After one player discards, the man on his right, who has the next turn, has the option of taking the piece discarded to make the third of a run (chow) or the third to a pair (pung) or of drawing the next piece from the "wall".

All pieces discarded and lying face up in the middle of the table, except the last one discarded, are "dead" and cannot be used.

Figure 1: A Chow

A player can take a discard to form a sequence only if that discard comes from the player to one's left. When a set is formed with a discard, this is a melded set, and must be placed face up in front of the player, with the discarded tile placed at a right angle to the adjacent tile(s).

Only the man to the right of the discarder has the right to "Chow" for a run or sequence in this way.

A player who wishes to "Chow" a piece must give way to another player, who can "pung" (see below) that piece, except when that piece completes his hand for game.

If the sequence is drawn from the wall, it should not be declared, and may remain concealed. From a scoring perspective chows merely help to complete a hand and score no points, but keeping them concealed gives opponents no information about ones hand or how close one is to going out.

Figure 2: A Pung

A player has a pair of identical tiles in hand and a third is either discarded or drawn from the wall. Unlike chow, a pung may be declared on a discard regardless of whether it is the player's turn, and any players in line to go are skipped. Play continues to the right.

Should a player discard a piece and any other player have a pair of this same piece, even though out of his own turn, he may say "Pung" and place this discarded piece with the pair (or triplet, see kong below) from his own hand face up in front of him on the table, making 3 of a kind.

He then discards from his hand to keep the number of his pieces correct (13 in number). Then the play carries on to the right of the one who "Punged" and the other player or players lose their turn to draw.

A "Pung" can only be made for three of a kind and not for a run or a pair, the exception being at the end of the game, when the one who "Pungs" requires only this one tile to fill a run or sequence or to make a final pair to complete his hand for game. A "Pung" which completes a hand takes precedence over ANY other "Pung" (or "Chow"). In case the same discarded piece is required to complete hands for two or three players, the player has the right to "Pung" it who sits nearest the player who discarded the piece, counting in order of play, anti-clockwise.

Concealed pungs should not be declared (pungs melded by drawing from "the wall"). Pungs score points and concealed sets are more valuable than exposed ones from a scoring perspective.

Figure 3: A Kong

There are three ways to get a "Kong":

1. from a triplet in hand plus one discarded tile



2. a triplet in hand and one drawn from the wall



3. a melded triplet and a tile drawn from the wall.

One cannot make a "Kong" from a melded "Pung" and a discard. No kong can have more than one discard.

If the "Kong" is concealed, the player must declare it so he can draw from the dead wall ... else the balance of sets is disturbed. But, in this case, the player will still get credit for a concealed kong if he wins. When the concealed kong is shown, it is shown with the two inside tiles face-up, and the two outside tiles, face down.

Sometimes a player holds 4 of a kind in his hand for a time, instead of declaring it at once, hoping to use the pieces or part of them to complete one or more sequences. This is allowable and is sometimes useful.

But if another player completes his hand and wins, the 4 of a kind left in the hand counts only as "3 of a kind", or one-fourth what it would count if it had been declared and promptly placed on table.

It is, obviously, impossible for a hand to be completed for mah jong with 4 of a kind in the hand, as a winning hand must consist of 4 sets of 3 and one pair. Each set of four must be on table and a "loose tile" drawn for each before hand can be completed.

The total number of pieces held by each player, including those he/she has in hand and on table must always be 13; except that for every 4 of a kind a player holds, he will have one more piece than 13. If a player has one 4 of a kind, he will therefore have in all 14 pieces.

A player may Rob a Kong if he/she needs one tile to go out, and another player makes a melded four with that tile by drawing it from the wall (adding it to a previously melded concealed triplet). That tile may be taken to go "out".

• Pung has precedence over chow
• Kong has precedence over pung
• Mah jong, or "going out", has highest precedence