1. Introduction and explanation
2. Patterns based on chows
3. Patterns based on pongs/kongs
4. Patterns based on the entire hand
5. Special hands
6. Additional points awarded at the end of the hand
7. Penalties
8. Reference table
9. Scoring guidelines history

1. Introduction and explanation

The following rules for scoring hands when we play mahjong are very loosely based on the official Chinese rules for mahjong. For more information on these rules, go to www.mahjongnews.com or in the help documentation for Four Winds Mahjong at www.4windsmj.com.

2. Patterns based on chows

Double Chow: 1 point

Two chows with the same numbers

Mixed Triple Chow: 2 points

Three chows with the same number, not all in the same suit

Straight Chows: 2 points

One of each tile from 1-9 in the same suit

Two Double Chows: 3 points

Hand contains 2 distinct double chows, none of which are included in a mixed or pure triple chow

Points for All Chows are already included

Pure Triple Chow: 3 points

Three chows with the same numbers, all the same suit

Mixed Triple and Double Chow: 4 points

Hand contains 4 chows, 3 of which compose a mixed triple chow, and the 4th having the same number sequence as the mixed triple chow

Points for All Chows are already included

Quadruple Chow: 9 points

Four chows with the same number, all in the same suit

Points for All Chows are already included

Points for Tile Hog are already included

All Chows: 1 point

Hand consist of 4 chows and the eye

3. Scoring based on patterns for Pongs and Kongs

For rules listed below that just describe pongs, kongs count as pongs, but with appropriate bonuses added since kongs get bonus points as listed separately below (e.g., 1 Dragon Kong would be 2 points, instead of just one).

One Dragon Pong: 1 point

Only one pong of Dragons

Two Dragon Pongs: 2 points

Only two pongs of Dragons

Little Three Dragons: 4 points

Two pongs of Dragons with the eye made of the third Dragon

Big Three Dragons: 6 points

Pongs of all 3 Dragons

Pong of Round Wind: 1 point

Pong of the Wind that corresponds to the round being played

Pong of Seat Wind: 1 point

Pong of the Wind that corresponds to the player seat (i.e., dealer is East, etc.)

Big Three Winds: 3 points

Only three pongs of Winds

Little Four Winds: 4 points

Three pongs of Winds with the eye being made of the fourth Wind

Automatically gets points for at least Semi-Pure Hand, depending on the hand

Big Four Winds: 11 points

Four pongs of Winds

Points for All Pongs are already included

Points for Round's Wind and Seat's Wind are already included

Automatically gets points for at least Semi-Pure Hand, depending on hand

All Pongs: 3 points

Hand consists of 4 pongs and the eye

Triple Pong: 3 points

Three pongs, each with the same number

Single Kong: 1 point

One kong, either revealed or concealed

Double Kong: 2 points

Two kongs, either revealed or concealed

Triple Kong: 4 points

Three kongs, either concealed or revealed

Quadruple Kong: 12 points

Four kongs, either revealed or concealed

Points for All Pongs are already included

4. Scoring based on patterns for the entire hand

These are conditions that the entire hand must satisfy, and are not listed above (e.g., All Chows, All Pongs).

All Simples: 1 point

No Terminals or Honors in the hand

All Terminals and Honors: 4 points

Hand contains only Terminals and Honors

All Terminals: 6 points

Hand only contains Terminals

All Honors: 6 points

Hand contains only Honors

Does not receive points for Semi-Pure or Pure Hand, since the hand does not contain tiles of any suit

Semi-Pure Hand: 3 points

Hand contains tiles from only one suit, plus at least one Honor

Pure Hand: 6 points

Hand contains tiles from only one suit, with no Honors

Reversible Tiles: 3 points

Hand contains only tiles that look the same upside-down (i.e., 1-5 and 8-9 of Balls, 2 4-6 and 8-9 of Bamboo, White Dragon)

All Green: 12 points

Hand contains only tiles that are completely green (i.e., 2-4 6 and 8 of Bamboo, and Green Dragon, since the White Dragon is not always green)

Points for Semi-Pure or Pure Hand are already included

5. Special hands

These are hands that do not follow the usual pattern of 4 sets and an eye, yet are considered as legal hands for winning. They are all worth more than the 3 minimum points needed to win. By definition, these hands must be at least Concealed, but the point for Concealed Hand is already included.

Furthermore, depending on the actual tiles making up the special hand, the hands can be worth more than their listed point values, as other bonuses such as Semi-Pure Hand or Pure Hand may apply. For all of the following hands, the final tile needed to win can be either another player's discarded tile or a self-drawn tile. If the final tile is a self-drawn tile or a supplement tile, the appropriate bonus is awarded.

Seven Pairs: 7 points

Hand contains seven pairs. This implies that at least 6 of the pairs must be self-drawn. In addition, if a player has a revealed kong or a concealed kong, the player can not break up the kong to form 2 pairs.

Points for Single Wait are already included

Nine Gates: 12 points

Hand contains 1-1-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-9-9 in the same suit, plus a 14th tile in the same suit. When a player has the first 13 tiles as listed above, then the 14th tile is any of the nine tiles in the appropriate suit; hence, the hand is called "Nine Gates", because there are 9 ways to win with this configuration. This hand may not contain any revealed chows, pongs, or kongs, or concealed kongs, because this would ruin the "nine gates" or 9 ways to win.

Does not receive points for Pure Hand or Straight Chows

Does not receive points for any type of Wait

Thirteen Orphans: 12 points

Hand contains 12 distinct Honors and Terminals, and a pair of the 13th Honor/Terminal. The first 13 tiles, of course, must be concealed.

Does not receive points for All Terminals and Honors

Does not receive points for any type of Wait

6. Additional points awarded at end of the hand

Most of the following rules for awarding points are based on how the winning player actually won the hand. All of the point awards below except for the points awarded for flower tiles can be counted towards the minimum 3 points necessary to win.

Self-Touch: 1 point

The winning tile is drawn from the wall as a normal tile, not as a supplement tile.

Self-Touch with Supplement Tile: 2 points

The winning tile is a supplement tile drawn after either a flower or a kong.

Concealed Hand: 1 point

None of the four sets in the hand is revealed, and the winning tile is another player discarded tile.

Fully Concealed Hand: 2 points

None of the four sets in the hand is revealed, and the winning tile is a self-drawn tile. This bonus already includes the 1 point usually awarded by Self-Touch.

Fully Concealed Hand by Supplement Tile: 3 points

None of the four sets in the hand is revealed, and the winning tile is a supplement tile. This bonus already includes the 2 points usually awarded by Self-Touch with Supplement Tile.

Revealed Hand: 2 point

All four sets in the hand are revealed, and the winning tile must be discarded by another player. This implies that there can be no concealed kongs. Points for Single Wait are already included.

Last Drawn Tile: 2 points

The winning tile is the final tile from the wall. Points for Self-Touch are already included.

Last Discarded Tile: 2 points

The winning tile is the final tile discarded after the wall has been exhausted.

Last Tile: 1 point

The winning tile is the 4th of its kind. The other 3 tiles must be in revealed sets or in the discard pile. If you have a concealed pong, and then you use the 4th tile as a winning tile, you do not get this point, as the pong was concealed. If you win by Single Wait, you can not get this bonus point, as the 3rd tile, the incomplete eye, was concealed.

Tile Hog: 1 point

The winning hand contains all 4 of any tile. However, the 4 tiles can not be used as a kong, either concealed or revealed.

Robbing the Kong: 3 points

The winning tile is the 4th tile that another player wishes to add to a previously revealed pong. The loser pong must be revealed; if it is a concealed pong, and the 4th tile is a discarded tile, you do not get points for robbing the kong, as the kong was never formed. Points for Last Tile are already included.

Heavenly Mahjong: 12 points

Winning either from the initially dealt hand, or before any player gets a second turn during the game.

Flower Tiles: 1 point per Flower

In this version of mahjong, you will get 1 point per flower, regardless of what seat you are. However, you can not use these points as a means to attaining the minimum 3 points needed to win.

Edge Wait: 1 point

The winning tile is either a 3 to complete a 1-2-3 chow or a 7 to complete a 7-8-9 chow. This does not combine with either Closed Wait or Single Wait. In addition, the only tile you can be waiting for to get this point is the 3 or 7; you can not be waiting for either the 3 or another tile.

Closed Wait: 1 point

The winning tile is the middle tile to complete a chow. This does not combine with either Edge Wait or Single Wait. In addition, the only tile you can be waiting for is the tile that is in the middle.

Single Wait: 1 point

The winning tile is for the eye. This does not combine with Edge Wait or Closed Wait.

Waiting Example 1

If you have 1-2-3-3 in a suit, you only get 1 point, even though another 3 can count as both an Edge Wait (1-2-3 chow) and a Single Wait (3-3 eye with the 1-2-3 chow already in the hand).

Waiting Example 2

If you have 1-2-2-3-4 in a suit, you only get 1 point, even though another 3 can count as both an Edge Wait (1-2-3 chow with 2-3-4 already in hand) and a Closed Wait.

Waiting Example 3

If you have 1-2-3-3-3-4-5 in a suit and they are all concealed, you do not get the point for any Waits, because you can win with either a 3 (as the eye with 1-2-3 and 3-4-5 in the hand already) or with a 6 (to complete 4-5-6 chow with 1-2-3 and 3-3 in the hand already).

Waiting Example 4

If you have 1-2-3-3-3-4-5 in a suit and the 1-2-3 is revealed, you do not get the point for any type of Wait, because you can win with either a 3 (as the eye being 3-3 with 3-4-5 in the hand already) or with a 6 (to complete 4-5-6 chow with 3-3 in the hand already).

Waiting Example 5

If your hand is "ready" and the only set that needs to be completed is a chow with 6-7, this does not receive a point for any Wait, as either a 5 or 8 will complete the chow. This applies even if all of the 5s or all of the 8s that could be used are unavailable because they have been discarded or are in other revealed sets on the table, including the player's own revealed sets.

7. Penalties

8. Reference table of scoring rules

9. Scoring guidelines history

Version 1.1 - 07/25/03

• Rules now online, instead of being an annoying Word document being attached to e-mail
• Added more examples for the different types of Waits
• Added Tile Hog rule, and edited Quadruple Chow because of Tile Hog rule
• Added Two Double Chows and Mixed Triple and Double Chow for clarification
• Changed restriction on the suit of the chows for Mixed Triple Chow
• Re-organized listing of rules, creating section 5 for special hands, and creating section 7 for penalties
• Edited a few point values to take into account points that are implied (e.g., Big Four Winds automatically implies All Pongs and other things, so it is now worth 11 points)
• Clarified description of the different types of Concealed Hands

Version 1.0 - 07/02/03

• First major revision, mostly aimed at resolving ambiguities and inconsistencies in previous version
• Added many rules, mostly introduced by Sonia, such as Closed Wait ("In The Middle")
• Added penalties
• Added rules for different Chow patterns
• Added Reversible Tiles
• Clarified description of All Simples, No Simples, All Honors, All Terminals
• Clarified description of classical "limit" hands
• Changed many point values, loosely based on relative point rankings for similar rules in the official Chinese rules for mahjong
• Points for flowers no longer restricted by the seat of the winner

Version 0.5 - 05/19/03

• First version of the rules
• Many ambiguities and inconsistencies, such as Seven Pairs being worth only 3 points, and Big Three Dragons being worth 6 and 3 points simultaneously
• Later determined to be directly taken from help documentation for Hong Kong Mah Jong by Nine Dragons Software