The game is played with a set of 144 tiles based on Chinese
characters and symbols although some regional variations may omit
some tiles and/or add unique tiles. In most variations each player
begins by receiving 13 tiles. In turn players draw and discard
tiles until they complete a legal hand using the 14th drawn tile to
form 4 melds (or sets) and a pair (eye). A player can also win with
a small class of special hands. There are fairly standard rules
about how a piece is drawn how a piece is robbed from another
player the use of simples (numbered tiles) and honors (winds and
dragons) the kinds of melds allowed how to deal the tiles and the
order of play. Despite these similarities there are many regional
variations to the rules including rather different scoring systems
criteria for legal winning hands and even private table rules which
distinguish some variations as notably different styles of
mahjong.
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