These were either played withChinese playing cards, dominoes, or shortened decks, with different suits and ranks.
The premise of these games was for players to draw and discard cards, buildingwinning handsand combinations.
Around the middle of the 19th century, cards were exchanged for tiles.
In that it is a tile-based game based on strategy, building hands, and played in groups.
These are split into Suited tiles, Honors tiles, and Bonus tiles.
You choose the table positions and firstdealerby rolling dice.
Every player draws 13 tiles, with the dealer drawing 14 to start the round.
Another player can claim your discarded card only if it completes a winning hand.
When a person wins the hand or their wall runs out, the round ends.
If no one wins in the round, it is a draw.
Quick thinking, strategy, and experience can definitely influence the outcome of a hand.
And learning to predict what your opponents will do is integral to winning at Mahjong.
These elements of the game are present in nearly every derivative of Mahjong.
You win if you’re able to clear all the tiles, but be careful.
If you don’t clear stacked tiles, you may end up running into a deadlock.
This format doesn’t have any of the social interaction of traditional Mahjong.
Mahjong solitaire is the most notable example of how Mahjong has been reimagined and repurposed into a modern game.
Including various casino games.
Mahjong in Gambling
Traditional Mahjong is not commonly offered in casinos.
Though you won’t really play Mahjong at landbased casinos, or even at their online casino counterparts.
Instead, a lot of games have taken on motifs and inspiration from Mahjong.
There are many different types of Mahjong themed games, which adopt Mahjong tiles and symbols.
Mahjong Themed Casino Games
The most prominent example of this is inonline slots.
They may mimic tile stacking or symbol matching inslot machine gameplay, though they are fundamentally different from Mahjong.
In that these are not games based on the draw of tiles or cards.
Games such as Three Card Rummy,Video Poker, Pai Gow and Poker have similarities to Chinese Mahjong.
Pai Gow Tiles are perhaps the most similar, as they also use tile hierarchy and strategy.
Though you have to build two hands and form combinations.
If you expand the criteria, then Video Poker games are easily comparable to Mahjong.
The rounds are far shorter, as there are only 2 steps to complete.
But it is not an easy game to reimagine for casino gambling purposes.
Traditional Mahjong games could take hours to finish, and rounds have loads of steps and turns.
In casino terms, this is just too slow.
If it were P2P Mahjong, it would take too long for the casinos to take their commission.
Mahjong has a moresocial betting culture, and is very unpredictable.
One thing is certain, Mahjong is not just another pastime.
This game is really a symbol of Chinese culture, community and tradition.
Daniel has been writing about casinos and sports betting since 2021.
NetEase Reportedly Suing Blizzard For $43.5 Million
Chinas Crackdown on Gaming Has Reached a New Low
