Your family gatekept this game for years.
We’re opening the table.
No Ambition Tile Club isn’t about winning—it’s about showing up. Our rules: Filipino style, beginner friendly, no points, no betting, no fear of mistakes or losing. Come as a stranger. Leave as someone’s future mahjong nemesis.
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Filipino mahjong is a 16-tile variant of Chinese mahjong that treats honor tiles as “flowers” and has a different deal system.
While the deal is more complicated, the basics can be picked up in a few rounds.
Each family and club has their own house rules. This is how we teach and play Filipino-style mahjong (no betting, no points) at No Ambition Tile Club.
SETUP & DEALING
BUILD WALLS. Shuffle tiles face down. Each player makes a wall 18 tiles long x 2 tiles high, forming a square.
You will often see a setup where each wall is offset at an angle from the third tile of the wall it is connected to. While this is not necessary in Filipino style it does make it easier to visually see where to start counting tiles from.
FIND DEALER. Everyone rolls dice. Highest roll = Dealer. Dealer re-rolls, then counts players counter-clockwise starting with themselves to find whogoes first (First Player = Mano NOT DEALER).
In Filipino style, Dealer/the highest roller is not or the first player (Mano), but is the player that will determine who the first player is.
The first player, Mano will determine where the wall breaks and receive an extra tile. They will initiate play by discarding a tile once the flower round is complete.
BREAK THE WALL. Mano picks someone else’s wall. Selected player counts tiles from right to left, going clockwise (right-to-left) based on dice roll, then removes those 2 tiles, and stacks them on top to the right (this becomes the "Flower Wall"). Deal starts from the left side of the break. Players get dealt 8 tiles at a time.
It can be a bit confusing at first, but players play counter-clockwise, tiles are dealt and drawn clockwise.
DEAL TILES. Deal counter-clockwise starting with Mano. Everyone gets two rounds of 8 tiles (16 tiles total). Mano then gets 1 extra = 17 total.
Filipino style it is common to deal tiles to other players, but in some styles it is bad luck to touch other players’ tiles.
Players will also often rearrange the remaining walls into a smaller square for more room, but it is not required.
FLOWER ROUND
Before playing, take out all non-suit tiles. Keep only: Characters, Bamboo, Dots.
Winds, Dragons, & Seasons are all considered Flowers in Filipino style. These should be set aside, face up to replace.
Starting with Mano, replace any flowers in your hand by drawing from the Flower Wall. Repeat rotation counter-clockwise until no flowers remain.
HOW TO PLAY
Turns go counter-clockwise. Mano discards first. Next player draws a tile (from wall OR last discard), then discards, calling it out loud. This is considered a courtesy in Filipino style.
Claiming tiles: You can take the last discarded tile to complete:.
Set = 2 of a kind. Can NEVER be called unless completes your hand (Mahjong). You would call mahjong to claim this tile.
Chow = 3-tile straight, same suit (only from player to your left, only on your turn OR if this completes Mahjong).
Pong = 3 of a kind (can call out of turn).
Kong = 4 of a kind (can call out of turn if you have a hidden Pong in your hand, then draw 1 from Flower Wall). Cannot be called from an exposed pong (only drawn).
SECRET (CONCEALED KONG, BUT FILIPINO STYLE)
If you draw a tile for a four-of-a-kind that is face-up (hidden), you can declare it on your turn, then place the tiles face-down. If they decide to Kong, you must draw a tile from the Flower Wall, before discarding to end your turn.SAGASA (DRAWN KONG, BUT FILIPINO STYLE)
If you draw a tile for a four-of-a-kind, for a Pong that is already face-up, you can declare it as “Sagasa”. Draw a tile from the Flower Wall before they discard a tile to end their turn.
NOTE: You are not required to create a Kong in Sagasa. You can decide to use it to complete another set or for an Ambition, but if you are not using it to create a Kong you do not draw an additional tile from the flower wall.
Mahjong = 5 sets of 3 and a pair. Can be called out of hand, and supersedes any other call.
Claimed tiles must be revealed face-up. If you call Pong/Kong out of turn, play resumes after you.
Win = Mahjong! Complete 5 sets + 1 pair (17 tiles total). Call "MAHJONG!" loudly.
BUNOT (ZI MO or SIK WU) = self drawn mahjong, usually results in higher payouts when playing for money.
Priority: Mahjong > Pong/Kong > Chow. If two people get Mahjong at the same time, the player to the left wins.
While we are not an ambitious club, we recognize that many of you may be ambitious.Here is a non-exhaustive list of some of Filipino-style “ambitions” (aka “limit hands” or “high scoring hands") as well as other situations in which you could potentially earn points or payouts. EXAMPLES
BUNOT: Self-drawn Mahjong
ALL PONG: All Pongs + 1 Pair
ALL CHOW: All Chows + 1 Pair
BEFORE THE FIFTH: Winning by the 5th discard or turn
FULL FLUSH: All the Same Suit
ALL REVEALED: Entire hand revealed except for the pair
CONCEALED HAND: No exposed sets until the hand is complete
Filipino (and many Chinese styles use a 144-tile set to play. There are four of the same of every tile aside from the seasons and flowers, which each have four distinct tiles numbered 1-4, respectively.
Characters, Dots and Bamboo have tiles numbered 1-9 and four tiles of each number.
That means for each suit (characters, dots, bamboo) there are 4 x 1’s, 4 x 2’s, 4 x 3’s, etc. There are four directions/winds—North (N), South (S), East (E) & West (W).
There are three dragons—Red (C), Green (F) & White (B).There are four total season tiles and four total flowers, numbered 1-4.
HONG KONG STYLE (CHICKEN HAND, NO POINTS)
Unlike Filipino style, Hong Kong (13-tile) style only requires four sets of 3 and a pair. Honor Tiles (Dragons and Winds/Directions) are also used, but can only be used for Pong not Chow as there is no sequence for these tiles.SETUP & DEALING
BUILD WALLS. Shuffle tiles face down. Each player makes a wall 18 tiles long x 2 tiles high, forming a slanted square with left sides sticking out.
FIND DEALER. Everyone rolls dice. Highest roll = Dealer. Dealer rolls again, takes that number and counts walls counter-clockwise starting with themselves to determine which wall to break.
BREAK THE WALL. To break the wall, Dealer counts tiles from right to left, going clockwise based on dice roll, then removes those 2 tiles, and stacks them on top to the right (this becomes the "Flower Wall"). Deal starts from the left side of the break. Players grab 4 tiles at a time.
DEAL TILES. Deal counter-clockwise starting with Dealer. Everyone gets 13 tiles (three rounds of 4, then 1 each). Dealer takes 1 extra = 14 total and discards first.
Dealer will often take their two tiles at once, drawing the first and third tile.
FLOWER ROUND
Keep Winds and Dragons in your hand — in HK style they are scoring tiles, NOT flowers. Only set aside seasons or flowers.
Starting with Dealer, replace any flowers or seasons in your hand by drawing from the Flower Wall. Each player replaces all the flowers in their hand in order until none remain. It does not continue in rotation like Filipino style.
DIFFERENCES FROM FILIPINO STYLE
When playing chicken hand (no points), Hong Kong style gameplay and calls are almost identical to Filipino.
The only main differences are:
DEALER. Dealer is the first player in Hong Kong style.
FLOWER ROUND. Flowers are cycled out of your hand all at once rather than in rounds.
DRAGONS/WINDS. The use of honor tiles (which you can only pong or kong, not chow).
MAHJONG. You need one less set for a complete hand. 4 sets + 1 pair = 14 tiles.
DIFFERENT LIMIT HANDS. There are different high-scoring hands in Hong Kong style than Filipino style, but they are similarly ranked based on the difficulty of the hand.
HOW TO PLAY
Turns go counter-clockwise. East discards first. Next player draws a tile (from wall OR last discard), then discards, calling it out loud.
Claiming tiles: Take the last discarded tile to complete:
Set = 2 of a kind. Can NEVER be called unless completes your hand (Mahjong). You would call "mahjong to claim this tile.
Chow = 3-tile straight, same suit (only from player to your left, only on your turn OR if this completes Mahjong).
Pong = 3 of a kind (can call out of turn).
Kong = 4 of a kind (can call out of turn, then draw 1 from Flower Wall). Cannot be called from an exposed pong (only drawn).
CONCEALED KONG (SECRET IN FILIPINO STYLE)
If you draw a tile for a four-of-a-kind that is face-up (hidden), you can declare it on your turn, then place the tiles face-down. Player must then draw a tile from the Flower Wall, before they discard a tile to end their turn.DRAWN KONG (SAGASA IN FILIPINO STYLE)
If you draw a tile for a four-of-a-kind, for a Pong that is already face-up, you must declare it as “Sagasa”. Player must then draw a tile from the Flower Wall, before they discard a tile to end their turn.
Mahjong = 4 sets of 3 and a pair. Can be called out of hand, and supersedes any other call.
Claimed sets must be revealed face-up. If you call Pong/Kong out of turn, play resumes counter-clockwise from you (skipped players lose their turn).
Win = Mahjong! Complete 4 sets + 1 pair (14 tiles total). Call "MAHJONG!" loudly.
Priority: Mahjong > Pong/Kong > Chow. If two people get Mahjong at the same time, the player to the left wins.
