House rules in American Mahjong

Most tables play the standard game with a twist or two that has been handed down for years. The twists only cause trouble when nobody says them out loud. Here are the common ones, what each changes, and how to settle them before you deal.

The standard game first

So the house rules have something to be measured against, this is how payment works in the standard game.

The full explanation, with examples, is in how scoring works.

The common house rules

Wall pick pays face value

Some groups do not double for a self-picked win. Everyone pays the printed value, same as they would on a discard. It makes hands cheaper and keeps the swings smaller.

Everyone pays the same on a discard

The discarder pays the same as the other two, with no penalty for throwing the winning tile. Groups that play this way usually say it takes the sting out of a beginner's mistakes.

No jokerless bonus

Jokers or not, the hand pays its printed value. Rare, but it exists, usually at tables that find the doubling on top of doubling hard to keep straight.

Paying for the table on an obvious hand

This is the big one, and the one most often mistaken for an official rule. If a player has three exposures showing and you discard the tile that completes their hand, you pay the winner for everyone. Four times the hand value from you, nothing from the other two.

Plenty of experienced players will tell you this is the standard rule. It is not. In the standard game, paying for the table is a penalty for specific errors, like playing out of turn. Discarding to an obvious hand is scored as an ordinary discard win. Many tables play the harsher version anyway, and that is fine, as long as everyone knows before the tiles are dealt.

East stays East after winning

In the American game, East passes to the right after every completed hand, no matter who won, and after a wall game too. Some tables let East keep the seat after a win. That habit comes from other kinds of mahjong, where the dealer does stay on after winning, and it gets carried across by players who learned another game first. Play it if your table likes it, but know that it is not the American rule.

A cap on losses

Some groups play with a pie. Each player sets aside a fixed amount for the session, commonly five dollars, though the table can choose any figure. That is the most you can lose in an evening. If your pie runs out, you keep playing but you stop paying until winnings put something back in it. The pie is your own money, not a shared pot. It is a kindness to beginners and it keeps the night friendly.

Points or coins

Some tables keep a tally, some push coins across the table, some use chips. The math is identical. A hand worth 25 costs the same whether it is written down or paid out of a dish.

Settling them at your table

Four questions, asked once, before the first deal:

  1. Do we double for a wall pick? Standard is yes.
  2. Does the discarder pay extra? Standard is yes, double.
  3. Does throwing to an obvious hand mean paying for the table? Standard is no.
  4. Does East move after every hand? Standard is yes, always to the right.

The host decides ties. If your group uses the score tracker, set the answers once under House rules and every hand is scored the same way all night. The tracker labels each option as standard or house rule, so a new player can see which is which.

When a rule question comes up mid-game

Play the standard rule unless the table agreed otherwise beforehand. If nobody can remember what was agreed, the host's call stands for that hand, and you settle it properly before the next one. Nobody enjoys a table that stops for ten minutes to argue about a rule that was never stated.

The house rules here are the ones our group has run into. Standard rules are described as an experienced player in our group understands them. Your table's agreement always comes first.