Winds, dragons, and your seat

You've won a hand, which means you know what the shape looks like from the inside. Now we talk about why some winning hands are worth more than others. Today we start with the easiest bonuses to pick up: the honours. Winds and dragons. Pongs of these tiles pay extra, every single time.

You're sitting in the south seat. Look at the table. The four seats are labelled east, south, west, north, one in each direction. That's not just where you sit. That's your wind. South is YOUR wind for this game. If you make a pong of three south winds during any round, you get bonus points for it. It's the game's way of rewarding you for the tiles that belong to you.

There's also a second wind to keep track of: the round wind. Every full game of mahjong has a prevailing wind that everyone at the table shares. It usually starts as east and rotates as the rounds go by. If you pong the round wind, everyone gets the bonus, no matter which seat they're in. And if your seat wind happens to match the round wind (east seat in the east round), you score the bonus twice. Rare, but beautiful.

Dragons are simpler. All three dragons (red, green, and white) score a bonus when you pong them. Every time, no matter what. You don't need a particular seat. You don't need to match a round. Dragon pongs pay. Always. That's why I called them money tiles in Class 1.

Your hand today has a pair of south winds, your seat wind. Watch for the third. When someone discards it, pong it.

A few turns later, a new pair shows up in your hand: two red dragons. Same idea. Catch the third when it drops.

Keep watching. Seat north's about to take her turn. I want you to look carefully at what she does with her tiles.

Before we close, let me name the rules you just triggered so you recognise them when you see them again. The five you always start with: "Base Point." The one for ponging a wind: "Wind Pong." Because south was your seat, add one more: "Seat Wind Bonus." And if south had also been the round wind today, that'd be another one: "Round Wind Bonus." Which is why matching your seat to the round is so valuable. And the dragon: "Dragon Pong," two flat. Base five, wind pong one, seat wind one, dragon pong two. Nine so far. Remember the names, not the numbers. The numbers start to feel natural by class nine.

One more rule worth naming, even though you didn't trigger it today. If your entire winning hand has zero honour tiles (no winds, no dragons, just numbers), you get one tai for "No Honours." Small, but free, and it fires any time the shape works out that way. Today you took the opposite path: honours everywhere, bonuses stacked. The game tends to give you one reward or the other. Rarely both.

That's class six. You know why honours matter. You know your seat wind. You know dragons pay. And you've had a second lesson in reading the people at your table: tempo changes in class three, reversals today. Next class: flowers and kongs. The weird tiles and the four-of-a-kind.