This is the Hong Kong Mahjong rules I play with my friends.

Deck and wall

  • Deck has 3 number suits, 3 dragons, 4 winds, 4 flowers, and 4 seasons; 144 tiles total.
  • There is no dead wall.

Requirements to win

  • Must have 4 sets and 1 pair (unless winning by 7 pairs or 13 orphans)
  • Must have at least 3 faan
  • Must not have skipped a win from the same tile in the same round

See this cheat sheet for faan conditions. See Cheat Sheet Caveats for more.

Hand Value Calculation

  • Base points: 1
  • Every faan doubles the value, up to 13 faan
  • zi mo (tsumo): everyone pays the hand value.
  • sik wu (ron): discarder pays double the hand value.

For example, 5 faan zi mo means everyone pays 2^5=32 points, and 5 faan sik wu means the discarder pays 2^5*2=64 points.

Cheat Sheet Caveats

The following documents how our house rules differ from the cheat sheet.

  • ignore the payment table; it’s for “half spicy” and we play “full spicy”.
  • “Small Four Winds” should be able to stack with round/seat wind.
  • the following are all limit hands (no additional faan from any other source)
    • All Concealed Triplets
    • All Honors
    • Seven/Eight Flowers

Notes for Riichi Players

  • There is no payment variation to/from the dealer, and dealership does not repeat.
  • “Win by Kong Replacement” applies literally – it does NOT apply to winning by flower/season replacement.
  • “Concealed Kong” still count as opening the hand. I.e., it INVALIDATES the following faan conditions:
    • Fully Concealed Hand
    • All Concealed Triplets

References

Updated: