These are examples for counting Faan in the winning hands when playing Mah Jong at Yahoo Games. For detailed instructions on calculating Faan, read the calculation charts. In order to illustrate the mathematics of Tile Points each example has the Yahoo additions and multiplications elaborated below the snapshots.
The "magic number" to reach is 13 Faan and up; thus the additional elements become superfluous on Limit Hands. Any winning hand which scores a calculable total of 13 Faan or more is generally referred to as "Maximum Faan", regardless of how many in excess of 13 are awarded.
It's important to note that Yahoo's system of calculating scores is not directly related to the structure of Faan. It is possible to earn high faan with only cheap tile points; it is also possible to score some very expensive tile points payments while earning low faan, and some lucky players may actually receive good tile points despite situations where they are 'losing' the hand by failing to be Going Out with any Faan at all! However, if you understand the methods used on the Yahoo table to add and multiply the points, you might find that some hands with excellent Faan also can be designed to achieve the highest scores.
Winning Hand Formations:
Also: • Non~Winner (No Faan) Losing Hand but scoring Tile Points
The term "KFC" means "Kentucky Fried Chicken", implying a big bucket of stuff mixed together, without any consistency. This makes it very difficult to earn enough to succeed at a table with Faan requirements. But if you have just the right combination of flowers or honours, you could potentially achieve surprising results. Hands of KFC are mixing two or three suits, containing one or more chows:
myriadmoonwingsunstars(north)
+2F ~ OwnFlower&OwnSeason
+1F ~ pongRedDragon
+1F ~ pongPrevailingWind
+1F ~ All~Hidden [fully concealed to the left of the pair]
= 5 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+ 8 for flowers and seasons [two bonus tiles]
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : EastWind
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : RedDragon
x 2 pung of prevailing wind [hidden pong East]
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden pong Red]
x 2 flower of own wind [North~red#4~BambooShoots]
x 2 season of own wind [North~blue#4~Winter]
= 704 Tile Points
prof5f(east)
+1F ~ Self~Pick
+1F ~ OwnFlower
+6F ~ three pongs dragons ("Major~3~Dragons")
= 8 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+12 for flowers and seasons [three bonus tiles]
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : GreenDragon
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : WhiteDragon
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : RedDragon
+ 2 winning tile drawn from wall [self~pick]
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden pong Green]
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden pong White]
x 2 flower of own wind [East~red#1~PlumBlossom]
= 432 Tile Points
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This tactic usually earns very low Faan when the suits are mixed, but it could do better if it's semi~pure (one suit with any pair of honours), and does best of all in a pure~suit (with no honours). Yahoo gives bonus double Tile Points when all four chows are accompanied by a totally "worthless pair", but does not award this bonus if the player scores any points for a pair of dragon or own wind or prevailing wind:
anemology5(south)
+1F ~ Self~Pick
+2F ~ OwnFlower&OwnSeason
+1F ~ All~Hidden [fully concealed to the left of the pair]
+1F ~ All~Chows
= 5 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+12 for flowers and seasons [three bonus tiles]
+ 2 winning tile drawn from wall [self~pick]
x 2 all chows and a worthless pair
x 2 flower of own wind [South~red#2~Orchid]
x 2 season of own wind [South~blue#2~Summer]
= 272 Tile Points
spiral_spectral(east)
+1F ~ OwnSeason
+1F ~ All~Chows
+3F ~ Semi~Pure
= 5 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+ 4 for flowers and seasons [one bonus tile]
+ 2 one chance winning tile [the Circles~3 is the only possible tile]
x 2 all chows and a worthless pair
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Circles]
x 2 season of own wind [East~blue#1~Spring]
= 208 Tile Points
house_of_pi(north)
+1F ~ Self~Pick
+1F ~ OwnFlower
+1F ~ All~Chows
+6F ~ Pure~Suit
= 9 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+12 for flowers and seasons [three bonus tiles]
+ 2 winning tile drawn from wall [self~pick]
+ 2 one chance winning tile [the Bamboos~3 is the only possible tile]
x 2 all chows and a worthless pair
x 8 only one suit [pure Bamboos]
x 2 flower of own wind [North~red#4~BambooShoots]
= 1152 Tile Points
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These hands of mixed pongs (and/or kongs) may be with or without honours, and they contain some simples. They are generally the most common arrangements with mixed suits at a table with Faan~Counting:
hap_pi_ness_5doors4winds3dragons(west)
+1F ~ pongWhiteDragon
+1F ~ All~Hidden [fully concealed to the left of the pair]
+3F ~ All~Pongs
= 5 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+12 for flowers and seasons [three bonus tiles]
+ 4 concealed pung (simples) : Myriads~4
+ 4 concealed pung (simples) : Circles~8
+ 4 concealed pung (simples) : Bamboos~4
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : WhiteDragon
+ 2 pair of own wind : WestWind
+ 2 one chance winning tile [the WestWind completes the pair]
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden pong White]
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
= 224 Tile Points
cirque_circe_2x5(east)
+1F ~ Last~Tile
+1F ~ OwnSeason
+1F ~ pongRedDragon
+3F ~ All~Pongs
= 6 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+12 for flowers and seasons [three bonus tiles]
+ 2 melded pung (simples) : Myriads~3
+16 melded kong (honours) : WestWind
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : RedDragon
+ 2 melded pung (simples) : Bamboos~2
+ 2 one chance winning tile [the Circles~8 completes the pair]
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 2 going out with last tile of wall
x 2 season of own wind [East~blue#1~Spring]
= 464 Tile Points
Hutchins_Kevin(west)
+1F ~ Self~Pick
+2F ~ FlowerKong
+3F ~ All~Pongs
= 6 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+24 for flowers and seasons [six bonus tiles]
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : NorthWind
+ 8 melded kong (simples) : Bamboos~8
+ 2 melded pung (simples) : Circles~8
+ 8 melded kong (simples) : Myriads~2
+ 2 winning tile drawn from wall [self~pick]
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 2 flower of own wind [West~red#3~Chrysanthemum]
x 8 all flowers [flower~kong red#1234]
= 2304 Tile Points
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These arrangements are called "one suit with honours" (or "clean~suit", or "half~suit"). If they contain a mixture of pongs and chows then they will probably only earn a high score if they also have several extra bonus elements:
x0x_richie_x0x(west)
+3F ~ Supplementary&Self~Pick@Last~Tile
+1F ~ OwnSeason
+3F ~ Semi~Pure
= 7 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+20 for flowers and seasons [five bonus tiles]
+ 8 concealed pung (terminals) : BamboosBirds~1
+ 2 melded pung (simples) : Bamboos~8
+16 melded kong (honours) : SouthWind
+ 2 winning tile drawn from wall [self~pick]
x 2 going out with last tile of wall
x 2 going out with a supplementary tile [kong~pick]
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Bamboos]
x 2 season of own wind [West~blue#3~Autumn]
= 1088 Tile Points
nygoody(north)
+2F ~ SeasonKong
+1F ~ pongWhiteDragon
+3F ~ Semi~Pure
= 6 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+16 for flowers and seasons [four bonus tiles]
+ 2 melded pung (simples) : Circles~6
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : WhiteDragon
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Circles]
x 2 season of own wind [North~blue#4~Winter]
x 8 all seasons [season~kong blue#1234]
= 1344 Tile Points
paihu314(north)
+2F ~ OwnFlower&OwnSeason
+1F ~ pongGreenDragon
+1F ~ pongPrevailingWind
+1F ~ All~Hidden [fully concealed to the left of the pair]
+3F ~ Semi~Pure
= 8 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+12 for flowers and seasons [three bonus tiles]
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : SouthWind
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : GreenDragon
+ 2 one chance winning tile [the Bamboos~6 is the only possible tile]
x 2 pung of prevailing wind [hidden pong South]
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden pong Green]
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Bamboos]
x 2 flower of own wind [North~red#4~BambooShoots]
x 2 season of own wind [North~blue#4~Winter]
= 1600 Tile Points
pi314pai(west)
+1F ~ Self~Pick
+2F ~ SeasonKong
+1F ~ pongPrevailingWind
+3F ~ Semi~Pure
= 7 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+20 for flowers and seasons [five bonus tiles]
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : SouthWind
+ 2 melded pung (simples) : Bamboos~2
+ 2 melded pung (simples) : Bamboos~7
+ 2 winning tile drawn from wall [self~pick]
x 2 pung of prevailing wind [hidden pong South]
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Bamboos]
x 2 season of own wind [West~blue#3~Autumn]
x 8 all seasons [season~kong blue#1234]
= 3456 Tile Points
spiral_spectral(east)
+1F ~ OwnSeason
+1F ~ All~Chows
+3F ~ Semi~Pure
= 5 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+ 4 for flowers and seasons [one bonus tile]
+ 2 one chance winning tile [the Circles~3 is the only possible tile]
x 2 all chows and a worthless pair
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Circles]
x 2 season of own wind [East~blue#1~Spring]
= 208 Tile Points
spiral_spectral(west)
+1F ~ NoFlowers&NoSeasons
+1F ~ pongWhiteDragon
+3F ~ Semi~Pure
= 5 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : WhiteDragon
+ 2 pair of own wind : WestWind
+ 2 one chance winning tile [the Myriads~3 is the only possible tile]
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Myriads]
= 56 Tile Points
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These hands have two pongs/kongs of dragons plus a pair of the third dragons, with two other pongs/kongs/chows. Yahoo awards better Tile Points when pongs/kongs of honours are concealed. If the hand also contains other bonus items, the score can be maximized:
hap_pi_ness_5doors4winds3dragons(south)
+1F ~ OwnFlower
+3F ~ two pongs of Dragons and pair of third Dragons ("Minor~3~Dragons")
+6F ~ Semi~Pure~All~Pongs
= 10 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+12 for flowers and seasons [three bonus tiles]
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : RedDragon
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : WhiteDragon
+ 4 melded pung (terminals) : BamboosBirds~1
+16 melded kong (honours) : NorthWind
+ 2 pair of dragons : Green
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden pong Red]
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden pong White]
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 2 all terminals or honours [no simples]
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Bamboos]
x 2 flower of own wind [South~red#2~Orchid]
= 4480 Tile Points
waterloo8(north)
+1F ~ Self~Pick
+3F ~ OwnFlower plus SeasonKong
+3F ~ two pongs of Dragons and pair of third Dragons ("Minor~3~Dragons")
+1F ~ pongPrevailingWind
+6F ~ Semi~Pure~All~Pongs
= Maximum Faan reaching limit 13 or beyond
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+20 for flowers and seasons [five bonus tiles]
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : EastWind
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : WhiteDragon
+16 concealed kong (simples) : Circles~2
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : RedDragon
+ 2 pair of dragons : Green
+ 2 winning tile drawn from wall [self~pick]
x 2 pung of prevailing wind [hidden pong East]
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden pong White]
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Circles]
x 2 flower of own wind [North~red#4~BambooShoots]
x 2 season of own wind [North~blue#4~Winter]
x 8 all seasons [season~kong blue#1234]
= 40960 Tile Points
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If you succeed at forming this type of hand, you will certainly accrue many Faan. But you will score much higher Tile Points on the Yahoo system if you are able to keep your pongs of honours concealed. Yahoo only doubles the tile points for pongs/kongs dragons when they stay hidden, and does not award any bonus double points on those which are exposed. These hands have all three superior pongs/kongs of dragons, plus some other pong/kong/chow, plus a pair:
pi314pai(south)
+1F ~ Last~Tile
+6F ~ three pongs dragons ("Major~3~Dragons")
+6F ~ All~Honours~Pongs~Semi~Pure
= Maximum Faan reaching limit 13 or beyond
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+ 4 for flowers and seasons [one bonus tile]
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : GreenDragon
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : RedDragon
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : WhiteDragon
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : NorthWind
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden pong Green]
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 2 going out with last tile of wall
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Myriads]
= 704 Tile Points
wingwingpp(west)
+6F ~ three pongs/kongs Dragons ("Major~3~Dragons")
+3F ~ Semi~Pure
= 9 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+ 8 for flowers and seasons [two bonus tiles]
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : WhiteDragon
+16 melded kong (honours) : GreenDragon
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : RedDragon
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden pong White]
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Myriads]
= 224 Tile Points
prof5f(east)
+1F ~ Self~Pick
+1F ~ OwnFlower
+6F ~ three pongs dragons ("Major~3~Dragons")
= 8 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+12 for flowers and seasons [three bonus tiles]
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : GreenDragon
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : WhiteDragon
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : RedDragon
+ 2 winning tile drawn from wall [self~pick]
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden pong Green]
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden pong White]
x 2 flower of own wind [East~red#1~PlumBlossom]
= 432 Tile Points
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These hands of All~pongs with mixed suits contain No Simples, and they can sometimes score very high points in the Yahoo system. If a hand looks similar to All~Terminals&Honours but is not mixing suits, then it would be Semi~Pure~All~Pongs instead (see those descriptions below); either way, they would earn 6F+. Yahoo awards higher Tile Points when pongs/kongs of dragons and useful winds are concealed:
peaceful_mj314(south)
+1F ~ Self~Pick
+2F ~ pongsRed&WhiteDragons
+1F ~ pongPrevailingWind
+6F ~ All~Terminals&Honours~Pongs (mixed suits)
= 10 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+ 8 for flowers and seasons [two bonus tiles]
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : EastWind
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : RedDragon
+16 melded kong (terminals) : Bamboos~9
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : WhiteDragon
+ 2 winning tile drawn from wall [self~pick]
x 2 pung of prevailing wind [hidden pong East]
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden pong Red]
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 2 all terminals or honours [no simples]
= 1056 Tile Points
paihu314(north)
+2F ~ OwnFlower&OwnSeason
+2F ~ pongsWhite&GreenDragons
+2F ~ pongDoubleWind
+6F ~ All~Terminals&Honours~Pongs (mixed suits)
= 12 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+ 8 for flowers and seasons [two bonus tiles]
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : NorthWind
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : WhiteDragon
+16 melded kong (terminals) : Circles~1
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : GreenDragon
x 2 pung of prevailing wind [hidden pong North]
x 2 pung of own wind [hidden pong North]
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden pong White]
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 2 all terminals or honours [no simples]
x 2 flower of own wind [North~red#4~BambooShoots]
x 2 season of own wind [North~blue#4~Winter]
= 8192 Tile Points
pi314mj420(east)
+1F ~ Self~Pick
+1F ~ pongRedDragon
+6F ~ All~Terminals&Honours~Pongs (mixed suits)
= 8 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+ 4 for flowers and seasons [one bonus tile]
+ 8 concealed pung (terminals) : Circles~1
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : RedDragon
+32 concealed kong (terminals) : Myriads~9
+ 4 melded pung (terminals) : Bamboos~9
+ 2 pair of prevailing wind : WestWind
+ 2 winning tile drawn from wall [self~pick]
+ 2 one chance winning tile [the WestWind completes the pair]
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden pong Red]
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 2 all terminals or honours [no simples]
= 656 Tile Points
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These semi~pure hands of all~pongs/kongs can often be very successful when playing on any Faan~counting table, because additional elements easily maximize the score in the Yahoo system. Yahoo awards far more points when the good honours are concealed. These hands have one suit with honours, with no chows, so they are effectively combining the semi~pure quality (3F+) with all~pongs quality (+3F) to yield 6F+:
paihu314(east)
+1F ~ Self~Pick
+2F ~ OwnFlower&OwnSeason
+1F ~ pongGreenDragon
+6F ~ Semi~Pure~All~Pongs
= 10 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+12 for flowers and season [three bonus tiles]
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : GreenDragon
+ 2 melded pung (simples) : Circles~8
+ 8 melded kong (simples) : Circles~4
+ 2 melded pung (simples) : Circles~6
+ 2 winning tile drawn from wall [self~pick]
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden pong Green]
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Circles]
x 2 flower of own wind [East~red#1~PlumBlossom]
x 2 season of own wind [East~blue#1~Spring]
= 1728 Tile Points
rainbow_wind_dragon(west)
+1F ~ OwnFlower
+1F ~ pongWhiteDragon
+2F ~ pongPrevailingWind~&~kongOwnWind
+6F ~ Semi~Pure~All~Pongs
= 10 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+12 for flowers and seasons [three bonus tiles]
+ 4 concealed pung (simples) : Circles~4
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : EastWind
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : WhiteDragon
+16 melded kong (honours) : WestWind
x 2 pung of prevailing wind [hidden pong East]
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Circles]
x 2 flower of own wind [West~red#3~Chrysanthemum]
= 1024 Tile Points
iron_dog314(south)
+1F ~ kongWhiteDragon
+1F ~ All~Hidden
+6F ~ Semi~Pure~All~Pongs
= 8 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+12 for flowers and seasons [three bonus tiles]
+ 4 concealed pung (simples) : Circles~8
+ 8 concealed pung (terminals) : Circles~9
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : WestWind
+32 concealed kong (honours) : WhiteDragon
+ 2 pair of dragons : Red
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden kong White]
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Circles]
= 688 Tile Points
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These are magnificent and rare hands which have all four pongs/kongs of winds and dragons, and only a worthless pair of suit tiles. In the Yahoo system, the best way to receive bonus multipliers is by keeping your good honours hidden, because Yahoo doubles your points when you are concealing pongs/kongs of any Dragons, OwnWinds, or PrevailingWinds. Also, you can double your points if you keep a pair of terminals suit tiles instead of a pair of simples suit tiles; this is because Yahoo will award a bonus for Going Out with "All Terminals Or Honours" as well as the usual "One Suit With Honours" for a semi~pure formation. These hands have a basis of 6F+ (similar to Semi~Pure~All~Pongs) but they always guarantee additional Faan from the winds and dragons contained within:
pi314pai(south)
+1F ~ Last~Tile
+6F ~ three pongs dragons ("Major~3~Dragons")
+6F ~ All~Honours~Pongs~Semi~Pure
= Maximum Faan reaching limit 13 or beyond
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+ 4 for flowers and seasons [one bonus tile]
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : GreenDragon
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : RedDragon
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : WhiteDragon
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : NorthWind
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden pong Green]
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 2 going out with last tile of wall
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Myriads]
= 704 Tile Points
byuen2001(west)
+2F ~ FlowerKong
+2F ~ pongsRed&WhiteDragons
+6F ~ All~Honours~Pongs~Semi~Pure
= 10 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+20 for flowers and seasons [five bonus tiles]
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : SouthWind
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : NorthWind
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : RedDragon
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : WhiteDragon
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Bamboos]
x 2 flower of own wind [West~red#3~Chrysanthemum]
x 8 all flowers [flower~kong red#1234]
= 4096 Tile Points
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When a hand has complete purity, it will score nicely. But if you want to maximize your Tile Points, you will need additional factors such as All~Chows, or All~Pongs, useful flowers, valuable Winning Tile, and so forth.
Hutchins_Kevin(west)
+2F ~ OwnFlower&OwnSeason
+6F ~ Pure~Suit
= 8 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+24 for flowers and seasons [six bonus tiles]
+ 2 melded pung (simples) : Myriads~6
x 8 only one suit [pure Myriads]
x 2 flower of own wind [West~red#3~Chrysanthemum]
x 2 season of own wind [West~blue#3~Autumn]
= 1472 Tile Points
house_of_pi(north)
+1F ~ Self~Pick
+1F ~ OwnFlower
+1F ~ All~Chows
+6F ~ Pure~Suit
= 9 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+12 for flowers and seasons [three bonus tiles]
+ 2 winning tile drawn from wall [self~pick]
+ 2 one chance winning tile [the Bamboos~3 is the only possible tile]
x 2 all chows and a worthless pair
x 8 only one suit [pure Bamboos]
x 2 flower of own wind [North~red#4~BambooShoots]
= 1152 Tile Points
mj5fanfun(south)
+1F ~ Self~Pick
+1F ~ OwnSeason
+3F ~ All~Pongs
+6F ~ Pure~Suit
= 11 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+ 4 for flowers and seasons [one bonus tile]
+ 2 melded pung (simples) : Circles~2
+ 2 melded pung (simples) : Circles~5
+ 2 melded pung (simples) : Circles~8
+ 4 melded pung (terminals) : Circles~9
+ 2 winning tile drawn from wall [self~pick]
+ 2 one chance winning tile [the Circles~7 completes the pair]
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 8 only one suit [pure Circles]
x 2 season of own wind [South~blue#2~Summer]
= 1216 Tile Points
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When a player has three pongs/kongs of winds and a pair of the fourth winds (with some set of suit tiles), they will automatically score 6 Faan plus an additional amount. If their suits tiles form a chow, then they have Semi~Pure hand with +3F added. If their suit tiles form a pong/kong, then they have Semi~Pure All~Pongs hand with +6F added instead. Then this subtotal of 9Faan or 12Faan may also have additional elements (Flowers, Seasons, Self Pick, et cetera), so a Minor~4~Winds Hand always scores very high total Faan. In order to win more points on the Yahoo system, you will need to keep the pongs/kongs of OwnWinds and PrevailingWinds concealed, because Yahoo doesn't award bonus doubles when they are melded exposed:
gok9999999(north)
+1F ~ OwnFlower
+6F ~ three pongs of Winds and pair of fourth Winds ("Minor~4~Winds")
+6F ~ Semi~Pure~All~Pongs
= Maximum Faan reaching limit 13 or beyond
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+ 4 for flowers and seasons [one bonus tile]
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : SouthWind
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : NorthWind
+ 2 melded pung (simples) : Circles~4
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : WestWind
x 2 pung of prevailing wind [hidden pong South]
x 2 pung of own wind [hidden pong North]
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Circles]
x 2 flower of own wind [North~red#4~BambooShoots]
= 1472 Tile Points
lai_chi_shan(east)
+6F ~ three pongs of Winds and pair of fourth Winds ("Minor~4~Winds")
+6F ~ Semi~Pure~All~Pongs
= 12 Faan total
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+ 4 for flowers and seasons [one bonus tile]
+ 4 concealed pung (simples) : Myriads~8
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : NorthWind
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : WestWind
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : SouthWind
+ 2 pair of own wind : EastWind
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Myriads]
= 168 Tile Points
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Major~4~Winds Hand: 12F+ (always adding 6F+6F to yield 12F+)
These are among the most challenging hands to possibly complete, and their achievement always earns an outstanding amount of Faan. They are composed of all four superior pongs/kongs of winds with any worthless pair of suit tiles. They automatically combine All~Honours~Pongs~Semi~Pure(6F+) with All~Four~Winds(+6F), guaranteeing 12F+:
This is a mock-up example for illustration only-- not an actual snapshot:
example_player(south)
+1F ~ Self~Pick
+1F ~ OwnSeason
+6F ~ All four pongs Winds ("Major~4~Winds")
+6F ~ All~Honours~Pongs~Semi~Pure
= Maximum Faan reaching limit 13 or beyond
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+ 8 for flowers and seasons [two bonus tiles]
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : SouthWind
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : WestWind
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : EastWind
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : NorthWind
+ 2 winning tile drawn from wall [self~pick]
x 2 pung of own wind [hidden pong South]
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Circles]
x 2 season of own wind [South~blue#2~Summer]
= 864 Tile Points
(I have not currently taken any real snapshots of hands with all four superior winds pongs arranged with a worthless pair of suit tiles; please send me any examples which you witness.)
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These are extremely rare hands with any four KONGS and any pair, Going Out with one chance winning tile. Four quadruplets and a pair is an arrangement often called "18~Monks". The winning screen mentions "122 four pungs", but they are obviously all KONGS.
pi314mj420(west)
+1F ~ kongRedDragon
+2F ~ exposed kongDoubleWind
+LIMIT ~ All four KONGS, and a pair containing One Chance Winning Tile
= Maximum Faan reaching limit 13 or beyond
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+ 4 for flowers and seasons [one bonus tile]
+32 concealed kong (terminals) : Circles~9
+32 concealed kong (honours) : RedDragon
+ 8 melded kong (simples) : Circles~7
+16 melded kong (honours) : WestWind
+ 2 pair of dragons : Green
+ 2 one chance winning tile [the GreenDragon completes the pair]
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden kong Red]
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Circles]
= 928 Tile Points
(During that hand the WestWind equalled both my OwnWind&PrevailingWind but Yahoo didn't mention because it was exposed.)
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These hands are always composed of five flavors of Winds and Dragons (four pongs/kongs and a pair), with no suits. Yahoo automatically awards the maximum limit of points for the table setting. Many hosts on advanced tables will use 65536 (Yahoo's maximum limit):
trixien@prodigynet(east)
+1F ~ OwnFlower
+2F ~ pongsWhite&GreenDragons
+1F ~ pongOwnWind
+LIMIT ~ All four pongs honours with a pair of honours
= Maximum Faan reaching limit 13 or beyond
limit - all honours [maximum score designated by host who created the table]
= 65536 Tile Points, all other additions and multiplications are superceded!
paihu314(north)
+2F ~ Supplementary~Tile&Self~Pick
+3F ~ two pongs of Dragons and pair of third Dragons ("Minor~3~Dragons")
+LIMIT ~ All four pongs/kongs honours with a pair of honours
= Maximum Faan reaching limit 13 or beyond
limit - all honours [maximum score designated by host who created the table]
= 65536 Tile Points, all other additions and multiplications are superceded!
mahjongbeginner(south)
+2F ~ SeasonKong
+1F ~ pongGreenDragon
+6F ~ three pongs of Winds and pair of fourth Winds ("Minor~4~Winds")
+LIMIT ~ All four pongs honours with a pair of honours
= Maximum Faan reaching limit 13 or beyond
limit - all honours [maximum score designated by host who created the table]
= 65536 Tile Points, all other additions and multiplications are superceded!
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These hands are always composed of five flavors of Terminals Suits Tiles (strictly 1's & 9's, four pongs/kongs plus a pair), with no simples and no honours. Yahoo automatically awards the maximum limit of points for the table setting. Many advanced players will use Yahoo's maximum 65536 as the limit:
pentactics_fantastix(north)
+2F ~ OwnFlower&OwnSeason
+LIMIT ~ All four pongs terminals with a pair of terminals
= Maximum Faan reaching limit 13 or beyond
limit - all terminals [maximum score designated by host who created the table]
= 65536 Tile Points, all other additions and multiplications are superceded!
white_tiger_314(east)
+2F ~ Supplementary~Tile&Self~Pick
+1F ~ NoFlowers&NoSeasons
+LIMIT ~ All four pongs/kongs terminals with a pair of terminals
= Maximum Faan reaching limit 13 or beyond
limit - all terminals [maximum score designated by host who created the table]
= 65500 Tile Points, all other additions and multiplications are superceded!
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Special Limit Hands: 13F+ (including Hidden~Treasure, 13~Unique~Wonders, and other exceptional situations)
These are some of the "Classic" Special Hands recognized by many MahJong players around the world, and they can be verified on the Yahoo system. These situations are all automatically considered to earn 13F+ (Maximum Faan). Yahoo only pays Tile Points strictly by their basic calculation system, and does not offer extra bonuses for advanced Special Hands. Although the Yahoo Tile Points might be cheap, many of these arrangements may still be exciting to win:
- Nine~Gates to Heaven: pure~hand fully~concealed with 1112345678999 then Going Out with any additional tile in that suit ("Nine~Lamps~of~Lotus")
- Heavenly Twins: fully concealed hand with seven pairs in one pure suit (arranged as "all chows and a worthless pair")
- Hidden Treasure: fully concealed hand with all four pongs/kongs and a pair, with winning tile drawn from wall (self~pick); either semi~pure or pure suit, or no~simples (all~terminals&honours mixed~suits)
- All~Jade~Green: hand entirely consisting of tiles from GreenDragon&2/3/4/6/8~Bamboo
- All~Ruby~Red: hand entirely consisting of tiles from RedDragon&1/5/7/9~Bamboo
- Palace of Ruby&Jade: pongs/kongs of Red&GreenDragons, pong/kong among 1/5/7/9~Bamboo(red), pong/kong among 2/3/4/6/8~Bamboo(green), any pair~Bamboo
- All~8~Flowers~&~Seasons: the Ultimate~Bouquet with both FlowerKong AND SeasonKong (the "eight guardians"), Going Out with any complete arrangement (any four chows/pongs/kongs and a pair)
- Double~Kong~Pick: meld two Kongs consecutively, drawing one supplementary tile immediately after the other, then Going Out with that winning tile drawn from wall ("Kong~on~Kong")
- Snatching/Scratching Carrying Poles: Going Out by Robbing~a~Kong of 2~Bamboo~sticks (the "Carrying Poles"). Opponent attempts to promote their exposed pong of 2~Bamboo~sticks, but you steal the kong~tile to complete your Bamboo~chow while Going Out
- Plum Blossom on the Roof: Going Out with a supplementary tile (Kong~Pick) of 5~Circles ("luckily plucking the Blossom", "plant the Flagpole at the Centre of the Wall")
- Moon from the Bottom of the Sea: Going Out with Self~Pick@Last~Tile of the wall of 1~Circles ("the Perfect Pearl")
- 5~Doors~to~Happiness: pongs terminals all three suits same rank (either pongs all 1's or pongs all 9's: myriads+circles+bamboos) plus useful wind (own or prevailing or doubleWind) plus any dragon (red or green or white)
- Heavenly Hand: Dealer is Going Out instantly with the First~Tile dealt from the wall, winning immediately without discarding
- Earthly Hand: non~dealer is Going Out instantly with the First~Tile discarded by the dealer, winning immediately without discarding
- Netherly Hand: non~dealer is Going Out instantly with the First~Tile discarded by any non~dealer opponent, or by Self~Pick, winning immediately without discarding
- Birds in the Forest: all four Superior Major~Winds pongs/kongs plus a pair of Birds. (This is the 'perfect' hand which gives its eponymous title to the game of MahJong!)
peaceful_mj314(north)
"Moon from the Bottom of the Sea": Special Classic Limit
= Maximum Faan reaching 13 or beyond
Going Out Self~Pick@Last~Tile of Wall as 1~Circles ("the perfect pearl")
[all other Faan elements are superceded]
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+12 for flowers and seasons [three bonus tiles]
+ 8 concealed pung (terminals) : Circles~1
+ 2 melded pung (simples) : Circles~4
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : WhiteDragon
+ 2 melded pung (simples) : Myriads~8
+ 2 winning tile drawn from wall [self~pick]
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 2 going out with last tile of wall
= 200 Tile Points
lipitor5634(north)
"Palace of Ruby and Jade": Special Classic Limit:
pongRedDragon, pongRedBamboo, pongGreenDragon, pongGreenBamboo, pair any Bamboo
= Maximum Faan reaching 13 or beyond
[all other Faan elements are superceded]
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+ 8 for flowers and seasons [two bonus tiles]
+ 4 concealed pung (simples) : Bamboos~6
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : GreenDragon
+ 4 melded pung (terminals) : Bamboos~9
+ 4 melded pung (honours) : RedDragon
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden pong Green]
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Bamboos]
x 2 flower of own wind [North~red#4~BambooShoots]
x 2 season of own wind [North~blue#4~Winter]
= 1536 Tile Points
pentactics55555(east)
"Hidden Treasure": Special Classic Limit:
All~Pongs [semi~pure in this example] & All~Hidden & Self~Pick
= Maximum Faan reaching 13 or beyond
[all other Faan elements are superceded]
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+ 4 for flowers and seasons [one bonus tile]
+ 8 concealed pung (terminals) : Circles~1
+ 4 concealed pung (simples) : Circles~6
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : WhiteDragon
+32 concealed kong (honours) : RedDragon
+ 2 winning tile drawn from wall [self~pick]
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden pong White]
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden kong Red]
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 2 one suit with honours [semi~pure Circles]
= 1248 Tile Points
qwiz_x(north)
"5~Doors~to~Happiness": Special Classic Limit:
pongs terminals all suits same rank (pongs all 1s or all 9s of Myriads + Circles + Bamboos) + useful wind (OwnWind or PrevailingWind or DoubleWind) + any dragon
= Maximum Faan reaching 13 or beyond
[all other Faan elements are superceded]
+20 going out [blue rectangular highlight]
+ 4 for flowers and seasons [one bonus tile]
+ 8 concealed pung (terminals) : BamboosBirds~1
+16 melded kong (honours) : NorthWind
+ 4 melded pung (terminals) : Circles~1
+ 4 melded pung (terminals) : Myriads~1
+ 2 pair of dragons : Green
x 2 four pungs [no chows]
x 2 all terminals or honours [no simples]
x 2 flower of own wind [North~red#4~BambooShoots]
= 464 Tile Points
The Yahoo system does not recognize exceptional arrangments such as 13~U. There are many other sorts of "Special Hands" which players could create with tiles in real life, but the Yahoo system does not give these any possibility of scoring Tile Points. Yahoo only permits players to be Going Out with four chows/pongs/kongs and a pair. These are some exceptional Special Hands which can't score points for Going Out on the Yahoo system, but you could take a picture if you arrange these. With tiles in real life, they would earn Maximum Faan:
My Yahoo MahJong Flickr Photo Albums show: hands with Limit~All~Terminals and Limit~All~Honours, hands containing various combinations of elements achieving 13Faan&up, players scoring 1200 Tile Points or more, and other extremely rare hands seen in the Lion's Lair.
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The Yahoo system of calculating Tile Points allows any of the players to potentially earn some amount for their pongs, kongs, useful honour pairs, flowers and seasons while they are not actually Going Out. They don't need to win the hand or earn any Faan in order to score these points. If an opponent is Going Out but one's own hand contains valuable elements, then it's possible to receive payments for these items from the other non-winners who are calculated to have lower scores. After the winner of the hand (with any Faan) is paid for Going Out, all the other people will settle the differences between their scores by comparing who is holding the more "expensive" tiles to collect from the people holding the "cheaper" tiles:
mason5aces_flourish8extras(east)
[no Faan earned because hand was "losing" while an opponent was Going Out]
+28 for flowers and seasons [seven bonus tiles]
+ 8 concealed pung (honours) : WhiteDragon
+ 2 melded pung (simples) : Myriads~3
+ 2 pair of own wind : EastWind
x 2 pung of dragons [hidden pong White]
x 2 flower of own wind [East~red#1~PlumBlossom]
x 2 season of own wind [East~blue#1~Spring]
x 8 all seasons [season~kong blue#1234]
= 2560 Tile Points
myriadmoonwingsunstars(west)
[no Faan earned because hand was "losing" while an opponent was Going Out]
+28 for flowers and seasons [seven bonus tiles]
+ 4 concealed pung (simples) : Bamboos~3
+ 8 melded kong (simples) : Myriads~4
+ 2 melded pung (simples) : Bamboos~2
+ 4 melded pung (terminals) : Bamboos~9
x 2 flower of own wind [West~red#3~Chrysanthemum]
x 2 season of own wind [West~blue#3~Autumn]
x 8 all seasons [season~kong blue#1234]
= 1472 Tile Points
My friend Alex maintains the extensive VirtualSuperSurvivor*s MahJong Hall Of Fame with photo albums showing many special Limit hands, as well as thousands of the finest snapshots categorized by winning arrangements and defensive styles. If you would like to learn about all the most interesting ways to play MahJong on Yahoo Games, i recommend browsing his albums:
VirtualSuperSurvivor*s MahJong Hall Of Fame
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Return to the calculation charts at the Guide To Count Faan.
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Updated 2007 July 17th © Kevin Hutchins