The Objective: Build a Winning Hand
Understand what a winning Chinese Mahjong hand looks like: four melds and one pair.
The Winning Hand
The goal of Chinese Mahjong is simple to state but rewarding to master: be the first player to complete a valid hand of 14 tiles. A standard winning hand is made of four melds plus one pair.
Melds: Chow and Pong
A meld is a set of tiles. The two most common melds are:
- Chow (sequence): three consecutive tiles from the same suit, such as 2-3-4 of bamboo or 6-7-8 of characters. You can only make chows from suit tiles, not from honors.
- Pong (triplet): three identical tiles, such as three 5-dot tiles or three Red Dragon tiles. A pong can be made from any tile, including honors.
A winning hand needs exactly four melds. They can be any combination of chows and pongs.
The Pair: Eyes
In addition to the four melds, every winning hand must contain a pair of identical tiles. This pair is often called the eyes of the hand. Without a pair, even the most impressive collection of melds cannot win.
Fourteen Tiles Total
A non-dealer's hand holds 13 tiles, so a player is normally one tile away from winning. When that final tile completes the four-meld, one-pair shape, the player declares "mahjong" and reveals the hand.
How to Win: Self-Draw or Discard
There are two ways to receive that final tile:
- Self-draw (zimo): you draw the winning tile yourself from the wall.
- Win on a discard (hu): another player discards the tile you need, and you claim it to win.
Self-draws and wins on a discard often score differently, so experienced players pay close attention to which opponents are likely one tile away from winning.