Mahjong Terms

The words you’ll hear at a Singapore table, explained simply, with the other names each one goes by. “Here” and “this table” mean the scored Singapore table in Straits Mahjong.

Chi

Also called: Chow, Chee, Sheung, sequence, run

Three consecutive numbers in one suit, such as 3–4–5 Suo. To claim a Chi, the discarded tile must come from the player on your left.

Pong

Also called: Peng, Pung, triplet

Three identical tiles. You can claim an opponent’s discard when you hold the other two, if the claim is allowed.

Kong

Also called: Gang, Kang, quad

Four identical tiles declared as one set. Normally you take a replacement. The scored table’s final playable draw has a reserve exception.

Eye

Also called: eyes, pair, Jiang

Two identical tiles. A regular complete hand needs one Eye alongside its four sets. An Eye is not a Pong.

Set

Also called: Meld

A Chi, Pong or Kong. An ordinary complete hand has four sets and an Eye. Count sets already on the table as well as those in your hand.

Hu

Also called: Mahjong, Sik Wu, makan, Hu Le, winning declaration

The call that declares a win. The hand must meet the table’s rules for shape, tai and claims: looking complete isn’t enough.

Tai

Also called: Fan, Faan, doubles

The units that measure what a winning hand is worth, from its patterns, bonuses and events. Tai aren’t points or money. This app’s Scored Play needs at least one tai to win and pays at most five, as most tables do; House Rules can change both.

Concealed

Also called: Hidden hand

Tiles kept private on your rack. A concealed Kong is declared from four matching tiles you already hold; it is still counted as a declared set.

Exposed

Also called: Declared, open set

Tiles placed on the table for everyone to see, such as a claimed Chi or Pong. Bonus tiles are exposed separately and do not form ordinary sets.

Ordinary Tile

Also called: Numbered suits, honours

A Wan, Tong, Suo, wind or dragon tile. Flowers, seasons and animals are bonuses instead; they cannot fill an ordinary Eye or set.

Terminal

Also called: Ones and nines

A 1 or 9 tile in one of the three numbered suits. There are six terminal types. Winds and dragons are honours, not numbered terminals.

Own Wind

Also called: seat wind, player wind, Men Feng, East banker, dealer, Zhuang

Your wind relative to the current Banker. East is the Banker, followed by South, West and North. Your Own Wind can change while you stay in the same chair.

Round Wind

Also called: prevailing wind, Quan Feng

The wind shared by the whole round of deals. You can sit South during the East round. Own Wind and Round Wind are separate scoring roles.

Unvalued Eye

Also called: Unvalued pair, non-valued eye, Ping Hu eye

For Ping Hu, an Eye that is neither a dragon nor your Own Wind or Round Wind. A numbered Eye or another wind may qualify; the other Ping Hu conditions still apply.

Zi Mo

Also called: Zimo, Ji Mo, self-draw, self-drawn, Tsumo

Winning on a tile you draw yourself, rather than an opponent’s offered tile. The source of the winning tile affects payment and sometimes the eligible patterns.

Discarder

Also called: Supplier, feed

The player whose discard supplies a claim or win. A discard is a tile they let go from their hand. An added Kong can also offer a tile for a qualifying win.

Wait

Also called: Waiting tile, ready shape

A tile type that would complete your hand’s shape. It must still be available and meet the table’s tai and claim rules. One hand may have several waits.

Ting

Also called: ready, waiting hand, one tile away

A hand one tile from complete. Every tile that would finish it is a wait. The guide says “Ting” and names your waits when your hand gets there.

Unseen Copies

Also called: Live tiles, outs, copies left

Copies of a tile you cannot see from your seat: not in your hand, a declared set or the discards. They may be in the wall or another player’s hand, so an unseen copy is possible, not promised.

Safer Tile

Also called: Safe tile, defence

A discard less likely to complete another player’s hand, such as a tile that was just passed or an honour with copies already face up. No discard is ever certain to be safe.

Wall

Also called: Stacks, live tiles, reserve

The undealt tiles. This app leaves a fifteen-tile reserve untouched. Live tiles are the ones you can still draw before the reserve; the live count on screen leaves the reserve out.

Replacement

Also called: Back of wall, bonus draw, Gang Shang Kai Hua

A draw from the other end of the wall after exposing a bonus or declaring a Kong. It’s separate from your ordinary draw, and it still stops at the reserve.

Bonus Marriage

Also called: Bite, animal pair

A named bonus pair, such as Cat–Rat, Rooster–Centipede, or your own numbered flower and season. Its immediate payment is separate from the tai count.

Payout Cap

Also called: Minimum tai, limit, bomb

The maximum tai used for payment, not the minimum needed to win. At this app’s scored table, zero tai fails the minimum; six tai qualifies but is paid at five.

Bao

Also called: Liability, responsibility, Baau

A rule that can make one player pay for the whole winning hand instead of sharing it with the others. It depends on the actual claim, the outcome and the table rules; a risky discard on its own costs nothing.

13 Wonders

Also called: Thirteen Wonders, Thirteen Orphans, 13 Orphans, Sap Saam Yiu, Sap Sam Yiu, Shi San Yao

A special winning hand: the 1 and 9 of each suit, all four winds and all three dragons, plus a second copy of any one of them. It needs no sets. At this table it is a fixed award paid at the five-tai cap, always as a Zi Mo, and it may rob another player’s concealed Kong.

Ping Hu

Also called: Ping Wu, All Chow

Four Chi and an Eye that is not a dragon or your Own Wind or Round Wind. With no bonus tiles it is Ping Hu, 4 tai here (this table’s choice: SPGG gives it its own price, 20 full or 10 half); with any bonus tile it counts only as Chow Ping Hu, 1 tai. Won on a discard, it also needs a wait on more than one tile.

Pong Pong Hu

Also called: Dui Dui Hu, Dui Dui Wu, Peng Peng Hu, all pong, all triplets

Four Pongs or Kongs and an Eye, with no Chi. It earns 2 tai here, and any dragon or valued wind sets add their own tai.

Hun Yi Se & Qing Yi Se

Also called: Hun Yi Se, Qing Yi Se, Wan Yat Sik, Ching Yat Sik, half flush, full flush, Ban Se, one suit, clean hand, mixed one suit

Hun Yi Se uses one numbered suit with winds or dragons: 2 tai here. Qing Yi Se uses one numbered suit and nothing else: 4 tai. A hand earns one or the other, never both.

Da San Yuan & Xiao San Yuan

Also called: Da San Yuan, Xiao San Yuan, Daai Saam Yuen, Siu Saam Yuen, big dragons, little dragons, three dragons

Da San Yuan is a Pong or Kong of all three dragons: at this table it wins at once and pays at the five-tai cap. Xiao San Yuan is two dragon sets with the third dragon as the Eye: 1 tai on top of the two dragon sets.

Da Si Xi & Xiao Si Xi

Also called: Da Si Xi, Xiao Si Xi, Daai Sei Hei, Siu Sei Hei, big winds, little winds, four winds

Da Si Xi is a set of all four winds: it wins at once and pays at the five-tai cap. Xiao Si Xi is three wind sets with the fourth wind as the Eye: 4 tai here, and valued winds still count.

Seven Pairs

Also called: Qi Dui, seven couples

Seven different pairs. Some tables allow it as a special hand; this table does not, so seven pairs alone cannot win here. Agree it before you play elsewhere.

Winning Events

Also called: Qiang Gang, robbing the kong, Cheung Gong, Hai Di Lao Yue, Hoi Dai Lo Yuet, last tile, Hua Shang, Gang Shang, Gong Seung Hoi Fa, replacement win, Gang Shang Gang, kong on kong

How and when you win can add tai: Hua Shang or Gang Shang (a win on the replacement tile after a bonus or Kong), Hai Di Lao Yue (a win on the last playable tile) or Qiang Gang (a win on another player’s added Kong) each add 1 tai here, as does Men Qing with Zi Mo. Two or more Kongs in one turn and a win on the replacement (Gang Shang Gang) is a limit hand at this table; some tables, SPGG’s among them, score it 3 tai.

Bonus Tiles

Also called: Flowers, seasons, animals, Hua

Eight flowers and seasons and four animals. They never form sets: you place them face up and draw a replacement. Your seat’s own flower and season, and every animal, earn 1 tai here.

Fresh Tile

Also called: Unseen discard, new tile late in the wall

A tile type nobody has discarded yet. Near the end of the wall, discarding one that lets someone win can bring Bao: here from five live tiles left, or seven if it is claimed for a Kong. Tables differ on how late that starts.

Shooter Pays

Also called: Discarder pays, everyone pays, shooter, Cheut Chung

Two ways to settle a win on a discard. Under “shooter pays” the discarder pays the whole bill; under “everyone pays” all three pay, the discarder double. This app uses everyone pays unless you choose Shooter Pays under House Rules, and names Bao when one player pays all.

Men Qing

Also called: Men Qing Zi Mo, fully concealed hand, closed hand

A win with no claimed sets (a concealed Kong still counts as concealed). This app’s scored table awards 1 tai on a Zi Mo, as many tables do; some also award it on a discard, so agree before you play.

Hand, Round & Match

Also called: Deal, game, prevailing winds

A hand runs from one deal to a win or draw. In Full Match, a round covers one Round Wind. Four rounds—East, South, West and North—make the match. When the Banker keeps the deal, a round can take extra hands.

Names and rules vary between tables. Agree the rules before you play somewhere new.

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