Dealer Rotation

The system by which the dealer position (East) rotates around the table between games, determining who goes first and receives 14 tiles each hand.

How Dealer Rotation Works

Being dealer (East) is pretty nice. You pick first, get 14 tiles instead of 13, and your discard goes first. That's the position everyone wants. So how does it move around? There's a simple rule.

East keeps dealing if East wins. If anyone else wins, or if nobody wins (a wall game), the deal passes to the next player going counterclockwise. That's it. No complicated exceptions.

Determining the First Dealer

At the beginning of a session, the first dealer is determined by rolling dice. Each player rolls two dice, and the player with the highest total becomes East. Ties are broken by re-rolling. Some groups use alternative methods like drawing tiles, but dice rolling is the most common and formal approach.

Once the first East is established, the other positions are assigned counterclockwise: the player to East's right is South, then West, then North. These wind positions determine turn order and affect the wall break calculation.

Counterclockwise Rotation

When the deal moves, it goes counterclockwise. East becomes South, South becomes West, West becomes North, North becomes East. It might feel backwards if you're used to card games, but that's how it's always been done in Asia.

One complete round ends when the deal gets back to the person who started as East. Everyone's been dealer once. A typical session has several rounds, but how many games you play depends on how often East wins and keeps the deal.

Effects of Being Dealer

Being East is genuinely better. You get an extra tile (14 vs 13), which helps with hand selection. It's like a free draw before play even starts. Plus, you discard first, which sets the whole game's tone.

The payment rules don't change, but that extra tile and first move give you a real edge. Good players know this. If you win as East and keep dealing, you can end up dealing several games in a row.