You want a Kong? Sorry, you can't have one.

This Nugget has been written by Dragon Jr on 30 Aug at 5:34PM

Category: Mahjong

I found out the hard way that it's impossible to end a round with exactly one Kong. In order to complete a round, it's necessary that one meld a total of 14 tiles. The distribution of these tiles into melds must always be one of the following: 3-3-3-3-2, 4-4-3-3 or 4-4-4-2. A Kong is a matched set of 4 tiles. The first of the distributions here does not have any Kong. The second has two. The third has three.
 
Nugget Votes
This Nugget has received 9 upvotes and no downvotes. You need to log in first to vote on Nuggets.
 
Nugget Comments
How in the dickens does one play this game....

Posted on 1 Oct at 4:43PM by TexasToest

Seriously, I read where we can have a group of 3 tiles of the same number - do they have to be from the same group? (I would call it a suit.)

How in the world do we use dragons? There are only 3, but that doesn't work for a meld either.

Can we get some discussion of what tiles go with what?
Valid Melds in Mahjong

Posted on 12 Jul at 6:48PM by Dragon Jr

The valid melds are as follows:

1) Three identical tiles (such as three #7 circle tiles)
2) Four identical tiles (such as four north winds)
3) Three numbered tiles, same suit, in sequence (such as 5-6-7 of bamboo)
4) Two identical tiles (such as two green dragons -- this meld can only be used as the final meld of a round)

I have proposed a Mahjong variant, called Grandma Jong, that includes more melds.
Hopeless rules

Posted on 7 Dec at 4:54PM by Jools

No mention of that in the rules. I've wasted a month on a game waiting for a final tile for a chow I now can't use
Interesting limitation with the Kongs

Posted on 28 Jun at 4:29AM by rdmasters

In the western standard rules, you gain an extra tile for a Kong, giving you 15 tiles, but maintaining the <set><set><set><set><pair> requirement for a Mahjong.

I would class this as a)House Rules (probably because it was easier to code) or b) a bug.

The easiest way to deal with it is to take option a) and update the doco. This can also be used to document the absence of the various unusual format special hands, like Unique Wonder, All Pairs, or Knitting.
The rules state .....

Posted on 10 Oct at 9:21PM by rUsureU_ want2doTHAT

on a player's turn they have the OPTION of playing ONE or more tiles! How do I have the option of ONLY placing ONE tile? The game (I had four 5 tiles left) I melded a valid set. but my last two tiles were not identical and I had to discard one! Now the board/tiles resetted, The starting pts is 15 which I had on my last meld.
So 1) to win the game, do ALL the NEW tiles in hand have to be played? 2) If so, WHAT TYPE of set should be try to hold in hand when I'm down to six tiles?

In Dragon's Nugget he states a KONG is 4433 (Does this mean TWO IDENTICAL tiles can be placed on SAME LINE with a different TWO IDENTICAL tiles? ALSO, do 4443 = THREE IDENTICAL tiles + ONE tile of SAME SUIT but a LOWER NUMBER tile????
I think I Got it......

Posted on 12 Oct at 5:04AM by rUsureU_ want2doTHAT

4-4-3-3 = 2 sets of 4 tiles + 2 sets of 3 tiles which add up to using 14 tiles!!! BUT it seems I must try to get a KONG meld since 3-3-3-3-2 also add up to 14 tiles, but can't end the game. WHY!!! And when the board RESETs over, the same sequence set (ex. 4-4-3-3) must be done!! WOW!!
Is this correct?
Wind tiles

Posted on 6 Mar at 12:14PM by Zanda

I had all four wind tiles (north, east, south, west) and could not post them as three tiles or four? how do you use the wind tiles?