In this guide I will explain the most used methods of winning in Japanese Mahjong

1. To win the Mahjong game, you must complete two conditions, the first is to have 4 combinations of 3 pieces and a pair (14 total pieces)
- Combinations are of 2 types - three identical pieces also known as a triplet, or a sequence of 3 numbers like 3,4,5

2. The second condition is to complete a method of winning. All methods of winning are listed in the table below.

3. In the game of Mahjong there is a feature where you can steal pieces discarded by other players to complete your combinations
- If stealing to completed a sequence this is called chi and can only be stolen from the player before you
- If stealing to complete a triplet this is called "Pon" and can be stolen anytime a piece is discarded then it becomes your turn
- If stealing to complete 4 identical tiles, this is called "Kan" this can also be done anytime but you must then draw an extra piece to balance out your pieces

4. -If you steal a piece, you must put this newly formed combination to your right side for all players to see, and now you hand is called an open hand (which comes with some disadvatages)
- The disadvantage is that some methods of winning can only be done when your play is closed, however most winning methods can be done with both open and closed hands

5. Each method of winning will give the player a certain number of 'han'.

6. These "Han" will be converted into points at the end

7. There are two tables below, the first shows the methods of winning with closed play only. And the second table is for both hidden and open plays

*** P.S - The good thing about keeping your play hidden/closed without stealing, is that if you cant complete any of the methods of winning below, then you can go for 2 winning methods that dont have any requirments.

The first one is called Riichi which only requires you to place an extra 1000 point bet when waiting for your last winning piece. The second one is called Tsumo which is to win by drawing your winning piece instead of stealing it ***

Ways to win in hidden/closed play only

Name Explanation How much "Han" its worth
Riichi/Ready Hand When you are in tenpai (which means waiting for your last piece/s to win) then place an extra thousand point bet (if you don't win, you lose your bet to the winner) 1
Tsumo/Self Draw Drawing your winning piece off the wall without stealing it 1
Iipeikou/Double Sequences 2 sequence combinations that are identical (same numbers and same suit/shape) 1
Chiitoitsu/Seven pairs Seven Pairs (This is one of the ways to win that does not follow the usual build of 4 combintions of 3 and a pair) 2
Ryanpei/2 sets of Double sequences Same as the previously mentioned- (Double sequences) but twice so 4 identical sequences in total (the other 2 can be in a different suit/shape) 3
Kokushi Musou/13 Orphans One of each piece ending (meaning the endings for numbers 1 and 9 and supervision) there are 13 pieces of ending because there are three shapes for the number 1 and also 9, and there are three types of dragon and four directions, that's 13 pieces, and you must win 14 so it must be pair of pieces) Yakuman (which means 8000 points without calculation)
Suuankou/4 concealed triplets All 4 of your combinations are triplets and are all closed/hidden Yakuman

Ways to win in both open and hidden play

Name Explanation How much "Han" its worth
Tanyao/All Simples All the pieces used in your build are simples (which means pieces between 2 and 8, including 2 and 8 of course) 1
Yakuhai/Value Tiles Atleast one of your combinations is made up of honor tiles - Which are dragons or directions (P.S There are 4 rounds in Mahjong and each round is labelled with one of the 4 directions being- East, South, West and North in that order. Also all 4 seats the player sit in are labelled with a direction. So to complete this win, the direction must match the your seat or current round direction) 1
Haitei Raoyue/Last Draw Win by Drawing the last remaining piece of the wall 1
Houtei Raoyui/Last Steal Win by stealing the last piece discarded by another player 1
Chan Kan/Stealing a Quad Winning using the piece that another player made a quad with, at the moment it was stolen by them (A quad also known as Kan is a combination of 4 identical peices) 1
Sanshoku/3 Coloured sequences Three sequence combinations with the same numbers but in 3 different suits/shapes 2 (lose 1 han if opened)
Sandoukou/3 Coloured triplets Three triplet combinations with the same numbers but in 3 different suits/shapes 2
Ittsuu/Straight Having the tiles 1 to 9 in the same suit/shape (this must be done as 3 sequences being - 123,456,789) 2 (lose 1 han if opened)
Toitoi/All Triplets All of your 4 combinations are triplets, with a pair of courses 2
Chanta/Terminal or Honor All 4 combinations and the pair must contain atleast one terminal or honor tile (terminal tiles are the 1's and 9's and the honor tiles are the dragongs and directions, as mentioned previously) 2 (lose 1 han if opened)
Honroutou/Only Terminals or Honors All pieces are only Terminals or honors and nothing else (Terminals are 1 and 9 and honors are dragons and directions) 2
Sanankou/3 Concealed triplets 3 of your combinations must be hidden/closed triplets 2
Sankantsu/Three kans Steal 3 quads (A quad also known as Kan is a combination of 4 identical peices) 2
Junchan/Terminal in each combo All 4 combinations and the pair must all contain atleast one terminal piece (Terminal peices are 1 and 9) 3 (lose 1 han if opened)
Honitsu/Half flush All pieces used including the pair are in the same suit/shape and some honor tiles/dragons or directions 3 (lose 1 han if opened)
Chinitsu/Flush All pieces used including the pair must have the same suit/shape only 6 (loses one han if opened)
Tsuuiisou/All Honors All pieces used including the pair are all honor tiles only (Honor tiles are the dragons and directions) Yakuman
Chinro/All Terminals All pieces used including the pair are all Terminal tiles only (Terminal tiles 1 and 9) Yakuman