3. Setup
Table and Seating
- Four players per table, each table playing as an independent group (3.5.2)
- Seating is the placement of players around the table by table number, determined by drawing lots or arranged in advance under the tournament regulations (3.4.7)
- Lots are drawn publicly, fairly and impartially; where a team is absent the organizing committee appoints someone to draw in its place and the lot stands (3.5.1)
- Seat allocation may also avoid seating players from the same country or region at one table (3.5.1)
Winds
- The seat wind marks each player's seat: the dealer is East, the player to the dealer's right is South, opposite is West, and to the dealer's left is North (3.4.6)
- The prevalent wind names the round — the first round is East, then South, West and North (3.4.5)
Units of Play
- A go-around (lun) is complete when everyone has discarded once in turn (3.4.1)
- A hand (pan) is everything between a deal and either a declaration of "Hu" or nobody winning — a draw game (3.4.2)
- A round (quan) ends when everybody has been dealer once; there are four rounds in a complete game (3.4.3)
- A complete game (ju) is four rounds, or in a tournament the time allotted for them; it may also be called a session (3.4.4)