Four Winds Rule Collection – Taiwanese 16-tile Mah Jong

5. Scoring

5.1 Displaying the hands

The modern Chinese rules allow payments to the winner only: there are no payments between the losers. Accordingly, only the winner must display his hand after a deal is over.

The winner is responsible of arranging his hand 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 (or slightly apart from the rest of the 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 2-2-3-3-4 and any pair, and the winning tile is Bamboo 4 (either self-drawn or discard), a player is free to arrange his hand so that the winning tile is considered to complete a Pung of Bamboo 2, rather than a Chow 2-3-4 (both arrangements are possible but the previous would pay extra faans if the remaining three sets were triplets, as well).

5.2 Calculating the value of hands

In Taiwanese Mah Jong the only scoring unit is tai (equivalent to faan), which is used as a point-unit. Accordingly, the final score of the hand is simply the total of tais earned by its composing patterns. Possible conversions to monetary values are not a rule-specific issue, but – if necessary – must be negotiated by the players before the game is started.

5.2.1 Tais for the winner

If Flowers and Seasons are used, the winner receives bonus tais for the following Flowers and Seasons:

Pattern Score
Each Flower or Season 1 tai
Seven Flowers and Seasons, robbing the 8th
Note: As this is a winning hand, scores for any other patterns are ignored.		 20 tai
All Flowers and Seasons
Note: Considered as a winning hand, so scores for any other patterns are ignored.		 30 tai
No Flowers or Seasons 1 tai

In addition, the winner receives tais for the following hands:

Pattern Score
Red DragonRed DragonRed Dragon 
Pung/Kong of Honors (Dragons or any Winds)		 1 tai
Bamboo 2Bamboo 2Bamboo 2Bamboo 2 
Melded Kong		 1 tai

Concealed Kong		 2 tai
Bamboo 1Bamboo 2Bamboo 3 Bamboo 4Bamboo 5Bamboo 6 Bamboo 7Bamboo 8Bamboo 9
3 Chows of 1 suit, step 3  (Clear dragon, ch. ii chii ton kan, jap. ikkitsuu kan, itsuu) 		5 tai / 
10 tai*)

Two concealed triplets
Note: Concealed Kongs are allowed, as well.		 2 tai

Three concealed triplets
Note: Concealed Kongs are allowed, as well.		 5 tai

Four concealed triplets
Note: Concealed Kongs are allowed, as well.		 15 tai

Five concealed triplets
Note: Concealed Kongs are allowed, as well.		 40 tai
Green DragonGreen DragonGreen Dragon White DragonWhite DragonWhite Dragon Red DragonRed Dragon
Little Three Dragons (jap. sho san gen) 		15 tai
East WindEast WindEast Wind South WindSouth WindSouth Wind West WindWest Wind
Little Three Winds (two Pungs/Kongs and a pair of Winds) 		5 tai
East WindEast WindEast Wind South WindSouth WindSouth Wind West WindWest WindWest Wind
Big Three Winds (three Pungs/Kongs of Winds) 		15 tai
Bamboo 2Bamboo 2Bamboo 2 Character 4Character 5Character 6 Dot 2Dot 3Dot 4 Bamboo 7Bamboo 8Bamboo 9 Red DragonRed DragonRed DragonRed Dragon

Exposed hand (waiting with a single tile for the tile completing the pair)
Note: Implies One-chance hand and Out on a pair.		 10 tai
Bamboo 2Bamboo 2 

Concealed hand (discarded last tile) (Ch., Jap. men zen chin)
Note: Concealed Kongs are allowed as concealed sets.		 1 tai

Fully concealed hand (Ch. men zen tsuu mo, Jap. men zen tsumo)
Note: Concealed Kongs are allowed as concealed sets. Implies Self-drawn last tile. Always implies Concealed hand.		 3 tai
Bamboo 1Bamboo 2Bamboo 3 Bamboo 3Bamboo 4Bamboo 5 Character 4Character 5Character 6 Dot 2Dot 3Dot 4 Dot 5Dot 6Dot 7 Red DragonRed Dragon
Chow hand (a regular hand with no Pungs or Kongs)		 3 tai
Bamboo 1Bamboo 2Bamboo 3 Bamboo 3Bamboo 4Bamboo 5 Character 4Character 5Character 6 Dot 2Dot 3Dot 4 Dot 5Dot 6Dot 7 Character 9Character 9
Chow hand with no Honors/Flowers (a regular hand with no Pungs or Kongs)
Note: The hand may contain no Honors and no Flowers or Seasons.		 10 tai
Bamboo 2Bamboo 2Bamboo 2 Bamboo 5Bamboo 5Bamboo 5 Character 5Character 5Character 5 Dot 2Dot 2Dot 2 Red DragonRed DragonRed Dragon Character 9Character 9
Pung hand (a regular hand with no Chows) (Jap. toi toi ho) 		10 tai
No Honors
Bamboo 2Bamboo 3Bamboo 4 Character 5Character 6Character 7 Character 7Character 8Character 9 Dot 1Dot 2Dot 3 Dot 7Dot 7Dot 7 Bamboo 1Bamboo 1		 1 tai
No Flowers and no Honors
Bamboo 2Bamboo 3Bamboo 4 Character 5Character 6Character 7 Character 7Character 8Character 9 Dot 1Dot 2Dot 3 Dot 7Dot 7Dot 7 Bamboo 1Bamboo 1		 3 tai
Dot 1Dot 2Dot 3 Dot 4Dot 4Dot 4 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) 		10 tai
Dot 1Dot 2Dot 3 Dot 2Dot 3Dot 4 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) 		40 tai

*) Paid if the pattern is concealed.

Finally, the winner can earn bonus faans for the following special ways of going out:

Pattern Score
Winning (jap. yaku) 2 tai
Self-drawn last tile (ch. tsuu mo ho, jap. tsumo, tsumo ru) 1 tai
Out on a one-chance Chow (a.k.a. Out on a one-way Chow; ch. kan chan machi, pen chan machi, jap. kanchan, penchan)
e.g. 1-2 or 8-9 or n-?-n+1 (middle tile missing), as opposed to going out on a Chow that can be completed on both sides.		 1 tai
Out on a pair (ch. tan chao machi, jap. danki) 1 tai
Out on the last tile of the Wall (ch. hai tei rao yue, jap. haite)
Note: Does not imply scores for Self-drawn last tile.		 1 tai
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 tai
Early winning (out when more than 5 but less than 10 discards have been discarded) 5 tai
Early winning 2 (out when 5 or less discards have been discarded) 10 tai
Ready on original hand (16 tiles of the winning hand were already in dealt hand)
Note: Ready declaration is needed.		 15 tai

Note: There are significant variations in pattern scoring of Taiwanese Mah Jong, explained by the fact that different preferences (e.g., if players want to accentuate gambling effects) are not handled by settling tables as in many other modern Asian versions of Mah Jong.

5.2.2 Limit hands

In addition, the winner can get high scores for the following special hands:

Limit or Special Hand Description Score
Three Great Scholars (Big Three Dragons) Red DragonRed DragonRed Dragon White DragonWhite DragonWhite Dragon Green DragonGreen DragonGreen Dragon Bamboo 1Bamboo 2Bamboo 3 Character 4Character 5Character 6 Dot 4Dot 4
Pung or Kong with all three Dragons, two Chows, Pungs and/or Kongs, and any pair. May all be melded.		 30 tai
Little Four Winds (Little Four Joys) Bamboo 1Bamboo 2Bamboo 3 Character 3Character 3Character 3 East WindEast WindEast Wind South WindSouth WindSouth Wind West WindWest WindWest Wind Notrh WindNotrh Wind
Pung or Kong of three Winds, a pair of the fourth, and any other two sets completing the hand. May be all melded.
Note: Does not imply doubles for any special winds, and does not imply One suit with Honors. 		30 tai
Big Four Winds (Big Four Joys, Four Big Blessings) East WindEast WindEast Wind South WindSouth WindSouth Wind West WindWest WindWest Wind Notrh WindNotrh WindNotrh Wind Character 9Character 9Character 9 Dot 3Dot 3
Pung or Kong of each Wind, any other set and any pair. May all be melded.		 40 tai
Seven pairs and a triplet (8 and Half Pairs) Bamboo 1Bamboo 1 Bamboo 3Bamboo 3 Character 1Character 1 Character 3Character 3 Dot 1Dot 1 Dot 5Dot 5 White DragonWhite Dragon East WindEast WindEast Wind
Seven pairs (identical pairs are allowed, as well) and any triplet. The triplet cannot be melded before going out (but a player can go out by claiming a tile for the triplet).		 30 tai
Heavenly Hand East declares ‘Out’ with the dealt hand (after supplement tiles, if any) 40 tai
Earthly Hand Non-dealer goes out on dealer’s first discard. 40 tai
5.3 Calculating the total score

The total score is calculated simply by adding up the tai values for the composing parts. 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):

WestWestWest Character 5Character 5Character 5 Red DragonRed DragonRed DragonRed Dragon

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

The winner gets the following tais for his hand:

2 tai Winning
9 tai Each honor tile
1 tai Melded Kong
9 tai Pung hand
1 tai Out on a pair
22 tai Total
5.4 Limit

Taiwanese games are often played without applying a Limit. On the other hand, players may want to set a limit at certain level (e.g. at 40 tais) in order to guarantee that payments do not become too high.

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