While we all love to play with a full table of four people, sometimes that just doesn't work out, so learning to play with only three people can be a game-saver! Mostly, three-player mahjong is the same as four-player mahjong, except during the deal and the Charleston. Here is an easy tutorial on how to play mahjong with only 3 players.
The empty fourth seat is called the Ghost. Some groups like to name their ghost--most common names for the ghost are Sally or Bob, but feel free to name your ghost whatever your group likes!
GAME SETUP:
Place a rack / pusher in front of each player and a fourth rack/pusher at the empty seat. Shuffle the tiles and build four walls as usual.
DEALING:
Deal as you normally would, but only deal in the three people at the table--do not deal tiles to the empty seat.
After the deal, slide 6 rows of 3 tiles out of the Ghost's wall. These tiles will be used for the Charleston, as each player will need to exchange tiles with the Ghost.
THE CHARLESTON:
Your group will do the Charleston as normal, including the Ghost in the passing. As players take tiles from the Ghost, the tiles will come from the 6 rows of 3 tiles that were pulled out after the deal. Tiles passed to the Ghost can be added back into her wall.
Since no one would ever pass a Joker or a Blank, the rules technically state that those tiles drawn from the Ghost should be exchanged with something from her wall, but your group may choose to just let the tiles fall as luck will have it--make the call as a house rule before the Charleston begins.
COURTESY PASS:
Do your courtesy pass as usual. The person seated across from the Ghost exchanges the number of tiles she wants with the wall of the Ghost. This is the last part of the game the Ghost is involved.
GAMEPLAY:
Play as you normally would, completely ignoring the Ghost.
4 comments
Hi Kim,
The ghost’s wall will move out as with a four-player game, when the wall to the right of the ghost has been consumed. Treat the whole game, except for the Charleston, as you would a 4-person game. Walls are pushed out starting with the dealer’s wall and then moving around the table towards the left; this is true in 4-player mahjong and in 3-player mahjong.
Hi Lynn, The ghost is never the dealer in 3-player mahjong. Each of the three players will take their turn as dealer, skipping your ghost.
Is the Ghost hand ever the dealer?
When do you push out the ghost’s wall. We play 3 handed as you have described but we can never decide when the ghost wall comes out.