Count the Tai
Learn Taiwanese 16-tile mahjong scoring in a few rounds
Break the Wall
How to play
You sit at the bottom. The dealer (marked D) rolls three dice. First tap the wall to break, then tap the exact stack where the break is. You can slide your finger along the wall; it only counts when you let go.
Nobody has drawn yet while the dice are rolled, so there are only walls on the table.
Rule of thumb: the dealer is 1, count to the dealer's right (counterclockwise)
1 5 9 13 17 the dealer 2 6 10 14 18 dealer's right
3 7 11 15 across from dealer 4 8 12 16 dealer's left
From the wall owner's right-hand end, count as many stacks as the dice total: that's the wall tail. The next stack is the break. Starting with the dealer, each player takes 2 stacks at a time for 4 rounds (16 tiles each); the dealer takes 1 extra tile for 17.
Where each wall's "right-hand end" is, seen from your seat
| Your own wall | Your right |
| Right player's wall | The far end |
| Across player's wall | Your left as you look across |
| Left player's wall | The end near you |
Flower Points
Which two flowers belong to each number
The owner of the wall where the break is (the one holding the wall tail) is #1. Count counterclockwise to their right: 2, 3, 4. Your number is your flower number. It doesn't matter who the dealer is. (This follows a common Taiwanese house rule.)
| Each of your own flowers (same number) | 1 tai |
| Other flowers | 0 tai |
| Flower kong: all four seasons or all four gentlemen | 2 tai |
| Seven robs one: draw the 7th flower and take the last one | 8 tai |
| Eight immortals: all 8 flowers | 8 tai |
| No flowers | 0 tai |
Having no flowers adds nothing by itself, but Ping hu requires no flowers and no honors. Some tables add 1 tai for no flowers, so check the house rules first.
Count the Tai
The glowing tile at the right end of your hand is the winning tile. Tiles marked Pung or Chow are exposed melds; any exposed meld means the hand isn't concealed. Your flower and seat wind follow the tail-owner-is-#1 count; the dealer only affects dealer tai and streaks.
Pick an answer to see the line-by-line breakdown. Gray rows are common traps: they look relevant but are worth 0 tai.
Tai cheat sheet
Common scoring for Taiwanese 16-tile mahjong. "Tai" are scoring points. House rules vary, so your table has the final say.
Basics
| Dealer 莊家Counts when the dealer wins, deals in, or pays for a self-draw | 1 |
| Dealer streak 連莊Each consecutive dealer win adds 2 tai | 2N |
| Self-draw 自摸 | 1 |
| Concealed hand 門清No chow, pung or exposed kong | 1 |
| Concealed self-draw 門清自摸Counted as 3 instead of 1+1 | 3 |
| Single wait 獨聽Edge, middle or pair wait on exactly one tile | 1 |
| Ping hu 平胡No flowers or honors, all chows, won on a discard, two-sided wait | 2 |
| All melded 全求人Everything exposed, pair wait won on a discard | 2 |
Honors and patterns
| Dragon pung (Red, Green, White)Each one | 1 |
| Round wind punge.g. East pung in the East round | 1 |
| Seat wind pungPung of your own seat wind | 1 |
| All pungs 碰碰胡 | 4 |
| Half flush 混一色One suit plus honors | 4 |
| Full flush 清一色 | 8 |
| All honors 字一色 | 16 |
| Little / Big three dragons | 4 / 8 |
| Little / Big four winds | 8 / 16 |
| 3 / 4 / 5 concealed pungs | 2 / 5 / 8 |
Flowers
| Your own flower#1 Spring/Plum, #2 Summer/Orchid, #3 Autumn/Bamboo, #4 Winter/Chrysanthemum | 1 |
| Flower kong | 2 |
| Seven robs one | 8 |
| Eight immortals | 8 |
Special timing
| Win after a kongSelf-draw on the replacement tile | 1 |
| Last tile self-draw 海底撈月 | 1 |
| Win on the last discard 河底撈魚 | 1 |
| Robbing a kong | 1 |
| Heavenly / Earthly handVaries the most between tables | 16+ |
How payment works
| Win on a discardOnly the discarder pays | Base + tai × per tai |
| Self-drawAll three players pay | ×3 |
| Win with 0 tai | Base only |
Example: at a 50/20 table, a 3-tai win on a discard pays 50 + 3×20 = 110.