Taiwanese 16-Tile Mahjong Rules and Tai Scoring
How Taiwanese 16-tile Mahjong is played, from the deal to the winning hand of five sets and a pair, with the tai table, flower scoring and payouts used at our tables.
What makes Taiwanese Mahjong different
Taiwanese Mahjong (台灣麻將), often called 16-tile Mahjong (16張麻將), is the version played across Taiwan. It uses the same tiles and the same draw-and-discard turn as other Mahjong, but every player holds 16 tiles instead of 13.
With three extra tiles, a winning hand (胡牌) needs five sets and a pair, 17 tiles in all. Hands take longer to build and big patterns turn up more often. A match also runs eight wind rounds instead of four.
Taiwanese scoring counts tai (台) for each pattern in the winning hand. It has no upper limit, and payment grows by one unit for every tai. If you are new to Mahjong, start with how to play Mahjong for the tiles and sets, then come back here for the Taiwanese rules.
The 144 tiles
A Taiwanese set has 144 tiles. There are four copies of each suit tile and honour tile, plus eight bonus tiles. Taiwanese tables don't use the animal tiles found in Singapore and Malaysian sets.
Dealing and playing a hand
- Everyone takes 16 tiles. Any flower or season in the deal goes face up beside the player and is replaced from the wall.
- East, the dealer, plays first. Play then passes to South, West and North, and back to East.
- Draw a tile, then discard one. On your turn you draw from the wall, so you hold 17, then throw one tile face up into the middle. You end every turn back on 16.
- Claim a discard if it helps. Take it for a set or a win, show the set face up, discard, and play continues from you.
- The hand ends with a win or an empty wall. The first player to complete five sets and a pair wins. If the wall runs out first, the hand is a draw.
You can claim a discard from any player for a pung, a kong or a win. A chow (吃) can only use a discard from the player on your left, who plays just before you.
When several players call the same tile, a win beats a kong, a kong beats a pung and a pung beats a chow. If two or more players can win on the same discard, they all win.
Winning with five sets and a pair
You win when your 16 tiles plus one more make five sets and one pair. Sets you exposed by claiming count toward the five. The last tile can come from the wall, a self-drawn win (自摸), or from another player's discard.
With Taiwan tai scoring switched on, a hand also needs at least 1 tai to win. Flowers count toward that minimum, so a seat flower is enough.
Counting tai
Add up the tai for every pattern in the winning hand. These are the patterns our Taiwan tai scoring counts. A kong counts wherever a pung does.
| Pattern | Tai | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Self-drawn win (自摸) | 1 | You drew the winning tile from the wall |
| Seat wind pung | 1 | A pung of your own seat's wind |
| Round wind pung | 1 | A pung of the wind of the current round |
| Dragon pung | 1 | A pung of red, green or white, 1 tai for each |
| All sequences (平胡) | 2 | Every set is a chow |
| All triplets (碰碰胡) | 4 | Every set is a pung or kong |
| Half flush (混一色) | 4 | One suit plus honour tiles |
| Full flush (清一色) | 8 | Every tile from one suit, with no honours |
If your seat wind is also the round wind, a pung of it scores both, 2 tai. Many Taiwanese tables attach extra conditions to all sequences (平胡), and house rules vary. Ours only checks that all five sets are chows.
The big honour hands are worth much more. Each one replaces the single wind or dragon tai it contains, so you don't count those again. Other patterns in the hand, such as all triplets, still add on top.
| Honour hand | Tai | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Big four winds (大四喜) | 16 | Pungs of all four winds |
| Small four winds (小四喜) | 8 | Pungs of three winds and a pair of the fourth |
| Big three dragons (大三元) | 8 | Pungs of all three dragons |
| Small three dragons (小三元) | 4 | Pungs of two dragons and a pair of the third |
| All honours (字一色) | 16 | Every tile is a wind or a dragon |
Flowers and seasons score too. Each seat has one flower and one season of its own (正花), and each of those you hold is worth 1 tai. A flower or season that belongs to another seat scores nothing.
| Seat | Flower | Season |
|---|---|---|
| East | Plum | Spring |
| South | Orchid | Summer |
| West | Chrysanthemum | Autumn |
| North | Bamboo | Winter |
Paying out
Taiwanese settlement is simple arithmetic. A hand is worth one base unit plus one unit for each tai, so a 3 tai hand is worth 4 units. Nothing doubles and there is no cap.
| How you won | Who pays | Each payer pays |
|---|---|---|
| Self-drawn win (自摸) | All three opponents | 1 plus the tai |
| Win on a discard | Only the player who discarded | 1 plus the tai |
Say you win a 3 tai hand. Off a discard, the discarder pays you 4 units and the other two pay nothing. If you drew the tile yourself, the self-draw adds 1 tai, so the hand is 4 tai and all three opponents pay 5 units each, 15 in total. When two players win on the same discard, the discarder pays each winner.
The dealer and the eight-round match
The dealer keeps the deal after winning a hand, and also after a drawn hand when the wall runs out. When another player wins, the deal passes to the next seat.
Once every seat has dealt and lost the deal, the round wind moves on from East to South, then West and North. A Taiwanese match plays eight wind rounds, going round the four winds twice. After the last round, the player with the most points wins the match.
Taiwanese Mahjong at our tables
Our Taiwanese tables start on casual scoring. Any complete hand of five sets and a pair wins, and the winner scores 1 point, so new players can learn the 16-tile game without memorising the tai table. A self-drawn winning tile is declared for you automatically.
When you set up a private table, choose Taiwan Tai under Scoring to play with the tai table, flower tai and payouts on this page. Bonus tai for the last tile of the wall or for winning on a kong replacement tile are house rules and stay off.
Questions about Taiwanese Mahjong
How many tiles do you hold in Taiwanese Mahjong?
Sixteen. You draw a 17th on your turn and discard back to 16. A winning hand is 17 tiles, five sets and a pair.
Can I win with seven pairs?
No. Taiwanese rules have no seven pairs hand. Every win needs five sets and one pair.
Are there animal tiles in Taiwanese Mahjong?
No. The set has 144 tiles, with eight flowers and seasons as the only bonus tiles.
What is the most a hand can score?
There is no limit. Tai keep adding up, so a big honour hand with a flush and a few flowers can pass 20 tai.
Who pays when I win on a discard?
Only the player who threw the winning tile. They pay one base unit plus your tai. On a self-drawn win, all three opponents pay that amount.
How is this different from Hong Kong Mahjong?
Hong Kong hands have 13 tiles and four sets, seven pairs is allowed, faan scoring needs 3 faan to win, and a match has four wind rounds. See Hong Kong Mahjong rules.
What if we don't have four players?
Start anyway. AI players take the empty seats, so two or three friends can still play a full Taiwanese table.
Deal 16 tiles and play Taiwanese Mahjong.
Invite friends with one link and AI fills any empty seat. Play casual or switch on Taiwan tai scoring. No download, no sign-up.
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