The priority order
| Priority | Claim | Who can |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Win | Anyone with a complete hand that reaches the minimum |
| 2 | Pong or kong | Anyone holding a pair (pong) or three (kong) of the tile |
| 3 | Chow | Only the player after the discarder |
- Being quicker doesn't help: the game waits until every player who could claim has decided (claim or pass), then applies the order. A fast tap doesn't jump the queue.
- Pong and kong never clash: only one player can hold a pair or three of a given tile, so there's nothing to compare.
- If nobody claims, the next player draws as usual.
The basics of each claim (what you need, and that claimed sets are shown) are in the rules.
A win beats any other claim
If someone wins, the tile is theirs: every chow, pong and kong claim on it lapses and the hand ends.
For example, East discards the 5 of dots. South wants to chow, West wants to pong, and North can win. North wins, and East is the discarder.
Chow: the next player only, and last
You can chow only the discard of the player before you, so only the discarder's next player can chow it. Chow has the lowest priority: if anyone pongs or kongs, the chow doesn't happen.
For example, East discards the 3 of characters. South, next after East, holds 1-2 characters and wants to chow; North holds a pair of 3s and wants to pong. North pongs, discards, and the turn passes to North's next player, East: South and West are skipped.
After a pong or chow you discard straight away; after a kong you draw a replacement tile first.
Robbing the kong
When a player adds a tile to their exposed pong to make a kong, anyone who can win on that tile may take it: robbing the kong (搶槓), worth 1 faan.
- The player making the kong pays as the discarder, and their set goes back to a pong.
- A concealed kong can't be robbed, except by a player waiting on thirteen orphans who needs that tile.
- If nobody robs it, the kong stands and its player draws a replacement.
- If two players can rob it, it's settled like two winners on a discard, below.
Two winners on one tile
When two or more players can win on the same tile, the house rules decide:
| House rule | Who wins | Payment |
|---|---|---|
| One winner, 截糊 (standard) | The first player after the discarder in turn order | That player alone wins; the discarder pays |
| Multiple Winners on One Discard, 一炮多響 (option) | Everyone who calls the win | Each winner's faan count separately; the discarder pays each |
For example, East discards the 9 of bamboo and both West and North can win. Turn order after East is South, West, North, so with one winner, West wins and North doesn't. With multiple winners on, West and North both win, and East pays each of them.
In Mahjong House, Solo Practice and Play with Friends can turn on Multiple Winners on One Discard in House Rules; online Quick Match and Ranked always have one winner. How to set it is in house rules.
More cases
- Passing a win doesn't lock you out: Mahjong House doesn't play 過水. Pass on a winning tile and you can still win on the next one, including the same tile discarded again.
- You can win on any tile, even one you discarded earlier yourself.
- Online games have a time limit: you get 5 seconds to decide on each discard, and running out counts as a pass.
When a claim is worth making, and when to pass, is strategy: see claiming. Terms like 截糊, 出銃 and 搶槓 are in the glossary.
