Hong Kong mahjong
144 tiles: three suits (characters 萬, dots 筒, bamboo 索) numbered 1 to 9, four winds 東南西北, three dragons 中 發 白, four of each; plus eight bonus tiles, flowers 梅蘭菊竹 and seasons 春夏秋冬.
Play
- Each player holds 13 tiles; the dealer (East) starts with 14. Play goes to the right (counter-clockwise round the table).
- On your turn draw a tile, then discard one. A bonus tile is set aside at once and replaced from the back of the wall.
- Any player may take the discard for a pung 碰 (three alike) or kong 槓 (four alike). Only the next player may take it for a chow 吃 (a run of three in one suit). A claimed set is laid face up and the claimer discards.
- Four alike in your hand can be declared as a concealed kong; a drawn tile can be added to your own melded pung. After a kong you draw a replacement. Another player may rob an added kong if that tile completes their hand.
- A complete hand is four sets and a pair (or thirteen orphans), worth at least the table's minimum faan. Win on any discard 食糊 or on your own draw 自摸. A win beats a pung or kong, which beats a chow; if two players win on one discard, the next in turn takes it.
- The hand is a draw when the wall runs out. The dealer keeps the deal after winning or a draw; otherwise it passes to the right. A wind round ends when every seat has dealt.
Faan
Payment
Points double up to 4 faan, then rise by half steps: 0–10 faan pay 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24, 32, 48, 64, 96, 128. Limit hands and anything over 10 pay 128. On a discard win the discarder pays the full amount and the other two pay half (半銃); on a self-draw all three pay the full amount.
Taiwanese mahjong 台灣十六張
144 tiles: three suits (characters 萬, dots 筒, bamboo 索) numbered 1 to 9, four winds 東南西北, three dragons 中 發 白, four of each; plus eight bonus tiles, flowers 梅蘭菊竹 and seasons 春夏秋冬, numbered 1 to 4.
Seats and the deal
- Four players sit at the winds East, South, West and North. East is the dealer. Play goes to the right (counter-clockwise round the table).
- Each player is dealt 16 tiles; the dealer takes a 17th and starts by discarding.
- A bonus tile is set aside face up as soon as it is dealt or drawn, and replaced from the back of the wall. Bonus tiles score but are not part of the hand.
- The last 16 tiles of the wall are never drawn. When the wall reaches them, the hand is a draw.
Play
- On your turn draw a tile, then discard one.
- Any player may take the discard for a pung 碰 (three alike) or kong 槓 (four alike). Only the next player may take it for a chow 吃 (a run of three in one suit). A claimed set is laid face up and the claimer discards; play continues from them.
- Four alike in your hand can be declared as a concealed kong, and a drawn tile can be added to your own melded pung. After any kong you draw a replacement from the back of the wall. Another player may rob an added kong if that tile completes their hand.
- A win beats a pung or kong, which beats a chow. If two players could win on one discard, the next in turn after the discarder takes it.
Winning
- A complete hand is 17 tiles: five sets (pungs, kongs or chows) and a pair, or seven pairs and a pung (嚦咕嚦咕).
- Win on any player's discard 胡, or on your own draw 自摸. There is no minimum: a hand worth no tai (屁胡) still wins.
- Holding all eight flowers and seasons wins at once (八仙過海). A player holding seven takes the eighth from whoever draws it and wins (七搶一); that player pays as a discarder.
The deal passes
- The dealer keeps the deal after winning or after a drawn hand, and each extra deal adds to the dealer's streak (連莊), shown in the top bar. Otherwise the deal passes to the right and the streak resets.
- A wind round ends when every seat has dealt. A game is the East round, or four rounds (East, South, West, North) for the longer setting.
Tai
Payment
Each payment is a base of 100 plus 20 a tai. On a discard win only the discarder pays; on a self-draw all three pay. A payment the dealer makes or receives carries dealer tai: 1, plus 2 for each consecutive deal (連莊拉莊). So when the dealer wins, everyone who pays adds them; when another player wins, only the dealer's payment does. There is no cap.