Mahjong (also called mah-jongg by the American association) is a game for four players that originated in China. It was called 麻雀 in ancient China and the name is still in active use in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Japan. Most Chinese, especially the Mandarin-speaking ones, however, now call the game simplified Chinese: 麻将; traditional Chinese: 麻將; pinyin: má jiàng.
Mahjong involves skill, strategy, and calculation, as well as a certain degree of chance. Depending on the variation which is played, luck can be anything from a minor to a dominant factor in success. In Asia, mahjong is also popularly played as a gambling game. In the game, each player is dealt either thirteen or sixteen tiles in a hand (depending on the variation being played). On their turn, players draw a tile and discard one, with the goal of making four or five melds (also depending on the variation) and one pair, or "head". Winning comes "on the draw", by drawing a new or discarded tile that completes the hand. Thus a winning hand actually contains fourteen (or seventeen) tiles.