I like Mahjongg a great deal, to the point where I have not only a "standard" Chinese set, but also Mhing...and a very snazzy Riichi (or "Reach") set.
I haven't gotten a chance to play Riichi yet--gosh darn there are a lot of ways to score points--but I have read the rules, and I thought I'd share one of the "setup" rules--setting the winds. The following is taken from the wonderful The Great Mahjong Book: History, Lore, and Play by Jelte Rep.
The allocation of seats around the table happens quickly [emphasis ed.]. The four Wind tiles, an odd tile, and an even one are mixed and placed in a row. The oldest player (or the host) throws two dice. The six tiles are turned faceup and the odd and the even tiles are moved to the closest side.If the oldest player throws an odd number, then he gets the wind that is on the odd side temporarily . . . The other players are allocated the other temporary Winds: the player who sits to the right of the oldest (counterclockwise) gets the second Wind (East); the player who sits right of him gets the third Wind (South); and the fourth player gets the remaining wind (north).
If the oldest player throws an even number, then he becomes North and the other players respectively become South, East, and West.
Now temporary East decides who will become [real] East by throwing the dice. If he throws six, for instance, then he counts counterclockwise, starting with himself, and temporary South becomes East.
This sort of thing is precisely why we just drew the winds out of a bag back when I played regularly.
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