01The tiles
Mahjong Lobby’s Traditional preset uses 136 tiles: three suits numbered 1 to 9, plus the honours, with four copies of each. Hong Kong tables that include eight Flowers and Seasons use 144 tiles.
Our Bonus Flowers preset adds eight Flowers and Seasons: reveal them and draw replacements; they are not wildcards. Our Wildcards preset instead uses them as substitutes in winning hands. Traditional omits them. These are distinct house-rule choices, not interchangeable Hong Kong rules.
02What you’re building
A standard winning hand is four sets and a pair, normally 14 tiles (each Kong adds an extra physical tile) — the pair is called the eyes 眼. A set is one of three things:
03Setting up
Seats. Each seat has a wind: East, South, West, North. East is the dealer 莊 and plays first; the turn then moves counter-clockwise — East, South, West, North. Choose your seat in a multiplayer waiting room; the game shows each player’s wind.
The deal. Each player starts with 13 tiles; the dealer draws a 14th to begin. The remaining tiles form the wall. Bonus Flowers are exposed and replaced in that preset.
Rounds. If the dealer wins or the hand is a draw, they deal again; otherwise the deal passes to the right. Once all four seats have dealt, the prevailing wind changes — East round, then South, West and North. A full game is four rounds.
04Your turn
The whole game is one loop: draw one, discard one.
- Draw the next tile from the wall — or claim the last discard instead (next section).
- If that tile completes your hand, declare Mahjong.
- Otherwise discard one tile face up in front of you. Your hand counts as 13 tiles between turns, including exposed melds; count each Kong as three for this purpose. Revealed bonus flowers are separate.
Unclaimed discards remain visible at the table. Claimed tiles move into a meld or winning hand. Reading public tiles helps you judge what remains.
05Calling a discard
The moment a tile is discarded, anyone who can use it may call it. In Mahjong Lobby the buttons appear whenever a call is possible — choose a claim or Pass. There is currently no claim countdown.
| Call | You hold | From whom | Then |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chow上 · sheung | Two tiles that make a run with it | Only the player on your left — the one who plays just before you | The run goes face up. You discard. |
| Pung碰 · pung | Two tiles identical to it | Anyone | The set goes face up and the turn jumps to you. You discard. |
| Kong槓 · gong | Three tiles identical to it | Anyone | The set goes face up. Draw a replacement from the back of the wall, then discard. |
| Mahjong食糊 · sik wu | A hand that this tile completes | Anyone | You win. The player who discarded it pays. |
Priority. Mahjong beats Pung and Kong, which beat Chow. Play continues from whoever called, so the players in between lose their turn.
Kongs from your own hand. Four identical tiles in hand can be declared as a concealed Kong, and a fourth tile you draw can be added to an exposed Pung. Either way, draw a replacement from the back of the wall.
Exposed or concealed. Claimed sets are turned face up and locked in. Sets you complete by drawing stay hidden in your hand — and a fully concealed hand earns an extra Fan.
06Winning
Calling 聽牌. When you are one tile away, you are waiting. Say nothing; just watch for it.
Two ways in. Self-draw 自摸: you draw the tile yourself and all three opponents pay. By discard 出銃: another player discards it and only they pay.
The minimum. Mahjong Lobby’s Traditional and Bonus Flowers presets require at least 3 Fan; Wildcards requires 4. Other tables may use different minimums. Below that you cannot declare Mahjong — keep building.
Nobody wins? If the wall runs out, the hand is a draw 流局 and the dealer deals again.
07Scoring in one minute
Qualifying patterns add Fan 番. Our Traditional preset uses a half-spicy payout table and a 10 Fan cap, not unrestricted doubling. These examples describe our Traditional preset; Wildcards has different values and a 12 Fan cap.
- All Sequences 平糊1 Fan
Four Chows and a pair.
- Dragon or scoring Wind set 番子1 Fan each
Each Dragon Pung or Kong scores 1 Fan. Seat Wind and Round Wind sets each score 1; the same set can earn both. Unrelated Winds do not score in this preset.
- Concealed hand 門前清1 Fan
No meld claimed from another player, including an exposed Kong. Concealed Kongs are allowed. Self-draw 自摸 adds another 1 Fan.
- All Triplets 對對糊3 Fan
Four Pungs or Kongs and a pair.
- Mixed One Suit 混一色3 Fan
One suit plus honours, nothing from the other suits.
- All One Suit 清一色7 Fan
Every tile from one suit. No honours at all.
- Limit hands 爆棚Limit
Thirteen Orphans 十三么, Great Four Winds 大四喜 and All Honours 字一色 reach the Limit. Great Three Dragons scores 8 Fan, including its Dragon bonuses, before other applicable bonuses.
Fan values differ a little from table to table; these are Mahjong Lobby’s house values. Use the Hong Kong Mahjong Fan calculator for a full breakdown and payout under each preset. The Mahjong scorekeeper tracks points at an in-person table.
08Five tips for your first games
- Read your hand as runs and pairs. Mahjong Lobby sorts by suit and number for you — look for tiles that connect.
- Chase one or two suits. Connected tiles help you form Chows. One suit plus honours can build Mixed One Suit, but choose a plan that fits your hand.
- Keep your pairs. A pair is a Pung waiting to happen, and you need one as your eyes anyway.
- Discard lonely tiles first. Single honours, and 1s and 9s that connect to nothing.
- Watch the discards. If three copies are visible, one may still remain. Count discards and exposed sets together. A previously discarded tile is not guaranteed safe in Hong Kong Mahjong—another player may still win on it.