Japanese Mahjong Score Calculation
In Japanese Mahjong only the winning hand is evaluated and receives payment from the other players.
There are two values to consider when calculating score:
- Fu (符), the base or mini-points
- Han (翻), the hand points or multipliers
Since the method of calculating a winning hand score in majan is quite tedious, many players refer to scoring charts to look up the final score of a hand. The score is different if the winner is dealer or not (more on this later).
Ron or Tsumo?
The payment is different depending if the hand is won by Ron (by other player discard) or Tsumo (self-pick).
- Ron: the player who discarded the winning tile is responsible for paying all the value of the hand to winning player.
- Tsumo: the payment is splitted by all the losing players.
Calculate Han points
First calculate the number of Han: sum the Hans of the Yakus of the hand and the number of Doras (Red Fives, Kan Dora, Ura Dora) in the hand.
If the Hans are 5 or more you can ignore Fu calculation and refer to the limit hands table.
Calculate Fu points
1) The hand receive fu points for the way it won:
| Concealed hand win on Ron | 30 |
| Seven Pairs (no further fu points are added) |
25 |
| Tsumo or open hand* | 20 |
| *As an exception, when a hand is open and wins by Ron, if the hand has no other Fu points (see next section), it is worth 30 Fu. | 30 |
2) Add Fu points for Mentsus in the hands. Shuntsu have no value. If
the winning tile finishes a Koutsu, it counts as a concealed Koutsu in case of Tsumo, and it
counts as an open one in case of Ron.
| Fu points | Open | Concealed |
|---|---|---|
| Koutsu, composed of suit tiles from 2 to 8 | 2 | 4 |
| Koutsu, composed of terminals or honours | 4 | 8 |
| Kantsu, composed of suit tiles from 2 to 8 | 8 | 16 |
| Kantsu, composed of terminals or honours | 16 | 32 |
3) 2 Fu points are added for each of the following:
- Pair of dragons
- Pair of seat wind
- Pair of round wind
- Winning on an edge, closed or single wait
- Winning on self-draw (Tsumo) (expect in case of Pinfu)
The 2 Fu points for edge, closed or single waits can be claimed also if the hand is waiting for other tiles.
Score charts
Here are the charts used for quick scoring. You need to match the Fu points and Han points. The dealer always gets 1.5 times the score of the non-dealers and the dealer always has to pay twice as much as non-dealers for Tsumo wins.
For 5 or more Han the Fu points are ignored and you have to refer to the limit hands chart.
| 1 Han | 2 Han | 3 Han | 4 Han | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
*This is often rounded to 12000 (4000). The top number is the amount paid by the discarder in case of Ron win. The bottom number in parenthesis is the amount payed by each other player in case of Tsumo. |
||||
| 20 Fu | N/A | 2000 (700) |
3900 (1300) |
7700 (2600) |
| 25 Fu | N/A | 2400 (800) |
4800 (1600) |
9600 (3200) |
| 30 Fu | 1500 (500) |
2900 (1000) |
5800 (2000) |
11600* (3900) |
| 40 Fu | 2000 (700) |
3900 (1300) |
7700 (2600) |
Mangan |
| 50 Fu | 2400 (800) |
4800 (1600) |
9600 (3200) |
Mangan |
| 60 Fu | 2900 (1000) |
5800 (2000) |
11600* (3900) |
Mangan |
| 70 Fu | 3400 (1200) |
6800 (2300) |
Mangan | Mangan |
| 80 Fu | 3900 (1300) |
7700 (2600) |
Mangan | Mangan |
| 90 Fu | 4400 (1500) |
8700 (2900) |
Mangan | Mangan |
| 100 Fu | 4800 (1600) |
9600 (3200) |
Mangan | Mangan |
| 1 Han | 2 Han | 3 Han | 4 Han | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
*This is often rounded to 8000 (4000/2000). The top number is the amount paid by the discarder in case of Ron. The bottom numbers in parentheses are the amount paid by each other player in case of Tsumo. The lesser amount is paid by non-dealers and the higher amount is paid by the dealer. |
||||
| 20 Fu | N/A | 1300 (400/700) |
2600 (700/1300) |
5200 (1300/2600) |
| 25 Fu | N/A | 1600 (N/A) |
3200 (800/1600) |
6400 (1600/3200) |
| 30 Fu | 1000 (300/500) |
2000 (500/1000) |
3900 (1000/2000) |
7700* (2000/3900) |
| 40 Fu | 1300 (400/700) |
2600 (700/1300) |
5200 (1300/2600) |
Mangan |
| 50 Fu | 1600 (400/800) |
3200 (800/1600) |
6400 (1600/3200) |
Mangan |
| 60 Fu | 2000 (500/1000) |
3900 (1000/2000) |
7700* (2000/3900) |
Mangan |
| 70 Fu | 2300 (600/1200) |
4500 (1200/2300) |
Mangan | Mangan |
| 80 Fu | 2600 (700/1300) |
5200 (1300/2600) |
Mangan | Mangan |
| 90 Fu | 2900 (800/1500) |
5800 (1500/2900) |
Mangan | Mangan |
| 100 Fu | 3200 (800/1600) |
6400 (1600/3200) |
Mangan | Mangan |
| Han | Dealer | Non Dealer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mangan | 5 | 12000 (4000) |
8000 (2000/4000) |
| Haneman | 6-7 | 18000 (6000) |
12000 (3000/6000) |
| Baiman | 8-10 | 24000 (8000) |
16000 (4000/8000) |
| Sanbaiman | 11-12 | 36000 (12000) |
24000 (6000/12000) |
| Yakuman | 13+ | 48000 (16000) |
32000 (8000/16000) |
Manual Scoring
If you’re interested on how these charts are calculated, here’s the manual process of calculating score.
All scoring is based on Fu points. The Han points are used to double the Fu points and create a tally.
Fu x 2(2 + Han) = Tally
- In case of Tsumo by non-dealer, each other non-dealer pays one time the tally and the dealer pays 2 times the tally rounded to the next hundred. Each amount paid is rounded up to the next hundred.
- In case of Tsumo by dealer, each non-dealer
would pay 2 times the tally. Each amount paid is rounded up to the next hundred. - In case of Ron, the discarder pays 4 times the tally if the winner is non-dealer ot 6 times the tally if the winner is dealer. The result is rounded up to the next hundred.