Discover & Learn the Game
by Jetset Gypsy
04/4/25
LESSON 7
When to 'Goulash'
There are 2 ocassions during a mahjong session when you play a GOULASH hand
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If all the tiles from the wall are exhausted and no-one Mahjongs, a ‘Goulash’ hand is played.
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If East wins 3 consecutive games of mahjong, the tiles are set for a goulash hand as described below. East retains the position for the Goulash hand after which it passes on to the next player even if she wins.
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When playing a ‘Goulash’ the Wind stays the same as in the last round. It is now time to add 4 jokers - set the game up in the usual way except that when building the Wall, the East and West Wind have 19 tiles each (instead of 18). The Charleston exchange of tiles as per previous lesson will take place. The game is played as usual from now on, i.e. the difference between the main game and a ‘Goulash’ is the addition of jokers.​
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​​​​​​THE KITTY
To add a twist to a Goulash hand, each player can place100 points in the Kitty to be claimed by the outright winner as an extra bonus for winning
Penalties
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False Declaration of Mahjong: There is no penalty if no players have revealed their hands. However, if a player has exposed their hand, the false declarer continues playing but cannot declare Mahjong.
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Wrongly claiming a tile: There is no penalty if the mistake is corrected before the next player discards. If not corrected the falsely claimed tile stays on the table, and the player is unable to declare Mahjong.
