The Complete Book of Mah Jongg: An Illustrated Guide to the Asian, American and International Styles of Play Paperback – Illustrated, January 26, 2016

I purchased this as a novice player who was interested in different types of mahjong. The first part of the book describes American Mahjong in some detail. Once a player understands it, there is discussion of other types, including the "traditional" form of play. A nice book to have in your mahjong library.

I wanted to find a reference on playing mah jongg, and found this book. Ms. Lo covers not only the classic 13-tile Cantonese version, but other variations as well, such as the American, Shanghai, and Taiwanese version. The book is well-illustrated to demonstrate the tile and procedures of game play preparation, and although there are some (momentarily) confusing discrepancies between some photos showing the sequence of play, they vastly simplify the accompanying text.One caveat: For the American version Ms. Lo references the American Mah Jongg Association as a source for obtaining the American game scoring cards, but it no longer is a distributor. The only options are to join the National Mah Jongg league to purchase them, or obtain them from eBay from a 3rd-party seller.

I have played Chinese Mah Jong for many years and I found this book enjoyable and informative, and easy to understand.

This book is great! All types covered in readable style.

I hoped the Asian section would mirror the Classical Chinese scoring on Wikipedia, explain how hands are scored in-detail, and answer other questions... like how many suit tiles qualify for a half-flush hand. Not really. The fan scoring method did not explain how a chicken hand (0 fan) would still earn two points, while the text indicates earning no points. The fan table/chart, converts fan into points, but does not discuss the conversion itself, implying you just memorize of use the chart provided... up to 12 fan; while one example hand yields 13 fan. Problematic.Fibonacci sequences begin with 11, which must be memorized as a starting point, then one adds the last two numbers to derive the next sequence number; 112, 1123, 11235.... An explanation of 0 fan and 2 points would be helpful. Also, the fan earned are raised as the power of 2, any number raised to the zero power is 1, not 2, if memory serves.If scoring cards came with the book for the Cantonese method, it would serve to assist beginning players, as preset hands yield definite point values... similar to American Mah Jongg League score cards. However, the book does not provide all possible hands, or variations built upon such hands, the challenge with Chinese Mah Jongg scoring. Also, players must memorize Chinese number symbols on the Craks.Each person must decide on the grouping of winning hands. This book organizes according to fan, instead of grouping by hand similarities, and showing how each hand of "simples" changes the point values as the hand evolves to higher point values, for example. IMHO, that would be ideal.The last section includes an "International" version, relying heavily on "Pairs," and precluding runs. Also, explaining you do not draw an extra tile when making a Kong or four of a kind set. I enjoyed the discussion on the order of claiming tiles, making Kongs, and Upper/Lower/Opposite Houses; subject to change by house rules. Again, another roadblock to standardizing game play.

Book has various versions and is written plainly so instructions are easy to follow. Love it.

Great packaging for the game itself. I am happy it is a simply good set. No frills , just exactly what you need.

It will be very useful!