Four Winds Rule Collection – Chinese Classical

5. Scoring

5.1 Displaying the hands

In addition to payments to the winner, the classical Chinese rules apply settlement of payments between the losers. Accordingly, all players must display their hands after a deal is over and one of the players has declared out.

The players are responsible of arranging their hands in a way that makes it clear which sets it is composed of, melded sets placed above the sets in the hand. The winner should mark the winning tile by placing it at right angles to the others, and should he wish to claim any score for special ways of going out (e.g., for One-chance hand, Out on a pair, etc.), he must show the tile he has drawn from the Wall before adding it to his concealed hand.

If a concealed portion of the hand can be arranged in more than one way, a player is free to arrange it in a way that results in the best scores. E.g., if a player is calling with Bamboo 2-2-3-4 and the winning tile is Bamboo 2 (either self-drawn or discard), a player is free to arrange his hand so that the winning tile is considered to complete the pair of Bamboo 2-2, rather than the Chow 2-3-4 (both arrangements are possible but the previous one pays two extra points).

5.2 Calculating the value of hands

In Chinese classical rules the available scoring units are points and doubles. Accordingly the scoring is performed by first summing up the patterns that earn point values and then applying doubles.

5.2.1 Basic points to all players

All players receive the following basic points for the completed sets.

Tile set Melded Concealed

Pung of Simples 		2 pts 4 pts

Pung of Terminals 		4 pts 8 pts

Pung of Winds		 4 pts 8 pts

Pung of Dragons		 4 pts 8 pts

Kong of Simples 		8 pts 16 pts

Kong of Terminals 		16 pts 32 pts

Kong of Winds		 16 pts 32 pts

Kong of Dragons		 16 pts 32 pts

Pair of player’s own Wind		 2 pts *) 2 pts

Pair of Wind of the Round		 2 pts *) 2 pts

Pair of Dragons		 2 pts *) 2 pts

 *) Not applicable in a loser's hand.

In addition, all players receive the following basic points for Flowers and Seasons:

Pattern Score
Flower 4 pts each
Season 4 pts each
5.2.2 Bonus points for the winner

The winner gets bonus points for the following patterns:

Pattern Score
Winning 10 pts
Self-drawn last tile (Ch. tsuu mo ho, Jap. tsumo, tsumo ru) 2 pts
Out on a pair (Ch. tan chao machi, Jap. danki) 2 pts
Out on a major pair
The player goes out on a terminal or Honor pair.
Does not include scoring for Out on a pair (i.e., the 2 points for Out on a pair are added).		 2 pts
One-chance hand
Going out on a hand that can be completed with only one kind of a tile, e.g. calling with B1 B-345
Note: Allows also multiple-chance hands like B-2345, where the the other chances have been played; note that "played" includes only tiles that appear amongst discards and melds, not tiles that appear concealed in player's own hand, e.g., calling with B-2345 B555 is not considered one-chance)		 2 pts

Note: Most classical rules give 20 points for Winning and do not specify scoring for Out on a major pair.

5.2.3 Doubles for all players

All players receive bonus doubles for the following basic sets:

Set Score 

Pung of Dragons		 1 dbl

Kong of Dragons		 1 dbl

Pung of player’s Own Wind		 1 dbl

Kong of player’s Own Wind		 1 dbl

Pung of the Wind of the Round		 1 dbl

Kong of the Wind of the Round		 1 dbl

All players receive bonus doubles for the following Flowers and Seasons:

Pattern Score
Flower of own Wind –
Season of own Wind –
Flower and Season of own Wind 1 dbl
All Flowers 1 dbl
All Seasons 1 dbl
All Flowers and Seasons
Note: This includes doubles for above mentioned three patterns so no additional doubles for Flowers and Seasons are added (basic points mentioned in 5.2.1, however, are always added).		 3 dbl

Note: Most modern rules based on Chinese Classical Mah Jong give 1 double for Flower of own Wind or Season of own Wind and two or three doubles for All Flowers or All Seasons.

In addition, all players receive doubles for the following patterns:

Pattern Score

Three concealed triplets (Jap. san an ko)
 Note: Concealed and claimed Kongs are also accepted as concealed triplets (but not Kongs promoted from melded Pungs).		 1 dbl
Green DragonGreen DragonGreen DragonGreen Dragon White DragonWhite DragonWhite Dragon Red DragonRed Dragon
Little Three Dragons (Jap. sho san gen)
 Two Pungs and/or Kongs of Dragons, and a pair of Dragons.
Note: Includes doubles for Dragon Pungs and Kongs so doubles for these are not added (basic points, however, are added).		 3 dbl
Green DragonGreen DragonGreen Dragon White DragonWhite DragonWhite Dragon Red DragonRed DragonRed DragonRed Dragon
Big Three Dragons 
Three Pungs and/or Kongs of Dragons.
Note: Includes doubles for Dragon Pungs and Kongs so doubles for these are not added (basic points, however, are added).
Compare also with Three Great Scholars in the Limit & Special hands list.		 5 dbl
East WindEast WindEast Wind South WindSouth WindSouth Wind West WindWest WindWest Wind Notrh WindNotrh Wind
Little Four Winds (Little Four Joys)
 The hand contains a Pung or a Kong of three Winds and a pair of the fourth wind.
Note: Does not imply doubles for any special winds, and does not imply One suit with Honors. That is, if the hand contains a Pung or Kong of player's own wind, or a Pung or Kong of wind of the round, bonus doubles for these are added (as well as basic points for winds). Also, if the fourth set is composed of suit tiles, bonus for One suit with Honors is added (otherwise the hand is an All Honors hand and will directly receive the limit; the reason for handling the bonus for One suit with Honors separately is that some rules specify a double bonus for All Honors, or apply a multiple limit bonus for going out on an All Honors hand consisting of Little Four Winds).		 1 dbl
East WindEast WindEast Wind South WindSouth WindSouth Wind West WindWest WindWest Wind Notrh WindNotrh WindNotrh Wind
Big Four Winds (Big Four Joys, Four Big Blessings)
 The hand contains a Pung or a Kong of each of the four Winds.
Note: Losers only get four doubles for this hand (doubles for a Pung or a Kong of player's own wind and a Pung or Kong of wind of the round are included), as they do not get bonus for a Pung hand. The winner automatically scores the Limit (as the hand would necessarily be worth at least 6 doubles for being also a Pung hand, and score one extra double for being One suit with Honors).		 100% of Limit
(4 dbl for losers)
5.2.4 Doubles for the winner

The winner gets doubles for the following hands:

Pattern Score
White DragonWhite Dragon Dot 2Dot 2Dot 2

Fully concealed hand (Ch. men zen tsuu mo, Jap. men zen tsumo)
Going out on a hand that contains only concealed sets. The winning tile must be self-drawn (either from the Wall or Dead Wall).
Note: Accepts concealed and claimed Kongs as concealed sets (but not Kongs promoted from melded Pungs).		 1 dbl
Bamboo 1Bamboo 2Bamboo 3 Character 4Character 5Character 6 Dot 2Dot 3Dot 4 Dot 5Dot 6Dot 7 Character 9Character 9
Chow hand (a regular hand with no Pungs or Kongs)
Note: The hand may not contain a scoring pair (that is, the pair must not be composed of Dragons, Wind of the Round, or player's own wind).		 1 dbl
Bamboo 2Bamboo 2Bamboo 2 Character 5Character 5Character 5 Dot 2Dot 2Dot 2Dot 2 Red DragonRed DragonRed Dragon Character 9Character 9
Pung hand (a regular hand with no Chows; all types of Kongs are allowed, as well) (Jap. toi toi ho) 		1 dbl
Bamboo 1Bamboo 1Bamboo 1 Dot 9Dot 9Dot 9Dot 9 Green DragonGreen DragonGreen Dragon East WindEast WindEast Wind Character 9Character 9
All Terminals and Honors (Ch., Jap. hon rao to)
Note: Does not include scoring for Pung hand so points for Pung hand are added. (The reason why points for the Pung hand are often handled separately is that many rules allow special hands consisting of 7 pairs and this kind of a hand can consist of mere terminals and honors; also, some rules give losers points for a hand that only contains terminals and honors, even if they do not appear in competed sets.)		 1 dbl
Dot 1Dot 2Dot 3 Dot 5Dot 5Dot 5 Dot 7Dot 8Dot 9 Green DragonGreen DragonGreen Dragon East WindEast Wind
One suit and Honors (Mixed hand, Ch. hon ii so, Jap. hon itsu) 		1 dbl
Dot 1Dot 2Dot 3 Dot 2Dot 3Dot 4 Dot 5Dot 5Dot 5 Dot 7Dot 8Dot 9 Dot 1Dot 1
One suit only (Clear hand, Ch. chin ii so, Jap. chin itsu) 		3 dbl

Finally, the winner gets bonus doubles for the following special ways of going out:

Pattern Score
Out on the last tile of the Wall (Ch. hai tei rao yue, Jap. haite)
Note: Implies going out on a self-drawn tile so points for Self-drawn last tile are not added. (If the player declares a Kong with the last tile of the Wall, and the supplement tile lets him go out, bonus for going out on a supplement tile is paid, in addition to the bonus for Out on the last tile of the Wall.)		 1 dbl
Out on the last discard (going out on a discarded tile when there are no tiles left in the Wall) (Ch. ho tei rao yui, Jap. hote). (If the player uses the last discard for declaring a Kong, and the supplement tile lets him go out, the bonus for Out on a supplement tile is paid, instead of this bonus.)  1 dbl
Out on a supplement tile (Ch., Jap. rin shan kai ho)
Note: Paid for supplements given for Kongs only (not for going out on a supplement received for a Flower or Season).		 1 dbl
Out by robbing a Kong (Ch., Jap. chan kan)
Note: Robbing a Kong is considered going out on a claimed tile (and the player declaring the Kong is considered a discarder). Accordingly, a Kong robber can get extra points for Out on the last discard. 		1 dbl
Ready on first turn  (Jap. daburu rii chi). Going out on a hand that was ready on the first turn of the deal, at the time a player made his first discard. The declaration must be made at the time a player makes his first discard. 1 dbl
5.2.5 Limit hands

In addition, the winner can get directly the limit points for the following special hands (note that % of Limit values are exclusive so no other points are added):

Limit or Special Hand Description Score
All Green (The Imperial Jade) Bamboo 2Bamboo 3Bamboo 4 Bamboo 2Bamboo 3Bamboo 4 Bamboo 6Bamboo 6 Bamboo 8Bamboo 8Bamboo 8 Green DragonGreen DragonGreen Dragon
Going out with sets composed only of Green Dragons, Bamboo 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, 6’s and 8’s. May all be melded.		 100% of Limit
Four Kongs (Fourfold Plenty, 18 Buddhas) Bamboo 3Bamboo 3Bamboo 3 Character 3Character 3Character 3Character 3 Dot 5Dot 5 Green DragonGreen DragonGreen DragonGreen Dragon
Hand containing any kinds four Kongs, concealed, promoted (from Pungs) and/or claimed.		 100% of Limit
Hidden Treasure (Buried Treasure)
 Bamboo 1Bamboo 1Bamboo 1  
Character 3Character 3Character 3 Character 7Character 7Character 7 Dot 3Dot 3Dot 3 Dot 8Dot 8
Four concealed triplets and a pair.
Note: The hand must go out fully concealed (the winning tile must be self-drawn, as well), but it may contain concealed and claimed Kongs (but not Kongs promoted from Pungs, since these are not considered as concealed sets in Chinese Classical rules). 		100% of Limit
Three Great Scholars
 Red DragonRed DragonRed Dragon White DragonWhite DragonWhite Dragon Green DragonGreen DragonGreen Dragon Character 5Character 5Character 5 Dot 4Dot 4
Pung or Kong with all three Dragons, any Pung or Kong, and any pair. May all be melded.
Note: The hand may not contain Chows. Notice though that classical rules give 5 doubles for Big Three Dragons (which may practically be a limit hand, depending on the specified limit).		 100% of Limit
All Honors (All Symbols) Red DragonRed DragonRed Dragon White DragonWhite DragonWhite Dragon East WindEast WindEast Wind West WindWest WindWest Wind Notrh WindNotrh Wind
Four Pungs or Kongs and a pair of Dragons and Winds. May all be melded.		 100 % of Limit
All Terminals (Heads and Tails) Character 1Character 1Character 1 Character 9Character 9Character 9 Bamboo 1Bamboo 1Bamboo 1 Dot 1Dot 1Dot 1 Dot 9Dot 9
Four Pungs or Kongs and a pair of 1’s or 9’s. May all be melded.		 100% of Limit
Nine Gates (Nine United Sons, Nine Sacred Lamps of Lotus) Bamboo 1Bamboo 1Bamboo 1 Bamboo 2Bamboo 3Bamboo 4Bamboo 5Bamboo 6Bamboo 7Bamboo 8Bamboo 9Bamboo 9Bamboo 9 Bamboo 3
Three 1’s, a sequence of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and three 9’s, all of the same suit, and any other tile of the same suit completing the hand. The hand must be concealed (the winning tile can be a discard). No Kongs are allowed in this hand.
Note: This hand is traditionally considered the most perfect hand possible. This is a regular hand which can go out on any of the nine suit tiles.		 100% of Limit
Thirteen Orphans (Thirteen Unique Wonders, Thirteen Grades of Imperial Treasure) Bamboo 1Bamboo 9 Character 1Character 9 Dot 1Dot 9 White DragonGreen DragonRed DragonRed Dragon East WindSouth WindWest Wind Notrh Wind  
One of each Dragon and Wind, 1 and 9 of each suit and 14th tile forming a pair with any of these. The hand must be concealed (the winning tile can be a discard).
Note: Classical rules allow a player to rob a concealed Kong to complete this hand (normally only a promoted Kong can be robbed).		 100% of Limit
Fully Concealed Suit Hand Bamboo 1Bamboo 1Bamboo 1 Bamboo 2Bamboo 2Bamboo 2 Bamboo 5Bamboo 6Bamboo 7 Bamboo 9Bamboo 9Bamboo 9 Bamboo 3Bamboo 3
All tiles of one suit, fully concealed, including the winning tile.
Note: Concealed and claimed Kongs (but not Kongs promoted from melded Pungs) are accepted as concealed triplets, as well.		 100% of Limit
Heavenly Hand East declares ‘Out’ with the dealt hand
Note: The player is allowed to first declare concealed Kongs and have supplement tiles for them, and replace any Flowers or Seasons he has in the dealt hand (or gets as the result of replacing Flowers and Seasons or declaring concealed Kongs), before going out. (Not all rules allow declaration of concealed Kongs.)		 100% of Limit
Earthly Hand Non-dealer goes out on dealer’s first discard.
Note: Some rules extend the hand to cover a situation where non-East goes out on the first tile he draws from the Wall, provided that there are no melds on the board at the time of the declaration, but this is not allowed in classical rules. 		100% of Limit
Moon from the Bottom of the Sea Going out on the last tile of the Wall or on the last discard, tile being Dot 1. 100% of Limit
Plum Blossom on the Roof Going out on a supplement tile, tile being Dot 5.
Note: The supplement must be from the Dead Wall; since in classical rules a supplement tile is taken from the Dead Wall only after a player has declared a Kong (supplements for Flowers and Seasons are taken from the open end of the Wall),  Plum Blossom on the Roof can only be completed as a result of getting Dot 5 as the supplement tile after a Kong declaration.		 100% of Limit
Scratching a Carrying Pole Going out on robbed Kong, tile being Bamboo 2. 100% of Limit
Kong on Kong Player goes out on the supplement tile received after the second declaration of Kong on the same turn (that is, the player declares a concealed or promoted Kong, takes a supplement tile, which he uses to declare another Kong, the supplement tile of which lets him complete the hand and go out).
Note: The winning tile must be a supplement tile that is received from the Dead Wall after declaring the succeeding Kong. The player can declare more than two Kongs on the same turn, and it does not matter if he gets Flowers or Seasons as supplement tiles during the process, as long as the winning tile is drawn from the Dead Wall after a Kong declaration. 
E.g., the following sequence is legal: the player declares a Kong (either on his own turn by declaring concealed or promoted Kong, or by claiming the fourth tile from another player's discard), gets a Flower tile as a supplement tile, for which he gets Red Dragon as a supplement tile, which the player uses to declare a second Kong, for which he gets Bamboo 2 as the supplement tile, which lets him complete his hand and go out. 
On the other hand, the following sequence is not legal: the player declares a Kong (either on his own turn by declaring concealed or promoted Kong, or by claiming the fourth tile from another player's discard) and gets Red Dragon as a supplement tile, which the player uses to declare a second Kong, for which he gets a Flower tile as the supplement tile, for which he gets Bamboo 2 as the supplement tile, which lets him complete his hand and go out.		 100% of Limit
Dealer's consecutive wins Dealer has won 13 deals in a row (note that this requires that the dealer really wins consecutive deals, possible re-deals after a draw will reset the winning counter). 100% of Limit
5.3 Calculating the total score

When the basic points and doubles have been calculated, the total score for the hand can be determined. E.g., let us assume that the winner is North on the South round and that he goes out on the following hand (claiming the East wind from East):

Character 5Character 5Character 5 Red DragonRed DragonRed Dragon

Bamboo 2Bamboo 2Bamboo 2  Dot 1Dot 1Dot 1 East      East

He gets the following basic points:

4 pts Concealed Pung of Simples (Bamboo 2)
8 pts Concealed Pung of Terminals (Dot 1)
2 pts Melded Pung of Simples (Character 5)
16 pts Melded Kong of Dragons (Red Dragons)
10 pts Winning
2 pts Out on a pair (East wind)
2 pts Out on a major pair (East wind)
2 pts One-chance hand (East wind being the only tile that can complete the hand)
46 pts Total points

In addition, the winner gets the following doubles for his hand:

1 dbl Kong of Dragons
1 dbl Pung hand
192 pts Final score (46 pts doubled twice)

Note: In many rules based on classical Chinese Mah Jong the points are rounded off to nearest ten before applying doubles (e.g., 44 would be rounded to 40 and 45 points to 50).

5.4 Limit

If a player's total score exceeds 1,000 points, it will be cut down to 1,000 points. Note that this is done before applying payment doubles. 

Note: Many classical rules apply a smaller limit, e.g. 500 points is a common limit in classical versions of the game. Some players do not use limit, at all.

5.5 Scoring accessories

A sheet of paper and a pencil is sufficient for keeping the scores, but normally Mah Jong sets come with counters or chips, valued at 500 points (marked either with 6 red and 6 black dots or more commonly, with 5 red dots), 100 points (marked either with 2 red dots, or more commonly with 1 red dot), 10 points (marked either with 8 black dots or more commonly, with 10 black dots) and 2 points (marked either with 1 red and 3 black dots or more commonly, with 2 black dots). If scoring accessories are used, players naturally exchange them at the time of payments.

Related topics:
Introduction
Tiles
Preliminaries
Playing
Miscellaneous
Payments