Hong Kong Mahjong

The tiles

The game uses 144 tiles, split into three groups: three suits numbered 1 to 9 with four copies of each tile, the honours, meaning winds and dragons, and eight unique bonus tiles.

The seats

The four winds rotate in this order: East → South → West → North. Players sit so the order runs counter-clockwise, that is, to each player’s right. Play moves in that same direction.

Setup

1. All 144 tiles go face down in the middle and get shuffled.
2. Each player builds a wall of 18 stacks two tiles high (36 tiles). The four walls form a square.
3. The dealer rolls two dice. Counting their own wall as 1, they move counter-clockwise until they reach the number rolled. That’s the wall that gets opened.
4. The owner of that wall rolls the dice and adds the result to the dealer’s. From the right-hand end of their wall you count that many stacks to the left. That’s where the wall opens, and that point is called the cut.
5. Dealing: starting with the dealer and going counter-clockwise, each player takes two stacks (4 tiles) per turn. Repeat three times, until everyone has 12 tiles. Tiles come off the wall clockwise from the cut.
6. The dealer takes two more tiles (14 in total). Everyone else takes one (13 in total).
7. Flowers and seasons: starting with the dealer and going in order, each player reveals the flowers or seasons they were dealt, one at a time, and takes a replacement from the tail of the wall. If the replacement is also a bonus tile, it gets revealed and replaced again, until a normal tile comes out. For games with beginners, it’s worth leaving the flowers and seasons in the case.

The walls

Once the wall is open you play from both ends and nothing is held back: all 144 tiles get played until they run out.

You draw from the head on every normal turn. The tail is where the replacements for flowers, seasons and KONG come from.

The goal

Complete a 14-tile hand made of four sets, any mix of SEUNG, PONG or KONG, plus an eye (眼), which is a pair.

The sets

SEUNG 上, run

Three consecutive tiles of the same suit. Numbered suits only: winds and dragons don’t make runs.

PONG 碰, triplet

Three identical tiles.

KONG 槓, quad

Four identical tiles. Every time you declare a KONG you take a replacement tile from the tail of the wall and then discard.

The concealed KONG is the only play in the game where you have a real decision about tiles you already own, so it’s worth writing down.

Follow-on cases: with two KONG in the same turn you draw two replacements and discard a single tile. If the replacement is a flower, you reveal it, take another replacement and discard a single tile. And if the replacement completes your hand, you win right there with “Ji Mo”, a play called 槓上開花 (gong seung hoi faa, “flower on the KONG”) that at most tables is worth an extra faan.

The turn

The game starts with the dealer, who holds 14 tiles and discards first. From there, every turn follows this sequence:

1. Draw a tile from the head of the wall.
2. If it’s a flower or a season, reveal it and take a replacement from the tail. Repeat if the replacement is also a bonus tile.
3. If you drew the fourth tile of a triplet, you may declare KONG if you want and take a replacement.
4. If the tile completes your hand, call “Ji Mo!” (自摸, self-draw) and reveal.
5. If not, discard a tile face up into the middle of the table.

After the discard the turn passes to the player on the right, unless another player claims the discard, in which case that player takes the turn. Whoever claims a discard doesn’t draw from the wall: they go straight to discarding.

Priority when claiming discards

Winning

There are two ways to complete a hand, and you call them differently:

Scoring

The standard system is HK Old Style (香港舊章). You count in faan (番), which are multipliers, not points. Faan add up, and that total converts into payment units using a fixed table.

The minimum to declare

A hand needs 3 faan minimum before it can be declared, which is why the game gets called 三番起糊 (sam faan hei wu, “winning starts at 3 faan”). This is what stops the game from being trivial: a hand of 4 sets + eye with no pattern is called 雞糊 (gai wu, “chicken hand”); it’s worth 0 faan and, even though it’s complete, you can’t declare it.

Who pays

This is the feature that defines HK mahjong: whoever feeds the hand pays alone. It makes discarding a real defensive decision, because if you hand the winner their tile you pay the whole thing while the other two watch. And that’s why the self-draw is worth so much: you collect triple.

Payout table

Faan don’t multiply linearly: they double up to 4 and then climb in half steps. The limit (滿貫, mun gun) is 10 faan, and a 12 faan hand pays the same as a 10.

Every value is a multiple of 8, so setting 1 chip = 8 units makes the table something you can count on your fingers. The range is enormous: 1 chip for a minimum hand won on a discard, 48 for a self-draw at the limit. That’s why it pays to hold out for a big hand instead of declaring fast on the minimum.

How paying works at the table

1. The winner reveals the hand and declares their faan. The table checks before anyone pays.
2. If the winner forgets to count something, they normally collect what they declared. Count calmly.
3. Payment happens immediately, before the next hand is dealt. The hand is closed and doesn’t get reopened.
4. On a draw nobody pays. Flowers and melded sets are worth nothing if nobody declared.

Chips

Suggested buy-in per player: 50 chips, made up of fifteen 1s, five 5s and one 10. They sit in front of each player, in plain sight: knowing who is losing changes how the others play, and that’s part of the game. If someone runs out of chips, they buy 50 more and carry on.

Faan list

Hand structure

Normally only one applies.

• Chicken Hand

  雞糊0 faan

  4 sets + eye, no pattern. Falls short of the minimum.

  Three suits mixed, a plain PONG and a plain eye: there is nothing in it to name.

• Common Hand

  平糊1 faan

  All 4 sets are SEUNG, and the eye is not a dragon or your own wind

  Four runs and a 5 of circles as the eye. A dragon eye would take the 平糊 away.

• All Triplets

  對對糊3 faan

  All 4 sets are PONG or KONG

  Four PONG across three suits. The suits don’t matter here, the shape does.

• All Concealed Triplets

  坎坎糊8 faan

  All 4 sets are PONG or KONG and none was built from someone else’s discard

  Four PONG you drew yourself. Replaces 對對糊 and 門前清 rather than adding to them.

• Mixed Terminals

  混么九4 faan

  Only 1s, 9s and honours

  Terminals and honours in PONG. The 3 faan of 對對糊 are already included.

• Half Flush

  混一色3 faan

  One suit + honours

  Everything in bamboo plus a wind PONG. Honours are allowed, a second suit is not.

• Seven Pairs

  嚦咕嚦咕4 faan

  7 pairs, all different — no sets at all

  Any mix of suits and honours, but no pair repeats: four of a kind is not two pairs. PONG and SEUNG are of no use to it, so it grows concealed in hand.

• Full Flush

  清一色7 faan

  One suit, no honours at all

  Circles and nothing else: no wind, no dragon, no second suit. Replaces 混一色.

Honour sets

These stack with each other and with the above.

• Dragon PONG/KONG

  三元牌1 faan each

  A PONG of 發. Any of the three dragons counts, and each one adds its own faan.

• PONG/KONG of your seat wind

  門風1 faan

  A PONG of 西, worth 1 faan only while you are the one sitting West.

• PONG/KONG of the round wind

  圈風1 faan

  A PONG of 南 during the South round. If South is also your seat, it is worth 2.

• Small Three Dragons

  小三元5 faan

  Two dragon PONG + the pair of the third. The 5 faan already include those dragon PONG.

• Great Three Dragons

  大三元8 faan

  All three dragons as PONG. The 8 faan already include them, you don’t add 1 per dragon.

• Small Four Winds

  小四喜6 faan

  3 wind PONG + the pair of the fourth

  Three winds as PONG and the fourth as the eye. The 6 faan already include 門風 and 圈風 if they fall to you, so you don’t add them separately.

Circumstances of the win

These don’t depend on the shape of the hand, only on how the last tile arrived.

• Self-draw

  自摸1 faan

  You were waiting on the 6 of bamboo and you take it off the wall yourself.

• Concealed hand won on a discard

  門前清1 faan

  Nothing claimed all hand: the 9 of bamboo that closes it comes off someone’s discard.

• Flower on the KONG

  槓上開花1 faan

  You KONG the 5 of circles, take the replacement from the tail of the wall, and it’s the 2 of characters you needed.

• Robbing the KONG

  搶槓1 faan

  Another player adds the 9 of bamboo to their PONG to make a KONG. You take it and win instead.

• Win on the last tile from the wall

  海底撈月1 faan

  The very last tile of the wall is the 1 of circles that completes your hand.

• Win on the last discard

  河底撈魚1 faan

  The wall has run out and the last discard of the hand is the 4 of circles you were waiting on.

Flowers

They add up, and here they do count towards the minimum. Individually only your own counts: your own flower (正花) goes by number, matching your seat wind.

• Your flower or your season

  1 faan each

  West’s flower and season. Only the number that matches your seat scores.

• The full set of the 4 flowers or the 4 seasons

  3 faan

  All four flowers, whatever seat you are sitting in.

• No flower or season at all in the whole hand

  1 faan

  You reach the end of the hand without revealing a single bonus tile.

Limit hands

They pay the cap directly, with nothing else added on.

• Great Four Winds

  大四喜Limit

  All 4 winds as PONG

• All Honours

  字一色Limit

  Winds and dragons only

• All Terminals

  清么九Limit

  1s and 9s only, no honours

• Thirteen Orphans

  十三么Limit

  The 13 terminals and honours + a duplicate of one of them

  Here the duplicate is the 中, but any of the thirteen serves.

• Nine Gates

  九蓮寶燈Limit

  1112345678999 in one suit, concealed

  The 1112345678999 waits on all nine circles at once; here it closes on the 5.

• Eighteen Arhats

  十八羅漢Limit

  Four KONG

  Four KONG and an eye: 18 tiles, the only hand that ends up bigger than 14.

• Heavenly Hand

  天糊Limit

  The dealer wins on their opening 14 tiles

  Dealt exactly like this, before anyone has discarded anything.

• Earthly Hand

  地糊Limit

  You are not the dealer and you win on the dealer’s first discard

  The dealer opens with the 8 of circles and it closes your eye.

• Hand of Man

  人和Limit

  You are not the dealer and you win on your own first draw from the wall

  Your very first draw of the hand is the 7 of characters that closes it, taken off the wall yourself.

Thirteen Orphans in detail

It is, with Seven Pairs, one of the two hands that break the 4 sets + eye structure: it has no SEUNG, PONG or KONG at all. It’s made of these 13 tiles, one of each, and the 14th tile is a duplicate of any of them.

Counting rules

Faan add up, and the total converts to units once. Limit hands add nothing else.

When one hand already contains another, the specific one replaces the general one instead of adding to it:

• Full Flush (清一色) replaces Half Flush, since it already implies there are no honours.
• All Concealed Triplets (坎坎糊) replaces All Triplets and concealed hand: the 8 faan include both.
• Mixed Terminals (混么九) includes All Triplets, because with only 1s, 9s and honours the shape is forced, not an achievement of its own.
• Small Four Winds (小四喜) includes the wind PONG, so you don’t add 門風 or 圈風 on top.
• Great Three Dragons already includes the dragon PONG, so you don’t add 1 faan per dragon.

Two hands stack when they measure different things. 混一色 measures which suit your tiles are in, 三元 measures how many dragons you have, 對對糊 measures the shape of the sets: they’re independent axes.

How to build the hand

There are three sources of faan, and you only control one of them from the start.

The beginner’s trap

The natural instinct is to build runs, they’re the easiest sets to complete. But four runs (平糊) are worth 1 faan, and that’s not enough to declare. You can end up with a complete hand and no way to win with it. In HK you don’t win by completing the hand: you win by committing to a shape.

The menu of routes to 3 faan

1. Half Flush (混一色) = 3 faan. One suit + as many honours as you like. It’s the most flexible one and it gives you the 3 faan in a single stroke. When in doubt, this one.

2. All Triplets (對對糊) = 3 faan. Four PONG/KONG + eye. Good when you open with a lot of pairs. More rigid, but you can claim discards from any player and not just the one on your left, so it moves fast.

3. Loose honours = 1 faan each. Three PONG of dragons or of your own wind give you 3 faan. Hard on its own, but it stacks with the other two. That’s why a dragon pair in your opening hand is the most valuable thing you can be dealt.

4. The cheap route: flowers + Common Hand. Since flowers do count towards the minimum here, 平糊 (1) + your flower (1) + your season (1) = 3 faan. It gives you an exit when the hand doesn’t come together, but it’s a route you don’t control: the flowers come or they don’t. Don’t change your plan for them, but do check whether they let you declare.

What to look at in your opening hand

1. How many tiles do I have in each suit? Is there one with 6 or more? Honours count in your favour, because they fit inside a Half Flush. If yes → Half Flush.
2. How many pairs do I have? Three or more? → All Triplets is alive.
3. Do I have a dragon pair, or a pair of my own wind? That’s 1 faan almost for free. Keep it even if it fits with nothing else.
4. Do I have loose guest winds? The ones that are neither yours nor the round’s are worth 0 faan. First tiles to throw, and throw them early, while nobody has melded anything.

An example read

Discard plan: first , the suits you’re abandoning. Then if they’re not your wind, but early, not once someone already has honours melded. What you don’t do is chase the because you “almost have” 3-4-5 of circles: that run gives 0 faan and slows you down.

After the hand

The hand ends when the wall runs out, when someone draws the last tile available between the head and the tail. If that player doesn’t win with it they discard; that discard can still be claimed, and if nobody takes it the hand is a draw (流局). Nobody collects, nobody pays.

The dealership does not pass to the winner. It’s positional, not a prize.

The winds rotate with the dealer

When the dealership moves on, every seat wind shifts one place: whoever was South becomes East, whoever was West becomes South, and so on. This has three consequences that get forgotten all the time:

1. Your own flower changes. If you were West you had flower 3; once you move to South it’s the 2.
2. Your seat wind for PONG changes. A PONG of 西 stops giving you 1 faan once you’re no longer West.
3. Which winds are “guests” changes. The ones you were throwing for free can become yours next hand.

The round

When the dealership has gone all the way around the table, a round ends and the round wind (圈風) changes, in the same order: East → South → West → North. The round wind is independent of your seat and gives its own faan: a PONG of the round wind is worth 1, and if it’s also your seat wind it’s worth 2. A full game is the four rounds; a short game is just the East round.

Table conventions

These rules change from table to table. Everything above already assumes the decisions that are settled; the open ones have to be agreed before you play.

Still open

• Cap on dealer continuation. Can the dealer chain indefinitely, or is there a limit? With no cap, the length of the game is unpredictable.
• How many rounds. All four (East, South, West, North) or just the East one?
• Pao / responsibility (包). If a player feeds a limit hand, do they pay for all three?
• Number of dice. HK usually plays with three; this is written for two.

Glossary