Date created: 2002.4
Last revised: 2007-5

Contents:
Introduction
Getting started
Beginning the game
Stealing tiles
Non-stolen 4-of-a-kinds
What if 2 players want to steal the same piece?
Combinations
Team play
Freestyle play
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(Please be aware that the rules I state here are a simplified version of mahjong intended for beginners).

Introduction

Mahjong is an advanced version of gin and poker. Here is some general information about the game:

# of players: 2-4
Game items: tiles (3 suits & character tiles).  There are 4 of each tile.  Here are pictures of all of the available tiles:

I'm going to present each of the 3 suits first.  These are called the numbers:

 
The next suit is the sticks.  Note that the 1 of sticks is a bird.

The last suit is the balls (or circles, whatever you'd like to call them):

Now here are the character tiles, beginning with the winds・

And finally, here are the non-wind character tiles:

Goal: Organize your 14 tiles into a collection consisting of a pair and 4 sets (3 tile straights, 3-of-a-kinds, and/or 4-of-a-kinds).  You will then get points based on the difficulty of the hand.  Each round ends when someone announces that they have a complete set, or in other words, have gone out. Here's an example of a hand that has gone out:
  

Pair	straight	straight	3 of a kind	3 of a kind

 

There are a few exceptions, but this is the basic format all complete sets will look like.  Please note that you can also have 3 straights, three 3-of-a-kinds, or 2 straights and one 3-of-a-kind ・as long as you have a pair and 3 sets of 3 tiles, you have a complete set.

Difficulty of a hand: Based on combinations similar to what hands are in poker (e.g. pair, royal flush).  I'll go into the combos later.
Game procedure: Each player begins with 13 tiles and draws a tile each turn. After drawing a tile, the given player discards a tile of his/her choice. Players can also steal a discarded piece the instant it is thrown away (I'll go into stealing in the next section).