Basic Rules and the Payoff Scheme – Implications and Insights

The Basic Rules and the Payoff Scheme section of the official Zung Jung rules, in addition to the patterns themselves, mold the game into what it is. Without these rules, the game wouldn’t differ much from other variants. Most are easy to follow and obvious in their impact, but a few are worth commenting on in greater detail. In this article, we’ll take a look at the rules which most shape the game.

Basic Rule 4 – The Additive Rule

In brief, the Additive Rule states that if your hand qualifies for multiple patterns, you can count all the patterns when determining your hand’s overall score. As long as the patterns don’t share the same series (the second number in their designation), you can count them. Though still limited to 320 points (known as the Compound Limit Rule – see Basic Rule 6), combining all eligible patterns is a must.

As you work to create a winning hand, keep in mind other patterns which your hand may qualify for. It’s this rule which can turn the 5- and 10-point patterns into a respectable winning hand. Two Identical sequences at 10 points may not sound like much. However, do it concealed and without using terminals or honor tiles, now you have a decent 20-point hand. (Two Identical Sequences 10 points, Concealed Hand 5 points, All Simples 5 points).

Basic Rule 5 – The Minimum Requirement

Basic Rule 5 simply stated is “you can go out on any hand that’s 4 sets and 1 pair (i.e. a Regular Hand).” Yes, even if it has no patterns, you can still go out. This differs from many other mahjong variants, in which you must have at least one pattern of a certain difficulty level to go out. In Zung Jung, this makes it much easier to fold your hand – going out with a low-scoring hand before your opponent can finish their high-scoring hand.

A patternless hand (colloquially known as a chicken hand) scores a token 1 point, so you won’t be winning any matches just going for a quick win every hand. Nevertheless, this is something to always keep in your back pocket. If you think your opponent is about to finish a monster hand, avoid discarding into them and bail.

Note: Some people and some tournaments (including the World Series of Mahjong) use an official variant where you cannot go out on a chicken hand. Keep in mind when sitting down to play whether that rule is in effect. In order to fold, you would need a 5-point pattern at a minimum to go out.

Payoff Scheme Item 4 – Discarder Pays for Big Hands

Zung Jung has a Standard Score, more commonly known as the Par Score, of 25 points. This means any hand 25 points or less, everyone pays out the winner equally. However, for hands worth more than 25 points, if you discarded the tile the winner used to finish their hand, then you pay the lion’s share of the points to the winner. This is commonly known as dealing in or discarding in to your opponent. As we recall, the winner gets 3 times his hand value paid out to them in points. If you dealt in to someone’s Pure One Suit worth 80 points, your opponents only pay out 25 points each. On the other hand, you suffer unequally as you must pay out 190 points (240-50), the remainder. In Zung Jung, you truly pay for your mistakes.

Articles could be written about how this impacts the game at length (I’ll probably end up writing a few myself). No longer is the game only focusing on what you are making. You also have to keep an eye on what your opponents are working toward, and what you discard. Otherwise, you will bear the brunt of the shame and punishment of letting an opponent win.

Payoff Scheme Item 5 – The Rule of Same-Round Immunity

While Item 4 revealed the danger of discards, Item 5 provides a small way to keep yourself safe. In short, this item states that if you discard the same tile that someone else just discarded, and the winning player claims the tile off of you and not the first guy, you don’t get punished. Instead, the person who first discarded the winning tile is considered the discarder and they are the one who pays up as per Item 4.

What this means is discarding a tile identical to one just discarded is considered a safe move. Now this only lasts one cycle, one go-around the table from the winning player’s last discard. This doesn’t apply to discards made 10 turns ago. It even applies to the winner. The ploy of the winner discarding a tile they could have won with in hopes that one of the other players would discard the same tile (and thus hit them with the discarder payout penalty) doesn’t work. In that case, the hand is scored as though the winner self-drew the tile. This reinforces the idea that discarding a tile identical to one just discarded is a safe move.

Understanding how the rules impact playing the game is crucial to improvement. Hopefully this quick discussion gives you some food for thought about your own game.

-ZJMJ

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