GENERAL RULES

• Minimum 1 Tai: You start with a default of 0 Tai. You cannot win if you do not have at least 1 Tai. Some house rules may require Minimum 2 Tai to allow for more risky (and rewarding) plays.
• Maximum 5 Tai: The maximum a player can win is maximum 5 Tai, +1 for the Shooter (Player who discarded the Winning Tile), or +1 for other 3 Players if the Winner Self-Draws the Winning Tile (自摸 ZIMO).
• No Shooter: The player who discards the winning tile does not pay for everyone, unless Shooter Rules in effect (see below).
• Shooter: The player who discards the winning tile always pays for everyone. This is usually house rules for competitive/high-level players.
• Pay For All (BAO 包): Most house rules state that any player who discards a “Dangerous” Winning Tile pays for everyone (e.g. If you have 3 or 4 exposed Melds of the same Suit (or Honour Tiles), if any player discards any Tile of that same Suit (or Honour Tile) which allows you to win, that player pays for everyone.

SPECIAL RULES

• Seven Pairs (QI DUI ZI 七对子): Most house rules state you cannot win with 7 pairs of Tiles (This is usually a Hong Kong feature).
• Sacred Discard (回头牌): When you discard a certain Tile, it will be the Sacred Discard for you, and you cannot claim the same identical Tile from other players' discards for the Win or PONG during the same game (e.g. If you discarded a 3 Stick without realising that you had a winning hand with 4,5,5,5 Stick, when any other players discard a 3 Stick, you cannot claim it for the win during the same game, otherwise it will be considered as a Fake Hand (诈胡 ZHA HU)).
• Missed Discard (过水牌): If you missed a chance to claim a certain Tile when another player discards it, you cannot claim the same identical tile from the other players' discards for the Win or PONG during the same game (e.g. If you have 4,5,5,5 Sticks in hand, South player discarded a 3 Sticks and you did not CHI it, so when West or North players discard the very same 3 Sticks during the same game, you cannot claim it for the Win, otherwise it will be considered as a Fake Hand (诈胡 ZHA HU)).

WINNING HAND ADDITIONAL PAYOUTS

• Any Animal Tile: +1 Tai each (Maximum 4 Animal Tai)
• Your Flower Tile (Blue Numbers): +1 Tai
• Your Season Tile (Red Numbers): +1 Tai (Looks similar and often referred to as Flowers too)
• Complete Animal Set (4 Tiles): +1 Tai
• Complete Flower Set (4 Tiles): +1 Tai
• Complete Season Set (4 Tiles): +1 Tai
• Prevailing/Round Wind (东南西北) PONG: +1 Tai
• Your Player/Seat Wind (东南西北) PONG: +1 Tai (e.g. If you PONG 东风 which is both the Round Wind and your Seat Wind, you get +2 Tai)
• Any Dragon PONG: +1 Tai each
• Concealed Hand (MEN QING 门清): +1 Tai (e.g. You win without exposing any Melds with Self Draw (ZIMO); House Rules may vary: e.g. Your concealed hand win may have to contain no flowers or animals)
• Winning on Replacement Tile (HUA SHANG 花上 / GANG SHANG 杠上): +1 Tai (Winning Probability: 1 / 208)
• Winning by Robbing a KANG (QIANG GANG 抢杠): +1 Tai (Winning Probability: 1 / 320)
• Winning on the Last Available Tile/Moon Under the Sea (HAI DI LAO YUE 海底捞月): +1 Tai

WINNING HAND COMBINATIONS

Consecutive Triplets (CHI CHI HU 吃吃胡 / CHOU PING HU 臭平胡): 1 Tai

• Your Eye cannot be a Dragon Tile or the Prevailing Wind or the Player Wind.
• You must also not be waiting for one single Tile variant to win (e.g. You cannot have both 1 and 2 Stick Tiles and win by CHI 3 Stick). Your winning Tile also cannot be the EYES or any end of a Suit.
• Winning Probability: 1 / 16

Consecutive Triplets Special (PING HU 平胡): 4 Tai

• Similar to Chou Ping Hu, but you cannot have any Flower or Animal Tiles.
• Your EYES cannot be Honour Tiles which give you Tai (Therefore your EYES cannot be your round or player Wind, or any Dragon Tiles).
• You must also not be waiting for one single Tile variant to win (e.g. You cannot have both 1 and 2 Stick Tiles and win by CHI 3 Stick). Your winning Tile also cannot be the EYES or any end of a Suit.
• You cannot win by DAN DIAO (单钓), as in you have only one Tile left in hand and waiting for the EYES, even if Self Draw (ZIMO). 

Identical Triplets (ALL PONG / PONG PONG HU 碰碰胡): 2 Tai

• You must win with an EYE and four PONGS and/or KANGS.

Half Flush (BAN SE 半色): 2 Tai

• You must win with a combination of only one Suit (Numbers, Sticks, or Circles) and Honour Tiles (Winds & Dragons).

Full Flush (QING YI SE 清一色): 4 Tai

• You must win with a combination of only one Suit (Numbers, Sticks, or Circles).
• Winning Probability: 1 / 32

Full Flush Sequence Hand (清一色平胡): 10 Tai

• You must win with 4 CHI and EYE of a combination of only one Suit (Numbers, Sticks, or Circles).
• You cannot have any Flower or Animal Tiles.

 Full Flush Triplets Hand (清一色碰碰胡): 8 Tai

 

• You must win with 4 PONG and EYE of a combination of only one Suit (Numbers, Sticks, or Circles).

Nine Gates (JIU LIAN BAO DENG 九连宝灯): Minimum 5 Tai

• You must have a combination of only one Suit (Numbers, Sticks, or Circles) of the following Tiles: 1–1–1–2–3–4–5–6–7–8–9–9–9 (13 Tiles, CHI/PONG is allowed), and then win with any of that Suit Tile (1–9) as your 14th Winning Tile.

Four Concealed Pongs/Hidden Treasure (四暗刻/坎坎胡): Minimum 5 Tai + 1 Tai (Self Drawn)

• You must win with self-draw of four unexposed PONGS and unexposed EYES.

Kang on Kang Win (GANG SHANG GANG HU 杠上杠胡): Minimum 5 Tai + 1 Tai (Self Drawn)

• You KANG once, self-draw a Replacement Tile and KANG again, then self-draw a second Replacement Tile and a Winning Tile.

Half/Mixed Terminal (混么九/混老头): 4 Tai

• Terminal Tiles consist of all Suits’ 1 and 9 Tiles.
• Honour Tiles consist of all 4 Winds and the 3 Dragons.
• You must win with a PONG and EYE combination of Terminal and/or Honour Tiles.

All/Pure Terminal (清么九/清老头): 9 Tai

• You must either win with a PONG and EYE combination of 1 or 9 Tiles only.

All Honours (字一色): 7–10 Tai (Unconfirmed)

• You win with a PONG and EYE combination of only Winds & Dragons.
• Winning Probability: 1 / 5,200

Pure Green Suit (LU YI SE 绿一色): 4 Tai

• You win with only PONG of the pure green colour Tiles (2,3,4,6,8 of the Sticks Suit) and the Green Dragon as the EYE or PONG.
• Winning Probability: 1 / 10,400

Three Lesser Scholars (XIAO SAN YUAN 小三元): +1 Extra Tai

• You PONG 2 suits of Dragons (2 Tai), with a pair of Dragon Tiles as your EYES, and must complete another two Melds (PONG or CHI) to win.
• You get an extra Tai for the Dragon EYES (the other two PONG Dragons gives you the standard 2 Tai).
• Winning Probability: 1 / 384

Three Great Scholars (DA SAN YUAN 大三元): 5 or 10 Tai (AUTOMATIC WIN)

• You PONG all 3 suits of Dragons (9 Tiles), automatic win regardless of your other Tiles.
• Winning Probability: 1 / 3,744
• Note: Do not reveal your remaining Concealed Tiles as it may be seen as cheating by some other Players.

Four Lesser Blessings (XIAO XI SI 小四喜): +2 Extra Tai

• You PONG 3 suits of Winds (9 Tiles) with the last pair of Winds as your EYES.
• You get extra Tai as per normal if your PONG winds are your Prevailing or Player winds.
• Winning Probability: 1 / 3,232

Four Great Blessings (DA XI SI 大四喜): 10 or 12 Tai (AUTOMATIC WIN)

• You PONG all 4 suits of Winds (12 Tiles), automatic win regardless of your EYES.
• Winning Probability: 1 / 57,856
• Note: Do not reveal your remaining Concealed Tiles as it may be seen as cheating by some other Players.

Seven Flowers/Robbing the Flower (QI QIANG YI 七抢一): 10 Tai (AUTOMATIC WIN)

• You have seven Flower Tiles and another player draws the eighth and last Flower Tile, this eighth Flower Tile is automatically transferred to you, automatic win regardless of your other Tiles.

Eight Immortals/Flowers (HUA HU 花胡 / BA XIAN GUO HAI 八仙过海): 12 Tai (AUTOMATIC WIN)

• You draw all 8 Flower Tiles, automatic win regardless of your other Tiles.

Opening Hand (MEN HU 门胡): Minimum 5 Tai + 1 Tai (Self Drawn)

• You are the non-Dealer and you win from your very first Drawn Tile.
• Sometimes also referred to as Earthly Hand (Scenario 2) as below.
• Tai is not required, as long as you have 4 Melds (PONG or CHI) and your EYES. (Unconfirmed)

Humanly Hand / Blessing of Man (REN HU 人胡): Minimum 5 Tai

• You are the non-Dealer and you win on the very first turn, from Player 2, 3, or 4’s very first Discard Tile.
• No player must have an exposed Meld (e.g. no PONG or CHI) and you must win before your very first Drawn Tile.
• Tai is not required, as long as you have 4 Melds (PONG or CHI) and your EYES. (Unconfirmed)

Earthly Hand / Blessing of Earth (DI HU 地胡): Minimum 5 Tai

• You are the non-Dealer and you win from the Dealer’s very first Discard Tile.
• Tai is not required, as long as you have 4 Melds (PONG or CHI) and your EYES. (Unconfirmed)

Heavenly Hand / Blessing of Heaven (TIAN HU 天胡): Minimum 5 Tai + 1 Tai (Self Drawn)

• You are the Dealer and you win with your opening hand, including any drawing of Replacement Tiles.
• Tai is not required, as long as you have 4 Melds (PONG or CHI) and your EYES. (Unconfirmed)

Thirteen Wonders/Orphans (SI SAN YAO 十三幺): 13 Tai

• You must win with each Terminal Tile (e.g. the 1 and 9 of each of the Numbers, Sticks, Circles Suit (6 Tiles)), along with each unique Honours Tile (7 Tiles). Your EYE must be a duplicate of any of the 13 previously mentioned tiles.
• Due to its rarity and prestige, many house rules state that:
• i) Thirteen Wonders has priority to win a Tile from any player’s discard, superseding players in front of you who could have won from that Tile. However, Thirteen Wonders cannot snatch another player’s self drawn Winning Tile.
• ii) Thirteen Wonders also has priority to win a Tile from another player’s “AN KANG”.
• iii) If you have all 13 Unique Tiles (Pure Thirteen Wonders), you can can win even when any other player ZIMOs his/her and your same Winning Tile (you ROB the other player's tile and you win instead). (Unconfirmed)
• iv) Some house rules state that Thirteen Wonders pays the double the maximum (5 + 1 Tai in most cases) regardless if the Thirteen Wonders was won by ZIMO or not.
• Winning Probability: 1 / 2,464

Eighteen Arhats (SHI BA LUO HAN 十八罗汉 / GANG GANG HU 杠杠胡): 18 Tai

• You KANG 4 suits with an Eye (18 Tiles).

DEREK’S MAHJONG STRATEGIES & TIPS 

• Your sitting position, relative to other players and their respective playstyles (e.g. aggressive, defensive, amateur, fast win) can have a strong effect on how you play (e.g. depending on CHI from your left super defensive player will usually result in a poor payoff).

• High level players will also observe where other players keep their different type of Tiles in their hand, this helps them guess what kind of Tiles the player just drew (e.g. If a player usually keeps his Honour Tiles on his left side out of convenience or habit, when you see him draw a Tile and put it on his left side of hand, there is a good chance he drew an Honour Tile and is not playing CHI CHI HU or PING HU. However, high level players will themselves mix up their playstyle, such as placing their Honour Tiles in the center, left, or right of their hand to keep the other high level players guessing). — And no, I currently don’t play high-stakes mahjong, so I don’t really do this in my games.

• I believe the Dealer has got a small 1 Tile advantage, either for getting more flowers or pairs, including Thirteen Wonders Tiles (contrary to what the online AI says about there being no significant advantage).

• I also believe as the Dealer, you should try to Win as much as possible so you can continue as Dealer DIAO ZHNG (调庄) and continue with a 1 Tile advantage.

• You can sometimes choose not to KANG to avoid showing you are close to winning big and put other players on the defensive.

• For PING HU or CHOU PING HU (CHI CHI HU), it is best to get your EYES as quickly as possible, because you need a pair of EYES to win no matter what.

• For PING HU or CHOU PING HU (CHI CHI HU), be careful of what you CHI. It may be better not to CHI running tiles (e.g. 2–3 Sticks) but wait to CHI or Self-Draw your One-Ended “KALONG” Tiles (e.g. 1–2 sticks & CHI 3, or 5–7 sticks and CHI 6). This lets you game easier as you need an Open-Ended Running Tiles to win (e.g. 2–3 Sticks and 4–4 Circles EYES).

• For PING HU, you can attempt it even if there are only four to five flowers out. Sometimes you may get lucky and win quick, especially if your left player is aggressive/loose.

• For PING HU, if you are already well set-up, it is sometimes better to CHI a Tile you already have a meld of to avoid drawing a Tile from the wall and possibly getting a flower (e.g. You have 1–2–3 Sticks, 3–4 Numbers, 4–5–6 and 7–8 Circles, and a pair of 9–9 Sticks EYES — Your left player throws a 3 Sticks, you can CHI and throw your 3 Sticks to avoid drawing a Tile (and flower)). The downside of this is it reduces your chances of ZIMO.

• If you are down to your last remaining Tile to win with a pair of EYES, sometimes if you just drew a Tile you previously discarded, you can keep it instead of discarding it again, if there are still 2 remaining in the Wall. This may lull the other players off guard to discard it if they draw it, since they saw you have discarded it before.

• Thirteen Wonders can be attempted with as little as 8 Terminals/Honour Tiles in your starting hand (See my VLOG 2). Also importantly for attempting Thirteen Wonders at the start, is observing what are the chances your opponents are waiting to PONG/have PONG any of the Tiles you need, and whether the other opponents are all playing the same Suit/have many Tai and might be winning quickly.