Reference · Hands
Winning mahjong hands
A winning hand in Taiwanese 16-tile mahjong is five sets — triplets or runs — plus a pair, scored by the named patterns it contains. These 49 example hands cover every scoring pattern in play, from a 1-point flowerless hand to the 90-point all-honours hand. Open any hand for its full, tile-by-tile worked example.
Flowers
- No Flowers 1 pts There are no revealed flowers or seasons. Honours are present, so the combined No Flowers and No Honours row does not replace this 1 point. See the worked example →
- Flower Tiles 1 pt each + seat bonus The hand has three flowers and two seat-number matches: 3 ordinary flower points plus 2 seat bonuses gives 5 flower points. See the worked example →
Honours
- No Honours 1 pts Only numbered suits appear. There are no winds or dragons. A stronger suit composition or absence row would replace this separate point. See the worked example →
- No Flowers and No Honours 5 pts The 5-point combined row replaces No Flowers 1 and No Honours 1. This hand totals 19. See the worked example →
- All Sheung, No Flowers or Honours 15 pts All five sets are sheungs, with no honours in the hand and no revealed flowers. The clean 15-point row replaces ordinary All Sheung and the absence bonuses. See the worked example →
Wind Tiles
- Wind Pong 1 pt per pong A pong of East wind scores 1 for the pong, plus 1 seat bonus and 1 round bonus, because the winner sits East in the East round. See the worked example →
- Little 3 Winds 15 pts East pong, South pong and a West pair make Little 3 Winds, 15 points. See the worked example →
- Big 3 Winds 30 pts East, South and West pongs with a non-wind pair make Big 3 Winds, 30 points. A wind pair would turn it into Little 4 Winds. See the worked example →
- Little 4 Winds 50 pts East, South and West pongs with a North pair make Little 4 Winds, 50 points. See the worked example →
- Big 4 Winds大四喜 60 pts All four winds are pongs. The 60-point award is used once and the smaller wind family awards are not added. East pong in the East seat and East round adds the seat and round wind bonuses, 1 each. See the worked example →
Dragon Tiles
- Dragon Pong 2 pts per pong A pong of Red dragons scores 2. This hand totals 11. See the worked example →
- Little Dragons 20 pts Two dragon pongs plus a pair of the third dragon earn 20 points. The smaller per-pong dragon row is included in this award. See the worked example →
- Big Dragons大三元 40 pts Red, Green and White dragon pongs make Big Dragons, 40 points. See the worked example →
Sequences
- Pure Dragon (Concealed) 20 pts 1-2-3, 4-5-6 and 7-8-9 in Bamboo, all concealed, score 20 points. See the worked example →
- Mixed Dragon (Concealed) 10 pts 1-2-3 Bamboo, 4-5-6 Characters and 7-8-9 Circles make the Mixed Dragon. See the worked example →
- Brother Sheungs 5 / 15 / 30 pts The identical 7-8-9 Bamboo sheung appears twice. Two copies score 5, three score 15 and four score 30. See the worked example →
- Sister Sheungs 3 / 10 pts The same 4-5-6 sequence appears in Bamboo, Characters and Circles. Three sister sheungs score 10; two would score 3. See the worked example →
Triplets
Terminals
- No Terminals 5 pts Every tile is between 2 and 8. There are no 1s, 9s, winds or dragons. See the worked example →
- Terminal Pong Set 3 / 15 pts 111 Bamboo and 999 Bamboo make a terminal pong set, 3 points. This hand totals 15. See the worked example →
- Terminals with Honours 20 pts Every set is a terminal pong, a 1-2-3 or 7-8-9 sheung, or an honour set. The pair is a terminal or honour. At least one terminal and one honour are present. See the worked example →
- Terminals Only (No Honours) 40 pts Every set is a terminal pong or a 1-2-3 or 7-8-9 sheung, the pair is 1s or 9s, and there are no honours. The 2s and 3s inside a terminal sheung are allowed. See the worked example →
Suit Composition
- 2-Suit Hand 5 pts Only Bamboo and Character tiles: a two-suit hand, 5 points. See the worked example →
- Semi-Pure Hand混一色 30 pts Bamboo sheungs plus wind pongs make a semi-pure hand, 30 points. See the worked example →
- Pure Suit Hand清一色 90 pts Every tile is Bamboo: a pure suit hand, 90 points. See the worked example →
- All 5 Suits 10 pts Bamboo, Characters, Circles, a wind and a dragon all appear: 10 points. See the worked example →
Hand Types
- All Pong Hand 25 pts All five sets are pongs or gongs. There are no sheungs. An All Pong hand takes no Calling by Pairs and no False Single Wait. Only a True Single Wait, the last concealed tile waiting for its pair, adds 2. See the worked example →
- All Sheung 5 pts All five sets are sheungs. Revealed flowers prevent the clean 15-point version, so this hand uses All Sheung 5. See the worked example →
Concealment
- Concealed Hand 5 pts No claimed set was exposed before the win; the final winning discard is allowed. This hand totals 18. See the worked example →
- Self-Draw Concealed 10 pts The concealed self-draw row is 10 points. It replaces concealed discard 5 and ordinary self-draw 1; those rows are not added again. See the worked example →
Eyes (Pair)
- Good Eyes 2 pts The pair is two 5s in one numbered suit, which earns Good Eyes 2. See the worked example →
- True Single Wait 2 pts Holding 1 and 2 Circles, only a 3 Circle can complete the hand, because there is no 0 Circle. That makes this a true single wait. See the worked example →
- False Single Wait 2 pts Removing the winning 6 Bamboo leaves 3-4-5-6 Bamboo. A 3 makes a pair of 3s plus 4-5-6; a 6 makes 3-4-5 plus a pair of 6s. Different completions earn this row. See the worked example →
- Calling by Pairs 2 pts Before the win, the two pairs are 7 Characters and 9 Circles. Either matching tile completes a pong while the other pair stays as the eyes. See the worked example →
Win Conditions
- Self-Draw from the Live Wall 1 pts The winning tile came from the live wall. This is ordinary self-draw 1, because two exposed sets rule out the concealed self-draw row. This hand totals 14. See the worked example →
- Robbing the Gong 10 pts Another player adds a fourth 8 Circles to their exposed pong. That 8 Circles completes this hand’s 7-8-9 Circles, so Mahjong is claimed on it before the gong is completed. The hand scores 38; the gong declarer also pays the robber an extra 10. See the worked example →
- Heavenly Hand 100 pts East is complete before anyone discards. The Heavenly Hand row is 100 points; the hand’s other patterns and the base are counted separately. See the worked example →
- Earthly Hand地胡 90 pts South completes a concealed hand on East’s first discard. Earthly Hand is 90 points, and the hand still scores its own patterns. See the worked example →
- Closing (Calling Hand) 5 pts Closing was declared straight after a discard, before the later win. The ordinary missed discard rule still applies. See the worked example →
Special Hands
- Nico Nico 40 pts Seven pairs plus one pong make seventeen tiles. The structure stays concealed; the final winning discard is allowed. The 40 is a pattern award, not the final total. See the worked example →
- 13 Orphans十三幺 90 pts All six suited terminals and all seven honours appear, with one duplicate for the pair and a legal extra three-tile set: seventeen tiles altogether. See the worked example →
- 16 Orphans 50 pts Each numbered suit has three tiles separated by at least three. All seven honours appear, plus one duplicate for the pair: seventeen tiles. See the worked example →
- Jade Hand 20 pts Only Bamboo tiles and a Green dragon pong: Jade Hand 20 plus Semi-Pure 30. See the worked example →
- Ruby Hand 20 pts Only Character tiles and a Red dragon pong: Ruby Hand 20 plus Semi-Pure 30. See the worked example →
- Diamond Hand 20 pts Only Circle tiles and a White dragon pong: Diamond Hand 20 plus Semi-Pure 30. See the worked example →
- Sapphire Hand 20 pts Only Character tiles and a White dragon pong: Sapphire Hand 20 plus Semi-Pure 30. It differs from Ruby by the dragon colour. See the worked example →
- All Step-Up Hand 20 pts All five sheungs start one number apart, across all three suits. This 20-point award replaces the smaller three-sheung step-up rows. See the worked example →
- Honours Hand 90 pts Every tile is a wind or a dragon. Honours Hand 90, then the hand is scored the standard way: the wind and dragon family rows and the seat and round wind bonuses add, but not All Pong. See the worked example →
- Chicken Hand 20 to 26 pts (the round minimum) The only row is No Flowers, 1 point: the 2-3 Characters wait could take 1 or 4, an ordinary two-sided wait with no bonus. That 1 makes a Chicken, which pays the East round minimum of 20 with the base inside it. See the worked example →