Chinese Classical Scoring
Chinese Classical: Overview Gameplay Scoring Penalties & Errors Resources

Chinese Classical scoring is pung-based. You earn points for each set that is a pung or kong; no points for chows. Concealed sets are often worth more and certain patterns and lucky tiles will double the value of your hand.

# Initial Points

• A limit of 500 points is often set. A non-dealer can win up to 2000 points in one hand (500 x 2 non-dealers + 1000 x 1 dealer). The dealer can win up to 3000 points in one hand (1000 x 3 non-dealers).
• There is no minimum requirement.

# Criteria

The hand must contain 14 tiles and be composed of four sets and a pair (with the exception of special limit hands). If two players call mahjong for the same discard, the player sitting closest to East in turn order is given the tile.

# Outline

Twenty points is awarded to the winner on top of any other additive points. Next, doubles are applied to the hand: multiply the hand by $2^{x}$ where $x$ is the number of doubles. East is paid double when he/she wins, but on the same token pays out double when he/she loses a hand. Payment among losers is optional and should be decided before playing. The amount of points a player can earn in one hand is restricted to a limit. The limit is often set at 500 or 1,000.

• Win by a discarded tile: The discarding player pays the full value of the winner's hand.
• Win by self-drawn tile: All players pay the full value of the winner's hand.

# Scoring Table

Value Going Out
20 Winning Bonus (only for the winner)
4 Flower Tile
2 Self-Drawn Win
10 Concealed Hand
2 Pair of Dragons
2 Pair of Seat or Prevalent Wind
2 Edge, Closed, or Single Wait
Value Melded/Concealed Sets
2/4 Pung of Simples
4/8 Pung of Terminals or Honors
8/16 Kong of Simples
16/32 Kong of Terminals or Honors

Doubles:
The following hands double the player's points.

Doubles Hand Description Pattern
1 Pure Straight Three chows of the numerical sequences from 1-9 of the same suit.
Chow-Based
1 All Pungs Hand contains all pungs/kongs.
Pung-Based
1 Three Concealed Pungs Hand contains three concealed pungs/kongs.
Pung-Based
1 Dragon Pung A pung/kong of dragons.
Terminals/Honors
3 Little Three Dragons Two pungs/kongs of dragons and a pair of the third
Terminals/Honors
1 Seat/Prevalent Wind A pung/kong of seat or prevalent wind.
Terminals/Honors
1 All Simples Hand contains all simple tiles.
Suit-Based
1 Outside Hand Hand contains terminals/honors and one terminal chow.
Terminals/Honors
1 All Terminals and Honors Hand contains all terminals or honors.
Terminals/Honors
1 Half Flush Hand contains one suit and honor tiles.
Suit-Based
1 Out on a Replacement Winning after drawing a replacement tile. Going Out
1 Robbing the Kong Winning on off a tile used to extend a kong. Going Out
1 Last Tile Draw/Discard Winning on the very last tile or the following discard. Going Out
1 Fully Concealed Hand Hand consists entirely of concealed sets and is won by self-draw.
Going Out
1 Flower of Player's Seat Having a player's corresponding flower/season tile. Special
4 Full Flush Hand contains one suit.
Suit-Based
4 All Flowers Hand contains all flower tiles. Implies Seat Flower.
Special
4 All Seasons Hand contains all seasons tiles. Implies Seat Season. .
Special

## Limit Hands

The following hands earn the maximum number of points.

Value Hand Description Pattern
Limit Blessing of Heaven East goes out on the initial draw. Hand must be concealed. Going Out
Limit Blessing of Earth Player goes out in the draw. Hand must be concealed. Going Out
Limit Four Concealed Pungs Hand contains our concealed pungs/kongs and a pair.
Pung-Based
Limit Four Kongs Hand contains four kongs and a pair.
Kong-Based
Limit All Terminals Hand consists of all terminal pungs/kongs and a pair.
Terminals/Honors
Limit All Honors Hand consists of all honor pungs/kongs and a pair.
Terminals/Honors
Limit Thirteen Orphans One of each honor/terminal and a pair of honors/terminals.
Special
Limit Nine Gates Concealed 1112345678999 of one suit and a matching tile of the same suit.
Suit-Based
Limit Big Three Dragons Hand consists of three pungs/kongs of dragons.
Terminals/Honors
Limit Little Four Winds Hand consists of three pungs/kong of winds and a pair of winds.
Terminals/Honors
Limit Big Four Winds Hand consists of four pungs/kongs of winds.
Terminals/Honors
Limit Plucking the Moon from the Bottom of the Sea Win by self-drawn from last tile draw, where the last tile is 1-dot. Going Out
Limit Gathering the Plumb Blossom from the Roof Win by replacement tile, where the replacement tile is 5-dots. Going Out
Limit Scratching a Carrying Pole Win by robbing the kong, where the robbed tile is 2-bamboo. Going Out
Limit Two-Fold Fortune Win by first declaring a kong, where the replacement tile is used to declare a second kong, where the second replacement tile completes the hand. This is also known as Kong on Kong. Going Out
Limit Dealer's 13 Consecutive Win Dealer automatically earns the limit after 13 wins in a row. Going Out

The latter half of the limit hand table are uncommon special hands particular to Chinese Classical mahjong; most of which are near impossible to get.

# Example

Consider the following hand.

 concealed pung concealed chow melded pung melded chow pair

20, winning
8, concealed pung of honors
0, concealed chow
4, melded pung of terminals
0, melded chow
0, valueless pair

32

Doubles
1, pung of dragons
1, half flush

2. Two doubles means you multiply the score by four.

Total score = $32 \times 4 = 128$.

page revision: 29, last edited: 23 Jul 2010 10:40