Start with these ideas
- Search an English or Chinese term; definitions distinguish the tile group from the action of claiming it.
- Win includes self-draw and discard wins. A ready shape still needs the table’s faan minimum.
- A term’s meaning does not set its faan value: use the rules agreed at your table.
No matching terms. Try another word.
Tiles and groups
Characters (萬／万), Dots or Circles (筒), and Bamboo (索) are the three suits, numbered 1–9. Winds (東南西北) and Dragons (中發白) are honours. Terminals are the 1s and 9s of the three suits; an honour is not a suited terminal.
There are 34 ordinary types with four copies each, making 136 tiles. Adding eight flowers gives 144 physical tiles. Flowers are bonus tiles, not part of a Chow, Pung or pair. The bird commonly used for 1 Bamboo is still an ordinary suited tile.
Pair / Eyes — 對子、將牌
A pair is two identical tiles. Eyes (將／眼) is the pair’s role in an ordinary four-sets-and-a-pair win. Not every pair you hold is already committed as the eyes; one may later form a Pung. A single tile cannot serve in both the pair and another set.
Chow / Chi — 順子、上牌
A Chow is three consecutive numbers in one suit, such as 2–3–4 Dots. Honours cannot form Chows and 8–9–1 does not wrap around. As an action, Chow (上牌; also 吃牌) claims the previous player’s discard, using two tiles from your hand.
Pung / Pong — 刻子、碰牌
A Pung is three identical tiles, either suited or honours. To call Pung, use two matching held tiles and any opponent’s matching discard, subject to a win’s priority. A concealed Pung already in your hand is a group, not a past claim.
Kong — 直槓、暗槓、加槓
A Kong is a declared set of four identical tiles, still counted as one set. Exposed Kong from a discard (直槓／大明槓) uses three held tiles plus the discard. Concealed Kong (暗槓) declares four held tiles. Added Kong (加槓／小明槓) adds the fourth tile to an existing exposed Pung.
A legal Kong requires a replacement draw. Simply holding four identical tiles is not a declaration; they may instead be used in different groups if the hand allows it.
Actions
Draw (摸牌) takes a tile from the wall; discard (打牌／出牌) puts one face up for others to respond to. Claim (叫牌／鳴牌) takes the latest eligible tile for a legal action. Pass (過) declines that opportunity, not the whole hand.
Chow, Pung and Kong can name a group or the action that declares it. After a Chow or Pung, expose the set and discard without another draw. A Kong needs a replacement first. These steps are different from claiming the winning tile.
Exposed meld
Exposed meld (副露／明章) is a declared set made by claiming a tile: a Chow, Pung or exposed Kong, including an added Kong. It still occupies one of the four set positions and cannot be returned to the concealed tiles to form another group.
For example, a claimed 1–2–3 Characters is already one set, not three extra tiles outside the winning structure. An exposed flower is separate and is not a meld.
Concealed hand
Concealed hand (門清／門前清) means no exposed claim sets. Winning on a discard does not itself create a called meld. Our house rules allow a concealed Kong to retain the 1-faan concealed bonus.
The name does not guarantee the same bonus elsewhere. The cited HKMA rule awards Concealed Hand in its no-flower rules only and excludes any prior Kong. “No flowers received” is different from playing a no-flower ruleset.
Replacement draw
Replacement draw / 補牌 / 补牌. A legal kong or exposed flower calls for a replacement from the back of the wall. If the replacement is another flower, expose and replace again.
Win, self-draw, discard win — 食糊、自摸、食銃
Win (食糊／胡牌) is the general result: a legal winning shape with enough faan. Self-draw (自摸) takes the winning tile from your own normal or replacement draw. A discard win (食銃) takes another player’s eligible discard; the player who supplied it deals in (出銃／放銃).
Robbing a Kong (搶槓) is a separate winning event involving a Kong declaration. Its eligibility, faan and who pays depend on the table; it should not be silently treated as an ordinary self-draw.
Incomplete set
Incomplete set / 搭子 / 搭子. Tiles that could become a set, such as 4-5 Bamboo. A potential set is not yet a completed meld.
Two-sided wait
Two-sided wait / 兩面聽 / 两面听. An incomplete run such as 4-5 Bamboo accepts 3 or 6. Check the whole hand and minimum faan before calling a win.
Closed wait
Closed wait / 嵌張 / 嵌张. A gapped run waits for the middle tile: 4-6 Bamboo needs 5 Bamboo.
Edge wait
Edge wait / 邊張 / 边张. 1-2 waits for 3, or 8-9 waits for 7, in the same suit. A run cannot wrap from 9 to 1.
Pair wait
Pair wait / 單吊將 / 单钓将. Also called a single wait: with all four melds ready, a single tile needs its matching partner to become the pair.
Fan and scoring
Faan, also written fan (番), is a scoring unit. A pattern contributes faan under specified conditions; final faan is worked out with the table’s stacking rules and cap. Minimum faan (起糊番數) is the threshold for a legal win, not an extra bonus.
Cap (封頂) limits the final faan; a limit hand (例牌) receives the designated limit value. Those values vary: our browser game caps at 8, while the cited HKMA reference uses 10. Neither is part of the definition of “faan”.
Points (積分) are the result of applying a payment formula to final faan. A 3-faan discard win pays 24 in our house formula but 32 in our half-laak comparison preset. Both start from 3 faan; the payment choice does not change the hand’s pattern score.
Seat wind and round wind — 門風、圈風
Seat wind (門風) is your position relative to the dealer, who is East. Round wind (圈風／場風) is shared by the table. If you sit East in an East round, an East Pung can meet both conditions; in our house rules it supplies 1 faan for each, 2 total. A pair of Easts is not a scoring Pung.
Rounds and table state
Dealer (莊家) begins with the extra tile and discards first. Dealer repeat (連莊) keeps the same dealer position; passing the deal (過莊) advances it. A round (圈) covers four dealer positions; a hand (一手／一局) is one deal, so repeats mean four rounds need not equal 16 hands.
Wall (牌牆) contains undrawn tiles; discards are displayed in the discard area (牌河). A drawn hand (流局) ends without a winner. In our browser game a draw repeats the dealer with no ready-hand penalty; check another table’s own convention.
Ready or waiting (聽牌／叫糊) describes a hand one tile from a complete shape. The useful copies may already be exhausted, or the completed hand may fall below the faan minimum. A ready shape alone is not a guarantee of a legal or available win.
Common hand names — 平糊、對對糊、一色牌
All Chows is 平糊, also written 平胡; All Pungs is 對對糊 or 碰碰糊. Half Flush (混一色) uses one numbered suit plus honours; Full Flush (清一色) contains only one numbered suit. These names identify patterns, not a universal faan total.
Sources
A few things to know
Are faan and fan different scoring units?
They are spellings of 番, not different units. The applicable pattern conditions, stacking and cap still depend on the named ruleset.
Does 食糊 mean only a discard win?
No. It is the general term for winning. Use self-draw (自摸) or discard win (食銃) when distinguishing the source of the winning tile.
Does a ready hand always have enough faan?
No. A completing tile can finish the shape without meeting the minimum, and the win method may change the faan. Check shape, available copies and scoring separately.