Mahjong glossary A–Z

Short for the bamboo suit, used especially in American play.

Bams, dots and craks are the American nicknames for the three suits.

One of the three suits, showing bamboo sticks.

Represents strings of coins on old money cards. The one of bamboo is drawn as a bird.

Pungs or kongs of all three dragons.

A limit hand in Hong Kong, a yakuman in riichi and 88 points in MCR.

Passing on tiles received in the Charleston without looking at them.

Allowed on the last pass of each Charleston, so a player can keep their own tiles.

Opening the wall at the point chosen by the dice to begin dealing.

The dice decide whose wall and how many stacks along; the ritual keeps the deal random.

Claiming another player's discard to complete a set or win.

Rules differ by style on who may call what — chows only from the left in Chinese and Japanese play, never in American play.

The annual list of winning hands issued by the National Mah Jongg League.

Every American game is played against the current card; hands not on it cannot win.

The suit marked with a Chinese numeral and 萬 ('ten thousand').

Also called cracks or craks; descends from the myriads suit of money cards.

The exchange of tiles between players before American play begins.

A required first round (right, across, left), an optional second round and an optional courtesy pass.

Seven pairs, a two-han yaku in riichi.

Always scored at 25 fu; combines well with riichi, tanyao and dora.

A serious rule violation in riichi, such as a false win, with a fixed penalty.

Penalties are usually a payment equivalent to a mangan.

A run of three consecutive tiles in one suit.

Can be claimed only from the player on your left in Chinese and Japanese styles. Called chi in riichi.

A hand built without claiming any discards except the winning tile.

Rewarded in most scoring systems and required for riichi and some American hands.

An optional exchange of up to three tiles across the table after the Charleston.

The player offering fewer tiles sets the number exchanged.

American nickname for the characters suit.

Also spelled crack.

A hand that can no longer win, usually because of a wrong tile count or impossible exposures.

The player stops picking and discarding but still pays the winner.

Tiles set aside at the break, used for replacements and dora indicators.

Fourteen tiles in Japanese play; the live wall ends when only the dead wall remains.

The player in the East seat, who starts with fourteen tiles.

Often keeps the deal after winning; wins and loses more in riichi.

A bonus tile worth one extra han in a winning hand.

Indicated by a face-up tile in the dead wall; dora are not yaku.

The suit showing circles, also called coins or wheels.

Descends from the coin suit of money cards. The one-dot is a large medallion.

The three honour tiles: red, green and white.

Can form pungs and pairs but never runs; dragon pungs score in most styles.

A non-dealer's win at the very start of a hand.

Exact definition varies by style; a limit hand where recognised.

A group of tiles laid face up after calling a discard.

In American play exposures must fit a hand on the card, and exposed jokers can be exchanged.

Another name for the pair in a winning hand.

Every standard hand needs exactly one pair.

The unit of hand value in Hong Kong mahjong.

Payments roughly double with each faan, up to the table limit.

Bonus tiles showing plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo.

Set aside and replaced in Chinese styles; kept and used in hands in American play.

To give up on your own hand and discard only safe tiles.

Used when an opponent is likely ready and your hand is weak.

Minipoints reflecting a riichi hand's structure.

Start at 20 and rise with triplets, value pairs, difficult waits and closed ron wins.

Being unable to win on a discard because a winning tile is in your own discards.

You may still win by self-draw. The rule makes defensive reading possible.

Chinese name for the official Mahjong Competition Rules (MCR).

Means 'national standard'.

A hand of one suit plus honour tiles; mixed one suit, honitsu.

Worth about 3 faan in Hong Kong and 3 han closed in riichi.

The main unit of value in riichi, from yaku and dora.

Each extra han roughly doubles a hand until the limit tiers.

A dealer whose dealt hand is already complete.

Pure luck and a limit hand everywhere it is recognised.

The wind and dragon tiles.

They have no numbers, so they can only form pungs, kongs and pairs.

A bonus han for winning within one go-around of declaring riichi.

Cancelled if any call interrupts the go-around.

A wild tile used in American Mah Jongg.

Substitutes in groups of three or more identical tiles, never in singles or pairs.

Swapping a real tile for a joker in someone's exposure, on your turn.

A key American tactic and a reason to think twice before exposing jokers.

Four identical tiles.

After declaring one, a player draws a replacement tile. Called kan in riichi.

A rare hand paid at the maximum value.

Thirteen orphans, nine gates and big four winds are examples.

The American spelling of mahjong, and the call made when winning.

Comes from the name trademarked by Joseph Park Babcock in the 1920s.

The first limit tier in riichi scoring: 8,000 for a non-dealer.

Reached at five han, or four han with high fu.

Mahjong Competition Rules, the Chinese official tournament standard.

81 scoring patterns and an eight-point minimum.

Winning by self-draw with a fully closed hand — a one-han yaku.

Often combined with riichi.

1112345678999 in one suit plus any tile of that suit.

One of the rarest limit hands.

A closed hand of four sequences, a non-value pair and a two-sided wait.

A one-han yaku that adds no fu.

Three identical tiles.

Can be claimed from any player. Called pon in riichi.

Five identical tiles, possible in American play using jokers.

Appears in the quints section of the card.

Needing only one tile to win; also tenpai or calling.

The tiles that would complete the hand are the waits.

A five painted red, counting as a dora.

Usually one per suit in modern Japanese sets.

Declaring a ready closed hand with a 1,000-point deposit.

Worth one han, but locks the hand. Also the name of Japanese mahjong.

Winning on a tile another player adds to an exposed pung to make a kong.

Earns a bonus in most styles; chankan in riichi.

Winning on another player's discard.

Compare tsumo, winning by self-draw.

The prevailing wind of the current round, starting with East.

A pung of the round wind scores in Chinese and Japanese styles.

Three-player Japanese mahjong.

Removes characters 2–8 and often uses the North wind as a bonus.

Bonus tiles showing spring, summer, autumn and winter.

Numbered one to four to match the seats.

The wind matching your seat: East, South, West or North.

A pung of your own seat wind scores in Chinese and Japanese styles.

Winning with a tile drawn from the wall rather than a discard.

Called zimo, tsumo or self-pick; usually paid by all opponents.

A special hand of seven different pairs.

Allowed in riichi and MCR; varies elsewhere.

Suited tiles numbered two to eight.

More flexible than terminals; tanyao in riichi uses only simples.

American nickname for the white dragon.

Also represents zero in year hands on the card.

A riichi reading technique based on two-sided waits.

If a player has discarded a 4, two-sided waits on 1-4 and 4-7 are impossible for them.

The unit of hand value in Taiwanese and Singaporean mahjong.

Paid on top of a fixed base amount.

All simples: a hand with no terminals or honours.

A one-han yaku, allowed open in most rules.

Japanese for being ready — one tile from winning.

Matters at a drawn hand, when non-ready players pay ready ones.

The ones and nines of each suit.

Combined with honours in many special hands.

One of each terminal and honour plus one duplicate.

Kokushi musou in Japanese; a limit hand almost everywhere.

Winning by self-draw.

Compare ron, winning on a discard.

Hidden dora under the indicators, revealed only for a riichi winner.

Can turn a modest riichi into a big hand.

The tile or tiles that would complete a ready hand.

Two-sided waits accept the most tiles; single waits the fewest.

The square of face-down tiles from which players draw.

Two tiles high; its length depends on the set size.

A hand that ends without a winner because the wall runs out.

Also called a drawn hand; payments depend on the style.

The four honour tiles East, South, West and North.

Tied to seats and rounds in Chinese and Japanese scoring.

A recognised scoring pattern in riichi; every winning hand needs one.

Riichi, tanyao, pinfu and yakuhai are the most common.

A pung of dragons, your seat wind or the round wind — a one-han yaku.

The easiest way to make an open hand legal.

A riichi limit hand worth the maximum.

Includes thirteen orphans, four concealed triplets and big three dragons.

A card hand built from the digits of the current year.

The white dragon stands for zero.

Mandarin for winning by self-draw.

Usually adds value and is paid by all opponents.