Taiwanese · Rules
How a hand is scored
Points are the units of value. Add up the scoring rows that apply, then add the base. Some rows replace smaller ones, so never simply add every matching label.
Read a score in order
- Confirm the winning shape, including any special hand structure.
- Count flowers, honours, set patterns and whole-hand patterns. Some rows replace or include smaller rows.
- Add the winning moment bonuses that apply. A concealed self-draw is 10, replacing the ordinary self-draw 1 and the concealed discard 5.
- Add the Mahjong base of 5, except for the seven and eight flower instant wins, which are flat totals of 20 and 40.
- On a discard win, the discarder pays the winner’s score. On a self-draw, each opponent pays it. Several winners on one discard are each scored separately against the discarder.
Immediate settlements, such as bouquets and concealed gongs, are recorded apart from the final hand score. The same event is never paid twice.
One hand, scored two ways
Winner South, East round. No flowers, no exposed sets, no dealer streak. For the discard version, the discarder is not East, so no East discard bonus is added.
| Line | Self-draw | Discard |
|---|---|---|
| Round wind bonus | 1 | 1 |
| Three concealed pongs | 10 | 10 |
| Concealed self-draw | 10 | 0 |
| Concealed hand by discard | 0 | 5 |
| No flowers | 1 | 1 |
| Wind pong | 1 | 1 |
| Dragon pong | 2 | 2 |
| All five suits | 10 | 10 |
| True single wait | 2 | 2 |
| Mahjong base | 5 | 5 |
| Total | 42 | 37 |
The way the hand is won changes the score even though the tiles are identical.
Flowers
| Pattern | Points | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| No flowers | 1 | No flower or season tiles. |
| Each flower or season | 1 | Per displayed tile. |
| Seat flower | +1 | Extra for a flower number matching your seat. |
| No flowers and no honours | 5 | No flowers, winds or dragons. |
| Mixed bouquet | 5 | Numbers 1 to 4 across both flower families; each opponent pays immediately. |
| Full bouquet | 10 | All four flowers or all four seasons; each opponent pays immediately. |
| Seven flowers | 20 | Instant win. Flat total; no base or per-flower points. |
| Eight flowers | 40 | Instant win. Flat total; no base or per-flower points. |
Winds and dragons
| Pattern | Points | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Wind pong | 1 | Any wind pong; seat and round bonuses may add. |
| Seat wind pong | +1 | The wind matches your seat. |
| Round wind pong | +1 | The wind matches the current round. |
| Little three winds | 15 | Two wind pongs and a pair of a third wind. Seat and round bonuses still add. |
| Big three winds | 30 | Three wind pongs. Seat and round bonuses still add. |
| Little four winds | 50 | Three wind pongs and a pair of the fourth. Seat and round bonuses still add. |
| Big four winds | 60 | Four wind pongs. Seat and round bonuses still add. |
| Dragon pong | 2 | Three identical dragons. |
| Little dragons | 20 | Two dragon pongs and a pair of the third. |
| Big dragons | 40 | Pongs of all three dragons. |
Gongs
| Pattern | Points | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Open gong | 1 | Added in the final hand score. Also counts as one concealed pong. |
| Concealed gong | 2 | Added in the final hand score. |
| Concealed gong payment | 5 | Each opponent pays immediately on declaration. |
| Unshown concealed gong | 10 | Penalty paid to each other player. |
Sequences and pongs
| Pattern | Points | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Mixed dragon | 5 / 10 | 123, 456 and 789 across the three suits: exposed / concealed. Never scored with a pure dragon. |
| Pure dragon | 10 / 20 | 123, 456 and 789 in one suit: exposed / concealed. Takes the place of a mixed dragon. |
| Uncle pongs | 5 / 15 / 30 / 60 | 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 consecutive pongs in one suit. |
| Brother sheungs | 5 / 15 / 30 | 2 / 3 / 4 identical sheungs in the same suit. |
| Sister sheungs | 3 / 10 | The same sequence in 2 / 3 different suits. |
| Sister pongs | 3 / 10 | The same numbered pong in 2 / 3 different suits. |
| Concealed pongs | 5 / 10 / 15 / 80 | 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 concealed pongs. Each open gong counts as one. The 80 already includes All Pong 25. |
| No terminals | 5 | No 1s, 9s, winds or dragons. |
Terminals and step-up patterns
| Pattern | Points | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal pong sets | 3 / 15 | One / two sets of 111 and 999 in the same suit. |
| Terminal sheung set | 3 | 123 and 789 in one suit. |
| Two mixed terminal sheung sets | 15 | A 123 and 789 in each of two suits. |
| Two pure terminal sheung sets | 20 | Two 123s and two 789s, all in one suit. |
| Three step-up sheungs, mixed | 5 | Starts rise by one; all three suits are required. |
| Three step-up sheungs, pure | 10 | Starts rise by one, all in one suit. |
| Four in two ways | 5 | Four copies of one tile spread across two groups. |
| Four in three ways | 10 | Four copies spread across three groups. |
| Four in four ways | 20 | Four copies spread across four groups. |
Whole-hand patterns
| Pattern | Points | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Concealed, discard win | 5 | No exposed sets except gongs; win on a discard. |
| Concealed, self-draw | 10 | No exposed sets except gongs. Replaces concealed discard 5 and ordinary self-draw 1. |
| Fully exposed, discard win | 15 | Five exposed sets; win on the pair. Closing can add 5. |
| Fully exposed, self-draw | 10 | Five exposed sets; self-draw the pair. |
| Semi-pure | 30 | One numbered suit plus honours. |
| Pure suit | 90 | One numbered suit, no honours. |
| No honours | 1 | No winds or dragons; left out when a stronger row includes it. |
| Two-suit hand | 5 | Exactly two numbered suits, without honours. |
| All five suits | 10 | Characters, Bamboo, Circles, winds and dragons. |
| All pong | 25 | All five sets are pongs or gongs. |
| All sheung | 5 | All five sets are sheungs, with flowers or honours. |
| All sheung, clean | 15 | All sheungs, no flowers and no honours. |
Concealed with a gong. An exposed gong does not break a concealed hand. Flowers and exposed gongs may sit on the table; any other exposed set (a claimed sheung or pong) does. If your only exposed set was a pong and you self-draw its fourth tile to make a gong, the hand counts as concealed again.
Large whole-hand patterns
| Pattern | Points | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Honours hand | 90 | Only winds and dragons. Concealed pongs, seat and round winds, and the wind and dragon families still add. It does not also add All Pong. Not a two-suit or pure hand. |
| Terminals plus honours | 20 | Each set is a terminal pong, a 123 or 789 sheung, or an honour set. Pair: terminal or honour. Both terminals and honours are required. |
| Terminals only | 40 | Terminal pongs or 123 and 789 sheungs; a pair of 1s or 9s; no honours. |
Eyes and the winning tile
| Pattern | Points | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Good eyes | 2 | A pair of 2s, 5s or 8s. |
| Calling by pairs | 2 | Two pairs, either of which can become the pong. |
| True single wait | 2 | Only one tile identity completes the hand. |
| False single wait | 2 | Several tile identities win, and the finished hands differ. |
| East wins | 1 | Only while the streak die is inactive. |
| East gives the winning tile | 1 | Win on East’s discard, with no active streak die. |
| Self-draw from the wall | 1 | Ordinary self-draw; replaced by the concealed self-draw row. |
| Concealed self-draw | 10 | The same row as in whole-hand patterns; count it once. |
| Self-draw from the flower wall | 5 | A flower or gong replacement wins. |
| Self-draw on a second gong | 30 | Make a gong, draw a replacement that makes another gong, then win on the next replacement. |
| Robbing a gong | 10 | Win on the tile being added to a pong. The gong declarer also pays the robber an extra 10. |
| Closing (Calling Hand) | 5 | Declared on your own turn, straight after your discard. |
Single wait bonuses do not apply to Nico Nico or either Orphans hand. An All Pong or Honours hand takes only a True Single Wait, never a False Single Wait. There is no separate edge wait or closed wait row.
Early wins and the last tile
| Pattern | Points | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Human hand, within 4 tiles | 80 | 4 or fewer discarded and declared tiles on the table. |
| Within 7 tiles | 20 | 7 or fewer discarded and declared tiles on the table. |
| Within 10 tiles | 10 | 10 or fewer discarded and declared tiles on the table. |
| Seabed | 10 | Self-draw on the last live wall tile. |
| Earthly hand | 90 | A non-East player wins on East’s first discard. |
| Heavenly hand | 100 | East completes before anyone discards. |
| Mahjong base | 5 | Added after the other rows; the flower instant wins are the exceptions. |
Table settlements
| Pattern | Points | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Four consecutive honours | 5 | First discarder pays every opponent; West has its own procedure. |
| Four consecutive suit tiles | 10 | First discarder pays every opponent. |
| Fourth consecutive West | 5 | Show and hold it; the first West discarder pays each chaser. Discard it next round. |
| Dealer streak bonus | 3, 5, 7, 9 and up | 2n + 1, no cap. Replaces the East wins and East gives the winning tile rows. |
| Dice triple 1 to 5 / triple 6 | 5 / 10 | Immediate dice settlement. |
| Robbing the gong | +10 | The gong declarer pays the robber, on top of the hand score. |
| False Mahjong | 25 | Paid to each other player. |
| Drawn hand kitty | 5 each | Deal passes. The next self-draw winner collects the kitty. |
| Peeking after Closing | 5 | Paid to each other player. |
See table law for how each settlement works at the table.
Waits: start with the sixteen tiles
Remove the winning tile from the completed hand. You now have the sixteen tile waiting hand. Keep every exposed set fixed. List the different tile identities that could legally complete the shape; four copies of one identity are still one choice.
One completing identity is a true single wait. Two existing pairs that can each become a pong is calling by pairs. Any other wait with several choices must be checked: lay out the finished hand for each winning tile. If the finished hands differ only in one sheung grown from the same two tiles, it is an open wait with no bonus; otherwise it is a false single wait. Three or more choices are always a false single wait.
A wait describes the shape, not the whole score. Count every other row as usual.
True single wait: one possible tile
With every other group fixed, a lone Red dragon waiting for its partner has only one completing tile: the Red dragon. An isolated 1-2 Circles block also has only one choice, the 3 Circle. A true single wait is not limited to completing the pair.
False single wait: different completions
Keep four completed sets fixed. Your remaining concealed block is 3-4-5-6 Bamboo. You need one tile, but there are two choices: 3 Bamboo or 6 Bamboo.
The pair moved, so the two finished hands are different. This is a false single wait, worth 2 points when no special hand rules it out.
False single wait: three Bamboo choices
This hand has an East pong, a pair of 4 Characters and eleven concealed Bamboo tiles. It is one tile from Mahjong, and any of 3, 6 or 9 Bamboo completes it.
There is also a fourth win: 4 Characters. The Characters pair becomes a pong, and the Bamboo rearranges as 1-2-3 / 4-5-6 / 7-8-9 with 9-9 as the pair. Always check the whole hand. False single wait adds 2 when nothing rules it out.
Open wait: one unfinished sheung, two doors
An isolated 3-4 Bamboo block can take 2 Bamboo or 5 Bamboo. Both choices finish the same unfinished sheung. This ordinary two-sided wait does not earn the false single wait bonus.
A pair or a finished sheung beside the 3-4 does not change that. Lay out the finished hand for each winning tile. With 2-2-3-4 Bamboo, a 2 or a 5 leaves the same 2-2 pair and only grows the 3-4 into a sheung. With 1-2-3-4-5 Bamboo, a 3 or a 6 keeps the same 1-2-3. Only one sheung changes, so both are open waits with no bonus. If the finished hands differ in any other way, like the moving pair in 3-4-5-6, it is a false single wait.
Never classify a wait from one fragment if other concealed tiles can rearrange. Check the entire sixteen tile waiting hand and leave exposed sets fixed.
Which wait bonuses are excluded? True and false single wait do not apply to Nico Nico, 13 Orphans or 16 Orphans. A Chicken hand never has a wait bonus, because any bonus takes it past one point. There is no separate edge wait or closed wait row; a shape with only one completing tile can still be a true single wait.
Calling by pairs: either pair becomes a pong
Four sets are complete. The four remaining tiles are two different pairs. Either matching tile turns one pair into the fifth set, and the other pair stays as the eyes.
The bonus is 2 points when allowed. This is a specific two-pair wait, not every hand with two possible winning tiles. An All Pong or Honours hand never takes it, nor a False Single Wait: only a True Single Wait, the last concealed tile waiting for its pair, adds 2.
Seat flowers and bouquets
Each revealed flower or season scores 1 point. Matching your seat number adds 1 more for that tile. East uses 1, South 2, West 3 and North 4. If South has both number 2 bonus tiles, each scores 2: 4 points altogether.
A mixed bouquet holds numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 using both flowers and seasons. It pays 5 points immediately from each opponent. A full bouquet holds all four flowers or all four seasons and pays 10 from each opponent. One player can collect both the mixed and the full bouquet.
Seven or eight flowers
Seven revealed bonus tiles trigger the 20 point flower win; all eight give 40. These are flat instant win totals. Do not add the usual 5 point base or the per-flower rows to them. The ordinary seventeen tile shape is not required, but the winner must hold exactly seventeen tiles: replace the seventh flower (and the eighth) from the flower wall before declaring, or it is a false Mahjong.
Concealed pongs: count the qualifying sets
Two concealed pongs score 5; three score 10; four score 15; five score 80. Each open gong counts as one concealed pong, and any tile drawn from the wall is a concealed tile. Use the row for the number that qualifies, not the sum of every lower row. Five concealed pongs is always an All Pong hand, and the 80 already includes the All Pong 25, so do not add it again.
A discard used to complete a pong does not make that pong concealed. A discarded tile that completes the pair does not expose pongs that were already complete. Declared gongs have their own rules and payments; keep their status clear when scoring.
Sister pongs
Pongs of the same number in two different suits score 3. The same number in all three suits scores 10. The suits must differ and the numbers must match.
Brother sheungs: two, three or four copies
A brother sheung repeats the exact same sequence in the same suit. Two copies score 5, three score 15 and four score 30. Use the strongest row once.
A 3-4-5 Bamboo sheung and a 3-4-5 Characters sheung are sisters, not brothers. Two suits score Sister Sheungs 3; all three suits score 10.
Mixed and pure dragon sequences
These patterns are sequences, not dragon tiles. Build 1-2-3, 4-5-6 and 7-8-9. A mixed dragon uses all three numbered suits; a pure dragon uses one suit throughout. A hand never scores both: take the higher. You may not break up a pure dragon to also claim a mixed one, but sister or brother sets that use its sheungs still score.
Whether these three sheungs are concealed matters. If the winning tile completes the sequence and you self-draw it, the sequence counts as concealed. If a discard completes it, the sequence counts as partly concealed, even if every other tile was hidden.
Terminal pong and sheung sets
A terminal is a 1 or 9 in a numbered suit. A terminal pong set means both 111 and 999 in the same suit. One such combination scores 3; combinations in two suits score 15. A pong of 1s alone is not enough.
A terminal sheung set means 123 and 789 in the same suit. One combination scores 3. One in each of two suits scores 15. Two copies of both runs, all in one suit, score 20.
Three step-up sheungs
Choose three sheungs whose starting numbers rise by one. Across all three suits, this mixed step-up scores 5. In a single suit, the pure step-up scores 10. A fourth stepping sheung adds nothing extra.
A step-up in exactly two suits does not qualify. The All Step-Up special hand is different: all five sheungs form a staircase, and its award replaces these rows.
Neighbours or uncle pongs
Consecutive pongs in one suit score 5 for two, 15 for three, 30 for four or 60 for five. Use the longest chain once.
Four in two, three or four ways
Use all four copies of one exact tile across separate groups. The grouping matters. A declared gong keeps all four copies in a single group, so it is not this pattern.
These are fragments, not complete hands. Complete the remaining sets and pair, then check every scoring row that applies.
Fully exposed hands
All five sets must already be exposed on the table, with only the pair left to complete. A discard win scores Fully Exposed 15; self-drawing the pair scores Fully Exposed 10.
Four exposed sets and one concealed set is not fully exposed. Keep the fifth set distinct from the pair when checking. Closing can add 5 when legally declared; it is separate from the fully exposed condition.
Early wins and the last tile
Count every tile on the table: all discarded tiles plus all declared (exposed) tiles. Human Hand is a win with 4 or fewer on the table, worth 80. A win with 7 or fewer scores 20, and with 10 or fewer scores 10. These are alternatives, not cumulative bonuses.
Heavenly Hand is East complete before any discard. Earthly Hand is a non-East player winning on East’s first discard. Do not confuse either with a later early win.
Seabed is a self-draw on the last live wall tile, worth 10. Winning on the final discard is not the same event. A flower wall replacement win is its own 5 point row.
Combining bonuses without double counting
Use the stronger row when two rows reward the same feature:
- Clean All Sheung replaces ordinary All Sheung.
- No Flowers and No Honours replaces the two separate 1 point rows.
- All Step-Up replaces the three-sheung step-up rows.
- A pure dragon replaces a mixed dragon; never score both.
- Five concealed pongs includes All Pong, so All Pong is not added again.
- Concealed self-draw replaces ordinary self-draw.
- An Honours hand does not add All Pong. It still adds concealed pongs, seat and round winds, and the wind and dragon families.
- Larger wind and dragon awards replace their smaller family rows.
Other rows that apply still add. Each worked hand shows the exact calculation.