand (hand is made up only of circle tiles and honour tiles or is made of only character and honour tiles)
• 3 points extra if the hand is pure without honours (the hand consists purely of circle tiles or purely of character tiles)
• 3 points for having 7 pairs (special hand consisting of seven different pairs)
• 3 points for having three chows of 1 to 9 in circles or 1 to 9 in characters
• 1 point for having all simples (no honours)
• 2 points extra for having all chows and a pair of simples (three points in total)

• 2 points for having a concealed hand (player did not take an opponent's discard before going mahjong)
• 2 points extra if the concealed is completed by a tile from the wall (four hand-points in total)

The winner adds his/her hand-points to all the following bonus points which may apply (which is accumulative). (Both opponents pay)

• 2 points for winning from each player who was not waiting to win. Waiting means waiting for one tile from the wall or a discard that would give a legal hand meeting the minimum required hand-points. Sometimes a player may be able to win with one of two different tiles (exceptionally rarely for three different tiles). A player is not considered "waiting" if the tile they are waiting for has already been discarded (leaving no possibility of receiving that tile).
• 1 point if player wins by a tile from the wall
• 1 point if the tile was the last tile from the wall
• 1 point if the winning tile was used to replace a flower or kong
• 1 point if the winning tile was stolen by another player making a kong
• 1 point for every extra tile player has that matches the tile the player used to win
• 1 point for every flower player has (the number on the flower is not important like other variations)
• 4 points extra if player has all 4 flowers
• 2 points if player has a concealed hand (player scores both hand-points and bonus-points)
• 2 points extra if player has a completely concealed hand (won from the wall and not a discard)
• 2 points if player declared ready
• 2 points extra if a player declared ready and won from the wall

Hands are optional and players may use all hands or choose based on consensus which ones to use. As all are difficult and the limit hands being very rare, all hands are included by most experienced players.

• Two dragons and a pair of the other dragon (little dragons)
• Two winds and a pair of the other winds (little winds)
• All bamboo and honours
• At least one terminal in all sets and honours
• Pure hand with pong of seat dragon or wind (concealed)
• Four concealed pongs
• Three kongs and a pair of honours
• Little Jade Dragon (pair of five bamboo with the green dragon)
• Three concealed Kongs
• Four Kongs (concealed or not)

• All honours and or Terminals
• Great Dragons (all three dragons)
• Great Winds (all three winds)
• Pong of 1 and 9 bamboo and pair of five bamboo
• Four concealed kongs
• Thirteen orphans (1 and 9 of each suit, one of each dragon, one of each wind and a pong of any one of these elements)
• Nine gates is a concealed hand of 1112345678999 tiles in one suit, and winning on any extra tile of the same suit
• Pearl Dragon (all circles and a pong/kong of the white dragon, note pair must also be circles)
• Ruby Dragon (all character tiles and a pong/kong of the red dragon, note pair must also be characters)
• Great Jade Dragon (pong of 1 and 9 bamboo with the green dragon)

Thirteen tiles are not used in the game and are placed to the side. The dealer turns over one piece. The next tile in sequence is considered a dora (having any of those pieces in a hand will give a bonus point). For example, if the tile turned over is a 3 circle, then all 4 circles will be considered dora and having a pong of 4 circles will score 3 bonus points. If a 9 is turned over then the 1 circle is considered a dora. The sequence of dragons is green, red, white, green (i.e. if a red dragon is turned over, the white dragons are dora tiles). The sequence of winds is north, east, south, north. If a flower tile is turned over then all flower tiles score two bonus points in total and having all three (as the flower turned over is considered a part of the dead wall and not used during the game) then the usual eight bonus points in total are given.

The North wind is kept in play but can only be used as a pair (scoring two points) or as a kong (scoring six points). A player cannot call mahjong if they have only a pong of the North. Winning a hand by drawing or stealing a North win scores two extra bonus points. The North wind is considered an honour tile but there is no round of North nor a North prevailing wind or a North seat position. North Wind is not part of the three little or three big winds limit hand but is part of the 13 orphans limit hand as well as the all-honours hand.

All bamboo tiles are removed

If all three players declare ready, depending on the variation, either that particular game is considered a draw, or the winner only wins his hand-points from the other players.

There are two forms of dora which may optionally be used in three-player mahjong.

In some Japanese mahjong sets, one five circles tile is coloured red and one five characters tile is coloured red (the other matching three of each tile is the normal colour). There are thus only two of these tiles. A player who has one red dora tile in their hand scores one bonus point, and if they have both red dora tiles they score six bonus points (in total). These dora tiles count as bonus points and do not count as hand-points nor towards the minimum hand-points needed to go mahjong.

The second form of dora which is distinct from the first, is the revealing of one tile from the wall before the game begins. If a simple tile is revealed, then the next tile in order becomes a dora tile (i.e. if the 5 circles is revealed, then all 6 circles become dora...or if the 2 character tiles are revealed, then the 3 characters become dora). If a nine is revealed then the 1 of the same suit becomes dora. If a 1 bamboo is revealed then a 9 bamboo becomes dora. If a wind is revealed then the next wind in compass order becomes dora. If a dragon is revealed then the next dragon in alphabetical order becomes dora: Green-Red-White-Green.

A player scores one bonus point for each of these dora tiles used in the winning hand. The player scores one extra point if the player forms the eye using these tiles, two extra points if the player forms a pong, and scores six extra points if the player forms a kong using these tiles.

The red dora tiles are considered distinct from the revealed dora tiles and they should not be confused with each other. Table rules might include the red dora tiles but not the revealed dora tiles or the reverse. If table rules include both dora tiles, care should be taken not to mix the points scored for having them in their winning hand but to do so separately.

The last thirteen tiles of the wall are not used in the game (considered an invisible fourth player).

Popular in the western part of Honshū, three-player Japanese mahjong incorporates a few changes which make it more suited to three players and simplified from four-player mahjong. There is no ghost player. Players need a minimum of one yaku to win. Refer to the article on Japanese Mahjong for unique Japanese playing concepts such as dora and furiten.

Tiles 2 through 8 are removed from the character suit. Chows cannot be melded. All four winds are used. Flowers are optional and not normally used. A dora tile is revealed at the beginning of the round, with more dora (such as uradora, kandora, and red fives) used or revealed later on as popular additions. The North wind also acts as a dora (Pei-dora) when it is exposed and set aside, or it may also be discarded as a safe tile (although an opponent may rob a concealed kong or a declared / discarded North tile to win with kokushi musou). Once all North wind tiles are exposed another dora tile is revealed in the dead wall, which consists of fourteen tiles as in four-player mahjong. A player cannot use a discard to win if his hand, prior to using the discard, does not contain a yaku (atozuke-nashi).

One-Han Yaku

• Yakuhai (A pung / kong of dragons, one's own wind, or the prevailing wind)
• Iipeikou (Two identical chows in one suit)
• Pinfu (A concealed hand consisting of four chows with a non-yakuhai pair and able to win with more than one possible tile)
• Riichi (Declaring ready; the hand cannot be modified (i.e., no concealed kongs))
• Tanyao (No honours or terminals)
• Haitei / Houtei (Winning with the last tile of the round)
• Rinshan kaihou (Winning with a kong or North replacement tile)
• Chankan (Robbing the kong)

Two-Han Yaku

• Chantaiyao (Honours or terminals in every set)
• Chiitoitsu (Seven different pairs)
• Daburu riichi (Declaring riichi on one's first turn)
• Ikki tsuukan (Tiles 1-9 in one suit)
• San'ankou (Three concealed pungs)
• Sankantsu (Three kongs)
• Iisou sanjun (Three identical chows in one suit)
• Toitoihou (All pungs)

3-Han Yaku

• Hon'iisou (One suit with honours)
• Junchantaiyao (Terminals in every set)
• Sanrenkou (Three sequential pungs in one suit)

4-Han Yaku

• Shousangen (Little three dragons)

5-Han Yaku

• Honroutou (Honours and terminals only)

6-Han Yaku

• Chin'iisou (One suit only)

Yakuman (Limit)

• Chiihou (Winning as a non-dealer with one's first drawn tile)
• Chinroutou (All terminals)
• Chuuren poutou (Nine gates)
• Daisangen (Big three dragons)
• Suushiihou (Big / little four winds)
• Kokushi musou (Thirteen orphans)
• Paarenchan (Winning after staying the dealer 8 times in a row with any legal hand)
• Ryuuiisou ("All green"; a hand consisting of only 2, 3, 4, 6, or 8 of bamboos and green dragons)
• Suukantsu (Four kongs; won immediately after the fourth kong is made, even without a pair)
• Suuankou (Four concealed pungs)
• Tsuuiisou (All honours)

Double Yakuman

• Kokushi musou, without having discarded any of the tiles previously nor having claimed a North wind tile as dora
• Suuankou, winning with a single tile to form a pair

Triple Yakuman

• Chuuren poutou, without having discarded any such tiles previously
• Tenhou (Winning as the dealer with one's first drawn tile)

Bonus Han

• Bazoro (2 bonus han for winning)
• Dora (including uradora, kandora, kan-uradora, Pei-dora, and / or akadora)
• Ippatsu (Winning within one round of declaring riichi, with no opponent pungs / kongs / Pei-dora in the interim)

Scoring, though simplified, is somewhat complex.[4]

Malaysian 3-player mahjong is played with only circles and honours, as well as the extra eight flowers in a Malaysian mahjong set ("face" and "animal" tiles) and jokers ("fly" (飛) tiles), for a total of 84 tiles. There is no fixed game length and the dealer is the winner of the previous round.

A winning hand must be worth 5 fan, to a maximum of 10, earned thusly:

• One face or animal / All four faces or animals: 1
• Four flowers / Four seasons: 1
• Own flower or season: 1
• "Bamboo" flower or "Winter" season: 1
• Pung of dragons / own wind / North / East: 1 (note: the prevailing wind is always East)
• Little three dragons: 3
• One suit with honors: 1
• One suit only: 3
• All chows with pair of circles: 1
• All pungs / kongs: 2
• Winning with kong / flower replacement tile: 1
• Seven pairs: 1
• Stealing kong: 1
• Nine gates: 10 (note: must only be won by self-draw)
• Big / little four winds: 10 (note: "pao" rule applies)
• No flowers / seasons / faces / animals: 10
• Four kongs: 10
• Big three dragons: 10 (note: "pao" rule applies)
• Winning with kong replacement tile after two consecutive kongs: 10
• Four concealed pungs / kongs: 10 (note: must only be won by self-draw)
• Four fly: 10 (note: this only applies to one's starting hand, or else the player must win after drawing four fly tiles later)
• Winning with one's first or last tile: 10
• All honors: 10 (note: "pao" rule applies)
• All flowers / seasons / faces / animals: 10

Winning the hand earns 100 points, with 20 additional points for every fan. Both players pay the winner double this value if the hand is won by self-draw but if by discard only the discarder does so (the other pays the normal value). Kongs immediately score from the other players 100 points if concealed and 50 if open / promoted (open kong points are paid by the discarder for both players). A full set of bonus tiles in one's starting hand also earns an immediate 100 points, or 50 if drawn later. If the winning player does not score 10 fan the non-winner whose hand would have less than 5 fan (going by the first 5 fan in the list above) pays the other non-winner the score of the more valuable hand; if both non-winners' hands are worth more than 5 fan they only pay the difference. Fly tiles earn 50 points as a final bonus score for all players.[5]

The game is always faster. With one less hand and more tiles available to the other players, the game is speedy.[6]

The wall remains the same, though playing with dead walls depends on the variation and the players. In very casual play the wall can consist of three sides.[7]

In some variations an entire suit is removed.[8] In Malaysian mahjong only the circles and honours are used. In Korean mahjong one suit is removed or in other variations as well as in Japan, numbers 2-8 is removed from one suit. This radically changes the dynamics making certain hands more common such as single suited hands and hands without chows.[9]

In many versions east scores or pays double (a little more complicated in Japanese scoring), however in Korean scoring and Korean/Japanese scoring, there is no doubling of any kind.[3]

In some versions there is a ghost player,[2] meaning 13 tiles are not used in the wall to mimic the lack of tiles in 4 player versions. This player also takes one of the four winds, (though no tiles are dealt out to any ghost player nor are points given). In Korean, Japanese and Korean/Japanese mahjong, there is no ghost player and all tiles are used during the games.

In some variations, each player has a seat dragon as well as a seat wind which changes the point structure. There is however never a prevailing dragon even if there is a prevailing wind. When there is a seat dragon, East is green, South is red and West is white (fortunately it follows in alphabetical order in English from dealer to last player).

In some variations these are not allowed. Only pongs and kongs in three-player games can be melded (or declared) meaning a chow can only be formed by a discard on winning.[10]

In Korean mahjong, three-player Japanese mahjong and in Korean/Japanese mahjong, melded chows are never allowed except if done to complete a hand.

It is far more social and less likely to be played for stakes as it is looked down on as a less serious version of mahjong. However, in some versions such as Korean/Japanese three player, the rules can be intricate or complex and playing for small or large stakes forces the players to try to make more complex hands.