Hong Kong Mahjong
Hong Kong Mahjong is a fast four-player form of classical Mahjong. Players build melds and a pair while balancing speed, defence, and the Fan needed for a legal win.
The rules below describe MahJongo’s current Hong Kong table. Hong Kong Mahjong is also played with other house and competition rules, so tile sets, Fan requirements, and payments can differ.
Rules Used on MahJongo
- 136 tiles: 108 suited tiles in Characters, Bamboo, and Dots, plus 28 Honour tiles: four Winds and three Dragons. This table does not use Flowers, Seasons, or Jokers.
- Turns: each player begins with 13 tiles, then draws and discards in turn. A normal winning hand contains 14 tiles.
- Winning structure: the standard form is four melds and one pair. Thirteen Orphans is the recognized exceptional structure.
- Melds: a Chow is three consecutive suited tiles, a Pung is three identical tiles, and a Kong is four identical tiles. Discards may be claimed under the table rules.
- Minimum and cap: a hand needs at least 3 Fan to win. Fan are combined when their conditions coexist, but the score is capped at 10 Fan.
- Payment: on a win by discard, the discarder pays the full listed score. On self-draw, each of the other three players pays the self-draw amount shown in the table.
- Pao liability: Pao can apply when a discard completes another player’s fourth declared meld or third Dragon meld. A concealed fourth Kong does not create this liability, and a later Pao replaces an earlier one.
Fan Used on This Table
The summary below follows the current table’s additive Fan system.
1 Fan
- All Sequences: four Chows and a pair, with no Pungs or Kongs.
- Closed Hand: the hand has no declared melds; for this item, a concealed Kong is treated as a meld.
- Self-Draw: draw the winning tile yourself.
- Dragon Pung: a Pung or Kong of Red, Green, or White Dragon.
- Seat or Prevailing Wind: a Pung or Kong of the matching Wind; it scores 2 Fan when seat and prevailing Wind are the same.
- All Terminals and Honours: an all-Pung hand made only from terminals and Honour tiles.
- Special wins: Robbing a Kong, winning on a Kong replacement tile, and winning on the final wall tile each score 1 Fan.
3 Fan
- Half Flush: one numbered suit together with Honour tiles.
- All Pungs: four Pungs or Kongs and one pair, with no Chows.
- Little Three Dragons: two Dragon Pungs or Kongs and a pair of the third Dragon; the two Dragon Pungs also count, for 5 Fan in total.
5, 7, and 10 Fan
- Big Three Dragons: 5 Fan, plus the three Dragon Pungs, for 8 Fan in total.
- Full Flush: 7 Fan for a hand using one numbered suit and no Honours.
- 10-Fan hands: All Honours, Little Four Winds, Big Four Winds, Four Concealed Pungs without Kongs, Four Kongs, All Terminals, Blessing of Heaven, Blessing of Earth, Thirteen Orphans, a win after consecutive Kongs, and Nine Gates.
Scoring Table
Use the Fan total after combining compatible items. The table shows the full discard payment and the amount paid by each opponent on self-draw.
Two-Player Table
MahJongo’s two-player mode changes the tile set and uses its own score table.
- 80 tiles: remove ranks 2 through 8 from Bamboo and Characters. Dots, Honour tiles, and the 1 and 9 terminals of the other two suits remain.
- Score: the two-player table converts 3 through 10 Fan into the Golden values shown below.
Practical Strategy
- Build three Fan efficiently: plan around combinations that can legally reach the minimum instead of completing a fast hand that cannot win.
- Track exposed information: Pungs, Kongs, and discards reveal likely suits, Winds, and Dragons.
- Know when to defend: once an opponent shows a valuable direction, avoid supplying the tile that completes it.
- Watch liability: a discard that enables a fourth declared meld or the final Dragon meld can create Pao.
Hong Kong Mahjong FAQ
Does this table use Flowers or Jokers?
No. MahJongo’s current table uses the 136 suited and Honour tiles only. Other Hong Kong rulesets may include eight Flower and Season tiles.
Why can’t a two-Fan hand win?
This table uses a 3-Fan minimum. A structurally complete hand is not legal unless its compatible Fan add up to at least 3.
Can several Fan count together?
Yes. Compatible items are cumulative. For example, Little Three Dragons also receives the Fan for its two Dragon Pungs.
What does Pao mean?
Pao assigns full liability to the player who supplied a key exposed meld in the specified cases. It is separate from ordinary discard payment.
Are these rules universal in Hong Kong?
No. House and competition rules vary. This page documents the rules and score tables used by MahJongo’s current Hong Kong mode.
Hong Kong Mahjong Resources
Review the all-time leaderboard or report a rule and translation issue.
Special Thanks
Thank you for helping MahJongo improve its Hong Kong Mahjong experience.