Hong Kong Mahjong
The most widely played Mahjong ruleset, originating in Guangdong (Cantonese) China. Four players compete to assemble a winning hand of melds and a pair from a shared pool of 144 tiles.
Hong Kong Mahjong — table layout
The Tiles
Suited tiles (108): Three suits of nine values each, four copies per value.
| Suit | Name | Values |
|---|---|---|
| Characters (Wan, 萬) | Also called Man or Crack | 1–9 |
| Bamboo (Sou, 索) | Also called Bam | 1–9 |
| Circles (Pin, 餅) | Also called Dot | 1–9 |
Honour tiles (28): Four copies of each.
| Type | Tiles |
|---|---|
| Winds | East, South, West, North |
| Dragons | White (Bai), Green (Fa), Red (Zhong) |
Bonus tiles (8): Set aside when drawn, not part of a winning hand.
- Flowers: 1 (Spring), 2 (Summer), 3 (Autumn), 4 (Winter)
- Seasons: 1 (Plum), 2 (Orchid), 3 (Chrysanthemum), 4 (Bamboo)
Each bonus tile number corresponds to a seat: 1 = East, 2 = South, 3 = West, 4 = North.
Seating and Round Wind
Seats are East, South, West, and North. East is the dealer and moves first. The round wind (East, South, West, or North) rotates after all four players have been dealer. The game covers at least one East round; full games include all four rounds.
Dealing
Shuffle all 144 tiles face down and build a wall of four sides, two tiles high and 18 tiles wide per side. East rolls dice to determine the break point.
Each player draws 13 tiles clockwise from the wall, starting with East. East then draws one extra tile to begin the game (or draws first on their turn). Bonus tiles are set aside immediately and a replacement tile is drawn from the live wall.
Turn Structure
On your turn:
- Draw one tile from the wall (or claim a discarded tile, see Claiming below).
- Bonus tile: if the drawn tile is a flower or season, set it aside and draw a replacement.
- Declare a winning hand if your 14 tiles form a valid hand (see Winning).
- Declare a Kong if you hold a complete set of four identical tiles, then draw a supplement tile and discard.
- Discard one tile face-up to the centre.
Claiming Discards
After any discard, other players may claim it in priority order (highest to lowest):
- Win (any player): claim the discard to complete a valid winning hand.
- Kong (any player): claim four identical tiles to declare an open Kong. Draw a supplement tile, then discard.
- Pong (any player): claim three identical tiles (2 in hand + discard). Discard one tile.
- Chow (left-hand player only): claim to complete a sequence of three consecutive suited tiles. Discard one tile.
Only one player may claim each discard. If no one claims, the next player draws from the wall.
Melds
| Meld | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chow | Sequence of 3 consecutive tiles of the same suit | From left player only; suited tiles only |
| Pong | 3 identical tiles | From any player |
| Kong | 4 identical tiles | From any player; draw supplement tile |
ConcealedPongs and Kongs (formed from drawn tiles, never claimed from a discard) score higher than open melds.
Robbing the Kong: when a player upgrades a Pong to a Kong by drawing the fourth tile, any other player who can win by taking that tile may declare an immediate win, robbing the Kong.
Winning Hand
A standard winning hand consists of 4 melds + 1 pair = 14 tiles.
Alternate winning hands: Seven Pairs (7 different pairs), and certain limit hands defined by the scoring table.
To declare a win, the hand must be worth a minimum of 3 faan, and one of Thirteen Orphans or the standard forms.
Win on wall (Zimo): you draw the winning tile from the wall. All three opponents each pay the full hand value.
Win on discard (Ron): another player discards your winning tile. Only the discarder pays the full hand value.
Bonus Tiles (Flowers and Seasons)
Bonus tiles are set aside when drawn and are not part of the winning hand structure. They provide bonus faan:
| Condition | Faan |
|---|---|
| Own-seat flower or season (matching seat number) | 1 |
| All four flowers | 5 |
| All four seasons | 5 |
| All eight bonus tiles | Automatic win (limit hand) |
Faan Scoring
A winning hand’s faan is the total of every pattern it makes, to a limit of 13. A hand must be worth at least 3 faan to be declared.
| Pattern | Faan |
|---|---|
| Common Hand (all sequences) | 1 |
| All in Triplets | 3 |
| Mixed One Suit (one suit and honours) | 3 |
| All One Suit | 7 |
| Mixed Orphans (terminals and honours only) | 1 |
| Seven Pairs | 4 |
| Small Dragons (two dragon pongs and a dragon pair) | 5 |
| Great Dragons (three dragon pongs) | 8 |
| Small Winds (three wind pongs and a wind pair) | 6 |
| Each pong of dragons | 1 |
| Pong of the seat wind; pong of the prevailing wind | 1 each |
| No flowers or seasons | 1 |
| Flower or season of the seat’s own number | 1 each |
| All four flowers; all four seasons | 2 each |
| Self-Pick (winning tile drawn from the wall) | 1 |
| Win from Wall (fully concealed hand) | 1 |
| Robbing a Kong | 1 |
| Win by Last Catch (last tile of the wall) | 1 |
| Win by Kong (on a supplement tile) | 1 |
Limit Hands
| Hand | Faan |
|---|---|
| All Honour Tiles | 10 |
| Self Triplets (four concealed pongs) | 10 |
| Orphans (all terminals) | 10 |
| Great Winds (four wind pongs) | 13 |
| All Kongs | 13 |
| Thirteen Orphans | 13 |
Payment
Points double with every faan: 3 faan is 8 points, 4 is 16, and so on to 13 faan, 8,192.
- Win on a discard: the discarder pays the winner the full points.
- Win on a self-drawn tile: each other player pays one and a half times the points.
The dealer keeps the deal after winning, or after a hand in which the wall runs out; otherwise the deal passes to the right. The prevailing wind moves on once every player has dealt.
Attribution
Hong Kong / Cantonese Mahjong. Traditional game originating in China. Scoring written from Wikipedia, Hong Kong mahjong scoring rules, which is the source for the faan table, the limit hands and the payment above.