Q&A for How to Play Mahjong

In Japanese or Chinese mahjong, yes, you may pick a tile any opponent discarded. If several people call the tile, mahjong takes priority over kan, pong or chi, and the player to the left of the discardee takes priority when more than one player calls mahjong (or ron in Japanese mahjong).

No, you do not.

It is not possible for two players to play Mahjong by the standard rules. It requires four players.

Yes. There are plenty of websites and apps you can find that will explain the altered rules for you.

East, south, west, north. East deals, and south goes first because it's to the right of the east.

For American Mahjong, a laminated card is published annually in April by the National Mahjong League. Everyone at a table should be playing with a card for the current (or same) year.

For American Mahjong, there are different fixed Mahjong hands, so not just any melds. Those hands are published on a laminated card annually in April by the National Mahjong League, and cost $7.

Put them facing you on your rack. The sequence is a matter of personal preference. You may want to put potential melds together, potential discards together, etc.

The direction of drawing depends on your preference. You can pick from either side of the draw pile. It won't affect the gameplay at all.

Off to the side or in the case in which you store your Mahjong set. It will not affect the play so where ever you desire so long as they don't get in the way.

They are used to keep track of the scores.