Mahjong

Mahjong (also called mah-jongg by the American association, Traditional Chinese: 麻將; Pinyin: májiàng) is a game for four players that originated in China. Mahjong involves skill, strategy, and calculation, as well as a certain degree of chance. Depending on the variation which is played, luck can be anything from a minor to a dominant factor in success. In Asia, mahjong is also popularly played as a gambling game. In the game, you are given either thirteen or sixteen tiles for a hand (depending on the variation being played). When your turn comes, you draw a tile and discard one. Your goal is to make four melds and a pair, or "head". (Note that a winning hand contains fourteen tiles. You win by drawing a tile that completes your hand, or off of someone else's discard.) One of the myths of the origin of Mahjong suggests that Confucius, the great Chinese philosopher, had developed the game in about 500 BC. This assertion is likely to be apocryphal. According to this myth, the... full article at wikipedia