Mahjong school
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A Mahjong school ( Chinese 麻將 館 / 麻将 馆 , Pinyin májiāngguǎn , Jyutping maa 4 zoeng 3 gun 2 , cant. 麻雀 館 / 麻雀 馆 , máquèguǎn , Jyutping maa 4 zoek 3 gun 2 - "better mahjong arcade , mahjong arcade ") is a licensed facility in Hong Kong , at 18 years Mahjong play.
Private gambling has been banned in Hong Kong since 1871 . However, because mahjong is such a popular game, places where mahjong is played have been tolerated by the Hong Kong government. After the Second World War , the British colonial government at the time requested such sites to acquire Mahjong school licenses or Tin Kau licenses, with the condition that such businesses be operated under the legal English name “Mahjong Schools” ( 麻雀 學校 / 麻雀 学校 ) - one so-called " white lie " ( German about "white lie, pious lie, swindle" ) to circumvent the ban. Based on the number of pieces in a Mahjong game, 144 operating licenses were issued in 1956. The Police Licensing Office , PLO for short, ( 警察 牌照 課 / 警察 牌照 课 - “ Police Licensing Office ”) was responsible for the 144 licenses issued in 1956 .
Current legal situation
Although the mahjong schools "technically schools ", the licenses of the mahjong school or Tin Kau licenses are today by the Hong Kong television and entertainment licensing authority ( English Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority, shortly TELA , 影視及娛樂事務管理處 / 影视 及 娱乐 事务 管理 处 , short 影視 處 / 影视 处 ) on display. The "old" operator licenses originally issued by the Police Licensing Office are all indefinite and valid for the life of the license holder. They have a unique legal character and there will not be any new operator licenses of the same type in the future. According to this, the operating right can be transferred to a new person or "inherited" if the licensee dies. However, when the "old" licenses are transferred to a new person, the new licensing authority TELA has the right to set new operating and licensing conditions, so that in the long term there will be practically fewer and fewer such privately operated mahjong arcades. Currently (as of 2006) there are still around 60 Mahjong schools in Hong Kong. Today, the majority of the licensed Mahjong schools in Hong Kong are predominantly found in densely populated areas such as Mong Kok , Yaumatei , Sham Shui Po , Tsuen Wan , North Point, and Wan Chai .
regulate
If a player plays mahjong at a mahjong school, they must pay a share of their winnings if they win a game. This participation in the profit ( cant. 抽水 - "profit deduction, commission") is the main source of income for a mahjong school. To attract players, the mahjong schools offer free drinks, free food, karaoke and sometimes hóngbāo ("red envelopes"). In addition to home referees , modern mahjong schools have surveillance cameras to deter fraud and theft.
There are only 0 fan hand and 1 fan hand “ 番 , fān ”. Higher hand points count as 1 fan . As a result, the pace of the game is quite fast as players don't waste a lot of time scoring high scores.
