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In American mahjong, the winner collects the value printed on the card next to her hand: the player who threw the winning tile pays double that value, and the other two players pay it once. If the winner picked the winning tile from the wall herself (a self-pick), all three pay double, and a hand with no jokers in it doubles every payment again.
There's no running score to keep: each hand is paid as soon as it's won, and the next one starts fresh.
What is a hand worth?
Every hand on the National Mah Jongg League card ends with a number: that's its value. Most hands are worth 25 to 50, and the harder the hand, the higher the number (where the value sits on a line of the card).
At most tables the value is counted in cents, so a 25 hand is a quarter. You can play for chips or for nothing at all, and the payouts work the same way.
- A joker. It stands in for the fourth 2 Bam here. The hand still wins, but it can’t collect the jokerless bonus.
- The value. This hand is worth 25. Everything the winner collects is worked out from this number.
Who pays double in mahjong?
It depends on where the winning tile came from.
- Won on a discard. The player who threw the tile pays double the value. The other two pay the value once.
- Won on a self-pick, a tile the winner drew from the wall herself. Nobody threw it, so all three players pay double.
For the 25 hand above, that gives:
| How she won | Who pays what | Winner collects |
|---|---|---|
| On a discard | 50¢ from the player who threw it, 25¢ from each of the other two | $1.00 |
| Self-pick | 50¢ from each of the three | $1.50 |
The discarder always pays double under League rules, even if the winner had three groups exposed and the tile was an easy one to see coming. Some tables add a penalty for throwing to a hand like that, but it's a table rule, not the League's.
The jokerless bonus
A winning hand with no jokers in it is worth double: every payment doubles.
| The 25 hand, jokerless | Who pays what | Winner collects |
|---|---|---|
| On a discard | $1.00 from the player who threw it, 50¢ from each of the other two | $2.00 |
| Self-pick | $1.00 from each of the three | $3.00 |
Two conditions:
- Say it when you call mahjong. "Mahjong, jokerless." If you don't announce it, you don't get the bonus.
- Not every hand qualifies. Singles and Pairs hands never use jokers anyway, so they don't get the bonus, and neither do Quints hands.
Honestly, I wouldn't chase it in your first games: jokers are what get a hand finished. Just don't forget to say it on the nights your hand comes in clean.
Wall games, dead hands and East
- A wall game. If the wall runs out before anyone calls mahjong, nobody wins and nobody pays. The tiles are mixed and the deal passes to the right (how a hand ends).
- A dead hand still pays. If you've been declared dead, you stop drawing and discarding, but if someone wins the hand, you pay her like everyone else.
- One rare case for East: a Heavenly Hand, when East's 14 dealt tiles are already a winning hand. It's paid like a self-pick, so everyone pays her double.
How do you keep score in American mahjong?
You don't keep score in the usual sense, because every hand is settled the moment it's won.
- Coins. Most tables play for real coins, paid to the winner right away. Each player brings a small purse, and many groups agree on a limit: once your coins are gone, you keep playing at no extra cost. That limit is often called the pie, and your group sets the amount.
- Chips. If you'd rather not pass money around, use chips as the coins and settle up at the end of the evening, or don't settle up at all.
- A score sheet. If you play for nothing, write each payout on a sheet with one column per player. Add up the columns at the end of the night to see who came out ahead.
The winner says what she's owed, and the other players pay that. If she asks for too much, say so before you pay, and check her hand against the card together.
Fewer than four players
With three players, the scoring is the same: the winner just has two players to pay her instead of three (three-player mahjong). Siamese mahjong, the two-player game, has its own scoring in its rulebook (two-player mahjong).
Ask your table before the first hand
The payouts come from the League, but the money is up to your table. Before the first deal, ask three things: what the value is counted in (cents, chips, or nothing), whether there's a pie and how much, and whether the table plays any extra rule like a penalty for throwing to three exposures. Then play the way they do.
