How to Win Mah Jong

While Mah Jong is a fun game to play, regardless of whether you win or lose, you will probably still want to know how to win at Mah Jong. Basically you are going to need to have two identical tiles and four Pung, Sheung or Kong cycles in order to win. In order to get here though you will need to have a lot of luck on your side and be willing to take risks since you don't know what tiles your opponents will get, what they will throw away or what they will hold onto.

Complete the Ngan cycle. In order to do this you will need 2 identical Mah Jong tiles (i.e. 2 "4 thousands," 2 red dragons). This should be your main priority since you will need it for every hand that you win at Mah Jong. You can complete this Mah Jong cycle by discarding any tiles that you don't need and picking up any Mah Jong tiles that are identical to the Mah Jong tiles that you already have.

Complete the Pung cycle. This Mah Jong cycle occurs whenever you have 3 identical cycles of any suits, dragons or winds (i.e. 3 red dragons or 3 "4 bamboos"). In order to complete your Pung cycle you will need to have 2 identical tiles in your hand when you see the other one in the discard pile. Discard a useless Mah Jong tile and pick up the one that you need.

Complete the Sheung cycle. For this Mah Jong cycle you will need to have a run of 3 Mah Jong tiles from the same suit (i.e. 7, 8 and 9 bamboos; 1, 2 and 3 circles). Complete your Sheung cycle by having 2 suits in a row and a third in the discard pile. Discard a useless Mah Jong tile in order to pick up the tile that will complete your cycle.

Complete the Kong cycle. This Mah Jong cycle occurs whenever you have 4 identical tiles in any suit (i.e. 4 "7 circles" or 4 "3 bamboos"). If you have 3 identical tiles in your hand and the fourth is in the discard pile, discard a useless tile and pick up the 1 that will complete your cycle.

There are numerous strategies that you can use to win at Mah Jong. However, this is basically what is required of you in order to win at Mah Jong.