HLR — Harbin Limiting Rules

Brief Introduction to Limiting Mahjong (Harbin Limiting Rules)

(Presented by Ourgame on 12 March, 2016)

 

Limiting Mahjong, which is called “Qionghu” in Chinese, is the only popular Mahjong rule in Northeast China. Northeast China consists of 3 provinces(Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning), of which the population is more than 100 million.

Harbin is the capital city of Heilongjiang Province, and the center of Northeast Asia in geography. For Limiting Mahjong, the rule in Harbin is the most representative.

In logic, Limiting Mahjong is quite different from other Mahjong rules in China. Other than making special patterns to get more points, Limiting Mahjong players must meet the “Limiting Conditions” to win, the winning score has little association to the pattern.

Limiting Mahjong is popular in Northeast China since 1970s. It seems that Limiting Mahjong is developed from basic Mahjong rule at that time. Besides Sichuan Bloody Rules, Harbin Limiting Rules is the most characteristic and competitive local Mahjong rule in China.

1. The tiles

1) All 108 suit tiles (characters, dots, bamboos) are presented.

2) For honor tiles, only 4 red dragon tiles are presented. The total number or tiles is 112.

2. Claiming a tile

1) Chow, pung and kong claiming are allowed.

2) The fourth set of chow, pung or kong claiming is not allowed.

3. Dora

1)After all the four players get 13 or 14 tiles(the start of a hand)，the first tile to draw is dora. This tile should be placed on the end of the wall, concealed.

2)A player can check the dora only after he has claimed “ready”.

3)If all the other three dora tiles are seen on the table(chow, pung or discard)，this dora should be changed. The new dora is the last tile on the wall.

4)Dora can be used ONLY for self-draw winning. In other conditions, dora is a normal tile, which is different from Japanese Riichi Mahjong.

4. Ready claiming

1)When a player is ready to win(without only one tile to win), he should claim “ready”. Only the players who have claimed “ready” have the right to win a hand.

2)After ready claiming, the ready player can not change the tiles. Chow, pung and kong are not allowed. The ready player can check the dora.

3)When a player claims ready, his hand should meet all the “limiting conditions”, or he can not win the hand.

4)Chow(pung) ready: A player can chow(pung) a tile and claim ready at the same time. If he claims “chow(pung) ready”, the tile can from any other player. Chow(pung) ready is prior to pung or kong. If more than one player claims chow(pung) ready, the priority is decided by the order of seats.

5.Limiting conditions

1)At least one pung: A hand with 4 sets of chows is not allowed to win.

2)At least one chow: A hand with 4 sets of pungs or kongs is not allowed to win.

3)At least one melding: No melding hand is not allowed to claim ready.

4)At least one terminal or red dragon: A hand(13 tiles) without terminal or red dragon is not allowed to claim ready.

5)At least two suits: A hand with only one suits and red dragon is not allowed to win.

6)At most three meldings: The fourth set of chow, pung or kong claiming is forbidden.

6. Winning

1)There is only one type of winning hand: basic winning (4 sets of chows, pungs and kongs and a pair).

2)Winning hand should meet all the “limiting conditions” and has been claimed ready.

3)Multiple winning declared on the same discard is not allowed. The priority is decided by the order of seats.

7. End of a hand

1)A hand ends when a player claims winning.

2)If there are only 8 tiles on the wall, this hand comes to the last turn. In the last turn, players can declare winning(self-draw), but does not discard. When there are only 4 tiles on the wall and no one declares winning, this hand ends.

8. Dealer rotation

1) The dealer changes in turn.

2) The dealer will not change if he win this hand.

9. Scoring

The scoring of Limiting Mahjong is only decided by the way of winning.

1) Winning by ready discard: if the discarder has claimed ready, the winner takes 1 point from each opponent who didn’t win. The total benefit is 3 points.

2) Winning by not-ready discard: if the discarder has not claimed ready, the winner takes 3 points from the discarder, and 1 point from the other two players. The total benefit is 5 points.

3) Winning by self-draw: the winner takes 2 points from each opponent who didn’t win.

4) Winning by dora self-draw: If a ready-claimed player draw a dora tile, he can claim winning, and takes 3 points from each opponent who didn’t win. The total benefit is 9 points.

5) Winning by doradora self-draw: if a ready-claimed player draw a dora tile, the dora is just his waiting tile, and the wait is one tile wait for a holed sequence, it is called “doradora self-draw”, takes 6 points from each opponent who didn’t win. The total benefit is 18 points.

10. Optional Rules

1) Holed waiting double: if a ready-claimed player wins by a tile waited for a hole sequence, his benefit will be doubled. For the holed waiting, one tile wait is not necessary. If a holed waiting player draw a dora, his benefit will also be doubled.

2) No melding punishment: when one player wins and one or more other players keep no melding, the no-melding players should pay at least 3 points to the winner.

3) Shooting punishment: when the winner wins by not-ready discard, the discarder will pay the total points which the winner should take from the three who didn’t win.