Pung Chow - free ebook by Lew Lysle Harr

THE GAME OF A HUNDREDINTELLIGENCES

Copyright , 1922 By L. L. HARR Printed in the U. S. A....

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NOTE

Mr. L. L. Harr's skill in the game of Pung Chow has been acquired through more than twenty years of intimate contact with the business and official circles of cultured Chinese in Canton, Shanghai, Tientsin, Pekin and other centers of China. Mr. Harr has enjoyed more opportunity to mingle in polite Chinese society than any other European or American resident I knew in China. Mr. Harr, in consequence, was perhaps one of the first foreigners who learned the game from the best players in China. What

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INTRODUCTION

Out of China has come this stately game with the lure of Oriental mysticism to whet jaded appetites and with possibilities for study that challenge the keenest intelligence. There is a mysticism about the Oriental and his mode of life that challenges the imagination and induces a curiosity hard to decipher. The dress of the Chinese, their strange customs, their difficult language, and their apparently impenetrable mask-like faces appeal to the fancy and throw a veil of mystery around even the co

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SUMMARY OF THE GAME

Before going thoroughly into the details of the playing of the game, it is better to give a general view of the play and its object. Pung Chow is played by thoroughly shuffling all of the tiles face down in the middle of the table, and forming them in a double-tiered, hollow square, called the wall. This wall is then broken at some point determined by the dice and each player draws an original hand of 13 tiles. This leaves about two-thirds of the wall intact, and the rest of the play is devoted

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DESCRIPTION OF TILES

The game is played with 136 tiles, which are divided into four distinct and separate suits. These four suits are called the Bamboo , Dot , Character and Honor Suits . The first three of these suits score equally and are arranged in the same manner, that is, there are 36 tiles in each, numbering from one to nine, and there are four tiles of each numeral. The fourth suit, known as the honor suit, is divided into three parts: the Dragons , the Winds and the Mandarins . Of the Dragons , there are fo

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A. East Wind.

Position of the players for the first game is determined by a throw of the dice; all players throw once, the one throwing the highest number becoming first East Wind . In the event of a tie, players tieing throw again. The player sitting opposite East Wind will be known as West Wind , to the right of East Wind as South Wind , and the left of East Wind , as North Wind . The dice need only be thrown to determine East Wind for the first game of an evening's play, for if the player representing East

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B. Building and Breaking the Wall.

Before building the wall the tiles must all be turned face down on the table and thoroughly shuffled. Then each player proceeds to build one side of the wall by taking 34 of the tiles at random, and arranging them side by side in a row 17 tiles long and 2 tiers high. Each player then moves his side of the wall forward, the four sides forming a hollow square. This represents a Chinese wall or fort common in the protection of cities. To find the point at which the wall is to be broken, East Wind a

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C. Drawing the Original Hand:

Each player then draws the 13 tiles which go to make up his original hand. East Wind starts the drawing by taking the first four tiles (2 blocks of 2 each) at the beginning of the wall, the player on his right the next four and so on around the table three times which will give each player 12 tiles. Then one tile apiece is drawn in regular order giving every player 13 tiles, except East Wind who draws an extra tile as he must make the first discard....

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D. Playing the Hand:

Wall showing draw. Each player then takes his original hand and arranges it to suit his own convenience. It is advised, however, that he arrange it in suits in order to see at a glance, the value of any one tile to his hand in the drawing and discarding of which the rest of the game consists. When the hands have been arranged, East Wind starts the play by discarding any tile in his hand, face up in the center of the table. It is because of this first discard that he drew an extra tile. The play

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E. To Chow:

A player having two tiles in his hand which, together with the tile just discarded by the player before him (to his left), would form a sequence or run of three, may by announcing " Chow " pick up the discard, add it to the two in his hand, and place the three in sequence face up on the table to the right of his hand. This appropriating the discard serves as the player's draw and he must then discard and the play goes on in the usual manner. For example: If one has a 5-6 of character and the pla

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F. To Pung:

A player may also appropriate another player's discard to fill a set of three of a kind or four of a kind by announcing " Pung ." In order to do this, the player must have a pair , or three of a kind in his hand to match with the discard, thus completing three or four of a kind, which he places, as in the case of a " Chow ," to the right of his hand, face up on the table. For example: A player having a pair or three fives of the character suit, may pung when another player discards a five charac

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FOUR OF A KIND:

Before speaking of " four of a kind ," it is better to give the reason for exposing a set made up of a pair and a punged discard, and make clear at the same time, what is to be done when three of a kind are completed by draw. A set made up of a pair and a punged discard must be "exposed" by setting it out face up, on the table to the right of the players' tiles, first, to show to the other players that he had the required pair, which gave him the right to appropriate the discard, and secondly, t

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MAH-JONGG OR MAH-DIAO

As has been mentioned before when a player has matched his hand into four (4) sets and by a draw or a pung has mated the final pair he wins and announces " Mah-Jongg " or " Mah-Diao " (Dee-O), either being correct and in common usage, the latter being the most logical because of its English translation "mating the pair." A player must at all times during the game have thirteen (13) tiles, his draw every round momentarily giving him fourteen (14), his discard leaving him the thirteen (13). Then f

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SETTLING THE SCORES

When the first player to complete his hand calls " Mah-Jongg " the game is ended, and all players expose their hands and count up their scores. The winner of the game collects full value of his score from each of the other players and throwing his hand into the discard is thru for that game. The remaining three players then settle among themselves the difference of their scores, the high hand of the three collecting the difference between his score and each of the remaining two players. Then thr

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SUGGESTIONS FOR CAREFUL PLAYING OF HANDS

In a game of this nature where every hand is different from the preceding one and so much depends on the draw, it is very hard to lay down any specific rules of how it should be played. There are, however, a few points which would help if kept in mind during the play. A player should study his original hand and after the first few draws and discards form a general plan of what he is going to try and fill in his hand and decide on how high a score he will have a good chance of making. This will b

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(Flowers and Seasons)

The Mandarins , also called Flowers and Seasons , are eight in number, two for each of the four winds. They may be eliminated from the set and are not usually used in the play, as they add a large element of chance into the game. If they are used, each side of the wall is increased by two tiles, making each side a double tiered row of 18 tiles side by side. Then, if a player draws one of his own wind mandarins , he exposes it on the table and draws a "loose tile," the mandarin of his own wind pe

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SCORE CARD

It will be seen at a glance that the scoring values are divided into three parts. First, the bonus scores which only the winner can use; secondly, the combination scores which all four players can use; finally the doubling honors which all four players may use, so it is that in settling the scores the winner starts at the top with twenty (20) points for " Mah-Jongg " or for winning and goes down the list scoring ten points, if he has no sequence in his hand and so on thru the bonus scores, addin

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EXAMPLE OF HANDS AND HOW THEY ARE SCORED

Example No. 1 Example No. 1. In this hand the player punged the 2 dot which completed his hand, 20 for Mah-Jongg as the only bonus score he has because: 1. He has sequences. 2. He did not draw the winning piece. 3. He did not fill the only place to win. 4. He has other score than Mah-Jongg . 5. He did not win on a loose tile draw. In combination value, he has only two points for the set of three 2 dots, the sets of sequences helping complete the hand, but scoring nothing. There are no doubling h

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PLAYING WITH A LIMIT

Pung-Chow, as it has been described in the foregoing pages, represents the game as it is played with unlimited hands, that is where no limits are set on the number of points permissible in the score of a hand. It is impractical, however, to play with unlimited hands in a game where a stake has been set due to the inconsistencies of the winning hand scores; one may win with a hand of 200,000 points, whereas the ordinary or average winning hand numbers approximately only 500 to 1,000. On this acco

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The Limit Hand.

To keep the hands down to a reasonable amount when players are playing for stakes, the system of setting a limit as to the number of points that can be scored in a hand. This is usually 300 points; in games giving a bonus of 10 points for Mah-Jongg, and 400 in games giving a bonus of 20 points for Mah-Jongg. East Wind of course is liable for double the limit and at the same time may win as high as double the limit from each player. To non-winners settling their scores, settle the difference in t

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Washing the Tiles.

It is necessary before going into "Washing the Tiles" to explain the meaning of "Heads." A Head is a one, nine, wind or a dragon, and a hand containing 9 or more different "Heads" on the original hand drawn from the wall entitles the player to "Wash Tiles." He calls out "no play" and exposes his hand, collecting according to the following table: From each player When washing the tiles takes place, the tiles must be reshuffled and the wall built over. East Wind retains the "Cheung" (wind box) and

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BONUS SCORES

1. For Mah-Jongg or completing a hand a bonus is given and this is generally 10 points unless specially agreed upon to be so. 2. For winning hand of absolutely no scoring value than Mah-Jongg, 10 points is given as a bonus. 3. For winning tile drawn by the player himself from the last tile which may be drawn in the wall doubles the total score once (i.e., the 15th tile from the end of the wall). 4. Winning on a draw from a loose tile doubles total score once. 5. To win on first card played a bon

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LIMIT HANDS

A player holding a winning hand of any one of the following combinations receives from each of the players the full amount agreed upon. 1. A winning hand of single heads one only of each with a pair of heads different from the rest representing the final pair. Illustration No. 2 Illustration No. 2 2. A winning hand containing sets of heads only with a pair of heads as the final pair. Illustration No. 3 Illustration No. 3 3. A winning hand of four different sets of winds and any kind of a final p

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SCORING VALUES

[A] Count for winning hand only....

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EXPLANATION OF ITEMS IN THE TABLE OF SCORING VALUES

1. Pair of 2-8 punged to complete hand. A player must have four sets and a pair to win. The above scoring value is given if the pair is from 2 to 8 and if he pungs one of them to win. 2. Pair of 2-8 drawn to complete hand. This score is given as above when the player's extra pair is from 2-8, but he must match the pair by draw. 3. Pair of heads punged to complete hand. This four points is given when player pungs to match his final pair. 4. Pair of heads drawn to complete hand. This six points is

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DOUBLING HONOR SCORES

1. A set of a player's own wind doubles his total score once. 2. A set of a player's own wind in his own wind round doubles his total score twice. 3. A set of red dragons doubles his total score once. 4. A set of green dragons doubles his total score once. 5. A set of white dragons doubles his total score once. [B] 6. A hand of all one suit except winds or dragons doubles his total score once. [B] 7. A winning hand having no sequences in it doubles the total score once. This hand is known as "Te

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PENALTIES

1. In the event of a player announcing Mah-Jongg when his hand is not complete, the player making the error must pay to each of the other 3 players half of the limit. East Wind receiving full limit or paying full limit as the case may be. 2. The one discarding a tile that permits another player to win must bear the entire losses of all other players; if the player winning had any of the following four combinations of tiles exposed at the time of discarding, unless the discarder himself had two c

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EXAMPLE OF WINNING HANDS

Note: Arrow indicates tile which completed the hand in the following Examples. Limit Example No. 1 No. 1 Player is East Wind; South Wind round. Limit Example No. 2 No. 2 Player is North Wind in North Wind round. Player would collect 1280 from East Wind and 640 from other two winds. If his score 640 were over the limit he would collect double the limit from East and only the limit from South and West respectively. Limit Example No. 3 No. 3 North Wind—East Wind round. Player collects 104 from East

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TWO AND THREE-HANDED GAMES

Three or even two may play Pung Chow, though the game is essentially a four-handed affair. It is played by two or three people in exactly the same way that it is played by four, each player building up his own side of the wall and then combining to build the fourth side. This fourth side is regarded as the dummy wall. In the building and breaking down of the wall, East Wind acts for the dummy, throwing the dice for it whenever indicated. The three players then draw their original hand and ignore

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ERRATA

Page 24 . The concealed One of Circle in illustration 15 should be a One of Bamboo. Page 34 . Two points should be scored for a pair of Dragons in Example 3. Page 36 . In Example 7 the three Dragons completed by a pung should be exposed at right with the other three sets. Page 41 . Two points should be scored for a pair of Dragons in Example 14. Page 42 . At top of page, "Drew to complete hand" should read "Punged to complete hand." Page 44. In Example 18 the three Dragons completed by a pung sh

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