Hong Kong mahjong
Hong Kong mahjong scoring: faan list and payout calculator.
Hong Kong mahjong counts a hand in faan. A faan is a point of value, and the total is turned into money or points with a payout table that doubles as the hand gets stronger.
There is no single official table, so this page gives the values and payouts most groups use, and marks the places where tables commonly differ.
Calculator
Faan to points calculator
Pick the faan on your hand and how it was won. The base unit is what one share of a 0-faan hand is worth, so set it to match the stakes you play for. You can also change the limit and the minimum.
4 faan
48
total to the winner, in base units
- Each of the three other players pays 16
Faan values
What each hand is worth
Faan from separate features add together. A hand with a dragon pung (1), winning by self-draw (1) and all pungs (3) scores 5 faan.
Everyday faan
| Feature | Faan | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken hand | 0 | A winning hand with no scoring feature. Only valid where the minimum is zero. |
| Common hand | 1 | Four chows and a pair with no value, and no flowers or bonus features. |
| Self-drawn | 1 | Win with a tile you drew yourself. |
| Concealed hand | 1 | No claimed sets, won on a discard. |
| Concealed and self-drawn | 3 | Replaces the two single faan above in many groups. |
| Dragon pung | 1 each | A pung or kong of any dragon. |
| Seat wind pung | 1 | A pung of the wind that matches your seat. |
| Prevailing wind pung | 1 | A pung of the wind of the current round. If it is also your seat wind, it counts for both. |
| Own flower or season | 1 | A flower or season tile that matches your seat number. |
| Set of four flowers or four seasons | 2 | All four flowers, or all four seasons. |
| No flowers | 1 | No flower or season tiles at all, in groups that play with it. |
| Win on the last tile | 1 | Draw the last tile of the wall to win, or win on the last discard. |
| Win on a kong replacement | 1 | Win with the tile drawn after declaring a kong. |
| Robbing the kong | 1 | Win with the tile another player adds to an exposed pung. |
Stronger hands
| Hand | Faan | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| All pungs | 3 | Four pungs or kongs and a pair. |
| Mixed one suit (half flush) | 3 | One suit plus honour tiles. |
| Seven pairs | 4 | Seven different pairs. Not used by every group. |
| Small three dragons | 5 | Two dragon pungs and a pair of the third. The dragon pungs add their own faan too in some groups. |
| Pure one suit (full flush) | 7 | One suit only, no honours. 6 faan in some groups. |
| Big three dragons | 8 | A pung of each dragon. |
| Small four winds | 10 | Three wind pungs and a pair of the fourth. Some groups call this a limit. |
Limit hands
Rare hands are normally paid at the limit, whatever the faan count. These are the ones nearly every group treats this way.
- Thirteen Orphans: one of each terminal and honour, plus one extra of any.
- All Honours: every tile a wind or dragon.
- All Terminals: every tile a 1 or a 9.
- Big Four Winds: a pung of each wind.
- Four Concealed Pungs.
- Four Kongs (Eighteen Arhats).
- Nine Gates: 1112345678999 in one suit plus any tile of that suit.
- Heavenly Hand (the dealer wins on the deal) and Earthly Hand (a non-dealer wins on the first discard).
- All eight flowers and seasons, in many groups.
Hands that sit between a high faan value and a limit, like the mixed terminals hand (all terminals and honours), are the ones that differ most. Some tables score it 7 faan and some at the limit.
Minimum faan
How many faan you need to win
Before you can declare a win, the hand has to reach the table's minimum faan. The usual choices are:
- 3 faan: the standard for experienced groups. It forces you to build something more than a bare set of chows.
- 1 faan: common for beginners and fast games. Nearly any complete hand clears it.
- 0 faan: every complete hand wins, and a chicken hand is worth the lowest payout.
A hand that does not reach the minimum is not a win, so you keep playing for a better one.
Payouts
The faan payout table
Each faan total maps to a value, called a share. A common table doubles for the first four steps and then climbs more gently, which keeps limit hands from overwhelming the game. A pure-doubling table is also popular, especially in tight-stakes games.
| Faan | Common table (shares) | Pure doubling (shares) |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 2 | 4 | 4 |
| 3 | 8 | 8 |
| 4 | 16 | 16 |
| 5 | 24 | 32 |
| 6 | 32 | 64 |
| 7 | 48 | 128 |
| 8 | 64 | 256 |
| 9 | 96 | 512 |
| 10 (usual limit) | 128 | 1024 |
Multiply the share by your base unit to get a payment. Hands at the limit or above pay the limit share, so at a 10-faan limit, 11 faan pays the same as 10.
Who pays what
- Self-drawn: each of the other three players pays one share, so the winner collects three.
- Off a discard, discarder pays all: the player who threw the tile pays the winner three shares, and the others pay nothing.
- Off a discard, discarder pays double: the discarder pays two shares and the other two pay one each.
Payout tables vary by group. Some double the share when the dealer wins or loses, some use different steps above 4 faan, and some cap payments at a lower limit. The calculator above follows the common table and lets you change the limit, but nothing replaces agreeing the rules before the game.
Need a refresher on the hand itself? See how to play for the flow of a hand, or compare with Riichi scoring and Chinese Official.
Quick answers
Common questions
- What is the minimum faan to win in Hong Kong mahjong?
- Three faan is the most common minimum for experienced groups. Beginner and family games often play with a minimum of one faan, or none at all. Agree it before you start, because it changes how often hands can be won.
- What is a faan?
- A faan is a unit of hand value. Each scoring feature in your hand, such as an all-pungs hand, a dragon pung or winning by self-draw, adds faan, and the total is looked up in a payout table.
- What is the maximum score in Hong Kong mahjong?
- Most groups set a limit, usually 8, 10 or 13 faan. Any hand at or above the limit pays the limit amount. The very rare hands, such as Thirteen Orphans or All Honours, are usually valued at the limit directly.
- Who pays when someone wins?
- It depends on the group. On a self-drawn win, all three other players pay. On a win off a discard, either the discarder pays everything, or the discarder pays double while the others pay a normal share. Pick one before you start.
- Are Hong Kong faan values the same everywhere?
- No. The core hands agree almost everywhere, but values for a few hands, the minimum, the limit and the payout table all vary by group. The numbers here are the common ones.
Keep going
More mahjong guides
- Mahjong styles compared
Hong Kong, Riichi and Chinese Official side by side.
- How to play mahjong
A beginner's walk through one hand: the wall, drawing, discarding, claiming and calling a win.
- Mahjong tiles guide
Every suit, honour and flower, how many of each there are, and what the tiles are called.
- Riichi scoring calculator and yaku list
Han, fu, dora, limit hands and a points calculator for any hand.
- Chinese Official (MCR) scoring
The 8-fan minimum, all 81 fan, and how a hand is paid.
- Mahjong solitaire
The one-player tile-matching game: free tiles, pairs and layouts.