When you are thinking about Mahjong what comes to your mind first? Nowadays these are definitely Online Mahjong games, which can relate to a lot of topics and themes, such as Mahjong Alchemy or the Jewel Quest Mahjong. But there is one more ancient way of playing — Classic Chinese Mahjong which is played by 4 people, at the special velour table with certain number of tiles in a set. You have to differ this Mahjong Western Style or American version. The differance is the number of tiles and some pieces of rules. The Equipment for Original Mahjong is what make the game playing an art.
The Principles of Classic Mahjong game
The game and its history are very considerable. Someone says it comes from ancient times of emperors before Christ, but someone says the first mention comes not further than few hundreds of years ago. But this is not the main thing.
Classic Mahjong requires 4 people, who are going to be named by 4 sides of the world:
- West;
- East;
- North;
- South.
Can mahjong be played with 2 players? For sure not. The rules are absolutely different from the Online Mahjong game.
The Mahjong Table
The table for Mahjong is constructed of Metal or Wooden table legs, or one middle massive pedestal, the Table itself, it can be fully covered with Velvet or Velour fabric, or only the middle part of the table is covered and sides are left for the design: wooden carving on the sides.
Prices for this piece of Mahjong Equipment are very different. The Material and way of production are playing the role.
So you can buy yourself a simple table of metal legs and velvet cover for $100, but the other one is going to be looking like a piece of art for $1000 with carving on the massive wooden leg and the sides of the table, also the carpet would be embroidered with flora and fauna pictures made of pure Velour.
The Set of tiles
Apparently this is the most needed thing of the whole Mahjong playing. Mahjong sets for Classic Chinese games are 144 tiles drawn with special group of pictures. If you require playing Western or American version this set we are describing does not have jokers nor racks.
The Classic Chinese Mahjong Set of tiles includes next pieces:
- The Set of 144 pieces of tiles divided by its groups. Units are made of Acrylic or the Ivory which influence the price range;
- 4 spare tiles;
- 3 dices;
- The Wind Indicators, also called a Bettor;
- A set of Yellow/ Green/ Red chips;
- The brown color leather case;
- English instruction.
The average price for the set of Mahjong tiles is about $70. The cost can vary to $200-300. This is caused by the material of the tiles, case and the number of tiles too.
What Mahjong tiles are made of? Units are made of Acrylic or the Ivory which as we said before influences the price range.
Here is the full set of Mahjong game. You may already start playing the game having 3 people around you.
The Carpet for Mahjong
This is the thing which is made mostly to comfort yourself and your play or to make the game more ancient look alike. But still table cover for original Mahjong is one of the essential pieces to make the game true.
The cover for mahjong game by its usage can remind you of a carpet for the Poker game.
- Characteristics of the Mahjong game table cover;
- The standard size is 78×78 in centimeters;
- The ornament of the carpet is Chinese for sure. But the important part is each side of the cover is named by the side of the world. 4 Chinese Hieroglyphs say East, West, North and South;
- The Fabric of the cover is usually Velvet or Velour with a thick enough pile for units not to slide off the table;
- The Case for the cover. Needed to transport or keep the Carpet.
The carpet is not the most expensive item for sure. You may get a nice one for $20-40.
These are items for the Original game Mahjong playing in the motherland — China. There are American and West Mahjongs with certain modified rules which require different number of tiles, different equipment in general. There are also Collectors who collect sets, tiles, tables etc. to expand their collections. Equipment for Mahjong: where to buy is an easy question. Try to surf the net and famous selling sites.
You may try to play Online Mahjong for the beginning, and estimate your skills and knowledge:
