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Most players who seek how to play mahjong online end up disappointed with the fact that only slots based on the game can be found to gamble online. While the payout is much better than the actual mahjong, only luck determines how to win in mahjong slots. If you are okay with the fact that the mahjong online games worth money are not the actual Chinese game, it is time to get to know the rules and how they can be played.
Similar to what occurs to pai gow, there is no multiplayer or individual online mahjong that is true to the traditional rules of the game. Instead, online casinos offer slots that are inspired by the game and use its tiles as symbols. If you are interested in that type of game, check out the reviewed websites below:
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Mahjong is a Chinese game that is overall popular around the world since its expansion in 1920. It is a game for two to four people in which the players discard and collect tiles until they form enough points through a pair and a specific combination.
Source: pixabay.com
These original mahjong rules are quite different from the tile-matching individual and casual game found for computers and mobile devices, and certainly nothing like what mahjong is if we search for it in online casinos. In order to gamble legally, we can only pick slots with mahjong tiles as symbols.
Mahjong can be played for fun in the Philippines, but gambling locally is not allowed. There have been real cases of arrest for gambling through mahjong. There is only one alternative, which is playing mahjong online games on casino websites that are headquartered outside of the Philippines, as we know that the PH gambling laws do not affect them.
It is important to be sure that such casinos are licensed and trustworthy. The options listed here are legal and tested, but understand that mahjong online games are far different from the original game and are more like slots.
Mahjong is legal to be played at foreign online casinos because those websites escape the limitations applied by the law in the Philippines to online gambling. It is highly important not to play through local online casinos, as there is a specific prohibition for locals to play at those, which are exclusively for tourists and people from abroad.
Before understanding how to play mahjong online, the first thing is to know where to find mahjong online games. We have excellent online casinos available in the Philippines, which are provided from somewhere else and offer thousands of games. However, no game provider has yet produced live mahjong games that are similar to the original one.
Source: 1xbet.com
We end up with around ten different games that carry the name “mahjong” but are slots in reality. Therefore, remember that while it is advantageous to be easier to understand how to play mahjong online through a slot, there is no room for strategies. Those games are random and require no skill whatsoever.
More important than anything, you will need an account to start playing mahjong online. Even if you start playing it for free as a test or simply to have fun, make sure to register and have the account ready for any bonus or deposit that you might decide to use in the game. Once you are registered, it is important to choose a game and if you are playing it for fun or with real money. Since they work like online slots, your only adjustment involves the total bet and if you are going for a turbo (faster) round or not.
By adjusting the bet level and the spin speed, you simply press “Play” or “Spin”. There is no way to influence the results, combine tiles, or move anything in the game. While really limited, that is the only way to play mahjong in the Philippines for money at the moment.
While we are limited to mahjong-inspired slots, there can be differences between them. Some providers did a much simpler job, and their slots look a lot like just any other modern slot, except that the symbols look like mahjong tiles.
Some examples of that kind of simple game are Mahjong Master, Quick Play Mahjong, and Lucky Mahjong:
Credit: 1xBet
On the other hand, games like Golden Mahjong, Mahjong Ways, and Mahjong Jinpai, while still slots, offer a much more dynamic board. They still have nothing to do with ordinary mahjong, but the style and combinations are much more interesting:
In the actual game of mahjong, you win if you match a pair of equal tiles with a specific combination of different tiles. However, that characteristic has nothing to do with the mahjong you can legally gamble on through online casinos. Instead, you win through luck by having equal symbols matched in a payment line.
Some of the games do not have paylines and match the tiles in groups instead. In both cases, you have no control over what is being drawn or matched and can only hope for the best.
The original mahjong can be found in gaming apps that are made for fun and have zero possibilities of winning money. Since we are talking about gambling on mahjong online, it is important to only consider the slots that are inspired by mahjong. In that case, they are provided by companies that produce responsive games.
In other words, those games are built in HTML5 and can be played from computers or mobile devices. Some of the recommended casinos will even have an available Android APK to play mahjong through an app. Other than that, it is perfectly possible to play from the browser.
Since the mahjong online games we have available to play from the Philippines are basically slots, they are covered by all the casino bonuses. The whole of your bonus can be used on those slots, and 100% of your bet value on those games will count toward the wagering requirements.
| Online Casino | Mahjong Bonus |
|---|---|
| 1xBet | Up to 85,000 PHP in bonuses |
| 20Bet | First deposit 100% bonus up to 7,000 PHP |
| 22Bet | First deposit 100% bonus up to 18,000 PHP |
As the only variation of online mahjong exists in slots, we should consider the games’ RTP to estimate the possible returns. However, it is a single metric that does not necessarily dictate what happens when we gamble. Make sure to have that in mind before choosing which one to play:
| Mahjong Slot | RTP | Maximum Payout |
|---|---|---|
| Golden Mahjong | Not Informed | 1,000x |
| Mahjong Ways | 96.92% | 2,893x |
| Mahjong Ways 2 | 96.95% | 2,000x |
| Mahjong Jinpai | 96.50% | 5,000x |
| Mahjong Masters | 96.00% | 5,000x |
| Lucky Mahjong | 92.79% | 17,000x |
As you can see, most mahjong online games have a proper RTP of 96%+ and quite an interesting payout. Being slots, keep in mind that reaching that maximum exposure is quite rare.
The remaining percentage of the RTP is the house edge. Therefore, a 96% RTP means that the house edge is about 4%.
If you want free mahjong that can make you win money, that will not be possible. You may try the listed mahjong online games for free and gamble to win money at some point. However, if you just want to have fun, there are even mahjong apps with the traditional rules to just play around with no possibility of winnings whatsoever – they are not casinos.
Mahjong is quite an extraordinary game, and perhaps even too much, as the original and real game cannot even be found in online casinos. Therefore, the closest that you can get to that game style is to choose card games instead:
Anyone who is at least 21 years old can play the mahjong online games for real money in the Philippines, aware that they are actually slots based on the real game. If you want the tiles and board game that mahjong truly is, you will find no online version of it to gamble. In the near future, we all hope that games that are popular in the Philippines get legally available online, such as mahjong, jueteng, and the real pai gow.
Not exactly. Real mahjong has no online version on casino websites, but you can gamble on slots based on mahjong if you are at least 21 years old and the websites are headquartered elsewhere.
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