MahjongLeh

Rules and Regulations

Updated at 05-01-2026

The following rules apply only to Matchmaking and Multiplayer online games.
Rules for Single-player or Offline modes may differ depending on the version of the MahjongLeh application.

General

MahjongLeh closely follows the Singapore Mahjong rules. The game is played with 148 tiles from three different categories — Suits, Honors, and Bonus tiles.

There are 3 types of suit tiles, with 9 numbers per suit and 4 copies of each tile, totaling 108 suit tiles:

Circles (筒子)
Bamboo (索子)
Characters (萬子)

There are 2 types of honor tiles: 4 types of Wind tiles and 3 types of Dragon tiles, with 4 tiles per type, adding up to 28 honor tiles in total

Dragon: Red Dragon (紅中), White Dragon (白板), and Green Dragon (發財)
Wind: East (东), South (南), West (西), and North (北)

2 types of bonus tiles: 8 types of Flower tiles, 4 types of Animal tiles, adding up to 12 bonus tiles in total:

Flower: Spring (春), Summer (夏), Autumn (秋), Winter (冬), Plum (梅), Orchid (蘭), Chrysanthemum (菊), and Bamboo (竹)
Animal: Cat (貓), Mouse (老鼠), Rooster (公雞), and Centipede (蜈蚣)

Gameplay

Winning objective

To win (Hu, 胡), a player needs to form a complete hand consisting of four sets (melds) and one pair (also called the Eye). A set can be either:

Triplet (Pong, 碰): Three identical tiles (e.g., three 5 Circles)
Sequence (Chi, 吃): Three consecutive tiles of the same suit (e.g., 3, 4, 5 of Bamboo)
Quadruplet (Gang/Kong, 槓): Four identical tiles

A pair consists of two identical tiles. Once you have four sets and one pair, you can declare a win (Hu), provided the minimum Tai requirement has been met. More information on Scoring can be found below.

Game Setup

The game is played with 4 players, and the players are seated randomly, with the player seated in the east starting as the dealer. The dealer position rotates to the next player in counterclockwise order, except when the dealer wins, or when the game ends in a stalemate and no Gangs were formed during the game.

Prevailing Wind & Seat Wind

Each round has a Prevailing Wind, and each player is assigned a Seat Wind.

Seat Wind: Determined by the player's position at the table (East, South, West, North).
Prevailing Wind: Represents the current round wind. The prevailing wind rotates in the order East -> South -> West -> North after each player has served as the dealer.

Game Flow

Each player starts with 13 tiles, and the dealer (East) starts with 14 tiles. Players take turns in counterclockwise order:

Draw: Draw one tile from the wall
Melding using tiles in hand (Optional): After drawing a tile, a player may form a quadruplet meld using tiles in their hand
Discard: Discard one tile face-up
Melding by claiming the discard (Optional): Other players may claim the discarded tile to form a meld

Melding Actions

During gameplay, players can form melds either using the tiles in their hand, or by claiming a discarded tile:

Triplet (Pong, 碰): Claim a discarded tile from any player to form a triplet. You must reveal the triplet and discard a tile.
Sequence (Chi, 吃): Claim the discarded tile from the player immediately before you to form a sequence. You must reveal the sequence and discard a tile.
Quadruplet (Gang, 槓): Form a quadruplet either by:
- Concealed Gang (暗槓): You have all four identical tiles in hand on your turn.
- Exposed Gang (明槓): You claim a discarded tile to form a quadruplet with three identical tiles already in your hand.
- Exposed Gang (明槓): You add a fourth tile from your hand to an already exposed Pong meld.
When forming a Gang, you must draw a replacement tile from the dead wall and discard a tile.

Bonus Tiles

When you draw a Flower, or Animal tile, you must:

Reveal the tile immediately
Draw a replacement tile from the dead wall
Continue your turn normally

Bonus tiles do not count toward your hand structure but may provide bonus Tai (台) when calculating your total Tai.

Winning (Hu, 胡)

To win a hand, you must have a complete hand with four sets and one pair. You can win by:

Self-draw (zimo, 自摸): Drawing the winning tile from the wall
Win on discard: Claiming another player's discard to complete your hand
Robbing the Gang (抢槓): Winning by robbing a tile that another player adds to an already exposed pong to form an Exposed Gang (明槓). A special exception applies where a player waiting on their final tile to complete Thirteen Terminals (十三幺) may rob a Concealed Gang (暗槓).

Payouts & Scoring

Scoring in MahjongLeh uses a Tai (台)-based scoring system. Winning hands earn Tai based on hand composition and bonuses. The minimum Tai requirement to win is configurable (commonly 1 Tai).

Meld & Tile Bonuses

Pong of Dragons: One Tai for each Dragon triplet
Pong of Seat Wind: One Tai for a triplet matching your seat wind
Pong of Prevailing Wind: One Tai for a triplet matching the prevailing wind
Flower matching seat number: One Tai for each Flower matching your Seat Wind's number (East - 1, South - 2, West - 3, North - 4)
All four flowers of the same group: Additional one Tai bonus for collecting all four Flower of the same group
Animal Tiles: One Tai for each Animal tile
All Four Animals: Additional one Tai bonus for collecting all four Animal tiles

Win Bonuses

Robbing the Gang (抢槓): Additional one Tai bonus for winning by robbing the Gang
Replacement Tile Bonus (花上/槓上): Self-drawn Win from a replacement tile drawn from a Gang or a bonus tile
Double Gang Bonus (槓槓胡): Self-drawn Win from a second replacement tile after two consecutive Gang
Concealed hand (门清): One Tai bonus for winning with a fully concealed hand (no exposed melds)
Self-drawn hand (Zimo, 自摸): Double points bonus for self-drawing the winning tile

Winning Hands

Coward Hand (鸡胡) - 0 Tai: A winning hand consisting of any four melds and one pair, provided it does not qualify for any other winning hand combination
Ping Hu (平胡) - 4 Tai: A winning hand consisting of no bonus tiles, four Chi melds and one pair. The pair cannot be made up of a dragon tile, prevailing wind tile, or the player's seat wind tile. The hand must also be won by either self-drawn or by waiting for more than one tile option (no Kalong or Dan Diao)
All Chow (臭平胡) - 1 Tai: Same rules as Ping Hu, with the exception that the player has bonus tiles
All Pong (碰碰胡) - 2 Tai: A winning hand consisting of four Pong melds and one pair
Mixed Suit (半色) - 2 Tai: A winning hand consisting of honor tiles and tiles from only one suit
Pure Suit (清一色) - 4 Tai: A winning hand consisting of tiles from only one suit
Pure Suit Ping Hu (一色平胡) - 2 Tai: A Ping Hu hand consisting of tiles from only one suit. (May stack with other combinations depending on configuration)
Pure Honors (字一色) - 6 Tai: A winning hand consisting of only honor tiles
Three Lesser Scholars (小三元) - 1 Tai: A winning hand with two Pong melds and one pair made up of dragon tiles
Three Great Scholars (大三元) - 10 Tai: A winning hand with three Pong melds made up of dragon tiles
Four Lesser Blessings (小四喜) - 2 Tai: A winning hand with three wind Pong melds and one wind pair
Four Great Blessings (大四喜) - 13 Tai: A winning hand with four Pong melds made up of all four wind tiles
Mixed Terminals (混老头) - 2 Tai: A winning hand consisting of only terminal tiles (1s and 9s) and honor tiles
Pure Terminals (清老頭) - 13 Tai: A winning hand consisting of only terminal tiles (1s and 9s) and no honor tiles
Eighteen Arahats (十八罗汉) - 13 Tai: A winning hand consisting of four Gang melds and one pair
Thirteen Terminals (十三幺) - 13 Tai: A winning hand consisting of one of each terminal suit tile (1 and 9) and each honor tile, plus a duplicate tile to form the pair

Payout Calculation

At the end of a win, Tai (台) are converted into Credits. The maximum Tai for a game is configurable within the ranges of 1-30.
The following table summarizes the payouts:

Tai (台)	Others	Player who discard the tile	Total Credits Payout	Self-drawn hand (自摸)	Total Credits Payout (Self-drawn hand, 自摸)
1	10	20	10+10+20 = 40	20	20+20+20 = 60
2	20	40	20+20+40 = 80	40	40+40+40 = 120
3	40	80	40+40+80 = 160	80	80+80+80 = 240
4	80	160	80+80+160 = 320	160	160+160+160 = 480
5	160	320	160+160+320 = 640	320	320+320+320 = 960
...
10	5120	10240	5120+5120+10240 = 20480	10240	10240+10240+10240 = 30720

Example scenario:
If player A discards a tile that is claimed by player B to win with an 'All Pong' hand, the hand is considered to be 2 Tai (assuming no other bonuses). According to the payout calculation, player C and D will each pay 20 credits to player B, and being the player who discarded the winning tile, player A will pay 40 credits. In total, player B will receive 80 credits.

Instant Payout

Certain actions trigger immediate credit exchanges before the hand ends. Instant payouts are settled immediately and are not affected by the final outcome of the hand. Instant payouts are disabled once the last drawable tile has been drawn.

Exposed Gang (明槓) - 20 credits: Each player will pay 20 credits to the player who formed the Gang.
Concealed Gang (暗槓) - 40 credits: Each player will pay 40 credits to the player who formed the Gang.
Pair of Flower tiles matching Player's seat (咬到) - 20 credits: If a player draws both Flower tiles that matches their seat number, every other player will pay 20 credits to the player.
Matching Animal tiles (咬到) - 20 credits: If a player draws a matching pair of Animal tiles (e.g. Rooster and Centipede, or Cat and Mouse), every other player will pay 20 credits to the player.
Bitten (咬到) before replacement tiles - 40 credits: For the above mentioned 咬到 events (3 and 4), if they were done before any replacement tiles were drawn, the player receives 40 credits from each player instead of 20.
All four flowers of the same group - 40 credits: If a player draws all four Flower tiles of the same group, every other player will pay 40 credits to the player.
All four Animal tiles - 40 credits: If a player draws all four Animal tiles, every other player will pay 40 credits to the player.

Shooter Rule

When enabled, the Shooter rule applies additional penalties to the Shooter who discards a tile that leads to an instant payout or a win. The shooter is responsible for paying on behalf of everyone.

The shooter rule only applies in the following scenarios:

When a player wins by claiming a discarded tile, the player who discarded the winning tile is known as the Shooter.
When a player forms an Exposed Gang meld by claiming a discarded tile, the player who discarded the tile is known as the Shooter.
When a player wins by Robbing the Gang, the player who formed the Gang is known as the Shooter.

Ending the Game

Dead Wall

The dead wall is a reserve of 15 tiles used for: Bonus tile draws, Gang replacement draws. Tiles in the dead wall are not part of the drawable wall.

Game End Conditions

A game ends when:

A player wins
The game ends in a stalemate when there are no more drawable tiles remaining in the live wall (excluding the 15 tiles in the dead wall). When a player draws the last drawable tile, they need not discard any tile (you might be asked to select one, but it is not actually discarded). After drawing the last tile, the player will not be allowed to draw anymore replacement tiles for bonus tiles or Gang, and will not get any instant payouts as well. The player is allowed to win using the last drawn tile.

If the game ends without a winner, it is considered a stalemate, and no points are exchanged.

Special discard Rules

Sacred & Missed Discard Rules

MahjongLeh enforces the Sacred Discard (回头牌) and Missed Discard (过水牌) rule to prevent players from claiming tiles they have previously declined.

Sacred Discard: If a player discards a tile, they may not later claim the same tile from another player's discard for a Win, Pong, or Chow.
Missed Discard: If a player passes on a discarded tile and did not claim it, they may not later claim the same tile from another player's discard for a Win, or Pong.
This rule does not apply if a player missed the opportunity because another player's action took precedence (e.g. player A wanted to Chow a tile, but player B Pong took precedence instead, in this case the tile is not considered a Missed Discard for player A).
The restriction is lifted after the player has drawn a tile or claimed another player's discarded tile.

Swap Calling (换吃) Rule

MahjongLeh enforces the Swap Calling (换吃) rule.

When a player Chows (吃) a discarded tile to form a sequence, they are not allowed to immediately discard:
- The same tile that was used to Chow, or
- A tile on the opposite end of the same sequence
Example: If a player Chows a 4 to form 4-5-6, they may not discard a 4 or 6 in that turn.
This rule prevents players from effectively swapping tiles through repeated Chow actions.
The restriction applies only to the discard made immediately after the Chow.

Glossary

Kalong (卡张): Waiting on the middle tile of a sequence (e.g., waiting for 5 to complete 4-5-6).
Dan Diao (单吊): Waiting on a single tile to complete the final pair.