Mahjong Winds

All scoring patterns

Dragon Pung 三元牌

Three of one dragon, and each dragon pung counts.

1each
The whole hand
345678234SS
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How it works

A pung or kong of red, green or white dragon. It pays one faan for each such set, so two dragon pungs score two.

Dragons belong to nobody’s seat, so every player scores them equally. Two dragon pungs with a dragon pair becomes Small Dragons, and three becomes Great Dragons.

How to build it

Dragons are the honours most worth fighting for. One pung already pays, and each extra one raises the ceiling sharply.

Keep a lone dragon longer than a lone terminal in the opening turns. Once a second copy sits in a discard pile you cannot claim, the tile becomes safe to drop.

Common mistake

Counting a dragon pair. Only three or four identical dragons score. A pair is worth nothing by itself here. It matters only in Small Dragons, where two dragon pungs plus a pair of the third make five faan.

What it combines with

Each dragon pung counts separately, so two is two faan before anything else. Dragon Pung with Mixed One Suit is one plus three, four faan, and it is a common shape because honours are allowed there. Small Dragons at five and Great Dragons at eight absorb this pattern into a larger one.

Questions people ask

Do two dragon pungs really score twice?

Yes. This row counts once per dragon set. Such a hand is usually heading for Small Dragons or Great Dragons anyway.

Is a kong of dragons worth more than a pung?

For this row they are identical, at one faan. The kong earns a replacement draw, which sometimes matters more than the faan.

Which dragon scores the most?

None. Red, green and white are worth the same. Only how many you hold changes the score.

Nearby patterns

Play Mahjong Winds

Every win shows its faan line by line, using the table on this page.