HOW TO PLAY

How to play

Welcome to Dora Mahoong where you can play and interact with other Mahjong players all over the world

You can choose to play at our single hand tables with 2, 3 or 4 players, Full Games or multi table tournaments. Join a table or tournament with the denomination that suits you best. We offer Chinese Classic, International and Riichi rules. You can play either with real money or for fun.

Rule Sets

  • Riichi – Japanese Riichi; Kansai style three player Riichi; EMA Riichi as defined by the European Mahjong Association. All without red fives.

Game Types

  • Single Hand – a single hand of Mahjong; no wind rotation and no prevalent wind. The fastest game, but with less strategy as point score is reset after each hand.
  • East Only – about four hands, east is always the prevalent wind. Faster than full games but with greater strategic element than single hands.
  • Full Game – full four-round game. Takes longer to play, but strategy is key; winning with a good hand can offset a few losses.
  • In a multi-table tournament, a large number of players sign up and play against each other in a series of games. There are two types of Multi table tournaments: Shootout and Regular (time based).

Mahjong Guidelines and Game Policy

General Lobby Rules

  • Players should respect the other participants and chat in a way that is appropriate. Threatening or insulting any player, visitor, or employee, using obscene language or profanity or racist or anti-religious remarks is strictly forbidden and will lead to the player being banned from the chat.
  • Any play that is deemed unethical, such as team play will result in the player(s) being disqualified from the tournament and the account(s) being frozen
  • Players may not discuss their tiles with other players, doing so may lead to the player being banned from the site.
  • In case of disputes Dora Mahjong management decisions will be final.

Commission to the Operator (Rake)

Red Dragon Mahjong is a Mahjong room, not a casino. That means that you play against other players over the Internet, not against the house. We receive compensation by taking a "commission", which is a small amount of money defined as a fixed fee or a percentage of the net win depending on game type.

Single hand/east only 10% of net win/pot*
Full Game 15% of net win/pot*
Multi table tournament Fee for each tournament, which is 10% of the buy-in up to a buy-in of $500, after which it becomes a fixed fee.

*net win/pot example= If there are 4 players and each player put in $1 into the pot then the total pot will be $4, the commission will be $0.3 for a single hand/east only and $0.45 for a full game.

Single Hand

This game mode is a quick one-hand game where the monetary settlement is done at the end of each hand. Single hand games can be played by 2, 3 or 4 players. In single hand games, the goal is to form a valid mahjong hand as quickly as possible. The value of the hand has no influence on who wins.

To play a single hand game, you pay the fee for the table, which will let you join the table and start the first hand. The player that declares mahjong first wins the amount paid by the other players, and a new hand begins. For each new hand, the fee for the table is paid again to form a new pot.

Some rules that are only sensible for complete games of mahjong, are not used for single hand games. These differences are:

  • Prevailing wind is not used.
  • The deal is always rotated regardless of how the previous hand ended.
  • No riichi or counter sticks are left on the table between hands (only applicable for riichi rules). The values of the sticks go back to their owners.

The player that declares Mahjong wins the combined table wager. Players pay their bet if the win is on self-draw. In case of a win on discard, the discarding player pays double and the other players pay half.

Disconnection and Inactivity
If the player gets disconnected or fails to take any action for two consecutive rounds the player will automatically be deactivated. This means that you will sit out as long as you are disconnected. When a disconnected player’s connection is reinstated the player can continue to play.

Cancellation
If a game is cancelled or freezes we refund each player his bet.

Full Game

In this mode a full game of mahjong, which stretches over several hands, is played. The game is divided into a number of rounds. (Two for riichi, and four for classical and competition rules.) During a round, the winds are rotated from player to player, until all players have played in all winds. This signifies that the round has come to an end.Each round has a prevailing wind. The first round is the east round, and the following is the south round. For riichi, there are only these two rounds, while the classical and the international competition rules also have a west and a north round.

To play in a full game, you pay the bet for the table, which will let you join the table with a set amount of points. After all players have been seated, the game starts with the first of a series of hands, and at the end of each hand points are settled between the players.When the game has ended the player with the most points receives the pot that is paid by the other players, minus the commission (rake).

Disconnection and Inactivity
If the player gets disconnected or fails to take any action for two consecutive rounds the player will automatically be deactivated. This means that you will sit out as long as you are disconnected. When a disconnected player’s connection is reinstated the player can continue to play.

Cancellation
If a game is cancelled or freezes we refund each player his bet.

East Only

East only is our new four player fast game where all players plays one round as the east wind. East Only is essentially a variation of the full game but it takes less time to play – about 15 minutes. – about four hands, east is always the prevalent wind. Faster than full games but with greater strategic element than single hands.

Disconnection and Inactivity
If the player gets disconnected or fails to take any action for two consecutive rounds the player will automatically be deactivated. This means that you will sit out as long as you are disconnected. When a disconnected player’s connection is reinstated the player can continue to play.

Cancellation
If a game is cancelled or freezes we refund each player his bet.

Multi Table Tournaments

In a multi-table tournament, a large number of players sign up and play against each other in a series of games. There are two types of Multi table tournaments:

  • A Shootout Tournament is divided into successive rounds. The top 1 or 2 ranked players (depending on tournament setup) on each table progress to the next round while the other two players are eliminated from the tournament. As rounds progress, the number of players and tables decrease, and the final round consists of four players who plays at the final table. The winner of the final table is the overall champion.
  • In a Regular tournament you play as many hands as possible in a predefined amount of time, so the game may end in mid-hand. After each game, the player receives table points according to their positions in the game and the totals of these points are used to determine the winner of the tournament.

To participate in a multi-table tournament you click on Register to sign up for the tournament. The tournament fee is withdrawn from your account when a sufficiently large number of players have signed up to the tournament. Some time before the tournament starts, the registration will close, and beyond that point, no further registration will be accepted.

When the tournament starts, you will automatically be placed at your first table, and the game will begin. It is important that you are logged in when the tournament starts, otherwise you will lose your place in the tournament and your entrance fee will be lost. After each round there is a short pause and then you will automatically be seated at your next table, where you will meet new opponents in the following game.