Japanese Mahjong Scoring Rules - Scoring Tables

Scoring Tables

Since the method of calculating a winning hand's score in mahjong is quite tedious, many players refer to a scoring table to look up the final score of a hand. Expert and professional players have this table memorized and can thus tell the value of a hand at a glance.

To use the table, simply look up the values that correspond to the han and fu counts of the hand. The top numbers in each cell indicate the payout from a player who discards a winning tile. The numbers in brackets indicate the payout for each player in the event the winning tile is self-drawn. If the winner is the dealer, each player pays the same amount. If the winner is a non-dealer, then the other two non-dealers pay the smaller number, while the dealer pays the larger number.

The reason why there are no scores in the 1 han 20 fu cell is that such a hand is impossible. The only 20 fu hands are the no-points hand (pinfu, 平和) where the winning tile is self-drawn. However, since a no-points hand must be closed, it makes winning via a self-drawn tile automatically add 1 han yaku of self pick to the hand. Therefore, a 1 han 20 fu hand cannot exist.

As stated above, a seven pairs hand is worth 25 fu. Since the hand is always closed, it adds 1 han yaku of self pick when won by self-draw.