Straits MahjongDa San Yuan 大三元
Da San Yuan, Big Three Dragons, is a hand with a Pong or Kong of all three dragons. In Singapore Mahjong it pays the limit, 5 tai.
Three dragon sets, one of each colour. It’s the most famous limit hand in the game, and the one that makes the whole table go quiet when the second dragon Pong goes down.
Also called: Big Three Dragons
What It Is
Da San Yuan (大三元, “big three elements”, Big Three Dragons) is a hand with a Pong or Kong of each dragon: Red (Zhong), Green (Fa Cai) and White (Bai Ban). Whatever else you hold doesn’t matter. The fourth set can be a Chi, the Eye can be anything, and you can claim as much as you like.
Its little brother is Xiao San Yuan: two dragon sets and the third dragon as your Eye. That’s a good hand. This is the great one.
What It Pays
| Table | Called | Worth |
|---|---|---|
| Singapore | Da San Yuan | the limit, 5 tai |
| Hong Kong | Daai Saam Yuen | 8 faan |
| Malaysian 3 Kaki | Big Dragons | the limit, 10 fan |
| Riichi | Daisangen | yakuman |
At a Singapore table it pays the limit, 5 tai, in place of everything else. On a discard win that’s 128 points from the table, and on Zi Mo 192 points. A plain one-tai hand pays 8 points, so one Da San Yuan is worth a long evening of small wins.
In this game it’s also an automatic win: the moment your third dragon set is made, the hand ends in your favour, even if the rest of your tiles aren’t finished yet. Home tables vary on that, so agree before the first tile.
When To Try
You need nine of the twelve dragons in the set, so it only makes sense when the deal hands you a head start. Two dragon pairs and a third dragon is a real chance. One lone dragon of each colour is a dream, and dreams get you dealt into.
Pong dragons the moment they come. Every dragon set is worth 1 tai anyway, so the plan pays something even when it falls short: two dragon sets and the third as your Eye is Xiao San Yuan, which still earns 1 tai on top of the sets.
Watch the discards. Once two copies of a dragon are gone, nobody can make a set of it, you included. Drop the plan and let your spare dragons go while they’re still safe-ish.
How Others Spot It, And Bao
Two dragon Pongs face up shout what you’re doing. Careful players will sit on the third dragon until the end of the hand.
If you’re the one reading: the third dragon is the most dangerous tile at a Singapore table. Throw it into two face-up dragon sets and let them Pong it, and that’s Bao: you pay the whole bill when they win, everyone’s share. It’s Bao too if your dragon wins the hand directly, as their third set or as the Eye of a Xiao San Yuan. Hold it back unless two copies are already showing.
At Other Tables
Hong Kong’s Daai Saam Yuen isn’t a limit there: it’s 8 faan, the dragon sets included. Feeding the third dragon set is still 包, and the feeder pays for a self-drawn win.
At Malaysian 3 Kaki it’s a limit, the limit, 10 fan, and the third dragon is the one liability the table has: feed it and you pay the whole win. In Riichi, Daisangen is a yakuman, with pao for whoever feeds the third dragon triplet.