Hong Kong mahjong scoring rules are the rules used for scoring in mahjong, specifically the rules common in Hong Kong and some areas in Guangdong.
What is commonly referred to as a point or double will be referred to as faan in this article, from the Cantonese term 番 (pinyin: fān / jyutping: faan1).
A hand is considered a winning hand when it has 4 melds and a pair or is considered a special hand.
Faan are obtained by matching the winning hand and the cause of winning with a specific set of criteria, with different criteria scoring different values. Some of these criteria may be subsets of other criteria (for example, having a meld of one dragon versus having a meld of all of them), and in these cases, only the criteria with the tighter requirements are scored. The faan obtained may be translated into scores for each player using some (typically exponential) function. When gambling with mahjong, these scores are typically directly translated into sums of money. Some criteria may also be in terms of both points and score.
At the beginning of each game, each player is given a fixed score, usually in the form of scoring chips. In many cases, only the winner scores, with the winner's gain being deducted from the three losers' scores (that is, the losers pay the winner). In many cases, the change in score is modified by how the winner wins. These rules are called modifiers. Some common modifiers are:
There is no universally followed rule for what happens when a player runs out of score (i.e. their score goes below zero). In some circles, the match is immediately aborted, with the player furthest ahead in score declared the winner, while in others, a player out of scoring chips continues to play without risk of further losses.
Mahjong is sometimes played in a gambling setting. Poker chips are used for keeping score only. Since Mahjong is a zero-sum game, when one player loses all his chips, his chips are distributed among the other winners. In this case, the loser pays cash to buy back the chips from the winners and the game continues. Before the game starts, all players must agree upon how much one set of chips (100 unit) is worth. Some gamblers do away with chips and pay cash after each round depending on local laws regarding legality of gambling.
The criteria outlined in this article are by no means exhaustive or common to every variation, but are common to many 13-tile and 16-tile variations.
These hands are not standard hands, but can be used to win nonetheless. Because they diverge from the criteria for a normal winning hand, it is inherently risky to attempt these hands: effectively all pieces need to be self-drawn since melds are not useful to these hands
The largest group of criteria for scoring faan concern the contents of the winning hand. Typically, a hand that is more improbable will score higher than one that is more common, but this may not be the case. In variations with scoring minimums, it is generally accepted that, barring improbable high-scoring hands (such as the Heavenly Hand described below, even if the winning hand is otherwise scoreless), at least one point must be from this set of criteria. It is not uncommon for players to define minimum faan requirements for declaring a winning hand (typically 1 or 2), and at times a maximum fan cap or ceiling (for example at 7 or 8 faan). Also note that generally speaking in Hong Kong mahjong, 13 faan is considered the absolute limit for faan.
The tables following list common criteria for faan based on the contents of the hand.
| English | Cantonese | Faan | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common Hand | 1 | Every meld is a Chow | |
| ---- | |||
| All in Triplets | 3 | Every meld is either a Pong or Kong | |
| ---- | |||
| Seven Pairs (played by some variants) [1] | 4 | Hand consists of seven pairs. Can stack with All Honor Tiles, Mixed One Suit and All One Suit; Bonus from Wall is not awarded | |
| ------ | |||
| Mixed One Suit | 3 | Only honor tiles and tiles from one suit | |
| ---- | |||
| All One Suit | 7 | All tiles from one suit | |
| ---- | |||
| All Honor Tiles | 10 (3 fān from All in Triplets not counted) | All honor tiles | |
| ---- | |||
| Small Dragons | 5 | Melds of 2 dragons and a pair of the 3rd dragon | |
| ---- | |||
| Great Dragons | 8 | Melds of all 3 dragons | |
| ---- | |||
| Small Winds | 6 (6+3 fan for mixed one suit, 6+3 for all in triplets, or 6+10 for all honours) | Melds of 3 winds and a pair of the 4th wind | |
| ---- | |||
| Great Winds | 13 | Melds of all 4 winds | |
| ---- | |||
| Thirteen Orphans | 13 | One of each one, nine, wind, and dragon, and a 14th tile (any other terminal or honor tile) | |
| ---- + any tile in the set | |||
| All Kongs | 13 (3 fān from All in Triplets not counted) | Hand containing four Kongs | |
| Self Triplets | 10 | Hand containing four concealed (unmelded) Pongs. The bonus can only be won by self-pick unless the discarded winning tile forms the pair, not any of the four melds. The bonus fan of self-pick will be awarded but not for the bonus fan of winning from the wall. | |
| Orphans | 10 (3 fān from All in Triplets not counted) | Hand containing Pongs/Kongs of Ones and Nines only | |
| ---- | |||
| Nine Gates | 10 | Hand in any one suit consisting of 1112345678999, must be totally concealed. Note that bonuses for win from wall and all one suit will not be considered in this case. | |
| -- + any tile in the set | |||
| English | Cantonese | Fān | Description | Example | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seat Wind | 門風 (mun4 fung1) | 1 | A meld of the winner's seat wind | / / / | |
| Prevailing Wind | 圈風 (hyun1 fung1) | 1 | A meld of the prevailing wind | / / / | |
| Red Dragon | 紅中 (hung4 zung1) | 1 | A meld of the red dragon | ||
| Green Dragon | 發財 (faat3 coi4) | 1 | A meld of the green dragon | ||
| White Dragon | 白板 (baak6 baan2) | 1 | A meld of the white dragon | ||
| Mixed Orphans | 混么九 (wan6 jiu1 gau2) | 1 | Only honor tiles, ones and nines |
Other scoring criteria are based on the winning condition - how the winner won.
| English | Cantonese | Additional Fān | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-Pick | 自摸 (zi6 mo1) | 1 | The winning tile is from the wall | |
| Win from Wall | 門前清 (mun4 cin4 cing1) | 1 | The whole hand was concealed until the winning tile was drawn or stolen | |
| Robbing Kong | 搶槓 (coeng2 gong3) | 1 | The winning tile is obtained from someone calling a Kong; a 12-piece penalty will be imposed on the player being robbed | |
| Win by Last Catch | 海底撈月 (hoi2 dai2 lau 4jyut6) | 1 | The winning tile is either the last tile from the wall or the last discard | |
| Win by Kong | 槓上開花 (gong3 soeng5hoi1faa1) | 2 (1 bonus +1 from self-pick) | The winning tile is from a replacement tile due to a Kong or a Bonus Tile | |
| Win by Double-Kong | 槓上槓 (gong3 soeng5gong3) | 9 (8 bonus +1 from self-pick) | Similar to 'Win by Kong', except that the tile used to make the Kong was itself an extra tile from declaring a Kong | |
| Heavenly Hand | 天糊 (tin1 wu4*2) | 13 | East wins with initial hand | |
| Earthly Hand | 地糊 (dei6 wu4*2) | 13 | Non-East player wins on East's first discard |
Some criteria for faan are based on "bonus tiles" - the flowers and the seasons.See the following table:
| English | Fān | Description | Example | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flower of own Wind | 1 | A flower of the winner's seat wind | / / / | ||
| Season of own Wind | 1 | A season of the winner's seat wind | / / / | ||
| All Flowers | 2 | All flower bonus tiles | |||
| All Seasons | 2 | All season bonus tiles | |||
| No Flowers or Seasons | 1 | No flower or season bonus tiles |
As mentioned in the
The point translation function is typically an exponential function. The function itself is subject to variation. In most variations this is to set an upper bound:
| 3 | 1 |
| 4 | 2 |
| 5 | 2 |
| 6 | 2 |
| 7 | 4 |
| 8 | 4 |
| 9 | 4 |
| 10+ | 8 (limit) |
This table is based on play where 3 faan is the minimum needed in order to win with a legal hand. If a player has 3 faan then his hand is worth one base point. A winning hand with 9 faan is worth 4 base points. Losing players must give the winning player the value of these base points. Individual players must double the number of base-points owed for the following:
If two of these criteria apply to any player, then the player must double and then redouble the points owed to the winner.
| East (dealer) | 1 (base points) x2 (doubling for winning from wall) x2 (doubling for being east) = -4 | |
| South | 1 (base points) x2 (doubling for winning from wall) = -2 | |
| West | 4 (from east) + 2 (from south) 2 (from north) = +8 | |
| North | 1 (base points) x2 (doubling for winning from wall) = -2 |
| East (dealer) | 2 (base points) x2 (doubling for being east) = -4 | |
| South | 2 (base points) x2 (discarding winning piece) = -4 | |
| West | 2 (base points) = -2 | |
| North | 4 (from east) + 4 (from south) 2 (from west) = +10 |
| East (dealer) | 16 (from south) + 32 (from west) + 16 (from north) = +64 | |
| South | 8 (base points) x2 (paying to east) = -16 | |
| West | 8 (base points) x2 (paying to east) x2 (discarding winning piece) = -32 | |
| North | 8 (base points) x2 (paying to east) = -16 |
Hong Kong Mahjong is essentially a payment system of doubling and redoubling where winning from the wall adds great value to the final payment and where the dealer is highly rewarded or penalized if they win or lose.
| Fān | Chips | By Discard | By Self-Draw | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 1+1+2=4 | N/A | |
| 1 | 2 | 2+2+4=8 | 4+4+4=12 | |
| 2 | 4 | 4+4+8=16 | 8+8+8=24 | |
| 3 | 8 | 8+8+16=32 | 16+16+16=48 | |
| 4-6 | 16 | 16+16+32=64 | 32+32+32=96 | |
| 7-9 | 32 | 32+32+64=128 | 64+64+64=192 | |
| 10+/Limit | 64 | 64+64+128=256 | 128+128+128=384 |
This table is similar to simplified but allows payments for hands of less than 3 faan. If a player has 3 faan then his hand is worth eight base points. A winning hand with 9 faan is worth 32 base points. Losing players must give the winning player the value of these base points. Individual players must double the number of base-points owed for the following:
If two of these criteria apply to any player then the player must double and then redouble the points owed to the winner.
| East (dealer) | 16 (base points) x2 (doubling for winning from wall) x2 (doubling for being east) = -64 | |
| South | 16 (base points) x2 (doubling for winning from wall) = -32 | |
| West | 64 (from east) + 32 (from south) + 32 (from north) = +128 | |
| North | 16 (base points) x2 (doubling for winning from wall) = -32 |
| East (dealer) | 32 (base points) x2 (doubling for being east) = -64 | |
| South | 32 (base points) x2 (discarding winning piece) = -64 | |
| West | 32 (base points) = -32 | |
| North | 64 (from east) + 64 (from south) + 32 (from west) = +160 |
| East (dealer) | 128 (from south) + 256 (from west) + 128 (from north) = +512 | |
| South | 64 (base points) x2 (paying to east) = -128 | |
| West | 64 (base points) x2 (paying to east) x2 (discarding winning piece) = -256 | |
| North | 64 (base points) x2 (paying to east) = -128 |
| 3 | 8 |
| 4 | 16 |
| 5 | 24 |
| 6 | 32 |
| 7 | 48 |
| 8 | 64 |
| 9 | 96 |
| 10 | 128 |
| 11 | 192 |
| 12 | 256 |
| 13 | 384 (Limit) |
This table is based on play where 3 faan is the minimum needed in order to win with a legal hand. If a player has 3 faan then his hand is worth eight base points. A winning hand with 9 faan is worth 128 base points. Losing players must give the winning player the value of these base points. Individual players must double the number of base-points owed for the following:
If two of these criteria apply to any player, then the player must double and then redouble the points owed to the winner.
| East (dealer) | 16 (base points) x2 (doubling for winning from wall) x2 (doubling for being east) = -64 | |
| South | 16 (base points) x2 (doubling for winning from wall) = -32 | |
| West | 4 (from east) + 2 (from south) + 2 (from north) = +128 | |
| North | 1 (base points) x2 (doubling for winning from wall) = -32 |
| East (dealer) | 48 (base points) x2 (doubling for winning from wall) x2 (doubling for being east) = -192 | |
| South | 48 (base points) x2 (doubling for winning from wall) = -96 | |
| West | 192 (from east) + 96 (from south) + 96 (from north) = +384 | |
| North | 48 (base points) x2 (doubling for winning from wall) = -96 |
| East (dealer) | 512 (from south) + 1024 (from west) + 512 (from north) = +2048 | |
| South | 256 (base points) x2 (paying to east) = -512 | |
| West | 256 (base points) x2 (paying to east) x2 (discarding winning piece) = -1024 | |
| North | 256 (base points) x2 (paying to east) = -512 |
Hong Kong Mahjong is essentially a payment system of doubling and redoubling where winning from the wall adds great value to the final payment and where the dealer is highly rewarded or penalized if he or she wins or loses.
| English | Cantonese | Description | Example | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 Pieces Penalty | 九張包 | Discarder pays all losses for enabling winner to go out with Pure Hand after winner had already melded 3 sets (9 tiles) of the same suit | ||
| 12 Pieces Penalty | 十二張包自摸 | Winner goes out with Self-Picked Pure Hand after discarder has allowed them to meld a 4th set of the same suit; Discarder pays all losses | ||
| Fifth Tile Penalty | 五子包生 | Discarder pays all losses for discarding a "fresh" (previously unseen anywhere on the table) tile when there are 5 or less tiles left in the wall, allowing winner to go out | ||
| Maximum Penalty |
The following is a list of terms describing the progress of one's hand: