FILIPINO MAHJONG (ARTICLE 213)

Filipino mahjong is a pick-and-discard game that requires completing a valid hand of 17 tiles. The components of a valid hand are a chow (three tiles in a sequence; can claim a discard from the player on the left only) and/or pung (three of a kind) or kong (four of a kind) plus a pair to win. Their differentiators are scoring, and Flowers, Winds, and Dragon are all bonus tiles, so valid hands are number tiles only. It is a fast and very flexible way to play!

If you want to learn how to play, here are a few recommended sites:

• Wikidot
• Cool Old Games (abridged rules)
• Ging Arzadom-Labajo (complete rules)

How to Teach Filipino Mahjong using the Tibet Method

The Tibet Method was created by Benjamin Boas, an American author and mahjong player living in Japan.  These rules have been modified for Filipino Mahjong.

Phase	Layout	Blocks	Number of Tiles	Objectives
Phase 1 – One Suit (Dots)	Random pile	1 plus a pair	Deal 4 tiles (concealed chows) Deal 7 tiles	Introduce Dots; play open hands to analyze each pick and discard and coach decision-making (i.e., chow, pung)
Phase 2 – Two Suits (Dots & Bams)	Random pile	2 plus a pair 4 plus a pair	Deal 7 tiles (concealed chows) Deal 13 tiles	Introduce Bams; play open hands to analyze each pick and discard and coach decision making (i.e., chow pung; one suit, mixed suits)
Phase 3 – Three Suits (Dots, Bams, Cracks)	Random pile	4 plus a pair	13 tiles	Introduce Cracks; play open hands to analyze each pick and discard and coach decision making (i.e., chow pung; one suit, mixed suits)
Phase 4 – Three Suits with Honors (Winds and Dragons)	Random pile	4 plus a pair	13 tiles	Introduce Winds and Dragons; explain that these are bonus tiles and demonstrate how to expose them, how to get replacement tiles, and how to get rewards.
Phase 5 – All Tiles plus Flowers	Random pile	5 plus a pair	17 tiles	Introduce Flowers; explain that these are bonus tiles and demonstrate how to expose them, how to get replacement tiles, and how to get rewards.
Phase 6 – All Tiles plus Flowers	Build walls	5 plus a pair	17 tiles	Introduce building walls, rolling the dice to break the wall, deal the tiles; play open hands to analyze each pick and discard and coach decision making (i.e., chow pung; one suit, bonus tiles)
Phase 7 – All Tiles plus Flowers	Build walls	5 plus a pair	17 tiles	Introduce scoring; play closed hands

Phase 1-5, introduce tiles and explain how they can be used.  Turn the tiles upside down then mix them.  Have each player take tiles from the pile.  Pick tiles from the random pile then discard. 

Progress to the next phase when players are comfortable with decision-making.