A comprehensive beginner-to-intermediate guide to Hong Kong Mahjong and our scoring engine.
Mahjong is played with 144 tiles. Understanding the "deck" is your first step. There are three main suits and two types of "Honor" tiles:
To win (go "Hu"), you must complete a hand of 14 tiles. This is almost always composed of 4 sets and 1 pair (the "Eyes").
Three consecutive tiles of the same suit.
Example: 🀐 🀑 🀒 (Bamboo 1, 2, 3). Note: Dragons and Winds cannot form Chows.
Three identical tiles. Can be suits or honors.
Example: 🀄 🀄 🀄 (Green Dragons).
Four identical tiles. Functions as a set of 3 but allows you to draw an extra card from the back of the wall.
Players take turns drawing one tile from the wall and discarding one from their hand. You want to discard tiles that don't help your sets while keeping those that do.
In Hong Kong Mahjong, we measure hand value in Fan. The more complex or rare your hand, the more Fan you earn. Our system automatically identifies these patterns:
| Hand Pattern | Description | Value |
|---|---|---|
Common Hand (Ping Hu) |
All four sets are Chows (runs). You must have a suit-based pair (no honors). | 1 Fan |
All Pungs (Dui Dui Hu) |
A hand consisting entirely of triplets/quads and one pair. | 3 Fan |
Clean Flush (Hun Yi Se) |
The hand contains tiles from only one suit plus any Honor tiles (Winds/Dragons). | 3 Fan |
Full Flush (Qing Yi Se) |
Highly sought after. Every single tile (including the pair) belongs to the same suit. | 7 Fan |
Great Dragons (Da San Yuan) |
Pungs of all 3 Dragon symbols: Green, Red, and White. | Limit |
Thirteen Orphans |
The rarest hand. One of every terminal (1/9) in every suit, one of every Wind, and one of every Dragon, plus one duplicate. | Limit |
Honor tiles are a reliable way to stack points even in mixed hands.
Any Pung/Kong of Dragons provides an automatic +1 Fan.
A Pung of your Seat Wind or the Prevailing Wind provides +1 Fan.
Flowers and Seasons are "bonus" tiles. When you draw one, you reveal it, set it aside, and draw an immediate replacement from the back of the wall. They don't count toward your 14 winning tiles but add significant value:
Players are assigned a number (1-East, 2-South, 3-West, 4-North). If you draw a flower matching your number (e.g. Flower #2 while sitting South), gain +1 Fan.
Collecting all 4 Flowers or all 4 Seasons? That's a massive +2 Fan bonus and a major show of luck!
Note: If you win with Zero flowers/seasons, our system awards you a +1 Fan "No-Flower" bonus.
The Dealer role is pivotal. If East wins, everyone pays them double. However, if East loses, they must pay double to the winner. This creates high-stakes swings in point totals.
If you draw your own winning tile (Self-Draw), every other player pays you. If you win off someone else's discard, only the person who discarded the tile pays you.
Our table currently enforces a 1 Fan Minimum. You cannot declare a win unless your hand (including all patterns and bonuses) totals at least 1 Fan point.
The scorer handles the mathematics and complex patterns. You focus on the strategy.