How to Count Tai in Taiwanese Mahjong: Full Table and Examples
In Taiwanese 16-tile mahjong, every winning hand is scored in tai (台): the harder or prettier the hand, the more tai it earns. This guide gives you the full tai table plus three worked examples, so you can check every score yourself.
The basics: base, tai and tai value
A Taiwanese mahjong score has two parts:
- Base (底): whenever someone wins, each paying player first pays one base.
- Tai (台): every condition the winning hand meets adds tai; add them all up.
- Tai value: how many points each tai is worth.
At a table with base 50 / tai 20, a 5-tai hand costs each paying player 50 + 5 × 20 = 150.
Who pays? If you win on a discard, only the player who discarded that tile pays. If you self-draw the winning tile, all three other players pay.
The dealer and dealer streaks
Whenever the dealer is the winner or a payer, that payment gets extra dealer tai:
- Dealer: 1 tai.
- Streak: the dealer keeps the deal after winning or after a drawn hand. With a streak of N, add another 2N tai (known as “連 N 拉 N”).
So with a dealer on a streak of 2, any payment involving the dealer adds 1 + 2 × 2 = 5 tai. Payments between two non-dealers get no dealer tai.
Full tai table
These are the values used in MacePlay's Taiwan Mahjong, which match the most common Taiwanese rules. House rules can differ slightly, so agree on them before you play.
| Pattern | Tai | When it counts |
|---|---|---|
| How you win | ||
| Self-draw (自摸) | 1 | You draw the winning tile yourself. |
| Concealed hand (門清) | 1 | No chow, pung or exposed kong (concealed kongs are fine), winning on a discard. |
| Concealed self-draw (門清自摸) | 3 | Concealed and self-drawn: 3 tai in total, replacing the two above. |
| Single wait (獨聽) | 1 | Only one tile can complete your hand: edge, middle or pair wait. |
| All melded (全求人) | 2 | All five sets were melded from discards, leaving a single tile, and you win on a discard. |
| Robbing the kong (搶槓) | 1 | You win on the tile another player adds to a pung. |
| Win after a kong (槓上開花) | 1 | The replacement tile after a kong or flower completes your hand. |
| Last tile (海底撈月) | 1 | You self-draw the very last tile. |
| Last discard (河底撈魚) | 1 | You win on the very last discard. |
| Honor tiles | ||
| Dragon pung | 1 each | Each pung (or kong) of Red, Green or White Dragon. |
| Little three dragons (小三元) | 4 | Two dragon pungs plus a pair of the third dragon. |
| Big three dragons (大三元) | 8 | Pungs of all three dragons. |
| Round wind (圈風) | 1 | A pung of the current round's wind. |
| Seat wind (門風) | 1 | A pung of your own seat wind. |
| Little four winds (小四喜) | 8 | Three wind pungs plus a pair of the fourth wind. |
| Big four winds (大四喜) | 16 | Pungs of all four winds. |
| Flowers | ||
| Own flower (正花) | 1 | Each flower matching your seat (East: Spring and Plum; South: Summer and Orchid; West: Autumn and Chrysanthemum; North: Winter and Bamboo). |
| Flower set (花槓) | 2 | All four seasons, or all four plants. |
| Eight flowers (八仙過海) | 8 | Collect all eight flowers: an instant win. |
| Seven robs one (七搶一) | 8 | You hold seven flowers and another player draws the eighth: you take it and win, and that player pays. |
| Hand patterns | ||
| All chows (平胡) | 2 | Five chows, a non-honor pair, no flowers and no honors; not self-drawn and not a single wait. |
| All pungs (碰碰胡) | 4 | Five pungs (or kongs). |
| Three concealed pungs (三暗刻) | 2 | Three pungs you drew yourself (concealed kongs count). |
| Four concealed pungs (四暗刻) | 5 | Four concealed pungs. |
| Five concealed pungs (五暗刻) | 8 | Five concealed pungs. |
| Half flush (混一色) | 4 | One suit (characters, dots or bamboo) plus honors. |
| Full flush (清一色) | 8 | One suit only, no honors. |
| All honors (字一色) | 16 | Honor tiles only. |
| Special | ||
| Heavenly hand (天胡) | 16 | The dealer wins with the opening hand. |
| Earthly hand (地胡) | 16 | A non-dealer wins on their first draw before anyone has called a tile. |
Note: a pung completed with someone else's discard does not count as concealed. If a hand can be split in more than one way, use the split with the most tai. Heavenly and Earthly hands score 16 tai on their own and do not stack with other patterns.
Three worked examples
All examples use a table with base 50 / tai 20.
Example 1: concealed self-draw by a non-dealer
You are South (not the dealer), with no calls and no flowers. You hold a pung of Red Dragons and wait on the 4 of characters between your 3 and 5 (a middle wait). You draw the 4 yourself.
- Concealed self-draw: 3 tai
- Red Dragon pung: 1 tai
- Single wait (middle): 1 tai
5 tai in total. All three opponents pay: the two non-dealers pay 50 + 5 × 20 = 150 each, and the dealer adds 1 dealer tai and pays 50 + 6 × 20 = 170.
Example 2: all pungs with a half flush
It is the East round and you sit South. You have called pungs of 3 and 7 characters and East Wind. In hand you hold a pung of 2 characters, a pair of 1s and a pair of 5s, waiting on either. West discards a 5 of characters and you win.
- All pungs: 4 tai
- Half flush (characters plus honors): 4 tai
- Round wind (East pung in the East round): 1 tai
9 tai in total. Because you won on a discard, the pung of 5s is not concealed, and with two possible tiles it is not a single wait. West pays 50 + 9 × 20 = 230.
Example 3: winning on the dealer's discard during a streak of 2
The dealer has kept the deal twice. You are a non-dealer who called two chows along the way, and you complete an all-chows hand (five chows, no honors or flowers, two-sided wait) on the dealer's discard. Because you called tiles, it is not concealed.
- All chows: 2 tai
- Dealer: 1 tai + streak of 2 (4 tai) = 5 tai
The dealer pays 2 + 5 = 7 tai: 50 + 7 × 20 = 190.
Common questions
Why is a concealed self-draw 3 tai and not 1 + 1?
That is the usual Taiwanese rule: the combination is worth 3 tai, rewarding players who build their hand without calling tiles.
I sit East in the East round and have an East pung. How many tai?
It counts as both round wind and seat wind: 2 tai.
Do I have to replace flowers?
Flowers cannot be used in sets. Show them as soon as you draw them and take a replacement from the end of the wall. MacePlay replaces flowers for you automatically.
Who deals after a drawn hand?
The dealer keeps the deal (it counts as a streak). The deal only passes on when a non-dealer wins, and the round wind changes after everyone has dealt once.
Practice scoring in MacePlay
MacePlay's Taiwan Mahjong is a 16-tile, four-player game with dice to choose the dealer and break the wall. The result screen lists every tai pattern in the winning hand and the total, so a few hands are all it takes to learn the table. Tables start any time, with AI players filling empty seats. Push-Down Mahjong, Mahjong Duel and Mahjong Rush are there when you want a change.
MacePlay is for adults 18+ and for entertainment only. Virtual coins have no cash value and cannot be exchanged for cash or goods.
Ready? Open a table in MacePlay
Taiwan Mahjong with 16 tiles. The result screen lists every tai pattern, so you learn as you play.
