Taiwanese 16-tile Mahjong: Basics

After reading this page you can start a game against the computer. Every tai comes with a winning example and a counterexample, both checked by the game's scoring program.

Basic rules

Tiles

The full set has 144 tiles: characters, dots and bamboo, 1 to 9, four of each; honors East, South, West, North, Red, Green and White, four of each; plus 8 flowers (plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, bamboo, spring, summer, autumn, winter).

Each player holds 16 tiles. A winning hand has 17: five sets plus one pair.

Sets and the pair

Chow: three consecutive tiles of one suit, such as 1-2-3 characters. Honors cannot form chows.
Pung: three identical tiles, such as three Red Dragons.
Kong: four identical tiles; it counts as one set and you draw a replacement tile.
Pair: two identical tiles.

Flowers

Show a flower as soon as you draw it and draw a replacement. Flowers never form sets, but the flower matching your seat adds tai.

Chow, pung, kong

Chow: only from the player on your left, to complete a run.
Pung: from anyone's discard, to complete three of a kind.
Kong: with three in hand, claim the fourth from any discard; with four drawn yourself, declare a concealed kong.
If one player wants to win on a tile and another wants to pung it, the win takes priority.

Ready and winning

Being one tile away from winning is called ready. You win either on another player's discard or on your own draw (self-draw).

If nobody has won when 16 tiles remain in the wall, the hand is a draw and the dealer stays.

Scoring basics

Score = base + tai × amount per tai. On a discard win the discarder pays; on a self-draw the other three each pay.

These three are added by the game separately and are not in the tai list below:

Dealer: when the winner or the payer is the dealer, that payment gets 1 extra tai.
Dealer streak: 2 more tai for each consecutive hand the dealer keeps.
Ready declaration: declaring ready and then winning adds 1 tai.

Tai list

Each entry's example and counterexample were checked by the game's scoring program; the list under each example is everything the program counted.

Concealed hand

1 tai#

No chows, pungs or exposed kongs all hand, and you win on someone's discard.

Example

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win6 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatEast round

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed hand1 tai
All sequences2 tai

Counterexample

4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win6 Bamboo 1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters

On a discardEast seatEast round

Once you have chowed, it no longer counts as concealed.

Self-draw

1 tai#

You draw the winning tile yourself. With exposed sets it is worth 1 tai.

Example

4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win6 Bamboo 1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters

Self-drawEast seatEast round

Counted by the scoring program:

Self-draw1 tai

Counterexample

4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win6 Bamboo 1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters

On a discardEast seatEast round

Winning on a discard is not a self-draw.

Concealed self-draw

3 tai#

No chows, pungs or exposed kongs, and you draw the winning tile yourself: 3 tai in total (concealed and self-draw are not counted again).

Example

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win6 Bamboo

Self-drawEast seatEast round

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed self-draw3 tai

Counterexample

4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win6 Bamboo 1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters

Self-drawEast seatEast round

With exposed sets it is only self-draw, 1 tai.

Seat wind

1 tai#

A pung of your own seat's wind (East for East, South for South…).

Example

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 BambooEast WindEast WindEast Wind Win6 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatSouth round

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed hand1 tai
Seat wind: East1 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 BambooWest WindWest WindWest Wind Win6 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatSouth round

East seat holding a pung of West is not its seat wind.

Round wind

1 tai#

A pung of the current round's wind (East in the East round…). It can combine with the seat wind.

Example

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 BambooSouth WindSouth WindSouth Wind Win6 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatSouth round

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed hand1 tai
Round wind: South1 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 BambooNorth WindNorth WindNorth Wind Win6 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatSouth round

A pung of North in the South round is not the round wind.

Dragon pung

1 tai#

A pung of Red, Green or White; 1 tai for each.

Example

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 BambooRed DragonRed DragonRed Dragon Win6 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatEast round

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed hand1 tai
Dragon pung: Red1 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 BambooRed DragonRed Dragon Win6 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatEast round

Only a pair of Red Dragons as the pair does not count.

Single wait

1 tai#

Winning on a single possible tile, for example holding 2 and 4 bamboo and waiting only for 3 (closed wait), or a single-tile pair wait.

Example

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots2 Bamboo4 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win3 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatEast round

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed hand1 tai
Single wait1 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win6 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatEast round

4-5 bamboo waiting for 3 or 6 is a two-sided wait, not a single wait.

All sequences

2 tai#

All five sets are chows, no honors and no flowers, a wait of two or more tiles, and the win is on a discard.

Example

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win6 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatEast round

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed hand1 tai
All sequences2 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win6 Bamboo

Self-drawEast seatEast round

A self-draw is not all chows.

Fully exposed hand

2 tai#

All five sets exposed, one tile left in hand, and you win on a discard for the pair.

Example

9 Bamboo Win9 Bamboo 1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots5 Dots6 Dots7 Dots

On a discardEast seatEast round

Counted by the scoring program:

Fully exposed hand2 tai

Counterexample

9 Bamboo Win9 Bamboo 1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots5 Dots6 Dots7 Dots

Self-drawEast seatEast round

Drawing it yourself does not count.

All triplets

4 tai#

All five sets are pungs (three of a kind).

Example

1 Characters1 Characters1 Characters5 Characters5 Characters5 Characters9 Characters9 Characters9 Characters7 Bamboo7 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win7 Bamboo 3 Bamboo3 Bamboo3 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatEast round

Counted by the scoring program:

All triplets4 tai
Three concealed triplets2 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters5 Characters5 Characters5 Characters9 Characters9 Characters9 Characters7 Bamboo7 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win7 Bamboo 3 Bamboo3 Bamboo3 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatEast round

A single chow breaks it.

Half flush

4 tai#

One suit plus honors only.

Example

1 Characters2 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 CharactersEast WindEast WindEast WindRed DragonRed DragonRed Dragon Win2 Characters

On a discardEast seatEast round

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed hand1 tai
Single wait1 tai
Seat wind: East1 tai
Round wind: East1 tai
Dragon pung: Red1 tai
Half flush4 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters2 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Dots8 Dots9 DotsEast WindEast WindEast WindRed DragonRed DragonRed Dragon Win2 Characters

On a discardEast seatEast round

Characters and dots are two suits, so it does not count.

Full flush

8 tai#

The whole hand is one suit with no honors.

Example

1 Characters2 Characters2 Characters3 Characters3 Characters4 Characters4 Characters5 Characters5 Characters6 Characters6 Characters7 Characters7 Characters8 Characters8 Characters9 Characters Win5 Characters

On a discardEast seatEast round

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed hand1 tai
All sequences2 tai
Full flush8 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters2 Characters2 Characters3 Characters3 Characters4 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters6 Characters7 Characters7 Characters8 Characters8 Characters9 CharactersRed Dragon WinRed Dragon

On a discardEast seatEast round

With honors it is only half flush.

Three concealed triplets

2 tai#

Three pungs formed from your own draws. A pung completed by someone's discard is not concealed.

Example

1 Characters1 Characters1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Dots5 Dots5 Dots3 Bamboo4 Bamboo7 Bamboo7 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win5 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatEast round

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed hand1 tai
Three concealed triplets2 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters1 Characters1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Dots5 Dots5 Dots3 Bamboo4 Bamboo5 Bamboo7 Bamboo7 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win9 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatEast round

The win is on another player's 9 bamboo, so that pung is exposed and only two concealed pungs remain.

Little three dragons

4 tai#

Pungs of two dragons with the third dragon as the pair.

Example

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters5 Bamboo6 BambooRed DragonRed DragonRed DragonGreen DragonGreen DragonGreen DragonWhite DragonWhite Dragon Win7 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatEast round

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed hand1 tai
Little three dragons4 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters5 Bamboo6 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 BambooRed DragonRed DragonRed DragonGreen DragonGreen DragonGreen Dragon Win7 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatEast round

The pair is not a dragon, so it is just two dragon pungs at 1 tai each.

Big three dragons

8 tai#

Pungs of all three dragons.

Example

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters5 Bamboo6 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 BambooRed DragonRed DragonRed DragonGreen DragonGreen DragonGreen DragonWhite DragonWhite DragonWhite Dragon Win7 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatEast round

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed hand1 tai
Big three dragons8 tai
Three concealed triplets2 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters5 Bamboo6 BambooRed DragonRed DragonRed DragonGreen DragonGreen DragonGreen DragonWhite DragonWhite Dragon Win7 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatEast round

Only a pair of White Dragons: that is small three dragons.

Little four winds

8 tai#

Pungs of three winds with the fourth wind as the pair.

Example

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters5 Bamboo6 BambooEast WindEast WindEast WindSouth WindSouth WindSouth WindWest WindWest WindWest WindNorth WindNorth Wind Win7 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatEast round

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed hand1 tai
Little four winds8 tai
Three concealed triplets2 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters5 Bamboo6 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 BambooEast WindEast WindEast WindSouth WindSouth WindSouth Wind Win7 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatEast round

Only two wind pungs, so it does not count.

Seat flower

1 tai#

A flower matching your seat (East: plum and spring; South: orchid and summer…), 1 tai each.

Example

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win6 Bamboo Plum

On a discardEast seatEast round

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed hand1 tai
Seat flower1 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win6 Bamboo Orchid

On a discardEast seatEast round

East seat drawing the orchid: not its own flower.

Flower set

2 tai#

All of plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo, or all four seasons.

Example

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win6 Bamboo PlumOrchidChrysanthemumBamboo

On a discardWest seatEast round

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed hand1 tai
Seat flower1 tai
Flower set: plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, bamboo2 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win6 Bamboo PlumOrchidChrysanthemum

On a discardWest seatEast round

One short does not count.

Last-tile self-draw

1 tai#

Self-draw on the very last tile of the wall.

Example

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win6 Bamboo

Self-drawEast seatEast roundLast tile

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed self-draw3 tai
Last-tile self-draw1 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win6 Bamboo

Self-drawEast seatEast round

Not the last tile, so it does not count.

Kong replacement win

1 tai#

Self-draw on the replacement tile after a kong.

Example

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters5 Bamboo6 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win7 Bamboo 2 Dots2 Dots2 Dots2 Dots

Self-drawEast seatEast roundAfter kong

Counted by the scoring program:

Self-draw1 tai
Kong replacement win1 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters5 Bamboo6 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win7 Bamboo 2 Dots2 Dots2 Dots2 Dots

Self-drawEast seatEast round

A normal draw, not the replacement after a kong.

Heavenly hand

24 tai#

The dealer's opening 17 tiles already form a winning hand — no draw needed.

Example

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win6 Bamboo

Self-drawEast seatEast roundHeavenly hand

Counted by the scoring program:

Heavenly hand24 tai
Concealed self-draw3 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win6 Bamboo

Self-drawEast seatEast round

You did draw the winning tile yourself, but it came after the deal, so it is not a heavenly hand.

Four concealed triplets

5 tai#

Four pungs, all completed by your own draws (a pung finished with a discarded tile does not count); the fifth set is a chow.

Example

1 Characters1 Characters1 Characters5 Characters5 Characters5 Characters9 Characters9 Characters9 Characters3 Dots4 Dots2 Bamboo2 Bamboo7 Bamboo7 Bamboo7 Bamboo Win2 Dots

Self-drawEast seatEast round

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed self-draw3 tai
Four concealed triplets5 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters1 Characters1 Characters5 Characters5 Characters5 Characters9 Characters9 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots2 Bamboo2 Bamboo Win4 Dots 7 Bamboo7 Bamboo7 Bamboo

Self-drawEast seatEast round

The melded pung is exposed, leaving only three concealed pungs.

Five concealed triplets

8 tai#

All five pungs completed by your own draws (a concealed kong counts too), so the hand is always all-pungs.

Example

1 Characters1 Characters1 Characters5 Characters5 Characters5 Characters9 Characters9 Characters9 Characters3 Dots3 Dots2 Bamboo2 Bamboo7 Bamboo7 Bamboo7 Bamboo Win3 Dots

Self-drawEast seatEast round

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed self-draw3 tai
All triplets4 tai
Five concealed triplets8 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters1 Characters1 Characters5 Characters5 Characters5 Characters9 Characters9 Characters9 Characters2 Bamboo7 Bamboo7 Bamboo7 Bamboo Win2 Bamboo 3 Dots3 Dots3 Dots

Self-drawEast seatEast round

One pung was melded and is exposed, so this is only four concealed pungs.

Big four winds

16 tai#

Pungs of all four winds: East, South, West and North.

Example

1 Characters2 CharactersEast WindEast WindEast WindSouth WindSouth WindSouth WindWest WindWest WindWest WindNorth WindNorth WindNorth WindRed DragonRed Dragon Win3 Characters

Self-drawEast seatEast round

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed self-draw3 tai
Single wait1 tai
Big four winds16 tai
Half flush4 tai
Four concealed triplets5 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters6 Dots7 DotsEast WindEast WindEast WindSouth WindSouth WindSouth WindWest WindWest WindWest WindRed DragonRed Dragon Win8 Dots

Self-drawEast seatEast round

Only three winds form pungs; the fourth is missing, so it is not big four winds.

All honors

16 tai#

Every tile is an honour (winds and dragons) — no characters, dots or bamboo at all. Honours cannot form chows, so the sets are necessarily pungs.

Example

East WindEast WindEast WindSouth WindSouth WindSouth WindWest WindWest WindWest WindRed DragonRed DragonRed DragonGreen DragonGreen DragonWhite DragonWhite Dragon WinGreen Dragon

Self-drawEast seatEast round

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed self-draw3 tai
Seat wind: East1 tai
Round wind: East1 tai
Little three dragons4 tai
All triplets4 tai
All honors16 tai
Five concealed triplets8 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters2 CharactersEast WindEast WindEast WindWest WindWest WindWest WindRed DragonRed DragonRed DragonGreen DragonGreen DragonGreen DragonWhite DragonWhite Dragon Win3 Characters

Self-drawEast seatEast round

One characters chow makes it half flush instead.

All eight flowers

8 tai#

Collect all eight flowers (plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, bamboo, spring, summer, autumn, winter) in one deal.

Example

On a discardWest seatEast round

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed hand1 tai
All eight flowers8 tai

Counterexample

On a discardWest seatEast round

Only seven flowers — one short.

Last-discard win

1 tai#

Another player discards the very last tile of the wall and it is exactly the tile you win on.

Example

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win6 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatEast roundLast tile

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed hand1 tai
All sequences2 tai
Last-discard win1 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win6 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatEast round

It is not the last tile of the wall, so it is an ordinary win.

Rob a kong

1 tai#

Someone adds to a pung with the very tile you are waiting on; you may take it and win (the tile must have been your winning tile at that moment).

Example

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win6 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatEast roundRob a kong

Counted by the scoring program:

Concealed hand1 tai
All sequences2 tai
Rob a kong1 tai

Counterexample

1 Characters2 Characters3 Characters4 Characters5 Characters6 Characters7 Characters8 Characters9 Characters2 Dots3 Dots4 Dots4 Bamboo5 Bamboo9 Bamboo9 Bamboo Win6 Bamboo

On a discardEast seatEast round

The tile was simply discarded, not added to a kong: an ordinary win.

Rules version tw16/2026.09-p0

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