TERMINOLOGY

• Flowers (HUA 花): All Animals, Flowers (Blue), and Seasons (Red) are collectively referred to as Flowers (HUA) during the game for ease of play. 
• Dealer (ZHNG / ZENG 庄): Refers to Dealer or Banker.
• Same Dealer (DIAO ZHNG 调庄): Dealer wins and continues to be Dealer. If the game ends in a draw, as long as any Player won money from a BITE (YAO 咬) of Two Linked Animals/Flowers/Seasons or a Quad (KANG 杠), the Dealer moves to the next Player on the Dealer's right.
• Simples: The 2 to 8s of all three suits.
• Terminals: The 1s and 9s of all three suits.
• Honours / Big Tiles (DA PAI 大牌): All Winds or Dragon Tiles.
• Waiting (TING PAI 听牌): A Player is waiting for their Winning Tile, either Self-Draw ZIMO or from another Player's discard.
• Win (HU 胡): A Player wins the game. Dealer then moves to the next Player on the Dealer's right.
• Self-Draw Winning Tile (ZIMO / ZIMOU 自摸): A Player self-draws the Winning Tile, granting an extra bonus Tai.

• Fake Hand (ZHA HU 诈胡): A scenario where a Player claims he has completed his winning hand but in fact, he/she has not done so or there is a mistake in his hand. This Player must now pay the maximum limit payout to each of the 3 other Players (Usually 5 Tai x3).
• Messy Hand (LUAN XIANG GONG 乱相公): You draw the wrong Tile from the wall. Some strict house rules can penalise you to BAO all YAOs and any other Player ZIMO win for that turn.
• Short Hand (XIAO XIANG GONG 小相公): You have less than 13 tiles in hand, exposed or concealed (KANG is counted as 3 Tiles). You cannot win that turn but can still KANG.
• Long Hand (DA XIANG GONG 大相公): You have more than 13 tiles in hand, exposed or concealed (KANG is counted as 3 Tiles). You cannot win that turn and cannot KANG. Some strict house rules can also penalise you to BAO all YAOs and any other Player ZIMO win for that turn.

• Fill The Gap / Leaning Sideways (KALONG 靠張): You CHI the middle Tile of a Meld, e.g. You have 1 and 3 Stick, and you CHI 2 Stick.
• Standalone / Pair Waiting (DAN DIAO 单钓 / 单吊): You are only waiting for 1 Set of Tiles to win. You cannot DAN DIAO with just one Tile for PING HU, even if Self Draw (ZIMO). This will be considered ZHA HU.

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 ZIMO.
• No Shooter: The Player who discards the winning tile does not pay for everyone, unless Shooter Rules in effect (see below).
• Pay For All (BAO 包): Some No Shooter house rules state that if you have exposed Melds and Flowers which total 4 Tai, if any player discards any Dangerous Tile which grants you 5 Tai, that Player pays for everyone if you win. A more lenient variation of house rules state that if you have exposed Melds and Flowers which total 4 Tai, only the Player that throws the Dangerous Winning Tile pays for everyone.
• Shooter: The Player who discards the winning tile always pays for everyone. This is usually house rules for competitive/high-level Players.

SPECIAL RULES

• Same Discard Restart: If all four players discards the same Tile at the start of the game, the game will be restarted. 
• Eat Kalong Wait: This rule applies for CHI CHI HU or CHOU PING HU, and stipulates that when you CHI a KALONG Tile and are Waiting (for the Winning Tile), you cannot game from another discarded Tile straightaway, which means you must draw another Tile (GUO SHUI 过水) before you can then Win (ZIMO with that self-drawn Tile, future self-drawn Tiles, or future discards). (e.g. You have 3,5,6,7,9 Sticks in hand, you use 7 and 9 Stick to CHI 8 Stick, you throw 3 Stick and are left with 5 and 6 Stick. Even if any Player throws 4 or 7 Stick in that turn, you cannot win). This rule mostly is usually for competitive/high-level players.

• 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 (HUI TOU PAI 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)). This rule is notable for other variants, especially Japanese Riichi (Furiten). (Unconfirmed Rule)
• Missed Discard: 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)). This rule is usually for competitive/high-level players. (Unconfirmed Rule)

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, BLUE): +1 Tai
• Complete Season Set (4 Tiles, RED): +1 Tai
• Prevailing/Round Wind (东南西北-风) PONG: +1 Tai
• Your Player/Seat Wind (东南西北-风) 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 (Applies to a Concealed KANG; Winning Probability: 1 / 320)
• Winning on the Last Available Tile/Moon Under the Sea (HAI DI LAO YUE 海底捞月): +1 Tai (Sometimes referred to as LAOYUE 捞月)

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 with PING HU if you have only one Tile left in hand and are 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): 13 Tai (Unconfirmed)

• 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 (SI AN KE 四暗刻 / KAN KAN HU 坎坎胡): 8 Tai + 1 Tai (Self Drawn) (Unconfirmed)

• 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 (which is also the Winning Tile).

Half/Mixed Terminal (HUN ME JIU 混么九 / HUN LAO TOU 混老头): 4 Tai

• Terminal Tiles consist of all Suits’ 1 and 9 Tiles (Simple Tiles are all 2 to 8 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 (QING ME JIU 清么九 / QING LAO TOU 清老头): 9 or 13 Tai

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

All Honours (ZI YI SE 字一色): 7 or 10 Tai

• 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.
• Any flowers you have do not make this hand irrelevant. 
• However, some Singapore house rules do not recognise this winning combination.
• Winning Probability: 1 / 10,400

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

• 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 8 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 incomplete Concealed Tiles as it may be seen as ZHA HU by some 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 or 13 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 incomplete Concealed Tiles as it may be seen as ZHA HU by some Players.

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

• You have seven Flower/Season Tiles and another player draws the eighth and last Flower/Season Tile, this eighth Flower/Season 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/Season Tiles, automatic win regardless of your other Tiles.

Blessing of Heaven / Heavenly Hand (TIAN HU 天胡): 13 Tai + 1 Tai (Self Drawn) (Unconfirmed)

• You as the Dealer 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)
• PS: The Dealer does not win any extra Tai even if the Dealer wins from another Player's very first Discard Tile on the very first turn, as that is not the Dealer's first Fourteen Tiles which is a pre-requisite for any Blessings (or Opening Hand) Wins.

Blessing of Earth / Earthly Hand (DI HU 地胡): 13 Tai (Unconfirmed)

• You as the non-Dealer 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)

Opening Hand (MEN HU 门胡): 13 Tai + 1 Tai (Self Drawn) (Unconfirmed)

• You as the non-Dealer win from your very first Drawn Tile.
• Opening Hand win is sometimes also considered or combined together with Blessing of Earth win (See above).
• Tai is not required, as long as you have 4 Melds (PONG or CHI) and your EYES. (Unconfirmed)

Blessing of Man / Humanly Hand (REN HU 人胡): 13 Tai (Unconfirmed)

• Either: You as Player 3 win on the very first turn from Player 2’s very first Discard Tile; OR You as Player 4 win on the very first turn from Player 2 or 3’s very first Discard Tile.
• No player must have an exposed Meld (e.g. no PONG or CHI).
• Tai is not required, as long as you have 4 Melds (PONG or CHI) and your EYES. (Unconfirmed)
• Player 2 can never win Humanly Hand as Player 2 can only win from Dealer's very first Discard Tile (Opening Hand) or Player 2's very first Drawn Tile (Blessing of Earth).

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 Concealed 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).
• This is extremely, extremely hard to get, and is the hardest ever hand in Mahjong to get.

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 not only observe what their opponents are playing for (e.g. a specific suit), but will also observe where other players keep or shift the 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). This same thinking goes when they have just PONG'ED or CHI'ED, and which part of their hand they drew their 2 Tiles from.

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

• I also believe as the Dealer, you should try to Win as much as possible so you can continue as Dealer to DIAO ZHNG 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 settled as quickly as possible (EYES) because you need them 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 Open-Ended Running Tiles to win (e.g. 2–3 Sticks and 4–4 Circles EYES).

• For PING HU, you can attempt and win it even with only three flowers out. Sometimes you may get lucky and win quick, especially if your left player is aggressive/loose and can often feeds you.

• For PING HU, if you are already well set-up, it is sometimes better to CHI a Tile which you already have a meld, to avoid drawing a Tile from the Wall and possibly getting a Flower (e.g. You have 1,2,3 Sticks, 3,4 Numbers, 4,5,6,7,8 Circles, and a pair of 9,9 Sticks EYES — Your left player throws 3 Stick, you CHI and throw your 3 Stick to avoid drawing a Tile and possibly Flower). The downside of this is it you cannot MEN QING and reduces your chances of ZIMO. Also note that some competitive House Rules may penalise this type of play (see above: Special Rules).

• 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. Note that some competitive House Rules may penalise this type of play (see above: Special Rules).

• 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.