Hong Kong Mahjong with My Mother in Law: Part 5 - Playing the Game

[@yolorodriguez4794]

Still one of the best tutorial videos for the Hong Kong rules. My mother is very grateful for your easy to understand explanation. We are all from the US and play regularly!

[@dimaskurnia6972]

Now, i just need to find 3 friends

[@kint92]

Love the mix of english and canto! I'm learning Cantonese so that's also quite useful 😄

[@plushbatfan]

My grandmother passed away back in January of 2013. Mah Jong is one of her favorite games. She has lived to the age of 94. I missed her very much, but I still keep some of her sewing kits to fulfill my memory. ☹️

[@suelee3391]

😪Sorry for your loss. The age of 94 seems that your grandma has lived a very well long life, indeed.😓

[@CantoneseCorner]

I am so sorry to hear of your loss, and very glad you have happy memories and her "sewing kits" to warm your heart. Thanks for sharing and a big hug to you. 🤗

[@amandabridge8194]

I have an 80s Majong set I got in the charity shop but not attempted to play as got overwhelmed by the instructions. Your play through and instructions with your mother-in-law have made this much simpler and I know want to play (as well as get a proper Mahjong set). Thank you to you both 😊xx

[@JL..]

really love the detailed step by step explanation of the strategy of choosing which tile to discard It helps when you compare which tile gives points vs which doesnt, and likelihood (due to already discarded tiles) before discarding as a beginner thats quite hard to grasp unless your competition is willing to teach you haha would like to hear more about point system and winning sets (which combination are better, chances, etc)

[@helenhall6787]

This is the best mahjong tutorial on here! Please do more. I am very new to mahjong and at last through watching your youtube I am beginning to understand this facinating game. Thank you.

[@CantoneseCorner]

Hi Helen! Sorry for my delayed reply and thank you so much for your support! My mother-in-law will be so happy to know we're making a difference and helping you learn. Will be doing more just as soon as I can get back to HK! :) Happy playing!

[@mmsklee]

This was awesome video! Thanks for taking the time to explain everything step-by-step!

[@jordanjennings1375]

Loving your Mahjong series! Would love to see a video on how to score winning hands for the Chinese version of Mahjong

[@CantoneseCorner]

Thanks so much for commenting! It made me realise I haven't replied to anyone on this video and I have no idea why. 😅 I'm so glad you like our little series and you'll be happy to know that yes! I'm planning to do a scoring video. Sadly, I'm "stuck" in the US now so can't film with my m-in-law who is in Hong Kong, but I am calling her to ask her advice, so think I can have her audio if not video. Have been playing quite a bit of mahjong with the kids now that we're under stay-at-home orders ... hope you have been enjoying playing the game too! :)

[@Codynstef21]

Great video

[@717mimi]

This is very useful for a beginner like me! Thank you so much! Hopefully to see more of this kind of video! =)

[@petercorier8766]

Love it. Your mother in law is adorable

[@darinhyasaintanne8782]

Thank you very much for these videos! I was trying to undestand the game and couldn't until I watched you explaining it. You two make a good team at this. Great and passionate teachers! I'll keep following you from the Canary Islands ;)

[@CantoneseCorner]

Thank YOU for taking the time to comment and for such lovely compliments. My mother-in-law will so pleased to know we've helped you understand this amazing game. Happy playing! :)

[@lexaaxel916]

This was so great to watch. Yes, you both should do another one. This way, we can see the thought process behind each moment in the game. :) 恭喜to your mother-in-law! :D

[@prawnchips9461]

And maybe play with the flower tiles. But the chances are low, huh?

[@CantoneseCorner]

Thanks!! Sorry it's taken me a year to reply to your comment ... have no idea how I missed all the comments on this video! 😅 You have no idea how many times I've lost to her LOL But it's always fun to play. Hope all is well and happy with you!

[@CantoneseCorner]

@@prawnchips9461 Hi there! I'll be doing a video on scoring soon and will include a bit about the flower tiles. Stay tuned!

[@natbugrock]

This was fun to watch

[@patriciakhor6028]

Nice and friendly ladies. Step- by -step strategy explanation is v helpful. Appreciate it, 💐Can we have more of these demonstration-tutorials?

[@CantoneseCorner]

Hi Patricia! Sorry for my slow reply. Am headed back to HK soon and am looking forward to doing some more tutorials with my mother-in-law. After mandatory quarantine and settling in, I expect in August we should be able to get together and do more. Stay tuned! :)

[@aprilsaavedra2727]

This was nice to see it from a players point of view

[@ddo5583]

great explanations thank you so much

[@kcheng9893]

Wow I miss the mahjong playing with my friends so much

[@lisalovelylpa]

This is the best I seen on KZbin yet ! I hope you and your mother n law are doing fine and in good health. My mom used to love Mahjong but I never played , now I want to play LoL , so , looking for players amongst my friends , family or anyone that walks by my gallery !!!!

[@CantoneseCorner]

Thank you! And thanks for the well wishes! We're doing OK ... but me in the US still and she back in Hong Kong. I'm hoping to get back there soon! If we were closer, I would love to play with you ... as it is now, there are only three of us at home, so not too bad ... playing full set with three people still works :) Hope you're doing OK now that most of us are under stay at home orders, and I imagine your gallery may be one of the businesses that had to close to customers coming inside? Wishing you all the best and hope you're able to play and take your mind off all that's going on!

[@lisalovelylpa]

Cantonese Corner smile Oh, I still work my day job , killing viruses , my art gallery is doing ok , lol , it’s online mostly in virtual with occasional spirits visiting , but they are mostly pests spirits and make more trouble then buy art. But they keep me company ! LoL

[@hillmoon9833]

Master mind game💃💖🕺💃💖🕺💃💖🕺💃💖🕺🎥📽️

[@huynhh7068]

These videos are amazing and so useful! I haven't played mahjong since I was 12 and I'm trying to re-learn (and my Cantonese is SO rusty....) Thank you so much to you and your mother in law for making them :)) I had a question about 上牌 (seuhng pai, or the sequence of three). Going through English-language resources online, I often see it written as "chow" or "chi", and I'm not sure what dialect that term draws from. Would you happen to know what it is in Cantonese, and if it's used often? (I once saw it in a forum as 次).

[@rich212123]

excellent video. Enjoy watching it. Thank you. So, how many points did your mother-in-law win? I think 4 points...all same suits is 3 points and 1 point for the south wind. Am I correct ??

[@johnfu9073]

Excellent tutorial excellent teachers!

[@CantoneseCorner]

Thank you!!

[@almacohen7952]

Hello Cantonese Corner, I recently bought a set to learn how to play Chinese Mah Jongg. The set came with 8 flowers but the instructions say that they no longer use flowers in the game. Is that so? Thanks, Texas girl

[@CantoneseCorner]

Hi Texas girl! :) So happy to hear you bought a mahjong set and yes, flowers are part of a traditional set and I think it's strange that they include them but then say they no longer use them?? That's weird! You most definitely can use them if you want ... they're just good for extra points, which are calculated just like the "wind" tiles ... so like if you're in the "east" seat (you started the round by discarding first) then you'll get an extra point for the #1 flower tiles (and nothing if you happen to draw the other numbered tiles). So if you're in the East seat you want #1 flowers, South seat = #2, West seat = #3 and North seat = #4. Also.... if you're playing with the flowers, you must immediately display them if you have them in your hand when you first take tiles from the wall or if you pick one from the wall as you play. But then because you always must have 13 tiles in your hand, you have to replace the displayed flower tiles by taking from the last tiles in the wall (NOT from where you draw during the game -- but from the very end of the wall). Also, since there are 8 flower tiles in total, when building the wall, you obviously will have 18 tiles in each row of the wall instead of 17. To be honest, we seldom play with the flowers because they're kind of like extra work for no real reward when we're just playing for fun (and not for high stakes money LOL). I don't know much about the history of why flowers were included to begin with ... I'll have to ask my mother in law :) Thanks so much for commenting ... I'm working on recording a scoring video and I'll definitely include a part about the flowers! Happy playing!

[@almacohen7952]

Cantonese Corner, thank you so much for a detailed reply. I am still in the process of learning,American Mah Jongg and love it.. So much more detail with its Charlestons etc. You were right when you said Cantonese or Chinese would be the easiest to learn. This version reminds me of Gin Rummy except this is much more enjoyable without all the rules of AMJ. With "Social Distancing" right now my husband and I are playing Michelle Frizzell's version of 2 person American Mah Jongg. With the Chinese rules😳. Thank you again for your prompt reply. Texas Girl

[@Mimi-vu1qt]

I’m looking to buy a set of (Chinese) Mahjong do you have any recommendations on brands/sets?

[@mrcochino281]

At 15:06 your motherinlaw said if someone had a pair of 7 bam then they cant pong because the player before you discarded a 7 bam and you discarded fast another 7 bam . But the player can just pong yours because you can pong at anytime. Am I right or wrong?

[@CantoneseCorner]

My mother-in-law always taught me that it is "wrong" to wait to pong if two are released in succession. Others may play differently and allow it, but I think she sees it as "throwing the game" at the worst and just not good playmanship at best. I'll try to explain why! OK, so if you could pong the first time, why didn't you? You had the same hand all along, but if you missed your chance to pong the first time, and the tile you need to pong comes out a second time right after the first player discarded it, it unfairly disadvantages the second player who released the tile needed to pong because they may not have discarded that tile had the first player not discarded it -- what I mean is that because player 1 discarded the tile, the second player can be sure that it is also "safe" to discard the tile. But then the second player finds that it wasn't safe because all of a sudden player 3 or 4 decides now he/she is going to pong. So the tile wasn't "safe" after all, which is rather unfair and not in keeping with the idea that if the player to your left discards a tile, you are also "safe" to discard a tile from being ponged or won on. This is a key component of the game -- the idea that if the player to your left discards a tile that is in "danger" of being a winning tile, you can be sure that your'e safe to also discard that tile without someone "ponging" or "winning". (This is true especially once one or more players are near a winning hand.) The same would obviously be true if player 1 has three of a kind in his/her hand and discards one of the tiles. (maybe he/she is trying to have all one suit in their hand and discard the red dragon, for example). Player 2 also discards the red dragon (meaning player 1 still has two red dragons left in his/her hand, and now two red dragons are on the discard pile.) All of a sudden, player 1 decides he has made a mistake in discarding the red dragon and pongs the second player's discarded red dragon. This is also obviously also not allowed. And if you're playing the game so that the person who discards the winning tile pays for all players, then you can see why someone would be really unhappy to have to pay out when they lost on a tile that was assumed to be "safe". I hope that makes sense and helps! Thanks for asking -- that's a really good question!

[@anneco1779]

Hi, thanks for these tutorials! Question: At any point in the game, if a player has a certain tile (eg. 1 bamboo) then draws a similar tile (another 1 bamboo) from the wall, can they keep it to make a pair of the same tiles (eyes)? Or can they only do that to win the game?

[@CantoneseCorner]

Anne Co Hi there and thanks for watching! The answer is yes! You can a tile from the wall (when it’s your turn of course!) to match one you have in your hand and keep them to use as the “eyes” and then win with a three of a kind or the missing tile of a run. And if it’s early enough in the game that tile you saved to make the eyes might turn into a three-of-a-kind (pong!) and then you’ll be back to looking for your “eyes” 👀😁 HOWEVER! if you meant to ask: “can you take a tile the player to your left just discarded and keep it in your hand, the answer is obviously no since if you pick up a discarded tile you MUST display it! I hope that makes sense and is helpful! 🙏

[@anneco1779]

Cantonese Corner Thanks for your reply! That totally makes sense, except what is a “run”? 😃

[@JL..]

@@anneco1779 sequence of 3

[@argonwheatbelly637]

This is how I played in college, essentially.

[@natbugrock]

Please, please. Where can I get that table top.

[@CantoneseCorner]

I"m pretty sure my mother-in-law just picked it up in one of the household goods shops here in Hong Kong! I've had to make do with using the mats on a regular table, but that's never as good!

[@jaythefishman41]

Did I misunderstand? Did you say that you can use only one suit to make mahjong in Hong kong version of the game? I our version, you can make a mahjong using all suits. Of course, you get more points for using just one suit.

[@joshdaymusiced]

So, this is something that confuses me. Can you not get a Mahjong with a mixed suit? I thought one suit just got you extra points. Are you guys striving for it to get the point bonus, or can you only win with one suit?

[@CantoneseCorner]

Hi Josh! Yes ... we are playing where you have to get “sāam fāan” (three points) to win and a one-suit hand gives you that automatically so that’s why we stressed going for one suit only. (You can technically also get three points with a mixed suit hand, for example with two points for a double wind or all three-of-a kind, but for the sake of demonstration and to make it easier to understand we went with the one-suit only.) If you’re playing where you can win with less than three points then anything goes! Hope that helps! Happy playing! 🀄️🎉

[@marisaksaunders]

which set is this?

[@fungkeihung]

even julia robets knows how to play mahjong.

[@richardlam8919]

👍😁

[@tszwahyeung1410]

「自摸！」以前喺啲姨媽姑姐側跟做小二，而家諗起哩個詞怪怪哋，佢哋仲嗌得咁大聲咁興奮 :)

[@CantoneseCorner]

Hi Tszwah ... I can't believe I am only now seeing your comment! What a funny memory :) 自摸 is the best way to win 🎉

[@chenwenhua2269]

I think too much talk, I hope more play.