Mahjong. Mahjongg. Majiang. Mah-jong. Mah-jongg. If names are any indication, this game is as variated as it gets.

The game of Mahjong is played with differing rules, scoring system, and number of tiles – depending on where you’re at. This is part of the reason mahjong isn’t taking off globally like another Asian gambling favorite, baccarat. China in 1998 created international tournament rules in an attempt to standardize the game, but regional variations are too deeply entrenched to be replaced by the tournament version.

On the upside, the many variants of mahjong are a draw to serious gamblers. From Las Vegas to Macau to Russia to Britain, the game offers a good challenge to those in search of locally flavored casinos and gambling games. Even James Bond, most associated with baccarat, plays Mahjong in the Raymond Benson novel, Zero Minus Ten.

The oldest known form originated in China, its earliest evidence dating back to the Taiping Dynasty in the 1800s. The most common variation, Hong Kong Mahjong or Cantonese Mahjong, is only slightly different than Classical Chinese Mahjong.

Japanese Mahjong is mostly played in special Mahjong arcade machines; Nintendo made Mahjong sets first and computer games later. American Mahjong differs the most from Classical Chinese, and is widely a Jewish social game. Other known versions are Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Australian, and Fujian Mahjong.

The game of Mahjong is arguably most visible in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. Also, mahjong’s Red Dragon tile is featured in Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon and Manhunters, and for ’80s freaks out there, on the superhero costume of The Greatest American Hero.

How to Play Mahjong (In a Nutshell)

Given the many variations of mahjong, it is generally a game for four persons. The object of the game is to build complete suits from x number of tiles, wherein the first person to find the final winning tile that completes his own set wins the game. Thus, in a game played with 136 tiles, each player must complete a set of 17 tiles; in one with 152 tiles, each player must complete 19 tiles.

Players are initially dealt a majority of the tiles, and from the remaining undealt tiles, take turns drawing one tile at a time to build their suits. After a player draws a tile, he must discard another tile from his set in return. Another player may bid for the discarded tile to complete a meld, or a specific combination of tiles in his hand, and score points/money along the way.

There are three general types of meld. Pong/Pung is three identical tiles; American Mahjong accepts a Knitted Triplet, or three tiles of the same rank but different suits. Kong is four identical tiles, and once declared, can not be split up to form other melds. Chow is three tiles in sequence, of the same suit; American mahjong’s Knitted Sequence is three tiles in sequence, of different suits.

A set of tiles made up of several melds, and just one to three tiles short of winning, is a ready hand, or a hand on the pot.

Although Tournament Mahjong is disassociated with gambling, the game was originally incepted as a gambling game. The suits of Mahjong tiles bear marks tied to the Ancient Chinese currency system, and created a money-based play in which combinations were equal to certain amounts of Chinese coins.

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