Filipino Mahjong is a four-player game using a traditional 108-tile set. This guide explains the full game flow, tile rules, claiming priority, joker usage, and the pot system.
For best understanding, watch Kling & Jhat’s live games while reading along.
Filipino Mahjong uses only suited tiles for forming hands: Circles (Dots), Bamboo, and Characters — 36 tiles per suit, for a total of 108 tiles.
Before the game begins, the dealer rolls the dice to determine the wall break and reveal the Joker.
The Joker acts as a wild tile and may substitute for any needed tile to complete a chow, pung, kong, or pair. In this ruleset, the Joker is fully open unless house rules state otherwise.
• Each player always maintains 16 tiles in hand.
• A winning hand must contain exactly 17 tiles.
After completing a set or failing to win, the player discards one tile to return to 16 tiles.
A standard winning hand consists of 5 sets (chow, pung, or kong) and 1 pair.
If multiple players call the same type, priority goes to the next player in turn order.
Chow may only be claimed by the next player counter-clockwise.
• The pot starts at 5.
• If no one claims the pot, all players add +1 for the next round.