How to gamble with mahjong (1 Viewer)

[Sisu41]

What mahjong rules are best to play with? I have a set but no jokers

 

[DrStrange]

"American" style is where you try to build a hand to match one of the winning options on this year's card. Or "Asian" mahjong which plays a lot more like gin rummy where you can make any sort of hand you like so long as you use all your tiles.

"American" style is more like limit poker. Aside from a few rare hands, the points per hand are about the same and everyone is plausibly able to win something over the session.

"Asian" mahjong is more like big bet poker. The scoring rules can yield hands worth 100x other scoring hands. Someone gets on a heater and they can rack up vast winnings (for the stakes being played) Same way, a loser can face considerable losses. House rules about loss limits can mitigate this. I learned to play with a 500x loss limit per hand, where "x" is the stakes. Playing for a penny, most you lose was $5. Playing for $10 and you might lose $5,000 per hand.

I learned to play "Asian" style mahjong. we played for a penny. One of our gang had Chinese parents who played for $20 per point. That is $10,000 per hand at a 500c loss limit, though I am not sure they had any loss limit. It was pretty common for the losers to pay five or even six figure losses.

Which way is best? Few Americans have ever played 'Asian" style mahjong. They likely aren't prepared for Ouchy losses. "Asian" Mahjong is likely more widely known and far less volatile. I think you should start with that style of play.

Be sure to have fun! -=- DrStrange

 

[Sisu41]

But does it require jokers? Because I don’t have any