Mahjong is an interesting game that was invented in China and gradually spread to the rest of the world. It is played with the help of tiles and between 4 players who play to complete a mahjong hand. There are numerous variations of the game with different scoring systems. However, the most commonly followed scoring system these days for international tournaments is the one accepted by international mahjong and recognized by the World Mahjong Organization.

In international mahjong, there are a total of 81 hand combinations comprising of different points. Each hand can get points ranging from 1 to 88 based on the difficulty of the hand. At the end of the game, the points that a player won are summated to come to the final score. In the official Chinese version of mahjong, a player needs a minimum of 8 points to claim mahjong.

Here is a guide to mahjong hand scores:

 

There are a total of 13 hands that can fetch a player 1 point. These 13 hands are as follows:

1. Pure Double Chow: Here the player has two sets of the same suit and in the same numerical order.
2. Mixed Double Chow: In this hand, the player has two sets and each set is of two different suits but have the same numerical order.
3. Short Straight: Here the player has 2 Chows of the same suit that are consecutively numbered. For example, 2 sets of bamboos that are number 3, 4 and 5, and 6, 7 and 8.
4. Two Terminal Chows: The player has 2 sets of sequentially numbered tiles and belonging to the same suit. For example, one set comprising of 1, 2 and 3 and the other set comprising of 7, 8 and 9.
5. Pung of Terminals or Honors: Having a pung from 1 to 9 or honor tiles wins the player 1 point.
6. Melded Kong: Here the player gets 1 point for a kong that he claims from another player.
7. One Voided Suit: A player gets 1 point if his hand does not have tiles from any of the three suits, namely characters, dots or bamboos.
8. No Honors: As the name suggests, the player does not have any honor sets as all the sets are made using suit tiles.
9. Edge Wait: This refers to a player waiting for tile 3 or 7 when he is holding tiles 1 and 2, and 8 and 9.
10. Closed Wait: If a player goes out on a closed wait, he gets one point. For example, the player has tiles 2 and 4 and is waiting for a 3. This is a closed wait.
11. Single Wait: Here the player is waiting for a single wait to finish his set.
12. Self Drawn: Here the player goes out after drawing a tile from the Wall.
13. Flower Tiles: Each flower tile in mahjong has 1 point. If a player draws a flower tile, he should set it aside and then draw another tile as a replacement.

 

There are a total of 10 hands that can give a player 2 points. These hands are as follows:

1. Dragon Pung: This can be in the form of a pung or kong made from dragon tiles.
2. Prevalent Wind: Here the player makes a pung out of the Table Wind that is being used in the round.
3. Seat Wind: Here a player makes a pung or kong out Wind tiles based on his seating position at the table.
4. Concealed Hand: Here the player does not have any melded sets and has a completely concealed hand that goes out on a player’s discard.
5. All Chows: Here the player has no honor tiles. The sets can be single, closed or edged.
6. Tile Hog: Making a set of the same suit without declaring the tiles as kong.
7. Double Pung: The player makes 2 pungs of the same numbers but in two different suits.
8. Two Concealed Pungs: The player makes 2 pungs without claiming them.
9. Concealed Kong: The player draws 4 identical tiles and declares them as kong.
10. All Simples: The player makes sets without using Terminal tiles or Honor tiles.

 

There are a total of four hands that can win a player 4 points. These are:

1. Outside Hand: Here the player has Terminal tiles and Honor tiles in each set, including the pair.
2. Fully Concealed Hand: The player makes sets through self draw and without the aid of melds.
3. Two Melded Kongs: The player has 2 claimed kongs in his hand.
4. Last Tile: Here the player goes out using the last tile of its kind. The first three tiles may either be part of the discarded tiles or are used to claim sets.

 

A total of 7 hands can fetch a player 6 points each and these hands are:

1. All Pungs: Here the player makes 4 pungs and a head.
2. Half Flush: Here the player makes sets using one of the three suits along with Honor tiles.
3. Mixed Shifted Chows: The player makes 3 sets and each set is made from one suit.
4. All Types: As the name suggests, the player makes sets using all the 5 elements, namely Character tiles, Bamboo tiles, Dot tiles, Wind tiles and Dragon tiles.
5. Melded Hand: Here the player makes a hand of all elements using the tiles that have been discarded by other players.
6. Two Dragons: The player makes either 2 pungs or 2 kongs using just Dragon tiles.
7. One Melded and One Concealed Kong: This is self explanatory. The hand has one melded kong and one concealed kong.

 

There are a total of 10 hands that allow a player to win 8 points.

1. Mixed Straight: The player makes sets using tiles numbered from 1 to 9 from all the 3 suits. The sets are formed using Chows.
2. Reversible Tiles: A player makes a hand using just vertically symmetrical tiles.
3. Mixed Triple Chow: Here the player makes 3 runs having similar sequence of numbers. Each run is made from a different suit.
4. Mixed Shifted Pungs: The player makes 3 pungs and each pung is made from a different suit. Also, each pung is one number more than the previous one.
5. Chicken Hand: This is a hand which otherwise would not have scored any points.
6. Last Tile Draw: The player goes out after drawing the last tile of the game.
7. Last Tile Claim: The player goes out after claiming a discarded tile, which is the last tile in the game.
8. Out With Replacement Tile: The player goes out when he draws a replacement tile after making a kong.
9. Two Concealed Kongs: The player has 2 concealed kongs in his hand.
10. Robbing the Kong: The player adds a tile to a melded pung in order to make a kong.

 

There are 5 hands that give a player 12 points each. These are as follows:

1. Lesser Honor and Knitted Tiles: Here the player has a hand comprising of singles of any Honor tile and Suit tile that are of different knitted sequence.
2. Knitted Straight: Here a player forms a straight using three different knitted sequences instead of the usual Chows.
3. Upper Four: The player makes a hand using suit tiles running from 6 through 9.
4. Lower Four: Here a hand is made using suit tiles that run from 1 through 4.
5. Big Three Winds: The player makes one pung from each of the 3 Wind tiles.

 

If a player wants to make 16 points, then he needs to any of the following 6 hands:

1. Pure Straight: The player makes a hand using tiles numbered from 1 through 9 which belong to the same suit.
2. Three Suited Terminal Chows: Here the player makes 2 Terminal chows of the same suit and 1 Terminal chow from a different suit.
3. Pure Shifted Chows: The player makes 3 chows and each chow is from a different suit. In addition, each suit is either one number or two numbers higher than the previous suit.
4. All Fives: Here the player makes a hand using all the elements and this includes a 5-tile suit.
5. Triple Pung: The player makes 3 pungs and each pung is from a different suit but has the same number.
6. Three Concealed Pungs: The hand has three pungs and the player does not claim the tiles.

 

Having any of the following 9 hands can win a player 24 points:

1. Seven Pairs: The player makes a hand with the help of 7 pairs.
2. Greater Honors and Knitted Tiles: The hand is made from 7 single Honor tiles and single suit tiles that belong to different knitted sequences.
3. All Even: The player makes pungs using even numbered tiles.
4. Full Flush: The player makes a hand using just a single suit.
5. Pure Triple Chow: Here the player makes 3 runs that have the same numbering and suit.
6. Pure Shifted Pungs: The player makes 3 pungs that are of the same suit but each pung is one number higher than the previous one.
7. Upper Tiles: The player makes a hand comprising of tiles 7, 8 and 9.
8. Middle Tiles: The hand is made using tiles 4, 5 and 6.
9. Lower Tiles: The hand is made using the lower numbered tiles of 1 through 3.

 

If a player has any of the following 3 hands, he can win 32 points:

1. Four Shifted Chows: The player makes 4 chows of a single suit and each chow is either one or two numbers higher than the previous one.
2. Three Kongs: The player makes 3 kongs which can be either melded or concealed.
3. All Terminals and Honors: The hand is made using 1, 9 and Honor tiles.

 

The following 2 hands can win a player 48 points each:

1. Quadruple Chow: Here the player makes 4 chows using the same suit and same sequence of numbers.
2. Four Pure Shifted Pungs: The player makes 4 pungs of the same suit, but each pung is one number higher than the previous one.

 

In order to win 64 points, the player must have one of the following 6 hands:

1. All Terminals: The player makes a hand using just tiles 1 and 9.
2. Little Four Winds: The player makes 3 pungs using the Wind tiles and a head using the last Wind tiles.
3. Little Three Dragons: The player makes 2 pungs using the Dragon tiles and a head using the remaining Dragon tiles.
4. All Honors: The hand is made using just Honor tiles. These can be pungs or kongs which can be either melded or concealed.
5. Four Concealed Pungs: The player makes 4 pungs without melding.
6. Pure Terminal Chows: The player makes two lower Terminal chows, two upper Terminal chows belonging to the same suit, and a head of 5 also of the same suit.

 

These 7 hands can win a player 88 points each:

1. Big Four Winds: The player makes a hand of pungs using all the four Wind tiles.
2. Big Three Dragons: The player makes a hand using all the three Dragon tiles. The hand can be of pungs or kongs.
3. All Green: The player makes a hand using 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 Bamboo tiles and the green Dragon tile.
4. Nine Gates: Here the player holds tiles 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9 and 9 which belong to the same suit and he created a 9-sided wait comprising of tiles 1 through 9.
5. Four Kongs: The player makes a hand of 4 kongs, which can be either melded or concealed.
6. Seven Shifted Pairs: The player makes 7 pairs that are of the same suit and each pair is one number higher than the previous one.
7. Thirteen Orphans: The player makes a hand comprising of singles of any 12 tiles running from 1 through 9 and Honor tiles. In addition, he makes a pair.

 

Now that you have a rundown of all the hands involved, visit 4Mahjong.com to start putting together your own winning hands.