Complete Faan Guide: Every Hong Kong Mahjong Hand Explained
This is the complete reference for every faan pattern in Hong Kong Mahjong. Whether you’re a beginner learning the basics or a seasoned player settling a scoring dispute, this guide has you covered.
What is Faan (番)?
Faan is the scoring unit in Hong Kong Mahjong. Every winning hand is worth a certain number of faan based on the tile patterns it contains. More faan = higher payout.
Most games require a minimum of 3 faan to win.
Hand Sets
Hong Kong Mahjong has evolved over the years, with different groups recognizing different sets of hands:
- Classic: The traditional hand patterns everyone agrees on
- New 6 (新六番): Six additional patterns added later
- New 18 (新十八番): Eighteen more patterns, used in more modern play
Most casual games use Classic + New 6. Tournament play often includes all three. See our detailed comparison of hand sets for help choosing.
Classic Hands
1 Faan
All Sequences (平糊) All four melds are sequences (three consecutive tiles in the same suit), plus a pair. This is the most basic winning pattern.
Seat Wind (門風) A triplet of your seat wind. If you’re sitting East and have three East wind tiles, that’s 1 faan.
Round Wind (圈風) A triplet of the current round wind. In the East round, a triplet of East wind tiles gives 1 faan.
Dragon Triplet (番牌: 中/發/白) A triplet of any dragon tile (Red 中, Green 發, or White 白). Each dragon triplet is worth 1 faan.
No Flowers (無花) You drew no flower or season tiles during the game. Worth 1 faan as a bonus.
Self-Drawn Win (自摸) You completed your hand by drawing the winning tile yourself (rather than picking up someone’s discard). Worth 1 faan.
3 Faan
All Triplets (對對糊) All four melds are triplets or quads (no sequences). A strong, recognizable pattern.
Mixed One Suit (混一色) One numbered suit plus honor tiles only. No tiles from the other two suits.
5 Faan
Small Three Dragons (小三元) Two triplets of dragons plus a pair of the third dragon. For example: triplet of Red, triplet of Green, pair of White.
7 Faan
Full Flush (清一色) Every tile in your hand is from the same numbered suit. No honor tiles at all.
8 Faan
Big Three Dragons (大三元): limit hand Triplets of all three dragon tiles (Red, Green, and White).
10 Faan
All Honors (字一色): limit hand Every tile is a wind or dragon tile. No numbered suit tiles at all.
Blessing of Heaven / Blessing of Earth (天糊/地糊): limit hands Dealer wins on the initial deal (天糊) or non-dealer wins off the dealer’s first discard (地糊).
13 Faan
Thirteen Orphans (十三么): limit hand One each of every terminal (1s and 9s) and honor tile, plus one duplicate. 13 unique tiles + 1 pair.
15 Faan
Big Four Winds (大四喜): limit hand Triplets of all four wind tiles (East, South, West, North). Extremely rare.
Nine Gates (九蓮寶燈): limit hand A specific pattern in one suit: 1-1-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-9-9 plus any tile from the same suit. One of the rarest hands.
House-rule hands (off by default)
Seven Pairs (七對子): 4 faan Seven pairs instead of the standard four melds + one pair structure.
All Green (綠一色): 10 faan Every tile is green (bamboo 2/3/4/6/8, or the Green Dragon). Replaces Full Flush and Mixed One Suit rather than stacking with them.
Note: an accurate faan lookup for Classic hands can’t be organized under headers that are simply the faan value, because several hands with very different faan (10, 13, 15, 18) all count as limit hands at the table. The headers above show the hand’s own faan value; whether your table pays it as “the limit” or the literal number is a house-rule question. See the limit hands guide.
New 6 Hands (新六番)
New 6 is exactly six patterns:
Concealed Hand (門前清): 1 faan You won without claiming any tiles from other players’ discards to form your sets. You can still win on a discard as your final tile.
Fully Concealed Self-Draw (門前清自摸): 3 faan Concealed Hand and Self-Drawn Win together. This scores as a single 3-faan pattern, not 1 + 1 = 2, when both conditions are met on the same hand.
Single Wait (單釣): 1 faan Winning with only one possible tile that could complete the hand.
258 Pair (二五八將): 1 faan The pair in your winning hand is a 2, 5, or 8.
All Simples (斷幺九): 1 faan Your hand contains no terminal tiles (1 or 9) and no honor tiles (winds or dragons).
Lacking a Suit (缺一門): 1 faan Your hand uses only two of the three numbered suits, with no honor tiles.
New 18 Hands (新十八番)
Advanced patterns for experienced players:
Fully Exposed (全求人): 2 faan All four melds are revealed (claimed from other players) and the pair was completed by a discard.
Three Concealed Pungs (三暗刻): 2 faan Three of your four sets are self-drawn pungs/kongs, not claimed from discards.
Double Chow (一般高): 1 faan Two identical sequences of the same suit.
Four into One (四歸一): 1 faan Four identical tiles split between one pung and one chow.
Min-Max Chow (么九順): 1 faan A 1-2-3 chow and a 7-8-9 chow in the same suit.
Min-Max Pung (么九刻): 1 faan A pung/kong of 1s and a pung/kong of 9s in the same suit.
Three Sequence Pung (三連刻): 2 faan Three consecutive-number pungs/kongs in the same suit.
Three Suits Pung (三同刻): 3 faan Pungs/kongs of the same number across all three suits.
Three Suits Chow (三同順): 3 faan Chows of the same sequence across all three suits.
Four Sequence Pung (四連刻): 8 faan Four consecutive-number pungs/kongs in the same suit.
Snake Hand (一條龍): 3 faan A complete 1-9 run in one suit, plus one more set and a pair.
Mixed Orphans (混全帶么九): 3 faan Every set and the pair contains at least one terminal or honor tile.
Pure Orphans (純全帶么九): 5 faan Every set contains at least one terminal tile, with no honor tiles.
Double Double Chows (雙龍抱): 10 faan Two separate pairs of identical chows.
All Concealed Triplets (坎坎糊): 10 faan, limit hand All sets are concealed pungs, with no tiles taken from other players.
All Terminals (清么九): 18 faan, limit hand Every tile is a 1 or 9. No middle tiles, no honors.
Faan Quick Reference Table
| Faan | Hands |
|---|---|
| 1 | All Sequences, Seat Wind, Round Wind, Dragon Triplet, No Flowers, Self-Drawn, Concealed Hand, Single Wait, 258 Pair, All Simples, Lacking a Suit, Double Chow, Four into One, Min-Max Chow, Min-Max Pung |
| 2 | Fully Exposed, Three Concealed Pungs, Three Sequence Pung |
| 3 | All Triplets, Mixed One Suit, Fully Concealed Self-Draw, Three Suits Pung, Three Suits Chow, Snake Hand, Mixed Orphans |
| 4 | Seven Pairs (house rule) |
| 5 | Small Three Dragons, Pure Orphans |
| 7 | Full Flush |
| 8 | Big Three Dragons (limit), Four Sequence Pung |
| 10 | All Honors (limit), Blessing of Heaven (limit), Blessing of Earth (limit), All Concealed Triplets (limit), Double Double Chows, All Green (house rule) |
| 13 | Thirteen Orphans (limit) |
| 15 | Big Four Winds (limit), Nine Gates (limit) |
| 18 | All Terminals (limit) |
Small Four Winds (小四喜) is worth 10 faan on its own in TileBuddy. Whether it (or any limit hand) gets hard-capped at the table max or keeps stacking with other bonuses depends on your Limit Hands setting. See the limit hands guide.
Tips for Counting Faan
- Check for suit composition first: Full Flush? Mixed One Suit? This is the biggest faan source.
- Check meld structure: All Triplets? All Sequences?
- Check for dragon/wind triplets: Easy to miss but they add up.
- Check bonuses: Self-drawn, no flowers, etc.
- Patterns stack: A Full Flush with All Triplets is 7 + 3 = 10 faan!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is faan in mahjong?
Faan (番) is the scoring unit in Hong Kong Mahjong. Each winning hand earns faan based on the tile patterns it contains, and the faan total determines how much the losers pay the winner.
What is the highest faan hand in Hong Kong Mahjong?
Limit hands top out at 18 faan in TileBuddy (All Terminals), with Thirteen Orphans at 13, All Honors at 10, and Nine Gates and Big Four Winds at 15. Many tables cap the actual payout at a flat number (commonly 10 or 13) regardless of the hand’s own value. That cap is a house rule, not the hand’s faan count. These are extremely rare and represent the biggest possible payout.
How many faan do you need to win?
Most games require a minimum of 3 faan to declare a winning hand. Some casual groups lower the minimum to 1 faan. Always confirm the house rules before starting.
What’s the difference between Classic, New 6, and New 18 hand sets?
Classic hands are the traditional patterns everyone recognizes. New 6 adds exactly six widely accepted patterns: Concealed Hand, Fully Concealed Self-Draw, Single Wait, 258 Pair, All Simples, and Lacking a Suit. New 18 introduces more advanced patterns for experienced players. Most casual games use Classic plus New 6.
Don’t want to memorize all this? TileBuddy has a built-in hand wiki with every pattern, plus a faan calculator that identifies patterns automatically.