Winning: Two Mah Jonggs

You win a Siamese game by completing both of your hands — two mah jonggs. Each hand has to be a valid pattern on the card in play, and each is judged separately, exactly like a standard hand.

How the finish usually plays out

In practice you complete one hand first. That hand is declared a mah jongg and locked — frozen in place while your other hand plays on. Nothing discards from it, draws into it, moves out of it, gets called onto it, or has a joker redeemed from it. It is done.

Then you work to finish the second hand. The tile that completes that second hand — whether you draw it or claim it from your opponent's discard — ends the game and wins it for you. Completing that final hand is the moment of victory.

The other way a game ends

A game can also end without a two-hand win: if your opponent's both hands go dead, you take the game by default. As covered earlier, that carries no penalty for them — you simply win the hand. Either way, the next slide covers how the win is scored.