Start with these ideas
- Agree on the complete table rules before comparing faan.
- Custom estimates retain house shape checks and show your adjustment separately.
- Changing the payment preset does not change a hand’s faan.
The website’s reference rules
“Hong Kong mahjong” does not identify every scoring choice. Compare three layers separately: which shapes and actions are legal, how faan is awarded and capped, and how final faan becomes payments. A payment table cannot settle the first two questions.
Our browser game uses sc_hk13_v1_2 with flowers enabled, a 0-faan minimum in guided practice, 3 in standard and four-round play, and an 8-faan cap. These are the settings for practising on this site, not a claim about every Hong Kong table.
The faan calculator can choose a 0-, 1- or 3-faan minimum and disable flowers for an individual calculation. It does not change a running or saved game. Ordinary hands use four sets and a pair; Thirteen Orphans is also supported, but Seven Pairs is not.
HKMA reference versus our browser rules
The following uses the HKMA Hong Kong Mahjong Rules linked below. Values and conditions belong to that reference; a family table or competition may announce different rules. Read the conditions as well as the number.
| Item | HKMA reference | Browser house rules |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum / cap | 3 / 10 faan | 3 / 8; training minimum 0 |
| All Chows pair | Value honours allowed | Non-value pair required |
| Concealed Hand | 1; no-flower rules only, no Kong | 1; concealed Kong allowed |
| Little Three Dragons | 3 + two dragon bonuses = 5 | 5, including both dragon bonuses |
| Big Three Dragons | 5 + three dragon bonuses = 8; ordinary hand | 8-faan limit; no ordinary bonuses added |
| Full Flush | 7 faan | 7 faan |
Source: HKMA — Hong Kong Mahjong Rules ↗
Real differences need explicit agreement
MahjongTime’s published table supplies another concrete example: it lists Full Flush at 6 faan, No Flowers or Seasons at 1 and Seven Pairs at 4. Our browser game uses 7 for Full Flush, no no-flower bonus, and does not accept Seven Pairs.
Do not copy just one value and assume the rest matches. Agree separately which bonuses stack and who pays in special situations; the published table does not spell out every condition. Our custom calculator adjusts the house result, so it cannot check all MahjongTime or HKMA rules for you.
Browser and Android: check the version you play
The Google Play description checked on 15 October 2026 lists 136 tiles without flowers, a 3-faan minimum and an 8-faan cap. The browser game enables flowers, so a flower-scoring example from this site may not apply in the app.
Check the installed app’s Rules screen before applying a flower or concealment example. Browser and app saves remain local to their own environment; changing a website calculator setting does not alter an app game.
Use custom adjustments transparently
Start with a complete hand and its house breakdown. Select Custom table estimate, state the agreed difference, enter a signed faan adjustment and choose a cap of 8, 10 or 13. The original total and adjustment remain separate in the result. The house shape check still applies.
Worked example: load the linked concealed Full Flush, won on a discard without flowers. The uncapped house total is 7 for Full Flush plus 1 for Concealed Hand, or 8. If your table changes only Full Flush to 6 and keeps the same concealed bonus, −1 produces 7. Keep the win method unchanged for this comparison.
Raising the cap or adding faan cannot make Seven Pairs or an incomplete hand valid. Nor does it add unimplemented claim restrictions, chronological events or liability payments. Use this as an explicit arithmetic estimate for an already understood variation.
Faan and points are two separate steps
Final faan and payment are separate. Our house formula uses base B = 2^faan, capped at 8: the discarder pays 3B, or each opponent pays B on self-draw. The separate half-laak preset uses a piecewise base table, cap 10, a 4B discard payment and 2B from each opponent on self-draw.
For the same final 3 faan, the house preset pays 24 on a discard or 8 each on self-draw; the half-laak preset pays 32 or 16 each. Self-draw totals are therefore 24 and 48. These are points in the tool, not a currency or a table’s agreed stake.
The payment preset does not inspect a hand, decide its minimum or implement every HKMA liability rule. In particular, the reference’s special responsibility and robbing-a-Kong payment conditions need separate treatment. Choose a payment formula only after establishing a legal hand and its final faan.
| Payment | House | Half-laak preset |
|---|---|---|
| Discarder pays | 24 | 32 |
| Each pays on self-draw | 8 | 16 |
| Self-draw total received | 24 | 48 |
Source: HKMA — Hong Kong Mahjong Rules ↗
Agree these points before the first hand
Confirm the accepted winning shapes, faan minimum, flower rules, pattern values and exclusions, cap, payment formula and any liability rules. For a four-round match, also agree dealer repeats and the ending condition. A shared “3-faan table” label leaves most of these unanswered.
For example: “Browser house rules; flowers on; minimum 3; cap 8; house payments; no dealer multiplier or separate Kong payments.” When sharing a hand, include its declared melds, seat and round winds, flowers, winning tile and win method as well.
Sources
A few things to know
Is every Hong Kong game capped at 8 faan?
No. This browser game uses 8, while the cited HKMA reference uses 10. Other tables need an explicit agreement; the name “Hong Kong mahjong” alone does not specify the cap.
Does half-laak change the hand’s faan?
No. The calculator preset changes how final faan becomes payments. It does not recalculate patterns, validate the hand or switch to a complete HKMA rules engine.
Can custom adjustments enable Seven Pairs?
No. The house shape check still applies. A faan adjustment changes arithmetic after a supported shape has been found; it does not add an unsupported winning structure.
Does having no flowers automatically add 1 faan?
It depends on the table. MahjongTime’s cited table lists a no-flower bonus; our browser rules do not. Switching flowers off in our calculator does not add it.