Chinese Mahjong- Scoring Tables By Special Hand Types

My almost Full Flush Pure Hand that did not win- If the south wind tile is another character tile then it would have been Full Flush Pure hand- All tiles are the same suit.

I have been playing mahjong ( Philippine style) since I was 5 years old. Here at THD I organized a foursome playing Hongkong style last July.  Recently Dodie, my oldest son informed me that his friends and neighbors in Benicia have started playing Chinese Mahjong. Chinese Style is slightly different than the Hongkong or Philippine style. The major difference of the chinese style is the Points System and Scoring depending on your Hand Type.

Attached are two table showing PUNG and respective points depending on the difficulty of the hand. The other table is CHOW and Special Hands Type and other points added to the winning hand. 

The highest point hand one can have( 64 or 88 points) is called the 13 Orphans. In the Philippines, sometimes it called the Devils Hands. Its occurrence is so rare that I have not have the 13 orphans Hands after Playing for several decades in my life time. The 13 orphans contain one of each honor tiles ( winds and dragons) and 1 and 9 of each suit and pair of any of the 13 tiles. The hand must be concealed and the winning tile can be a discard ( see photo below).  I would be in high heaven if I get this type of hand!

Thirteen Orphans - 64 points or 88 points depending on agreed Chips win

Table 1: Pung ( Three of a Kind) Hands and their Points 

Table 2 - Chow Hands, Special Hands and Miscellaneous Points added to the Winning Hand  

Susie Bramson contemplating and admiring her winning hand- 2 pung winds 

My favorite special hands is the 7 pairs which is worth 24 points if the pairs are mixed. It is worth 88 points if the the pairs are in the same suit or all the tiles are green. I have attained the mixed 7 pair hands numerous times in my playing experience with Philippine style mahjong. 

Philippine Style Mahjong ( 16 tiles) -7 pairs with a meld ( either a pong or Chow) and no joker-

The other favorite hand type that I have attained are the Full Flush Pure ( all tiles are the same suit) worth 24 points or half Flush semi-pure, Same suit but with honors ( winds and dragons lungs). This is worth only 6 points.    

MY ALL GREEN SAME SUIT-FULL FLUSH PURE WINNING HAND JUST RECENTLY
   

In addition to the scoring system above, there are also the following special hands which are difficult to compose but rewards the player with maximum payout!

1. Seven Pairs - 16 points + components  Hand containing any seven pairs.  2. Hidden Treasure - 64 points  Four Pungs, any pair, all concealed, and win by Self-Drawn.  3. Three Great Scholars - 64 points  Pung or Kong with all three dragons, any chow, pung or Kong, and any pair. May all be melded.  4. Little Four Winds - 64 points  Pung or Kong of three Winds, a pair of fourth wind, any other set completing the hand. May be all melded.  5. Big Four Winds - 64 points  Pung or Kong of each Wind, and any pair. May all be melded.  6. All Honors - 64 points  Four Pungs or Kongs and a pair of Dragons and Winds. May all be melded.  7. All Terminals - 64 points  Four Pungs or Kongs and a pair of 1's or 9's. May all be melded.  8. Nine Gates - 64 points  Three 1's, a sequence of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and three 9's, all of the same suit, and any other tile of the same suit completing the hand. The hand must be concealed (the winning tile can be a discard). No Kongs are allowed. The Philippine style we called it the Escalera ( stair case). The pairs could be of other suits.  9. Thirteen Orphans - 64 points  One of each Dragon and Wind, 1 and 9 of each suite and 14th tile forming a pair with any of these. The hand must be concealed (the winning tile can be a discard). The Philippines style we called it Devil's hand.  Note: Hisako and Maureen- I have hard copies of tables 1 and 2 of pung and chow hands if you want it.   Additional Information: There are three Games Using Mahjong Tiles 1. A rummy-like game that has players drawing one tile each turn and discarding one tile each turn, attempting to form the entire hand of tiles into four sets of three plus one pair. Sets can be three identical tiles (pung) or three tiles in sequence in one suit (chow). (There are also special hands that can be formed as alternatives, and special ways to play four of a kind or kong). (Asian styles using 13 or 16 tiles with or without Jokers) 2. A game of drawing, discarding, and going out similar to the above, but where a much larger list of special hands is frequently modified by a governing body and only special hands on the list permit going out. (American Style) 3. A puzzle game, popular on computers and gaming devices, where the tiles are stacked up face up in some sort of multi-level pattern and the player removes pairs of matching tiles from the top level to open access to hidden or partly-covered tiles beneath. Pairs are removed from the layout until all tiles are removed or the layout becomes blocked with no more plays available. This has almost no relationship to the historic games, but a lot of people know this game and only this game as mahjong. ( Popular in Computer Games) In Chinese, mah jong literally translates to “sparrows.” Sparrows are depicted on traditional sets of mah jong tiles, and there are several theories as to why the game is named after the birds—such as that the clattering of moving mah jong tiles resembles the chattering of sparrows or that the name is a reference to ...