Where this comes from

Useful online references

Where the rules on this site came from, what is worth reading next, and what every term on this site is called at other tables.

Singapore mahjong

The game on this site — where these rules came from, and who else writes them down.

Singapore SparrowsA great (sadly no longer updated) site about mahjong in Singapore.mahjongsingapore.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab)
Singapore MahjongThe OG site for Singapore Mahjong. Features a playable game too!singaporemahjong.com (opens in a new tab)
SeedlyGreat article on basic rules, hands & odds of getting the various hands.blog.seedly.sg (opens in a new tab)
WikipediaA good and thorough explanation of Singapore mahjong scoring rules.en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)

Played elsewhere

Other styles and rule sets, for the day you sit down at a table that plays none of this.

Glossary

Singapore tables mix English, Mandarin, dialect names and family vocabulary, so the same thing goes by several names. Every term this site uses, what other tables call it, and what it means.

A

Glossary terms beginning with A
Site term	Other common terms	Meaning
Absolute East	Also: Permanent East · original East · the host seat	Whoever drew East when seats were decided. The round is measured from them, and the prevailing-wind marker sits at their left and never moves.
Absolute North	Also: the seat on Absolute East’s left	The player on Absolute East’s left. Turns the prevailing-wind marker at each change.
Animals	Also: cat-and-rat tiles · bonus animals	Rat, Cat, Centipede and Rooster. A Singapore and Malaysia addition — most sets elsewhere do not have them. Each is worth 1 Double.
Auto limit	Also: auto-tai · limit is zi mo	A house rule. At or above an agreed number of Doubles, everyone pays the same amount — the one the thrower alone would have paid — so a win by discard settles exactly as a Zhi Mo would.

B

Glossary terms beginning with B
Site term	Other common terms	Chinese	Meaning
Bamboo	Also: Sticks · Bams · Ropes · Suos	索子suo zhi	One of the three suits, numbered 1 to 9, four of each.
Ban Se	Also: Hun Yi Se · Half Flush · mixed one suit	混一色hun yi se	One suit mixed with winds and dragons, and nothing else. Worth 2 Doubles.
Bao	Also: Pao · package · responsibility · liability	包bao	One player answers for everybody’s losses because they fed an obvious big hand. Unlike Shooter, Bao still pays when the winner draws the tile themselves.
Bao Kang	Also: kong liability	包槓bao gang	With 5 tiles left to draw, a fresh discard that lets somebody Kong. That player bears the Kong cost for everyone.
Bao Qing	Also: fresh-discard liability	包清bao qing	With 8 tiles left to draw — 5 in some versions — a fresh discard that lets somebody win. That player bears the whole cost.
Base amount	Also: stake · per-tai · one double is worth…		What a 1-Double hand pays. Usually quoted as a pair, such as 10–20 — the first for a win by discard, the second for a Zhi Mo.

C

Glossary terms beginning with C
Site term	Other common terms	Chinese	Meaning
Calling	Also: waiting · ready · ting · tenpai · on call	聽牌ting pai	One tile away from a complete hand.
Chao Ping Hu	Also: Chow Ping Wu · spoiled Ping Hu	臭平胡chou ping hu	A Ping Hu shape held with flowers or animals. Literally a spoiled Ping Hu — the flower drops it from 4 Doubles to 1.
Characters	Also: Wan · Cracks · Craks · Numbers · Man	萬子wan zhi	One of the three suits, numbered 1 to 9, four of each.
Chi	Also: Chow · Eat · sequence · run	吃chi	Three tiles ascending in one suit. Only claimable from the player on your immediate left.

D

Glossary terms beginning with D
Site term	Other common terms	Chinese	Meaning
Da Xiang Gong	Also: long hand · too many tiles	大相公da xiang gong	Holding more tiles than allowed. Cannot Kong or Hu; declaring either counts as a Zha Hu.
Dan Diao	Also: single wait · pair wait	單吊dan diao	Waiting to pair your last remaining tile. Some tables pay extra for it.
Dealer	Also: Banker · East · Zhuang · the deal	莊家zhuang jia	The player who starts the hand with 14 tiles and throws first.
Dealership	Also: the deal · the bank · being East	莊zhuang	Holding the dealer’s seat. Moves to the right after each hand, unless the dealer wins.
Diao Zheng	Also: continuing dealer · keeping the deal · lian zhuang	Colloquial. Standard Mandarin is 連莊 lian zhuang.	The dealer wins the hand and so deals again.
Doubles	Also: Tai · Fan · Faan · points	台 / 番tai / fan	The scoring unit. Each Double doubles the base amount, up to the agreed limit.
Dragons	Also: Cards · Arrows · honour tiles	中 / 發 / 白	Red (hong zhong 中), Green (fa cai 發) and White (bai ban 白). A Pong of each is worth 1 Double.
Draw	Also: Washout (in the practice app) · wash out · exhaustive draw · no game · goulash	流局liu ju	The drawing pile runs out with nobody winning. Reached when 15 tiles are left.
Drawing pile	Also: live wall		What is left of the wall to draw from.

F

Glossary terms beginning with F
Site term	Other common terms	Chinese	Meaning
Flower pile	Also: dead wall · kong box · back of the wall		The far end of the wall, where flower, animal and Kong replacement tiles are drawn from.
Flower up	Also: Hua Sang · Kong Sang · kong-on-kong · blossom on the roof	槓上開花gang shang kai hua	Winning on the replacement tile drawn after exposing a flower, animal or Kong. Worth an extra Double.
Flowers	Also: bonus tiles	花牌hua pai	The eight extra tiles — four seasons and four plants. A flower matching your number is worth 1 Double.

H

Glossary terms beginning with H
Site term	Other common terms	Chinese	Meaning
Honours	Also: word tiles	字牌zi pai	Winds and dragons together — the tiles with no number.
Hu	Also: Wu · Woo · Mahjong! · going out · winning	胡 / 和hu	Declaring a complete hand and ending the play.

K

Glossary terms beginning with K
Site term	Other common terms	Chinese	Meaning
Ka Long	Also: middle wait · closed wait · inside wait	Colloquial.	Waiting on the middle tile of a sequence. Some tables pay extra for it.
Kong	Also: Kang · Gong · quad	槓gang	Four identical tiles, exposed. Draw a replacement from the flower pile before discarding.
Kong / Yao	Also: kong money · gong money	槓 / 咬gang / yao	The side payments, settled apart from the hand: Kong for exposing four of a kind, Yao for a matching pair. Usually 2 to 2.5 times the base amount.

L

Glossary terms beginning with L
Site term	Other common terms	Chinese	Meaning
Limit	Also: cap · max doubles · man guan	滿貫man guan	The most a hand can be worth however many Doubles it holds. Usually 5.

M

Glossary terms beginning with M
Site term	Other common terms	Chinese	Meaning
Marbles	Also: Dots · Circles · Coins · Balls · Tongs	筒子tong zhi	One of the three suits, numbered 1 to 9, four of each.
Meld	Also: set · group · exposed set		Any completed Chi, Pong or Kong.
Minimum doubles	Also: min tai · opening requirement · how many to open		What a hand must be worth before it can Hu at all. Usually 1.

N

Glossary terms beginning with N
Site term	Other common terms	Chinese	Meaning
Non-offender	Also: bystander · the other two · clean players		The two players who did not throw the winning tile. They pay the smaller of the two amounts.

O

Glossary terms beginning with O
Site term	Other common terms	Chinese	Meaning
Offender	Also: thrower · discarder · the one who fed it		The player who threw the winning tile, who pays the larger amount. On a Zhi Mo all three opponents pay the offender rate.

P

Glossary terms beginning with P
Site term	Other common terms	Chinese	Meaning
Picking the Pearl	Also: Hai Di Lao Yue · moon from the sea bottom · last-tile win	海底撈月hai di lao yue	Winning on the 1 Marble drawn when 5 or fewer tiles are left. Worth an extra Double.
Ping Hu	Also: Ping Wu · all-sequences · flat hand	平胡ping hu	Four Chis and a non-scoring pair, no flowers or animals, calling on at least two tiles. Worth 4 Doubles. Not the Japanese pinfu, which is a different rule.
Plants	Also: blue flowers · the four gentlemen	梅蘭菊竹	Plum, Orchid, Chrysanthemum and Bamboo, numbered 1 to 4 against the winds. Usually printed blue, but the colour varies by set.
Player’s wind	Also: seat wind (in the practice app) · own wind · self wind	門風 / 自風men feng / zi feng	Your own wind for the current hand, set by where you sit relative to the dealer. A Pong of it is worth 1 Double.
Pong	Also: Pung · Pow · triplet	碰pong	Three identical tiles. Claimable from any player’s discard.
Pong Pong	Also: Dui Dui Hu · all-triplets	對對胡dui dui hu	Four Pongs or Kongs and a pair. Worth 2 Doubles.
Prevailing wind	Also: round wind · table wind	圈風quan feng	The wind of the current round, shown on the counter at Absolute East’s left. A Pong of it is worth 1 Double to any player.

Q

Glossary terms beginning with Q
Site term	Other common terms	Chinese	Meaning
Qing Yi Se	Also: Full Flush · pure one suit · ching yat sik	清一色qing yi se	Every tile from a single suit. Worth 4 Doubles.

R

Glossary terms beginning with R
Site term	Other common terms	Chinese	Meaning
Robbing a Kong	Also: Qiang Kang · snatching a kong	搶槓qiang gang	Winning off the tile another player is adding to their exposed Pong. Worth an extra Double. An Um Kong cannot be robbed, except by 13 Unique Wonders.

S

Glossary terms beginning with S
Site term	Other common terms	Chinese	Meaning
Seasons	Also: red flowers	春夏秋冬	Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, numbered 1 to 4 against the winds. Usually printed red, but the colour varies by set.
Shooter	Also: pao rules · responsibility · discarder-pays-all		A house rule. The player who threw the winning tile pays the winner’s whole collection, and the other two pay nothing.

T

Glossary terms beginning with T
Site term	Other common terms	Chinese	Meaning
Terminals	Also: ends · one-nines	么九yao jiu	The 1s and 9s of any suit.
Triple cannon	Also: Yi Pao San Xiang · three-way shot	一炮三響yi pao san xiang	One discard that lets all three opponents win at once. The thrower pays each of them. Not every table plays it.

U

Glossary terms beginning with U
Site term	Other common terms	Chinese	Meaning
Um Kong	Also: concealed Kong · An Gong · dark kong	暗槓an gang	Four identical tiles held concealed. Pays twice what an exposed Kong pays.

W

Glossary terms beginning with W
Site term	Other common terms	Chinese	Meaning
Wall	Also: the stacks	牌牆pai qiang	The tiles stacked two high around the table before the deal — two walls of 19 stacks and two of 18.
Winds	Also: direction tiles	東南西北	East (dong), South (nan), West (xi) and North (bei). Four of each.

X

Glossary terms beginning with X
Site term	Other common terms	Chinese	Meaning
Xiao Xiang Gong	Also: short hand · too few tiles	小相公xiao xiang gong	Holding fewer tiles than allowed. May Kong, but cannot Hu; declaring Hu counts as a Zha Hu.

Y

Glossary terms beginning with Y
Site term	Other common terms	Chinese	Meaning
Yao	Also: bite · animal pair · flower pair	咬yao	A matching pair — cat-rat, centipede-chicken, or two of your own flowers. Pays at the Kong rate, or the Um Kong rate if it was already there at the deal.

Z

Glossary terms beginning with Z
Site term	Other common terms	Chinese	Meaning
Zha Hu	Also: Chah Wu · false win · wrong hu	詐胡zha hu	Declaring Hu on a hand that turns out to be invalid. The offender pays every other player the Zhi Mo limit.
Zhi Mo	Also: Zi Mo · Tsumo · self-draw (in the practice app) · self-pick	自摸zi mo	Winning on a tile you drew yourself rather than one thrown. All three opponents pay the offender rate.