MahjongLeh

Rules and House Rules

Updated at 12 October 2026

This guide explains Singapore Mahjong as played in MahjongLeh, including house rules you can adopt at your own table. Start with Singapore Classic. A house rule is an optional variation: use it only when everyone has agreed before play. Agree on the scoring limits and payment amounts before the first deal. The sections below explain what each variation changes.

The Tiles

MahjongLeh closely follows the Singapore Mahjong rules. Singapore Classic 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, also called Dots (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:

• Seasons, numbered 1–4: Spring (春), Summer (夏), Autumn (秋), and Winter (冬)
• Flowers, numbered 1–4: Plum (梅), Orchid (蘭), Chrysanthemum (菊), and Bamboo (竹)
• Animal: Mouse (老鼠), Cat (貓), Centipede (蜈蚣), and Chicken (公雞)

Terminal tiles are the 1s and 9s of the three numbered suits.

Both Seasons and Flowers are called Flower tiles in this guide. Their numbers match the seat winds: East = 1, South = 2, West = 3, North = 4.

Natural tiles are the ordinary numbered Suit tiles, Winds and Dragons. Flowers and Animals are bonus tiles, so they are not natural tiles. A wildcard can stand in for a missing natural tile. The optional Fei / Joker rule adds these wildcards to the set; a Fei is neither a natural tile nor a bonus tile.

Gameplay

Winning objective

For a standard winning hand, form 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, also called Chow, 吃): Three consecutive tiles of the same suit (e.g., 3, 4, 5 of Bamboo)
• Quadruplet (Gang, 槓): Four identical tiles

A pair, also called the eye, consists of two identical tiles. Tai (台) are scoring units earned from your hand and bonuses. Agree on the minimum Tai needed to win before playing. Once you have four sets and an eye and meet that minimum, you can declare a win, called Hu. See Scoring & payments for the awards and payment examples. Credits are the payment units used in those examples; agree on their value before play.

If your table plays with Fei / Joker, a wildcard may complete a group within the limits explained below. Fei cannot be discarded or used in a Gang.

Game Setup

Four players choose their places and a starting dealer before play. Players keep their places throughout the session. The dealer is East. The dealer position moves to the next player in counterclockwise turn order after a hand, except when the dealer wins, or when the hand ends in a stalemate and no Gangs were formed.

Prevailing Wind & Seat Wind

Each round has a Prevailing Wind (the round Wind), and each player has a Seat Wind.

• Seat Wind: The dealer is East; the next players in counterclockwise turn order are South, West and North. When the dealer moves, these labels change while players stay in their chairs. For example, when the former South becomes dealer, that player becomes East and the former East becomes North.
• Prevailing Wind: Starts at East and advances East → South → West → North when the dealer position completes a full circuit and returns to the starting dealer. Repeated dealer hands do not advance it.

Game Flow

The wall is the face-down supply of tiles. Ordinary draws come from the front of the remaining wall; replacement draws come from its back. Stop all draws when only 15 tiles remain. Those remaining tiles are not drawn.

Deal 13 tiles to each player, then give the dealer (East) an extra 14th tile. Keep track of which bonus tiles belonged to each player's original 13: the dealer's extra tile is excluded from the higher opening-pair payment, but still participates in opening win checks and bonus replacements. Resolve opening bonus replacements and any agreed opening instant-win checks in their stated order. If nobody takes an instant win, the dealer may declare a legal ordinary opening win or begin their turn with that extra tile, without another ordinary draw. After the opening turn, players take turns in counterclockwise order:

1. Draw: Draw one tile from the wall and resolve any Flower or Animal replacements and applicable instant-win checks.
2. Win or continue: Check for a legal win, applying any agreed instant-win rules first. If using Fei, you may also make an eligible Qi Fei or Dun action and then check for a win again.
3. Melding using tiles in hand (Optional): After drawing a tile, a player may form a quadruplet meld using tiles in their hand
4. Discard: Discard one tile face-up
5. Melding by claiming the discard (Optional): Other players may claim the discarded tile to form a meld

Melding Actions

Tiles kept in your hand are concealed. A group made by claiming another player's discard is an exposed meld. A declared Concealed Gang remains concealed for scoring. During play, you can form melds using your own tiles or by claiming a discard:

Keep each declared meld together beside your concealed tiles. It counts as one of your four winning sets; you cannot take it apart, move its tiles into another set or discard them. A Pong may be upgraded by Added Gang, and an agreed Qi Fei exchange may replace a Fei in an exposed meld.

• 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.
  • Added Gang (加槓): You add a fourth tile from your hand to an already exposed Pong meld.
  After declaring a legal Gang, resolve any legal Robbing the Gang claim before offering an Honor Instant Win. If neither ends the hand, draw a replacement tile from the back of the remaining wall; a replacement is available only while more than 15 tiles remain. Then win if your hand qualifies, or continue your turn and discard.

Competing claims and the next turn

Give everyone a chance to claim each discard before the next draw, except the final discard at the wall limit, which cannot be claimed. Among legal claims, the priority is Hu, then Gang, then Pong, then Chi. Responding first gives no priority. If several players declare a legal Hu on the same tile, only the player nearest after the discarder in counterclockwise turn order wins. For competing Robbing the Gang wins, count from the player declaring the Gang.

After Chi or Pong, the claimant reveals the meld and discards without an ordinary draw, unless an accepted Honor Instant Win ends the hand. After Gang, resolve any legal robbery before offering an Honor Instant Win. If the hand continues, the claimant draws a replacement and then wins or discards. If nobody claims the claimant's discard, the next player after the claimant draws. Seats between the original discarder and an out-of-turn claimant are skipped. Among competing Pongs, the nearest claimant after the discarder wins; when using Fei, first apply the fewer-Fei priority.

Bonus Tiles

Before opening bonus replacements, perform any agreed Four Matching Fei or Five Different Fei check for that point. Then start with the dealer, followed by South, West and North. Each player reveals and replaces one Flower or Animal at a time. The dealer includes any bonus tile received as the extra 14th tile. Finish that player's bonus replacements before the next player begins. If a replacement is another bonus tile, resolve it in the same way. Check Eight-Flower wins on every reveal; a win stops the opening process. Keep track of the original 13 for opening payments.

Whenever you draw a Flower or Animal during play, you must:

1. Reveal the tile immediately
2. Check whether the reveal causes an All Flowers or accepted Robbing the Eighth win. An accepted win ends the hand without a replacement; follow that section's scoring and payment instructions.
3. If the hand continues, draw a replacement from the back of the remaining wall, only while more than 15 tiles remain.
4. If the replacement is another Flower or Animal, repeat these steps; otherwise check for a legal win or continue your turn.

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

Winning (Hu, 胡)

For a standard winning hand, form 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 Added Gang (加槓). 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). A Fei-assisted Thirteen Terminals hand may use this exception only with a completed pair of two matching physical natural tiles; see Thirteen Terminals with Fei.

Ending a Hand

Stop with 15 tiles left

Count the tiles left in the wall after every draw. Ordinary draws take the front tile and replacements take the back tile. With 16 tiles left, either draw leaves 15, so no further draw is allowed. Do not set aside a fixed block and draw replacements from in front of it. With the optional Fei rule, Dun means setting aside a held Fei and drawing a replacement; its draws use the same back of the wall and stop at the same limit.

When the hand ends

A hand ends when:

• A player wins
• In a Fei game, a turn with no legal discard or other legal action ends as False Win / Invalid Hand, with its fixed penalty.
• After the final draw of a natural tile or Fei leaves 15 tiles in the wall, you may still take legal actions on that turn, including an eligible Qi Fei exchange, and declare a legal win. A final discard cannot be claimed. If no win or Fei False Win follows, the hand ends in a stalemate. No further bonus-tile, Gang or Dun replacements are drawn, and no new instant payments are made.

If the final draw is a Flower or Animal, reveal it and resolve any Eight-Flower win. Otherwise the hand ends in a stalemate because no replacement can be drawn.

An ordinary wall-exhaustion stalemate has no winning-hand payout. A Fei False Win instead settles its fixed penalty. Previously settled instant payments remain settled in either case.

Special Discard Rules

Sacred & Missed Discard Rules

The Sacred Discard (回头牌) and Missed Discard (过水牌) rules restrict later claims on tiles you have discarded or passed.

• Sacred Discard: If a player discards a tile, they may not later claim the same tile from another player's discard to win (Hu), claim Pong or claim Chi.
  • The restriction on the sacred tile is lifted after the player has discarded a different tile.
• 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 to win (Hu) or claim 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 claim Chi, but player B’s Pong took precedence, in this case the tile is not considered a Missed Discard for player A).
  • The restriction on the missed tiles are lifted after the player has drawn a tile or claimed another player's discarded tile.

Sacred and Missed Discard restrictions do not prevent self-draw or Robbing the Gang. They apply only to the discard claims listed above.

In Fei games, these restrictions apply to the natural discard being claimed. Open Fei does not bypass them. A held Fei cannot be discarded; see False Win when no legal action remains.

Swap Calling (换吃) Rule

After Chi, your immediate discard cannot be another copy of the tile you claimed. If you claimed the low end of the sequence, you also cannot discard the tile one step above that sequence; if you claimed the high end, you also cannot discard the tile one step below. These restrictions refer to the same suit.

• Claim 4 Bamboo to make 4–5–6 Bamboo: you cannot discard 4 or 7 Bamboo.
• Claim 6 Bamboo to make 4–5–6 Bamboo: you cannot discard 6 or 3 Bamboo.
• Claim the middle tile, 5 Bamboo, to make 4–5–6 Bamboo: only 5 Bamboo is barred.
• At the suit boundaries, there is no tile 0 or 10: claiming 3 to make 1–2–3, or 7 to make 7–8–9, bars only the claimed tile type.

The restriction ends after your first successful discard and does not apply after Pong. In the exceptional Dun after Chi case, the newly drawn physical replacement may be discarded even if its type is barred; an identical copy already held remains barred.

Scoring & Payments

A winning hand earns Tai for its shape and eligible bonuses. Before play, agree on the minimum Tai needed to win (often 1 Tai), the maximum Tai counted for payment, and the payment amounts.

How to score a hand

These steps score a complete winning hand. Eight-Flower wins, Honor Instant Wins and Fei opening instant wins use their own scoring instructions. In particular, accepting an Honor Instant Win uses its limited score even when the tiles also form a higher-scoring complete hand.

1. Arrange the winning tiles: identify a legal four-set-and-eye hand, or a permitted special hand such as Seven Pairs or Thirteen Terminals.
2. Add the hand awards: for one four-set-and-eye arrangement, add every matching shape award listed below, once each. Do not simply take the largest award. Special hands and instant wins follow their own scoring instructions.
3. Add eligible bonuses: include Dragon/Wind sets, Flowers, Animals, opening timing awards and winning bonuses that apply to that arrangement. If using Fei, also add any earned Four Matching Fei, Five Different Fei and Dun Tai to this same total. An immediate credit payment is not Tai.
4. Check the minimum before the cap: the complete Tai total, including bonuses, must reach the agreed minimum to win. A 0-Tai Coward Hand can qualify through its bonuses. The Eight-Flower wins have their stated exception.
5. Cap the total for payment: if the total exceeds the agreed maximum, use the maximum. Apply the cap to the sum, not to each award. If more than one legal complete-hand arrangement qualifies, score each separately and use the highest capped Tai; do not mix their awards. Seven Pairs has its own tie rule. See who pays below.

Meld & Tile Bonuses

• Pong or Gang of Dragons: One Tai for each Dragon Pong or Gang
• Pong or Gang of Seat Wind: One Tai for a Pong or Gang matching your seat wind
• Pong or Gang of Prevailing Wind: One Tai for a Pong or Gang matching the prevailing wind. If the same set also matches your Seat Wind, add both bonuses: for example, East's East Pong in an East round earns 2 Tai.
• Flower matching seat number: One Tai for each Flower matching your Seat Wind's number (East - 1, South - 2, West - 3, North - 4)
• Complete Flower group: Additional 1 Tai for each complete group: all four Seasons or all four Flowers. Completing both groups gives 2 bonus Tai. Four tiles split between those groups do not qualify. East holding all four Seasons earns 1 Tai for Spring and another 1 Tai for the complete group.
• Animal Tiles: One Tai for each Animal tile
• All Four Animals: Additional one Tai bonus for collecting all four Animal tiles

Win Bonuses

Apply a bonus only when the chosen winning route allows it. Seven Pairs, Eight-Flower wins, Honor Instant Wins and Fei opening instant wins explain their exceptions to these bonuses.

• Winning on Last Tile Bonus (海底捞月): Additional one Tai for a self-drawn win after the final ordinary draw, including a legal win after Qi Fei on that draw. A replacement draw or Robbing the Gang does not receive this bonus.
• Robbing the Gang (抢槓): Additional one Tai bonus for winning by robbing the Gang
• Replacement Tile Bonus (花上/槓上) - 1 Tai: A self-drawn win from a replacement tile drawn after a Gang, bonus tile, or an agreed Dun action, including an eligible Honor Instant Win.
• Double Gang Bonus (槓槓胡) - 3 Tai: On one turn, declare a Gang, draw its replacement, declare a second Gang and win on the replacement drawn for that second Gang. No discard, Dun, or Flower/Animal reveal may interrupt this sequence, including a bonus tile drawn after the second Gang. The optional Qi Fei exchange, replacing a Fei in your own exposed meld, does not interrupt it. Award 3 Tai instead of the ordinary 1 Tai Replacement Tile Bonus.
• Concealed Hand (门清) - 1 Tai: One Tai bonus only for a self-drawn win with a fully concealed hand (no exposed melds). A declared Concealed Gang does not remove this bonus. Seven Pairs uses its agreed Tai award and does not add it.
• Self-drawn Hand (Zimo, 自摸) - 0 Tai: A normal self-draw adds no Tai. Use the capped Tai row in the self-draw payment table. Normally each opponent pays; a qualifying Gang Shang win instead makes the responsible discarder pay the full self-draw total.

Opening timing awards

Heavenly Hand, Earthly Hand and the optional Humanly Hand reward when you win. They add to a qualifying standard hand, Seven Pairs or Thirteen Terminals, including an eligible Fei-assisted Thirteen Terminals hand. Their timing and winning-source conditions still apply. Any player's declared Chi, Pong or Gang, including a Concealed Gang, ends eligibility for these opening awards; revealing Flowers or Animals does not. Robbing the Gang receives none of these timing awards.

Example: a non-dealer's first self-draw completes pairs of 1, 2 and 3 Bamboo, 4 and 5 Circles, and 6 and 9 Characters, before anyone has declared a meld. With the agreed 3-Tai Seven Pairs award and no other bonuses, score Seven Pairs 3 + Earthly Hand 8 = 11 Tai. At a 5-Tai cap and the example 10-credit base, each opponent pays 320, so the winner receives 960 credits. Seven Pairs adds no Concealed Hand Tai.

Singapore Classic Winning Hands

For one standard four-set-and-eye arrangement, the matching awards below add together. All Pong may add to a Suit or Honor award, Scholars, Blessings, Terminals or Eighteen Arahats; eligible Dragon and Wind bonuses still add. Some awards describe alternatives:

• Suit or Honor content: a hand receives at most one of Mixed Suit, Pure Suit or Pure Honors.
• Sequence hands: use Ping Hu or All Chow, never both. Pure Suit Ping Hu adds 2 Tai only to Ping Hu + Pure Suit; All Chow + Pure Suit does not earn that extra award.
• Other alternatives: Lesser and Great Scholars do not combine; Lesser and Great Blessings do not combine. Mixed Terminals needs both suited terminals and honors, so it does not add to Pure Terminals or Pure Honors.

Worked score: when Honor Instant Wins are not used, three Dragon Pongs, a 3 Bamboo Pong and a 5 Bamboo pair, with at least one Pong exposed, won on an ordinary discard with no Flowers, Animals or timing bonuses, earn Three Great Scholars 10 + All Pong 2 + Mixed Suit 2 + Dragon-set bonuses 3 = 17 Tai. With an agreed maximum of 5 Tai, pay it as a 5-Tai hand. The cap limits the final payment score; it does not erase the qualifying awards.

• 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: Four Chi sets and one pair, with no bonus tiles. The pair cannot be Dragons, the round Wind or your seat Wind. You may win by self-draw. For a discard win, more than one tile type must be able to complete the hand as four Chi and one pair. A wait on only one tile type, including an isolated middle, edge or final-pair wait, does not qualify. Completing the pair can qualify when another tile type also completes a valid sequence hand.
• All Chow (臭平胡) - 1 Tai: The same sequence, pair and winning-wait rules as Ping Hu, but you have at least one Flower or Animal. Even a Flower that gives you no Tai prevents Ping Hu; use this 1-Tai award instead.
• All Pong (碰碰胡) - 2 Tai: A winning hand consisting of four Pong or Gang 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 bonus: A hand that qualifies for both Ping Hu (4 Tai) and Pure Suit (4 Tai) earns another 2 Tai, totaling 10 Tai before other bonuses.
• Pure Honors (字一色) - 6 Tai: A winning hand consisting of only honor tiles
• Three Lesser Scholars (小三元) - 1 Tai: Pongs or Gangs of two Dragons, with the third Dragon as the pair; the other two melds may be any legal melds
• Three Great Scholars (大三元) - 10 Tai: A Pong or Gang of each of the three Dragons; the remaining meld and pair may be any legal tiles
• Four Lesser Blessings (小四喜) - 2 Tai: Pongs or Gangs of three Winds, with the fourth Wind as the pair; the remaining meld may be any legal meld
• Four Great Blessings (大四喜) - 13 Tai: A Pong or Gang of each of the four Winds, plus one pair
• Mixed Terminals (混老头) - 2 Tai: Four Pong/Gang sets and one pair using only suited 1s/9s and honors, with at least one suited terminal and at least one honor. It also receives All Pong, and Mixed Suit if only one numbered suit is present.
• Pure Terminals (清老頭) - 13 Tai: Four Pong/Gang sets and one pair using only suited 1s/9s, with all three suits represented and no honors. It also receives All Pong.
• 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: One of each suited 1 and 9 and each Wind and Dragon, plus one duplicate to form the pair. This special shape receives its own 13-Tai award, not Mixed Terminals, Pure Terminals or All Pong. Eligible Flower, Animal and winning bonuses may still add. In Fei games, eligible Four Matching Fei, Five Different Fei and Dun awards also add. With Fei substitutions, two matching physical natural tiles as the pair permit self-draw, a natural discard win or eligible Gang robbery. A pair containing Fei requires self-draw, and a two-Fei pair also needs Fei Zou Jie. See Thirteen Terminals with Fei.
• Heavenly Hand (天胡) - 10 Tai: The dealer begins with a complete winning hand before any discard. Opening Flower and Animal replacements remain eligible.
• Earthly Hand (地胡) - 8 Tai: A non-dealer completes a winning hand on their first self-draw, before anyone has declared a Chi, Pong or Gang. Revealing Flowers or Animals does not disqualify it.
• Nine Heavenly Gates (九连宝灯) - 6 Tai: A fully concealed 1112345678999 hand in one numbered suit, plus any duplicate rank from that suit. Any exposed meld or declared Concealed Gang disqualifies it. It also receives Pure Suit. With Fei substitutions, self-draw only, with legal groups and eyes; a two-Fei pair needs the optional Fei Zou Jie eye rule.
• Hidden Treasure (Four Concealed Pongs, 四暗刻) - 6 Tai: Four concealed Pong or Gang sets plus a pair. It may be self-drawn, or won from a discard only when that tile completes the pair, not the fourth Pong, and never by Robbing the Gang. It also receives All Pong; a self-drawn win also receives the ordinary Concealed Hand bonus.

Ping Hu with two possible pair completions: with no Flowers or Animals, you have a declared 2–3–4 Characters Chi and concealed 2–3–4 Bamboo, 5–6–7 Bamboo, and 5–6–7–8 Circles. A 5 Circles discard makes a 5–5 pair and a 6–7–8 Chi; an 8 Circles discard makes a 5–6–7 Chi and an 8–8 pair. Both earn the Ping Hu award because two tile types complete four Chi and one pair.

Eight-Flower Wins

Collecting all eight Flower tiles ends the hand in a special win. Only the eight distinct Seasons and Flowers count; Animals do not. Keep each revealed Flower beside your hand. If a new reveal gives you all eight, you win. Otherwise, a player who already has the other seven distinct Flowers revealed may claim the newly revealed eighth from its drawer. Unrevealed Flowers still in a dealt hand do not count towards those seven.

• All Flowers and Seasons (八仙过海) - 10 Tai: The drawer reveals their eighth distinct Flower and wins immediately by self-draw.
• Robbing the Eighth (七抢一) - 6 Tai: A player with seven distinct Flowers already revealed claims the newly revealed eighth from its drawer and wins immediately. Claim at that reveal; you cannot claim a Flower revealed earlier. Passing leaves it with the drawer and replacement play resumes.

These two wins do not need a complete hand or to meet the ordinary minimum Tai. Add only eligible Flower and Animal bonuses to the listed award, with the following Dun exception. Do not add Dragon/Wind bonuses, ordinary shape awards, opening timing awards, Concealed Hand, Double Gang or last-tile bonuses. An ordinary Gang or Flower replacement does not add replacement Tai to these wins.

If using Dun, each Fei already set aside by the winner also adds 1 Tai. A self-drawn Flower win during a Dun replacement sequence adds the 1-Tai Replacement Tile Bonus, even if Flower or Animal replacements intervened. Apply the agreed maximum Tai to the complete total once, then use that row in the payout table below.

• All Flowers: normally each opponent pays the Self-drawn Hand amount. If the eighth Flower is drawn during a qualifying Gang Shang replacement sequence, the original discarder instead pays the full self-draw total; the other two opponents pay nothing. The winner's total stays the same.
• Robbing the Eighth with the optional Shooter rule: Under this rule, the responsible player pays everyone’s share. Treat the Flower drawer as the discarder. The drawer pays the full amount in the Total Credits Payout column; the other two opponents pay nothing.
• Robbing the Eighth without Shooter: The drawer pays the amount in the Discarder column, and each other opponent pays the amount in the Each Other Opponent column. The winner receives the amount shown in the Total Credits Payout column.

An All Flowers winner also keeps any ordinary pair or complete-group instant payment earned by their own eighth-Flower reveal, provided more than 15 tiles remain. If using Bite Flowers, the winning eighth Flower receives no new pair or complete-group instant payment. Earlier payments remain settled.

Payout Calculation

Use the winning hand’s Tai after the cap. This example table uses 10 credits as the base payment at 1 Tai; every extra Tai doubles the amounts. The base is the amount in the Each Other Opponent column at 1 Tai, not the discarder’s amount or the winner’s total. Your table may agree on a different payment scale before play.

• Win on a discard, without Shooter: the discarder pays the Discarder amount; each of the other two opponents pays the Each Other Opponent amount. Only the winner receives the total.
• Win on a discard, with Shooter: the discarder alone pays the full discard-win total; the other two opponents pay nothing.
• Self-draw: each of the three opponents pays the Self-drawn Hand amount. Shooter alone does not change self-draw payments. A qualifying Gang Shang win instead makes its responsible discarder pay the full self-draw total.

The table gives ordinary winning-hand payments. Immediate Gang and bonus-tile payments are settled separately. On the same Tai row, self-draw pays more credits than a discard win; it does not add Tai just for being self-drawn.

If your table permits a win worth 0 Tai after bonuses, its winning-hand payment is zero. Earlier instant payments remain settled.

Win on a discard — without Shooter

Self-draw — all three opponents pay

Same 2-Tai score, different winning sources: B is the winner, and A, C and D are the opponents.

• B wins on A's discard, without Shooter: A pays 40; C and D pay 20 each. B receives 80 credits.
• B wins on A's discard, with Shooter: A alone pays 80. C and D pay nothing. B receives 80 credits.
• B wins by ordinary self-draw: A, C and D each pay 40. B receives 120 credits, whether or not Shooter is used.

Robbing the Gang payment: treat the player declaring the Gang as the Discarder in the payout table. Without the optional Shooter rule, that player pays the Discarder amount and each of the other two opponents pays the Each Other Opponent amount. With Shooter, the Gang declarer pays the full discard-win total and the other two opponents pay nothing. This includes the permitted Concealed Gang robbery for Thirteen Terminals.

Instant Payout

These payments are normally collected as the qualifying Gang or bonus tile is declared, whether or not the collector later wins. A qualifying Concealed Gang with an Honor Instant Win has the robbery exception explained below. They are separate from Tai and the winning-hand payment: do not double them for a high-Tai hand or apply the winning Tai cap. The amounts below are examples; agree on your amounts before play. Earlier payments remain settled even in a stalemate, apart from the optional robbed-Gang refund. No new instant payments are made once the last drawable tile has been drawn. The optional Bite Flowers rule changes payments on a winning eighth Flower. Animal Special replaces the ordinary Animal-pair payment for the collector's assigned pair; it does not add both pair payments together. Gang Bite: Discarder Pays All can change the payer of qualifying pair and All Four Animals awards without changing their totals.

1. Exposed or Added Gang (明槓 / 加槓) - 20 credits: Each opponent pays 20 credits to the Gang player (60 received in total). With Shooter, a discard-claimed Exposed Gang instead makes its discarder alone pay all 60. An Added Gang still collects 20 from each opponent.
2. Concealed Gang (暗槓) - 40 credits: Each opponent pays 40 credits to the Gang player (120 received in total), including when Shooter is used.
3. Your seat’s Flower pair (Yao Dao, 咬到) - 20 credits: A Flower and a Season with the same printed number form a pair. If both match your current seat number, each opponent pays you 20 credits.
4. Matching Animal pair (Yao Dao, 咬到) - 20 credits: Mouse pairs with Cat, and Centipede pairs with Chicken. Collecting either pair earns 20 credits from each opponent.
5. Pair in your original 13 dealt tiles - 40 credits: For either pair above, each opponent pays you 40 credits instead of 20 only if both pair members were in your original 13. The dealer’s extra 14th tile and every replacement are excluded. The order in which anyone reveals or replaces bonus tiles does not change this payment.
6. Complete Flower group - 40 credits: For each complete group of all four Seasons or all four Flowers, each opponent pays you 40 credits. Four tiles split between those groups do not qualify. This payment adds to any qualifying pair payment, and the tiles may still give Flower Tai if you later win.
7. All four Animal tiles - 40 credits: Each opponent pays an additional 40 credits. This stacks with the applicable Animal-pair payment. On a later draw, the final Animal normally earns 20 for completing its pair plus 40 for all four: 60 from each opponent on that reveal.

Optional House Rules

Use any of these variations only after everyone agrees before the deal. You can adopt them separately. First agree on payment variants, then any extra winning hands, bonus-tile payments and Fei rules you want to use.

Shooter Rule

Under the optional Shooter rule, the responsible player pays the full amount that all opponents would otherwise pay. The other opponents pay nothing. Agree to use this rule before play.

Shooter changes who pays, not the winner's total or Tai. It applies to these events:

• 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.
• When a player wins by Robbing the Eighth Flower, its drawer is the Shooter and pays the full discard-win total.

Payment Variants — Optional House Rules

Agree before play which of these variations to use; you may combine them. Ordinary immediate Gang payments still apply, except for the stated robbed-Gang exceptions.

Gang Shang: Discarder Pays All

If you claim an Exposed Gang from another player's discard and then win by self-draw during that uninterrupted replacement sequence, the original discarder pays the full self-draw total. The other two opponents pay nothing. This winning-hand payment is separate from the immediate Gang payment.

This applies to a qualifying All Flowers win or Honor Instant Win on a replacement, as well as a complete-hand win. An Honor Instant Win accepted immediately after declaring a Gang, before its replacement draw, does not use Gang Shang.

• Flower and Animal replacements: continue while a replacement is available, unless an Eight-Flower win ends the hand first. The final non-bonus tile is the latest replacement for this rule.
• A further Gang: a Concealed or Added Gang continues the sequence only if you use the latest replacement tile from your hand to complete it. A replacement already placed in an exposed meld by Qi Fei cannot qualify a later Gang. Declaring a Gang that was already complete before the replacement also ends the discarder’s responsibility.
• When responsibility ends: a discard, a turn or player change, an unavailable replacement, a cancelled or robbed Gang, or Dun ends it. A Dun replacement starts a separate sequence with ordinary self-draw payment.
• Passing an opportunity to rob the Gang does not end the responsibility. A Concealed or Added Gang cannot start it on its own.

Refund a Robbed Gang

If a Gang is successfully robbed, return any immediate payment already collected for that Gang once, then settle the Robbing the Gang win normally. If no Gang fee was collected, there is nothing to refund. Do not refund a passed, invalid or cancelled robbery, or a Gang that was not robbed. This also covers the permitted Concealed Gang robbery for Thirteen Terminals.

Using Gang Shang and Refund a Robbed Gang: return any payment already collected for the robbed Gang once, then settle the Robbing the Gang win normally. Gang Shang responsibility ends. If nobody robs the Gang and a qualifying uninterrupted replacement sequence ends in self-draw, its Gang payment remains settled and the original discarder pays the full self-draw total. If responsibility has ended, use ordinary self-draw payers instead.

Gang Bite: Discarder Pays All

This separate variation changes who pays for eligible pair and All Four Animals awards during a replacement sequence begun by a discard-claimed Exposed Gang. The player whose discard supplied that Gang pays the full usual award total; the other opponents pay nothing for that award. Use the same replacement-chain continuation and ending conditions described under Gang Shang above.

It covers ordinary Animal pairs, All Four Animals, your own-seat Flower pair, an Animal Special pair, and another seat's Flower pair when using Bite Flowers. With the example rates, if B claims A's discard for Gang and its replacement completes an ordinary Animal pair, A alone pays B 60 credits. For another seat's Flower pair, A instead pays the existing 20-credit award in place of the seat owner.

This rule is independent of Shooter and Gang Shang. Standalone Animal Special reveals, complete Flower-group payments and Gang fees keep their usual payers. Winning-hand payments follow their own rules; Gang Bite alone does not change who pays for a win.

Seven Pairs (七对子) — Optional House Rule

Seven Pairs lets you win with seven pairs instead of the usual four sets and an eye. It is an optional variation outside Singapore Classic: agree to use it before the first deal.

Eligibility

• Arrange exactly 14 natural tiles into seven pairs. Each pair must contain two actual matching tiles: Fei cannot fill a missing tile, even with the optional Fei Zou Jie eye rule.
• You must not have declared any Chi, Pong or Gang.
• Flowers and Animals stay outside the 14-tile hand. Any Fei set aside with Dun also stays outside it and may still add its bonus.
• A tile type may appear twice, or four times if your table allows four identical tiles to count as two pairs. Otherwise, a hand containing four identical tiles cannot qualify.
• A discard win must follow the table's Seven Pairs agreement and the ordinary Sacred and Missed Discard rules.

Agree before play

• How you may win: self-draw only, or also on another player's discard. If discard wins are allowed, an eligible win by Robbing an Added Gang uses the discard award.
• Four identical tiles: whether they may count as two pairs. They stay in the hand and are not declared as a Gang.
• Suit and Honor bonuses: whether to add these to Seven Pairs. If allowed, add at most one of Mixed Suit (+2 Tai), Pure Suit (+4 Tai), or Pure Honors (+6 Tai).
• The Tai award: the rules here use 3 Tai for self-draw and 2 Tai for discard. Your table may agree on different amounts.

Scoring

• Use the agreed Seven Pairs award directly. For example, a 3-Tai self-draw remains 3 Tai before other eligible bonuses; it gets no extra Concealed Hand Tai.
• If allowed, a discard or robbed Added Gang uses the agreed discard award. Robbing the Gang may also earn its separate bonus.
• Payment follows the ordinary rules. On self-draw, each opponent pays the self-draw amount in the payout table.
• Seven Pairs does not receive Ping Hu, All Chow, All Pong, Pure Suit Ping Hu, Mixed/Pure Terminals, Scholars or Blessings awards. Score a legal standard arrangement separately if the same tiles can form one.
• If your table allows Suit and Honor bonuses, add at most one of Mixed Suit, Pure Suit or Pure Honors; the optional Pure Green Suit award also adds 2 Tai separately when enabled.
• Four identical tiles used as pairs trigger neither a Gang payout nor a Dragon or Wind triplet bonus.
• Eligible Flower, Animal, replacement, last-tile, robbed-Gang and Dun bonuses still apply. Heavenly, Earthly and the optional Humanly Hand also add when their conditions are met; Humanly requires an allowed ordinary discard win. The agreed minimum, cap and ordinary payment rules still apply, including Shooter if used.

When the same tiles also form a standard hand

Score the legal Seven Pairs and standard arrangements separately, including their eligible bonuses and the Tai cap. Use the higher capped Tai; Seven Pairs wins a tie. Do not add Seven Pairs to the standard hand's awards.

Example: a fully concealed self-drawn hand containing two of every Bamboo tile from 1 through 7 can form seven pairs or [1–2–3] [1–2–3] [4–5–6] [4–5–6] [7–7]. With a 3-Tai Seven Pairs award and its Pure Suit bonus allowed, the pairs score 3 + 4 = 7 Tai. With no Flowers, Animals or other bonuses, the standard arrangement scores Ping Hu 4 + Pure Suit 4 + Pure Suit Ping Hu 2 + Concealed Hand 1 = 11 Tai before the cap. At a cap of 10, use the standard hand's 10 Tai. At a cap of 7 or lower, both tie after the cap, so use Seven Pairs.

Other Optional Winning Hands

Agree before play whether either of these awards applies:

• Humanly Hand (人胡) - 5 Tai: A non-dealer wins on an ordinary discard before their first draw and before anyone has declared a Chi, Pong or Gang. Revealing Flowers or Animals does not disqualify it. Robbing the Gang does not qualify.
• Pure Green Suit (绿一色) - 2 Tai: Every non-bonus tile is Green Dragon (發) or 2, 3, 4, 6, or 8 Bamboo. It adds to a valid standard hand, and to Seven Pairs if your table allows its Suit and Honor bonuses.

Honor Instant Wins — Optional House Rule

An instant win lets you end the hand when its special condition is met, without needing the usual four sets and an eye. Agree before play whether Three Great Scholars, Four Great Blessings, or both may win this way. Completing a set of each of the three Dragons, or each of the four Winds, lets you declare that instant win or pass and continue playing. Their ordinary complete-hand awards remain part of Singapore Classic.

Opening checks: after completing all opening Flower and Animal replacements, first complete any Four Matching Fei or Five Different Fei opening check agreed for this point. Do not repeat a check already completed before replacements. If nobody takes a Fei opening win, check Honor Instant Wins in normal counterclockwise turn order, starting with the dealer. Each qualifying player may declare the win or pass; a win ends the hand, while passing lets the check continue to the next player.

Instant-win score: Three Great Scholars gives 10 Tai and Four Great Blessings gives 13 Tai. Add only eligible Flower, Animal, Dragon and Wind bonuses, Dun Tai and replacement bonuses described below. Do not add ordinary shape awards such as All Pong or Pure Honors, opening timing awards, Concealed Hand, last-tile or robbed-Gang bonuses. The complete total must reach the agreed minimum Tai; then apply the usual cap.

Replacement wins: a self-drawn Honor Instant Win earns the usual +1 Replacement Tile Bonus after a Gang, Flower, Animal or agreed Dun. A qualifying Double Gang earns +3 instead of +1. Flower or Animal replacements preserve the +1 bonus but interrupt Double Gang. At the opening Honor check, this bonus applies only to a replacement for the dealer's extra tile; replacing bonus tiles in the original 13 earns no Replacement Tile Bonus.

This limited score applies when you accept the instant win, even if your tiles also form a complete ordinary hand worth more. During play, passing does not let you declare an ordinary Hu or Zimo on that same tile instead. After everyone passes the initial instant-win checks, the dealer may still declare a legal ordinary opening win.

Passing does not permanently give up the Honor Instant Win. If the required natural sets remain complete and the score meets the minimum, you may declare it on a later own draw even when the drawn tile is unrelated. Gang Shang replacements have the extra condition below.

In Fei games, these three Dragon sets or four Wind sets must be fully natural: Fei cannot substitute for tiles in the qualifying sets. A complete legal hand with four sets and an eye may still earn its usual Three Great Scholars or Four Great Blessings award using Fei. If the table allows Qi Fei, replacing the final Fei in an exposed Pong with a natural tile can make that Pong qualify for an Honor Instant Win. The 1 Tai per Fei set aside with Dun also counts towards this instant win's score and minimum Tai.

• Hu directly on a discard: if the discard completes a qualifying Dragon or Wind set, you may declare the instant Hu. It has normal Hu priority and uses discard-win payment, including Shooter if used. You declare no Pong or Gang, collect no Gang fee and draw no replacement.
• Claim Pong or Gang first: this remains an ordinary meld claim with its normal priority. If it succeeds and qualifies, you may then declare the instant win using discard-win payment. A declared Gang also collects its usual immediate Gang fee, separately from the win payment.
• Initial hand, own draw or Concealed Gang: use self-draw settlement. If you declare a Concealed Gang first, its usual immediate fee remains payable separately.
• Added Gang: after you have passed a qualifying instant win, an Added Gang of a Dragon or Wind can give you another chance to declare it. This uses self-draw settlement, with the Added Gang fee paid separately.

Robbing the Gang takes priority: resolve any legal robbery of an Added Gang, or the Thirteen Terminals exception for a Concealed Gang, first. The Gang declarer may take the Honor Instant Win only if nobody robs that Gang.

Concealed Gang fee during this check: without the refund variation, wait until the permitted Thirteen Terminals robbery has been ruled out before collecting the fee for a Concealed Gang that qualifies for an Honor Instant Win. If it is robbed, undo that Gang and collect no Gang fee; settle the robbery win instead. With the refund variation, any fee already paid for the robbed Gang is returned once.

Accepting an instant win immediately after a Gang ends the hand before its replacement draw. It earns neither Replacement Tile nor Double Gang Tai, and Gang Shang does not redirect that win payment: a discard-claimed Gang uses discard settlement, while a Concealed or Added Gang uses ordinary self-draw settlement. If you pass instead, keep the Gang payment and take its replacement in the usual way. Winning-hand amounts follow the discard or self-draw payment tables.

Honor wins during Gang Shang: while the original discarder is responsible, the eligible replacement must newly complete the required natural honor sets. It may supply the third matching natural tile of the final triplet, or use an agreed Qi Fei exchange to replace the final Fei in a qualifying exposed Pong. An unrelated replacement cannot turn an already complete Honor Instant Win into a payment by that discarder. A legal complete hand may still win under its ordinary rules.

Animal Special — Optional House Rule

Animal Special assigns each player an animal for extra immediate payments. It is an optional variation outside Singapore Classic: agree to use it before play.

Blind Selection and Animal Pairs

• Before the first deal, prepare four markers showing Mouse, Cat, Centipede and Chicken. Shuffle them face-down. Players choose one without looking, in East, South, West, then North order. Keep the remaining markers in place while players choose.
• Reveal each chosen animal to everyone. Show all four assignments before the deal begins.
• Mouse pairs with Cat. Centipede pairs with Chicken.
• The marker determines your payments; it does not give you the matching Animal tile. All four actual Animal tiles remain in the shuffled wall.
• Keep your assigned animal for the whole playing session, across all hands and rounds. It follows you even when your seat Wind changes.

Special Payouts

Agree on the payment amounts before play; the table below gives an example schedule. Here, opening 13 means only your first 13 dealt tiles. It excludes the dealer's extra 14th tile and every replacement draw. A bite payment (Yao Dao, 咬到) is an immediate payment for a qualifying bonus-tile collection, separate from the payment for winning a hand.

There are two separate awards: one when you reveal your assigned animal, and one when you complete its pair. With ordinary payers, each is paid once per hand by all three opponents; the examples below use those payers. If revealing the assigned animal also completes its pair, collect both awards on that reveal. Do not add the ordinary Animal-pair payment as well.

When Gang Bite: Discarder Pays All applies, the original Gang discarder instead pays the full pair-award total. The assigned-animal reveal still uses its ordinary payers.

• Both tiles originally dealt: each opponent pays 40 for the assigned-animal reveal and 40 for the pair, 80 in total per opponent (240 collected). Reveal order does not change the total.
• Both tiles outside the opening 13: assigned animal first means 20 from each opponent now and 20 more when its partner appears. Partner first pays nothing on its own; revealing the assigned animal later collects both 20-credit awards. Either order totals 40 per opponent (120 collected).
• One tile originally dealt: an original assigned animal followed by a later partner totals 40 + 20 = 60 per opponent. An original partner followed by a later assigned animal totals 20 + 20 = 40 per opponent. The dealer's extra tile and replacements count as later tiles.
• These payments add no Tai. The actual Animal tiles still earn the ordinary Animal Tai if you later win.
• Animal pairs that do not involve your assigned animal retain their Classic payment. The All Four Animals instant payment is additional when eligible, as is its separate one-Tai scoring bonus.
• The usual instant-payment wall limit still applies: no Animal Special payment is made after the last drawable tile has been drawn.

Bite Flowers — Optional House Rule

With this optional variation, collecting another seat's Flower pair makes that seat's player pay you. Agree to use it before play; it is outside Singapore Classic.

Flower Pairs and Payments

A Flower and Season with the same printed number form a pair. Numbers follow the current seat Winds: East = 1, South = 2, West = 3, North = 4. Use the current seat Winds, so the payer can change as the dealer rotates. The higher opening payment requires both pair members in your original 13; it excludes the dealer’s extra 14th tile and all replacements, regardless of reveal order.

The table below uses ordinary Bite Flowers payers. If Gang Bite: Discarder Pays All applies, the original Gang discarder pays the same award in place of the seat owner.

• Agree on the amounts before play; the table gives an example schedule. A pair containing a replacement tile receives the lower payment (20 credits in this example), even during opening replacements.
• With ordinary Bite Flowers payers, if East collects both number 2 tiles, South alone pays East. A qualifying Gang Bite instead makes the original Gang discarder pay. Gang Shang does not change this payment.
• Your own seat's pair keeps its usual payment from each opponent, unless qualifying Gang Bite applies. Biting another seat's pair adds no extra Tai and does not satisfy the minimum Tai to win.
• The usual All Four Flowers of the Same Group instant payout remains separate and stacks when eligible. The usual wall limit still applies: no bite payment is made after the last drawable tile has been drawn.

Winning on the Eighth Flower

When playing Bite Flowers, if the eighth Flower ends the hand through All Flowers and Seasons or an accepted Robbing the Eighth claim, settle only that Flower win for the new tile. Do not add a new pair or same-group instant payment. Earlier payments remain settled. If Robbing the Eighth is declined, make any eligible instant payments and continue replacement draws. This exception applies only when using Bite Flowers.

Fei / Joker — Optional Table Rule

Fei are optional wildcard tiles added to a Singapore Mahjong set. A wildcard can stand for a missing ordinary tile when you make a legal hand. Agree on the Fei rules before dealing; the extra actions and awards below apply only when your table has agreed to use them.

A few terms: a natural tile is a numbered Suit tile, Wind or Dragon. Flowers and Animals are bonus tiles. Fei are wildcards and are neither natural nor bonus tiles. Concealed tiles remain in your hand; an exposed meld is made by claiming another player's discard. A declared Concealed Gang remains concealed for scoring. An eye is the pair in a standard winning hand. Tai are scoring units.

Physical families are the printed faces and colours: red Fei, red Fei Joker, Blank Fei, blue Fei, blue Fei Joker, green Fei and green Fei Joker. They all have the same wildcard uses. Their printed identity matters for Four Matching Fei and Five Different Fei, even when they represent the same natural tile. Blank Fei is a playable wildcard, separate from the natural White Dragon (白板).

Start here: use Fei to fill gaps in legal groups, but remember that Fei cannot be discarded. A standard Fei-assisted win still needs four sets and an eye, and must meet the table's minimum Tai. Special hands and opening instant wins have their own conditions below.

Fei

Fei Joker

Blank Fei

Blue Fei

Blue Fei Joker

Green Fei

Green Fei Joker

Three ways a Fei can appear

Three ways a Fei can appear

Where it is	What it means
In your hand	A wildcard available for a legal winning hand or a Fei-assisted discard claim agreed by the table. It cannot be discarded.
In an exposed Chi or Pong	It represents the natural tile chosen when the meld was made. That identity stays fixed.
Set aside with Dun (declare Fei)	You set it aside face-up and take a replacement tile. It is no longer part of your hand or a meld, and adds 1 Tai if you later win.

Fei are not Flowers or Animals, so drawing one does not require you to reveal or replace it. Keep it in your hand unless you use it in a legal claim or set it aside with Dun.

Making a legal hand

A Fei may stand for a missing natural tile, but every group must still have a legal shape:

• Sequence (Chi): three consecutive numbers in one suit. A concealed winning sequence may use one natural tile and up to two Fei. A Chi claimed from a discard, or an exposed Chi, may use at most one Fei. Three Fei cannot form a sequence.
• Triplet (Pong): a concealed winning triplet may use one natural tile and up to two Fei. This applies in Open or Closed Fei, even if the table allows only one Fei in a claimed Pong. Other groups in your hand may already be exposed. Claimed Pongs follow the separate discard-claim agreement below. Three Fei cannot form a triplet.
• Ordinary pair / eye: two identical natural tiles, or one natural tile and one Fei. Two Fei cannot form an ordinary eye; the optional Fei Zou Jie rule provides a separate route.
• Gang: four identical natural tiles only. A Fei cannot form a Gang. A Pong that still contains a Fei cannot be upgraded to a Gang.

The complete hand must meet the table's minimum Tai and the usual rules about where the winning tile comes from, when you may win, and which discards are allowed. Each natural tile type has four physical copies. Count actual natural tiles in your concealed hand, in your declared melds, and among other public tiles. Count each physical tile only once, including a claimed winning tile. That total must not exceed four. Fei do not count toward it: a Fei remains a wildcard, not an extra physical copy of the tile it represents. Any agreed public-tile limits also apply.

Special hands:

• Seven Pairs needs seven pairs of actual matching natural tiles. Fei cannot substitute.
• Thirteen Terminals (Thirteen Wonders): one of each 1 and 9 from all three suits, one of each Wind and Dragon, and a duplicate to form the eye. The completed eye determines whether a Fei-assisted hand may win on another player's tile, as explained below.
• Nine Heavenly Gates: 1112345678999 in one numbered suit, plus any extra tile from that suit. With Fei, this award remains self-draw only. The hand must be fully concealed, with no declared Gang, and obey the usual group and eye limits; a two-Fei eye needs Fei Zou Jie.
• The Fei-assisted Nine Heavenly Gates award cannot be claimed from a discard or by Robbing the Gang, even if discard-based Zou Jie is allowed. A different legal ordinary arrangement of the same tiles may still win under its own rules.
• Other Tai awards that may be combined score the completed hand with each Fei counted as the natural tile it represents. The separate Honor Instant Wins require natural Dragon or Wind sets.

Thirteen Terminals with Fei

Use Fei to fill missing suited 1s/9s, Winds or Dragons. The completed 14-tile hand must still contain all thirteen different terminal and honor identities, plus one duplicate as the eye. It cannot contain a declared Chi, Pong or Gang. Flowers and Animals stay outside this shape.

The eye may be any of those thirteen identities, including a Dragon, your Seat Wind or the round Wind. Check the physical tiles in the completed pair: a Fei representing a natural tile is still a Fei.

The pair determines the permitted winning source

Completed pair / eye	How you may win this Thirteen Terminals hand
Two matching physical natural tiles	Self-draw, a natural discard, or eligible Robbing the Gang, including the Concealed Gang exception. Fei Zou Jie is not required.
One natural tile + one Fei	Self-draw only. Fei Zou Jie is not required.
Two Fei	Self-draw only, and your table must allow Fei Zou Jie.

A natural winning tile may supply the second tile of the natural pair, or complete another missing identity while the natural pair is already held. Natural discard wins still follow the Sacred and Missed Discard rules. Gang robbery uses its existing eligible claim windows. Physical-copy limits and any agreed public-tile limits still apply.

Score the Thirteen Terminals award as 13 Tai, plus eligible Flower, Animal and winning bonuses, including opening timing awards. Eligible Four Matching Fei, Five Different Fei and Dun awards also add. Apply the usual cap to the complete total. A qualifying natural-pair discard win may add the optional Humanly Hand award. A discard win uses ordinary discard payment; Robbing the Gang adds its usual 1 Tai and uses the Gang declarer's ordinary robbery payment. Neither receives self-draw-only bonuses, and Gang robbery receives no opening timing award. See who pays.

The usual maximum Tai cap and agreed payments apply. A Fei used as a substitute gives no Tai of its own; the agreed Fei awards above have separate conditions. A legal ordinary hand containing Fei may win by Robbing the Gang, taking the natural tile used to add to an exposed natural Pong. This does not allow a Fei inside the Gang.

Concealed two-Fei Chi example: 7 Dots–Fei–Joker may represent 7–8–9 Dots. Keep that sequence concealed; your other groups may be exposed. It can form part of a legal win on self-draw or a tile from another player when the win is allowed, in either Open or Closed Fei. It does not let you claim a Chi with two Fei. A hand with four Chi sets may qualify for Ping Hu if the whole hand meets its scoring conditions. The hand must still meet the minimum Tai and any agreed public-tile limits.

Concealed two-Fei triplet example: North + Fei + Joker may represent three Norths, even if claimed Pongs are limited to one Fei. It earns the usual Wind Triplet Bonus when North is the round wind or your seat wind, and both bonuses when it is both. A concealed Fei may be used in the best legal winning arrangement. A Fei in an exposed Chi or Pong stays assigned to that meld and cannot be moved into this triplet. Minimum Tai, the Tai cap, any agreed matching-tile rule and public-tile limits still apply.

Why holding a matching tile matters: some tables require a matching natural tile already in your hand before two Fei can complete a triplet using another player's tile. Under that agreement, West + two Fei already held is legal, and a self-drawn West may also complete the triplet. A discard may complete a different group. But two held Fei alone cannot use a discarded West as their only natural tile, whether claiming Pong, Hu or Robbing the Gang. Another legal arrangement may still win. See the matching-tile agreement below.

Thirteen Terminals example — a discard completes the pair: your 13 concealed tiles are 9 Bamboo, 1 and 9 Characters, 9 Circles, all three Dragons, all four Winds, and two Fei. A natural North discard supplies the second North, forming two physical natural North tiles as the eye. The Fei fill 1 Bamboo and 1 Circles. This wins as Thirteen Terminals on that discard, without Fei Zou Jie, provided the usual claim and public-tile restrictions are met. Self-drawing that North also works.

See legal and illegal Fei groups

3 Bamboo 3 Bamboo Fei → 3 Bamboo

2 Bamboo 4 Bamboo Fei → 3 Bamboo

3 Bamboo + 3 Bamboo + Fei can form a triplet of 3 Bamboo. 2 Bamboo + 4 Bamboo + Fei can form 2–3–4 Bamboo. 3 Bamboo + two Fei already held, or completed by your own draw, can form a concealed triplet in Open or Closed Fei, even when claimed Pongs allow only one Fei. To claim a discarded 3 Bamboo using two Fei, the table must allow that Open Fei claim and must not require a matching natural tile already held. Three Fei cannot form a triplet, and two Fei cannot form ordinary eyes.

Closed Fei and Open Fei: discard claims

Closed Fei means you cannot use Fei to claim another player's discard for Chi or Pong. You may still make fully natural claims, and may declare a legal Hu using Fei already in your concealed hand. It does not limit concealed winning sequences or triplets to one Fei.

Open Fei allows Fei-assisted discard claims. Agree which claims your table permits:

• Honor Pongs only: a Pong of a Wind or Dragon.
• Any Pong: a Pong of any natural tile.
• Chi and Pong: an allowed Pong, or a Chi from the player immediately before you.

Also agree whether a claimed Pong may contain one or two Fei. This limit applies to claimed Pongs and the exposed Pongs they create; it does not reduce the two-Fei limit for concealed winning triplets. An exposed Fei keeps the natural identity assigned when its meld was made. The discarded tile must be natural, and normal claim restrictions still apply.

Optional matching-tile rule: when allowing two Fei, the table may require that you must already hold a matching natural tile. If this requirement is used, an incoming discard or a tile taken by Robbing the Gang cannot be the sole natural tile in a triplet with two Fei. It also applies when that triplet completes a winning hand. A matching natural tile already held, or one you draw yourself, may complete the concealed triplet. If the table does not use this requirement, an otherwise legal two-Fei triplet may use the incoming natural tile alone.

Which Pong takes the discard?

Among legal Pong claims on the same discard, fewer Fei takes precedence. Count all three tiles in the completed Pong, including the claimed natural discard:

1. 3 natural tiles, no Fei — supply 2 natural tiles from your hand.
2. 2 natural tiles + 1 Fei — supply 1 natural tile and 1 Fei from your hand.
3. 1 natural tile + 2 Fei — supply 2 Fei from your hand. This is legal only if the table allows two Fei in that Open Fei claim and does not require a matching natural tile already held.

A Pong with fewer Fei wins even if its claimant sits farther from the discarder. If the Fei counts are equal, the nearest claimant after the discarder in turn order wins, wrapping around the table. Responding first gives no priority, and the printed Fei family does not affect the ranking.

Only legal claims enter this ranking. The agreed Open or Closed Fei rules, claimed-Pong limit, matching-tile rule, public-tile limits and discard restrictions still apply. Normal action priority remains: Hu outranks Gang; Gang outranks Pong; Pong outranks Chi.

See competing Pongs and the seat-order tie-break

Suppose your table uses Fei and Fei Joker, allows Open Fei Suit Pongs with up to two Fei, and does not require a matching natural tile already held. A player discards 3 Bamboo. These pictures show two Pongs competing for that same discard; only the winning Pong is made.

Discard: 3 Bamboo Hand: 3 Bamboo Hand: Fei → 3 Bamboo

Same discard: 3 Bamboo Hand: Fei → 3 Bamboo Hand: Joker → 3 Bamboo

Equal Fei count: suppose turn order is A → B → C → D → A. D discards 3 Bamboo, and A and C each claim with one natural 3 Bamboo and one Fei from hand. Both Pongs have 1 Fei, so A wins as the nearest claimant after D, even if C responds first or uses a different Fei family.

Dun / Declare Fei (垫)

Dun lets you set aside a concealed Fei and draw a replacement. Your table must agree to allow it, and a replacement tile must remain available.

1. On your own draw turn, choose a Fei from your concealed hand.
2. Set it aside face-up, separate from your hand and melds.
3. Draw one replacement from the back of the wall, the stacked tiles used for draws. Replace any Flowers or Animals in the usual way.
4. Continue your turn. You may Dun another held or newly drawn Fei, make a legal win or natural Gang, or discard a legal natural tile.

The dealer may Dun during the first normal turn, after the opening win checks and Flower/Animal replacements. Other players normally wait for their own draw turn, including a Gang replacement draw. There is no separate opening Dun round.

Exception after Chi or Pong: if your claim leaves no legal discard, you may Dun to avoid False Win when Dun is allowed and a replacement remains. This exception does not permit Dun after every claim. After Chi, the original discard bans still apply to tiles you already held. A newly drawn natural replacement may be discarded, even if it has the same value as a barred tile.

• Each set-aside Fei adds 1 Tai if you later win, before the usual cap. Setting it aside pays nothing immediately.
• It no longer counts as a wildcard in your hand, as Four Matching Fei, or as a Flower or Animal.
• A self-drawn win on a Dun replacement earns the usual +1 Replacement Tile Bonus, including when Flower/Animal replacements intervene. Honor Instant Wins receive this bonus once, and Eight-Flower wins have their separate Dun exception.
• Repeated Dun actions are not Gangs and do not earn Double Gang.
• Dun starts a separate replacement sequence and ends any active Gang Shang: Discarder Pays All or Gang Bite: Discarder Pays All responsibility. The earlier Gang payment stays settled.

See what Dun changes

1. In your hand

Held Fei

2. Set aside

Declared Fei

3. Draw a replacement

Your hand receives one back-wall replacement. The set-aside Fei can add +1 Tai to your later win.

Fei in hand → Dun → Fei set aside + one replacement in hand. If you Dun twice, you take two replacement draws and have +2 declared-Fei Tai available if you win later. You receive no credits merely for declaring them.

Qi Fei / Take Flight (起飞)

Qi Fei lets you replace a Fei in your own exposed meld with the natural tile it represents, returning the Fei to your hand. Your table must allow both Open Fei and Qi Fei.

1. You must have just drawn the exact matching natural tile yourself. It must match a Fei in your own exposed Pong, or in your own exposed Chi if the table allows that exchange.
2. Put the newly drawn natural tile in that Fei's place.
3. Return the Fei to your concealed hand. It can represent a different natural tile in its next legal use.

To exchange a Fei from a Chi, the table must also allow Fei-assisted Chi claims and Qi Fei from Chi. You cannot exchange using an older tile already in your hand, another player's discard, another player's meld, or a Gang. You may exchange once per draw, including a matching replacement draw.

Qi Fei gives no extra wall tile and no Tai by itself. The meld stays exposed. Once every Fei in a Pong has been replaced, it is a natural Pong and may later be upgraded with a fourth natural tile under the usual Added Gang rules. Continue your turn; the returned Fei may be used in a legal win or set aside with Dun if eligible.

A win immediately after Qi Fei counts as self-draw. If the exchanged natural tile was a replacement, that win keeps the eligible Replacement Tile or Double Gang bonus. Qi Fei alone gives neither bonus. Ordinary self-draw payments, including any qualifying Gang Shang responsibility, still apply to that immediate win.

Qi Fei followed by Added Gang: if you put a Gang replacement into a Pong through Qi Fei, then add a fourth matching tile that was already in your hand, that Added Gang ends the original discarder’s responsibility under both Gang Shang and Gang Bite. A win on this Added Gang’s replacement uses ordinary self-draw payers; any bonus-tile payments on that replacement also use their usual payers.

See a Qi Fei exchange

3 Circles 3 Circles Fei → 3 Circles

3 Circles 3 Circles Just-drawn 3 Circles

Your exposed Pong is 3 Circles + 3 Circles + Fei representing 3 Circles. On drawing a natural 3 Circles, Qi Fei leaves three natural 3 Circles in the exposed Pong and returns the Fei to your hand. An older 3 Circles already in your hand cannot make that exchange.

Four Matching Fei

A complete legal winning hand, including eligible special hands such as Thirteen Terminals or a legal Fei Zou Jie hand, earns this award if you hold at least four concealed Fei from one physical family. Agree on the award before play; the examples here use 5 Tai. Award it once, even if you hold more than four or more than one qualifying family. A self-drawn Fei counts. Fei in exposed melds or set aside with Dun do not.

Optional opening instant win: the table may also let four matching Fei win immediately at the start, without a complete winning hand. Agree on when to check:

• Immediately after the deal: check before Flower/Animal replacements. Include the dealer's extra 14th tile.
• After opening replacements, before the first turn: check once all opening Flowers and Animals have been replaced.

Check eligible players starting with the dealer and continuing in turn order. A player may pass. At a check after replacements, complete the Fei checks for all players before starting any Honor Instant Win checks, which start again with the dealer. The agreed Four Matching Fei award must reach the minimum Tai: a 5-Tai award cannot trigger this win at a 6-Tai minimum.

Score this instant win using only the agreed Four Matching Fei award, then apply the maximum Tai cap. Do not add Flower, Animal, Dun, other hand or winning-source bonuses. If the dealer already has a legal complete opening hand that pays more after the cap, use that hand's ordinary scoring instead. On an exact payout tie, use the instant-win award. Settle using the self-draw table: each of the three opponents pays the Self-drawn Hand amount. The Shooter rule does not change this payment.

Opening payments: accepting an instant win checked before bonus replacements ends the hand before any opening Flower or Animal payments are made, even if a qualifying pair was dealt. At a check after replacements, all instant payments already settled remain paid; do not repay or refund them.

Run the opening check only once at the agreed opening time; do not repeat it after Dun. Collecting four matching Fei later does not end the hand by itself. You still need a complete legal winning hand.

See why the physical family matters

Fei Joker Fei Joker Fei Joker Fei Joker

Fei Fei Fei Joker Fei Joker

Four Fei Joker qualify as one family. Two Fei + two Fei Joker do not, even if all four represent the same natural tile.

Five Different Fei

This optional award uses a 20-, 24- or 28-Fei set with four tiles of each physical family. Hold at least five different Fei families concealed in your hand. Each family counts once, however many copies you have. Fei in exposed melds or set aside with Dun do not supply a missing family, and neither does another player's winning discard. Other legal exposed groups do not prevent this award.

With a complete legal winning hand, including eligible special hands such as Thirteen Terminals, add the table's agreed award; 5 Tai is the example award. This award remains available if the opening instant win is not used or its opening check has passed. It may score alongside Four Matching Fei when both concealed conditions hold. Keeping five different Fei does not end a later hand by itself.

Optional opening instant win: the table may let five different concealed families win without a complete winning hand. Agree whether to check immediately after the deal, before bonus replacements, or after opening Flower/Animal replacements and before the first turn. The dealt-tile check includes the dealer's extra 14th tile, as for Four Matching Fei. The agreed award must reach the minimum Tai, and the maximum Tai cap still applies.

• Check players dealer-first in turn order; a player may pass. After replacements, complete the Fei checks before any Honor Instant Win checks, which start again with the dealer.
• If the same player qualifies for both Fei opening awards at the same opening check, use the higher agreed Tai award. Four Matching Fei wins an exact tie.
• The dealer’s legal complete opening hand with a strictly higher payout after the cap takes precedence over the selected instant award.
• Four Matching Fei and Five Different Fei may have different opening checks. Each is checked only once at its own agreed time; neither check repeats after Dun.

Score the instant win using only the agreed Five Different Fei award, then apply the maximum Tai cap. Do not add Flower, Animal, Dun, other hand or winning-source bonuses. Settle using the self-draw table: each of the three opponents pays the Self-drawn Hand amount. The Shooter rule does not change this payment.

Opening payments: accepting an instant win checked before bonus replacements ends the hand before any opening Flower or Animal payments are made, even if a qualifying pair was dealt. At a check after replacements, all instant payments already settled remain paid; do not repay or refund them.

Example: one concealed red Fei, red Fei Joker, Blank Fei, blue Fei and blue Fei Joker meet the five-family count in a 20-Fei set with four of each family. Four red Fei plus one blue Fei give only two different families. Count the printed faces, regardless of which natural tiles they might represent.

Fei Zou Jie (飛走街)

Fei Zou Jie is an optional way to complete the eye. An ordinary winning hand still needs four legal sets. When your table allows this rule:

• Two concealed Fei, including different families, may represent the same natural tile as a special eye. A self-drawn Fei may complete this two-Fei eye.
• A natural winning tile and one held Fei may instead make a valueless eye. For this Zou Jie route, the eye cannot be a Dragon, your seat Wind or the round Wind. An ordinary eye made from one natural tile and one Fei follows the usual rules.
• A natural winning tile may complete the fourth set while two held Fei form the special eye.

All ordinary groups still obey the normal Fei limits and must contain natural tiles. Zou Jie also permits two-Fei eyes for self-drawn special hands: Thirteen Terminals still needs all thirteen terminal/honor identities and one eye; Nine Heavenly Gates still needs a fully concealed hand and legal groups. A special-hand win using a two-Fei eye remains self-draw only.

Example: you already have three legal sets, with 2 Bamboo + 4 Bamboo + Fei + Fei Joker still concealed. A winning 3 Bamboo completes the fourth set, 2–3–4 Bamboo. The Fei and Fei Joker form the special eye. The complete hand must still meet the table's rules about winning tiles, minimum Tai and public-tile limits.

Agree whether the ordinary Zou Jie route allows self-draw only or also eligible natural discards. That route cannot win by Robbing the Gang. It does not allow either special-hand award from another player's tile when its eye contains Fei. Thirteen Terminals with a natural pair follows its separate rule above and may win on a natural discard or eligible Gang robbery, without using Zou Jie. Fei-assisted Nine Heavenly Gates remains self-draw only.

Zou Jie adds 0 Tai, does not bypass the minimum Tai, and obeys public-tile and discard restrictions. Holding two Fei does not guarantee a win on every tile. When more than one legal arrangement completes the hand, score the arrangement with the highest payout after the Tai cap.

Optional public-tile limits

Public tiles are visible discards and natural tiles in declared melds. They also include a declared Concealed Gang if its identity is public. Count a claimed discard only once. Tiles still in a concealed hand do not count, and a Fei representing a tile is not a physical natural copy.

If the table agrees to use these limits:

• Once all four physical natural copies of a tile are public, no new Fei may represent it in a Chi, triplet, eye or winning hand.
• Once a Pong is exposed, no new Fei-assisted triplet of that tile is allowed, including a concealed winning triplet. This Pong restriction alone does not block a sequence or eye; those are blocked only when all four natural copies are public.

The table may additionally ban a second exposed Pong of the same tile, even when the later Pong is fully natural. Use this extra rule only with the public-tile limits. It still allows a fully natural concealed triplet.

A Fei already legally assigned in an exposed meld keeps that identity when more natural tiles become public later. Its earlier use remains legal. If Qi Fei returns it to your hand, its next use must meet the current limits.

Agree before play

Add your agreed Fei tiles to the normal 148-tile set. Ordinary draws still take the front tile and replacements the back tile; stop both when only 15 tiles remain. For example, 8 Fei may be four red Fei and four red Fei Joker; 12 may be four each of red Fei, red Fei Joker and Blank Fei. A 20-Fei set with four of each of the first five families supports Five Different Fei; sets of 24 or 28 add the green families. More tiles with one printed face still count as just one physical family.

Use this checklist before dealing:

• Tile set: how many Fei you will add and which physical families you will use. Five Different Fei needs 20, 24 or 28 Fei, with four of each family.
• Discard claims: Closed or Open Fei; if Open, which Chi/Pong claims are allowed, whether a claimed Pong may use one or two Fei, and whether two Fei require a matching natural tile already held.
• Fei awards: the Tai for Four Matching Fei, whether Five Different Fei is used and its Tai, and whether either has an opening instant win. Agree on each opening check. The examples use 5 Tai for either award.
• Extra actions: whether Dun and Qi Fei are allowed. Qi Fei needs Open Fei; exchanging from Chi also needs Fei-assisted Chi claims and a separate agreement to allow that exchange.
• Winning eyes: whether Fei Zou Jie is allowed and whether it requires self-draw or also allows eligible natural discards.
• Public-tile limits: whether to use them and whether to add the ban on a second exposed Pong of the same tile.
• Scoring and payments: the minimum and maximum Tai and the payment scale, alongside the usual payment rules.

No legal discard: False Win

Fei cannot be discarded. If your turn has no legal discard and no other legal action, the hand ends as False Win / Invalid Hand. This can happen after drawing, after Chi or Pong, or after Qi Fei returns a Fei to your hand. First check whether a legal win or Dun is available, including the post-claim Dun exception above. Passing on a win does not make a Fei discardable. This dead end may still be False Win when the last drawable tile has been reached, rather than an ordinary stalemate.

The affected player pays each opponent 32 times the table’s base payment at 1 Tai. This is the fixed 6-Tai base amount: do not double it for self-draw or apply the normal Tai cap. For example, with a 10-credit base, each opponent receives 320 credits (960 in total), even if the normal maximum is 5 Tai. Earlier instant payments remain settled. See the payment scale.

Back to rule contents

Glossary

• Natural tile: A numbered Suit tile, Wind or Dragon. Flowers and Animals are bonus tiles, not natural tiles. Fei are wildcards and are neither natural nor bonus tiles.
• Tai: Scoring units earned from a winning hand and bonuses.
• Eye: The pair in a standard four-set winning hand.
• Wall: The face-down supply of tiles. Draw from its front or back as instructed, and stop when only 15 tiles remain.
• Yao Dao (咬到): An immediate bite payment for a qualifying bonus-tile collection.
• Dun (垫): Set aside a held Fei and draw a replacement; see Dun.
• Qi Fei (起飞): Exchange a newly drawn natural tile for a Fei representing that tile in your own exposed meld; see Qi Fei.
• 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 only one tile type to complete the final pair.