Mahjong Winds

All scoring patterns

Seat Wind 門風

A pung of your own seat wind.

1faan
The whole hand
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How it works

A pung or kong of the wind you are sitting as. East scores it for East, South for South, and so on.

Your seat wind depends on where you sit relative to the dealer, and it rotates as the deal passes. A pair is not enough, and a pung of someone else’s wind is worth nothing.

How to build it

Winds are the safest pungs to chase. Only four of each exist, and the three you do not need are nearly worthless to everyone else. Hold two of your seat wind longer than an ordinary pair.

Once the wall runs low and no third has appeared, drop it. An honour nobody can use is also the safest discard you own.

Common mistake

Holding a pung of the wrong wind. Only your seat wind and the round wind pay. A pung of West while sitting North scores zero. Check your seat before committing, because it rotates every hand.

What it combines with

If your seat wind is also the round wind, one triplet scores both rows for two faan. It is the normal route into Small Winds at six and Great Winds at limit. It also sits inside Mixed One Suit, where one suit plus honours is three, giving four in total.

Questions people ask

Does a kong of my seat wind score more than a pung?

Not here. A kong satisfies the pattern exactly as a pung does, for one faan. The kong pays you elsewhere, through the replacement tile you draw.

What if I am East in the East round?

Then one pung of East scores Seat Wind and Round Wind together. That is one faan each, so two faan from a single set.

Is a pair of my seat wind worth anything?

No. The pattern needs three or four identical tiles. A pair scores nothing, though it can still be the pair that completes your hand.

Nearby patterns

Play Mahjong Winds

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