Taiwanese Mahjong rules
Our fixed 16-tile preset is based on the Four Winds Taiwanese rules. This reference explains the winning shapes, flower replacements, scoring combinations and payments used at every Taiwanese table.
The table and the winning hand
Four players start with 2,000 points. The set contains 136 suited and honour tiles, four flowers and four seasons. Each player receives 16 tiles; East receives 17 and discards first. Flowers are exposed and replaced. A normal win needs five sets and one pair. A set is a sequence of three in one suit, three identical tiles, or a declared kong of four identical tiles.
A concealed hand of seven pairs and a triplet also wins. Four identical tiles may supply two pairs. The triplet cannot have been declared before the win. No thirteen orphans, Riichi, red fives, dora or minimum-tai requirement applies.
A full match covers East, South, West and North rounds. East keeps the deal after a draw or an East win, including an East win among simultaneous winners. Otherwise the deal advances. Sixteen dealer changes finish the match. Ratings use the final match scores. Private computer practice can instead use one hand or an East round.
Dealing, flowers and the wall
The server shuffles all 144 tiles. A 16-tile dead wall is reserved. Each seat receives four packets of four tiles, then East receives one extra. Initial flowers are replaced in East-to-North passes. A flower found during a replacement waits until the next pass.
Ordinary draws come from the front of the live wall. Flower and kong replacements come from the front of the dead wall, which is refilled from the live wall tail. The dead wall stays at 16 tiles. No replacement or new kong is available once the live wall is empty.
Flowers never form sets. Each flower or season scores one tai when its owner wins. Collecting all eight immediately wins for 30 tai. A player holding seven can rob the eighth from its owner for a 20-tai win, including when the eighth was exposed earlier. These flower wins replace all other scoring; the eighth flower owner pays the seven-flower winner. An eight-flower winner collects from all three opponents.
Calls and declarations
Win takes priority over kong or pung, then chow. Chow can claim only the previous player’s discard; a winning sequence may use any opponent’s discard. All players declaring a legal win on the same discard win and are paid separately. The hand then ends.
You may rob the added fourth tile of an exposed pung. A concealed kong cannot be robbed. A discard completing a pung counts as exposed for concealed-triplet scoring. Only concealed kongs count toward concealed-triplet and closed-hand awards in this preset.
Original Call declares a ready dealt hand and locks it until the hand ends. Non-dealers may declare during the opening stage, before East discards. East declares by choosing the first discard. After declaring, discard each new tile or win; no calls or kongs. The declaration adds 15 tai on a win.
You may still chow or pung the final discard and discard again. The hand draws when a required draw cannot be made. Passing a winning tile creates no furiten or temporary missed-win restriction.
Tai scoring
Add the awards below. One tai equals one table point; there is no exponential conversion and no score cap. The server checks every possible arrangement and winning-tile placement and chooses the highest total.
Use only the highest wind, dragon or concealed-triplet award. Wind and dragon pattern awards replace their component honour-set awards. A full flush replaces a half flush. The combined no-honours/no-flowers award replaces both individual awards. The 10-tai chow award also replaces all chows and no-honours/no-flowers. Fully concealed self-draw includes concealed hand and self-draw. Exposed hand includes pair wait. Heavenly and earthly wins replace early-win bonuses. Other compatible awards add.
| Pattern | Tai |
|---|---|
| Winning hand | 2 |
| Each flower or season | 1 |
| No flowers | 1 |
| Honour pung or kong | 1 |
| Exposed kong / concealed kong | 1 / 2 |
| 123, 456 and 789 in one suit; concealed pattern | 5; 10 |
| Two / three / four / five concealed triplets | 2 / 5 / 15 / 40 |
| Little / big three dragons | 15 / 30 |
| Little / big three winds | 5 / 15 |
| Little / big four winds | 30 / 40 |
| Five exposed sets, winning on the pair | 10 |
| Concealed hand on discard / concealed self-draw | 1 / 3 |
| Other self-draw | 1 |
| All chows / all chows without honours or flowers | 3 / 10 |
| All pungs | 10 |
| No honours / no honours or flowers | 1 / 3 |
| Half flush / full flush | 10 / 40 |
| Edge or closed sequence wait / pair wait | 1 / 1 |
| Last wall tile / robbing a kong | 1 / 1 |
| Win with at most five / six to nine discards | 10 / 5 |
| Ready on original hand | 15 |
| Seven pairs and a triplet | 30 |
| Heavenly / earthly hand | 40 / 40 |
Who pays
On a discard win, only the discarder pays each winner the winner’s tai total. On self-draw, each of the other three players pays the full tai total. There are no payments between non-winners, dealer multipliers, dealer-repeat bonuses or draw payments. Negative scores are allowed. All payments sum to zero.
For example, a 12-tai discard win transfers 12 points from the discarder to the winner. A 12-tai self-draw gives the winner 36 points, taking 12 from each opponent. If two players win on one discard for 12 and 18 tai, the discarder pays 30 in total.
This preset follows the Four Winds scoring table, rather than the inconsistent arithmetic in its worked example. Optional dealer bonuses, missed-win restrictions, score caps and physical-handling penalties are disabled. The explicit combination rules above resolve overlapping awards. These are Mahjong Planet’s fixed table rules; other Taiwanese tables may score differently.
Playing online
Public and private tables use the same rules. Public tables need a clock; private casual tables may be untimed. Quick Play uses Standard. Choose Bullet, Blitz, Standard or Relaxed in table setup. Timed decisions continue after a disconnect, and the same account can return to its seat.
On timeout the server claims an available win, passes optional calls, or discards the drawn tile when legal. Computers use their own hand and public information. Every completed hand is saved for review; a rated match settles once, after the final round. Private computer practice and casual tables do not change ratings.