Mah Jongg: Making Kong

Picking Up Discarded Tiles for a Pung

A "Pung" is three identical tiles.

Example

There are two ways to make a Pung:

By picking up a tile discarded by any player, if a Pung this made this way it is known as an Exposed Pung and it will be placed above a player's stake for all other players to see. The hand will then continue from the player who has made the Exposed Pung.

You can make Pungs if you wish from tiles you have been dealt. If you do this the Pung is known as a Concealed Pung and can stay in your hand.

Note 1

A player can turn an Exposed Pung into an Exposed Kong only if the player is DEALT a tile that is identical to the tiles in the Exposed Pung. When this happens the Exposed Kong will be displayed above the player's stake and the player will be dealt a replacement tile. The Game then continues from the player who has just made the Exposed Kong.

Note 2

There are some circumstances when you are not allowed to pick up a discarded tile to make a Pung. This occurs when two or more players want to pick up the same discarded tile.

Picking Up Discarded Tiles for a Kong
A "Kong" is four identical tiles.

Exposed Kong

Concealed Kong

There are three ways to make a Kong:

By having three identical tiles on your stake and picking up the 4th tile from any player. If you make a Kong this way it is called an Exposed Kong and it will be placed above your stake for all other players to see. You will notice that one tile at the end of the Exposed Kong is displayed face downwards to indicate that it is an Exposed Kong. The player who makes the Exposed Kong is now dealt a replacement tile and the hand continues from this player.

You can also make a Kong by having three identical tiles on your stake and from having the 4th identical tile dealt to you (this is called a Concealed Kong). If you make a Concealed Kong the tiles will be placed above your stake and you will notice that the tiles at either end of the Concealed Kong are placed face downward to indicate a Concealed Kong. The player who makes the Concealed Kong is now dealt a replacement tile and the hand will continue from this player.

You can turn an Exposed Pung into an Exposed Kong by having the 4th tile that you need to complete the Kong being dealt to you. You cannot pick up a discarded tile from another player to turn an Exposed Pung into an Exposed Kong.

In some exceptional circumstances you can make a Kong to go Mah Jongg - see the section on Special Hands for further information.

Note
There are circumstances when you are not allowed to pick up a discarded tile to make a Kong - this occurs when two or more players want to pick up the same discarded tiles.

Picking Up Discarded Tiles for a Kong
A "Kong" is four identical tiles.

Picking Up Discarded Tiles for a Pung
A "Pung" is three identical tiles.

Example

By picking up a tile discarded by any player, if a Pung this made this way it is known as an Exposed Pung and it will be placed above a player's stake for all other players to see. The hand will then continue from the player who has made the Exposed Pung.

You can make Pungs if you wish from tiles you have been dealt. If you do this the Pung is known as a Concealed Pung and can stay in your hand.

Note 1

A player can turn an Exposed Pung into an Exposed Kong only if the player is DEALT a tile that is identical to the tiles in the Exposed Pung. When this happens the Exposed Kong will be displayed above the player's stake and the player will be dealt a replacement tile. The Game then continues from the player who has just made the Exposed Kong.

Note 2

There are some circumstances when you are not allowed to pick up a discarded tile to make a Pung. This occurs when two or more players want to pick up the same discard

Picking Up Discarded Tiles for a Kong
A "Kong" is four identical tiles.

A Dead Hand

If all tiles up to the last 14 tiles plus the Loose Tiles, the Kong Box, are played, then the Hand is finished and there are no winners. This is called a dead hand and usually occurs when players are collecting the same tile suits and it is regarded as a "no-win" situation.

In such cases, players scores are not calculated and the hand is considered finished. The Game continues with the next Hand.

A Player goes Mah Jongg

The hand is finished when somebody goes Mah Jongg. The complete Mah Jongg hand includes both Exposed sets (displayed above a player's stake) and Concealed tiles (kept on a player's stake). The tiles in the Mah Jongg hand will (with exceptions - see Special Hands for further information), consist of:

Four sets of either a Kong, Pung or a Chow, and a pair of identical tiles.

As soon as a player completes his or her hand they would normally call out "Mah Jongg" and all players Expose their hands ready for scoring. The player who goes Mah Jongg does not discard the final tile that they used in order to go Mah Jongg. Thus 14 tiles are needed to go Mah Jongg.