Mahjong Seating

Before the game starts, each player must draw randomly from the four wind tiles to determine order. These tiles look like the following:

(From left to right, East, South, West, North)

The East tile is considered the prevailing wind and is the first player to start for the round. He/She also receives double points and is also paid double the normal amount. Order of play continues in an anti-clockwise fashion and then for subsequent rounds, players rotate their position. In some cases, a complete session of mahjong is when after everyone has had a turn of being the prevailing East position, South is then determined to be the prevailing wind. Once everyone has had a turn being the prevailing South wind, West is then determined to be the prevailing wind and so on until finally everyone has had a turn of being the prevailing north wind. However, completing a full session of mahjong is certainly not necessary and most people usually play up to a certain amount of rounds or points anyway.