How to Score Hong Kong Mahjong: A Complete Beginner's Guide
If you’ve ever sat down at a mahjong table and watched everyone else calculate scores while you smiled and nodded, this guide is for you.
Hong Kong Mahjong scoring can seem intimidating at first, but once you understand the basics, it becomes second nature.
Hong Kong Mahjong Scoring in One Minute
- Every winning hand is scored in faan (番). Each pattern in the hand is worth a set number of faan, and they add up.
- Most tables need at least 3 faan to win. Some casual tables play with 1.
- The faan total sets the payment, using a table everyone agrees on before the game. Bigger hands pay more, up to a cap.
- Self-drawn win: all three other players pay you. Discard win: only the player who threw the winning tile pays.
New to the game entirely? Start with the Hong Kong Mahjong rules for beginners before diving into scoring.
How Scoring Works in Hong Kong Mahjong
Unlike some card games where points are straightforward, Hong Kong Mahjong uses a faan (番) system. Faan are like multipliers: the more faan your winning hand has, the more points (and money) you win.
Here’s the basic flow:
- A player wins by completing a valid hand
- Count the faan in the winning hand (based on tile patterns)
- Convert faan to points using a payment table
- The losing players pay the winner
What is Faan?
Faan (番) literally means “times” or “multiples” in Cantonese. Each special pattern in your winning hand is worth a certain number of faan. You add them up to get your total. For the full pattern-by-pattern breakdown, see the complete faan guide.
For example:
- All Sequences (平糊) = 1 faan
- All Triplets (對對糊) = 3 faan
- Mixed One Suit (混一色) = 3 faan
A hand can combine multiple patterns. If you have All Triplets AND Mixed One Suit, that’s 3 + 3 = 6 faan.
Minimum Faan Requirement
Most Hong Kong Mahjong games require a minimum of 3 faan to win (though some groups play with 1 faan minimum). This means you can’t just complete any hand: it needs to have enough special patterns to meet the threshold.
Common Faan Patterns
Here are the most common patterns you’ll encounter:
1 Faan
- All Sequences (平糊): Hand made entirely of sequences (consecutive tiles)
- Seat Wind (門風): Triplet of your seat wind tile
- Round Wind (圈風): Triplet of the current round wind
- No Flowers (無花): No flower or season tiles drawn
3 Faan
- All Triplets (對對糊): Hand made entirely of triplets
- Mixed One Suit (混一色): One suit plus honor tiles only
5 Faan
- Small Three Dragons (小三元): Two dragon triplets + one dragon pair
7 Faan
- Full Flush (清一色): All tiles from one suit, no honors
8 Faan and Up: Limit Hands
- Big Three Dragons (大三元): Triplets of all three dragons (8 faan)
- All Honors (字一色): Only wind and dragon tiles (10 faan)
- Thirteen Orphans (十三么): One of each terminal and honor, plus one duplicate (13 faan)
- Nine Gates (九蓮寶燈): Specific pattern in one suit (15 faan)
These are all limit hands: each is already worth the table maximum on its own, regardless of its raw faan value. Many tables cap the actual payout at a flat number (commonly 10 or 13) rather than paying out the literal count. See the maximum faan guide for how the cap works at different tables.
How Points Convert to Payment
The faan count determines how much the losers pay. This is TileBuddy’s default table, in base units. The discarder pays double the table amount on their own; on a self-drawn win, each of the three others pays the table amount:
| Faan | Self-drawn Win | Discard Win |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 8 per player | 16 from discarder |
| 4 | 16 per player | 32 from discarder |
| 5 | 24 per player | 48 from discarder |
| 6 | 32 per player | 64 from discarder |
| 7 | 48 per player | 96 from discarder |
| 8 | 64 per player | 128 from discarder |
| 9 | 96 per player | 192 from discarder |
| 10 | 128 per player | 256 from discarder |
Self-drawn win: All three losing players pay the winner. Discard win: Only the player who discarded the winning tile pays.
The exact amounts vary by house rules: some tables use different base units or faan limits, and “half-shooter” tables have the discarder pay the table amount while self-draw payers each pay half. TileBuddy supports both.
Worked Example: Scoring One Hand
Say you win this hand by drawing the last tile yourself:
- Pung of Red Dragons
- Pung of 5 Bamboo (revealed)
- Pung of 8 Dots (revealed)
- Pung of 2 Characters
- Pair of 9 Bamboo
- One flower tile, but not your seat’s flower
Step 1: count the faan.
| Pattern | Faan |
|---|---|
| All Triplets (對對糊) | 3 |
| Red Dragon pung | 1 |
| Self-drawn (自摸) | 1 |
| Flower that isn’t your seat’s | 0 |
| Total | 5 |
Step 2: check the minimum. 5 faan clears the usual 3, so the win stands.
Step 3: look up the payment. In the table above, 5 faan on a self-drawn win is 24 per player. Each of the other three pays you 24, so you collect 72.
If you’d won off a discard instead, you’d lose the self-drawn faan and score 4. Only the player who threw the tile would pay, and they’d pay double the 4-faan amount: 32.
Settling Up
At the end of a game (typically 4 rounds), you add up each player’s total points across all hands. The differences between players determine who pays whom. For how the rounds and the deal move around the table, see the Hong Kong Mahjong rules for beginners.
This is where it gets tedious with mental math, which is exactly why payment calculators and apps like TileBuddy exist. It tracks everything automatically so you can focus on playing.
Tips for Beginners
- Start by memorizing 3-faan patterns: All Triplets and Mixed One Suit are the easiest to aim for
- Count your faan before declaring a win, and make sure you meet the minimum
- Watch what others discard, since this tells you what’s safe to throw
- Learn the Cantonese calls: knowing sik wu, ji mo, and the other table phrases makes the game feel natural faster
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the minimum faan needed to win?
Most Hong Kong Mahjong games require a minimum of 3 faan to declare a winning hand, though some casual groups play with a 1 faan minimum. Always confirm the house rules before you start playing.
How do you convert faan to points?
Faan is converted to points using a payment table agreed on before the game. Each additional faan doubles the payout up to about 4 faan, then the jumps flatten out (see the table above), with a cap (usually at 8, 10, or 13 faan) that sets the maximum payment.
What happens if you count faan wrong?
If you declare a win and your hand doesn’t actually meet the minimum faan requirement, it’s considered a false win. You’ll typically have to pay a penalty to all other players, so always double-check before declaring.
Can you win with zero faan?
Not in standard Hong Kong Mahjong. A hand with zero faan (sometimes called a Chicken Hand) does not qualify as a win under most rule sets. You need at least the agreed-upon minimum faan to declare victory.
Want to skip the mental math? Download TileBuddy: it calculates faan, tracks scores, and even scans your tiles with AI.