Mahjong Winds

All scoring patterns

Small Winds 小四喜

Three wind pungs plus a pair of the fourth.

6faan
The whole hand
EEESSSW西W西W西345NN
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Sources genuinely differ on whether your seat and round wind pungs still count on top of the 6. We stack them, with the majority. The full comparison

How it works

Three pungs of winds plus a pair of the fourth wind. It is six faan.

Because winds are involved, your seat wind and the round wind rows usually score on top. Completing the fourth pung turns it into Great Winds, a limit hand.

How to build it

Three wind pungs means nine specific tiles out of sixteen, so this is far harder than Small Dragons. Only pursue it if winds arrive early and in numbers. The consolation is real: even a failed attempt usually leaves you holding your seat wind or the round wind, which pays something.

Common mistake

Chasing the fourth wind from a made hand. Small Winds is already six faan plus the wind rows. Breaking the pair for Great Winds risks all of it, and the fourth wind is often the one everyone else has discarded and nobody holds.

What it combines with

Seat Wind and Round Wind add their faan on top, so six is a floor rather than a total. With All Pungs, which it implies, that is six plus three. With Mixed One Suit it is six plus three again, since honours are allowed there.

Questions people ask

Do I still score Seat Wind inside Small Winds?

Yes. Those rows count separately, so a hand containing your seat wind pays that faan too.

Does the pair have to be the fourth wind?

Yes. Three wind pungs with an ordinary pair is not this pattern.

How much harder is Great Winds?

Considerably. It needs a fourth specific triplet, and it is a limit hand precisely because it so rarely lands.

Nearby patterns

Play Mahjong Winds

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