Course 4 · Scoring
Faan, doubling and payments 計番
Every faan item with its value, how the price doubles, who pays a discard win, where the cap bites — and worked examples with the full arithmetic.
What faan is
Faan (faan1) is the scoring unit: each satisfied pattern adds its faan, and the total converts to money exponentially — each extra faan roughly doubles the price. Before playing, a table settles three dials:
- Minimum 起糊: standard is 3 faan (三番起糊); casual games may allow 1 (or 0 — a legal 雞糊); competitive tables sometimes 5. Historically the game moved from 老章's 雞四 (0 minimum, 4 cap) through 一番/兩番 to today's 三番.
- Cap 封頂: 8, 10 or 13 faan — 13 is the traditional absolute limit; 8/10 are common stake-tamers. Hands at the cap are called 例牌 ("pattern hands") or 爆棚 ("burst the roof"); when the cap is 10, every 例牌 pays exactly 10 (HKMA convention).
- Doubling style: 辣辣上 ("full spicy") doubles every faan; 半辣 ("half spicy") doubles every two faan past 4, odd steps ×1.5.
Faan are additive — 完全複合原則: everything satisfied counts, unless a rule forbids it. Limit hands take no wind/dragon/flower add-ons at all, and if several limit conditions coincide, only the highest applies. If a hand can be read two ways, take the higher-scoring one.
No sourced HK rule set doubles payments for the dealer — the dealer's edge is purely the 連莊 repeat privilege. If your table doubles for the dealer, that's an imported house rule; say so before playing.
The faan table
The complete list this guide uses — the standard modern 三三制 values, consistent across the HKMA rulebooks, both Wikipedias and HK beginner guides. Composite hands are shown at their quoted total; entries marked house rules differ have well-known alternatives.
Hand patterns
| Pattern | English | Jyutping | Faan | Definition & validity notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 平糊 | All chows | ping4 wu4 | 1 | All four melds are chows. HK norm: the eyes may be any pair, honours included. (house rules differ) |
| 門前清 | Concealed hand | mun4 cin4 cing1 | 1 | No exposed melds at the win — a concealed kong counts as exposed. Hands concealed by definition (十三幺, 坎坎糊…) do not get this extra point; some flower-using tables don't award it. (house rules differ) |
| 混一色 | Half flush | wan6 jat1 sik1 | 3 | One suit + honours only. Dragon/wind pungs inside still add their own faan. |
| 對對糊 | All pungs | deoi3 deoi3 wu4 | 3 | All four melds pungs/kongs, no chows; kongs count as pungs. |
| 花幺九 | Mixed orphans | faa1 jiu1 gau2 | 4 | Pungs/kongs of terminals and honours only (1 + 3 對對糊 composite). ⚠ old style scored it 1. (house rules differ) |
| 清一色 | Full flush | cing1 jat1 sik1 | 7 | One suit only, zero honours. Stacks 平糊/對對糊 etc. ⚠ old style/classical tables score 6. (house rules differ) |
| 小三元 | Small three dragons | siu2 saam1 jyun4 | 5 | Two dragon pungs + dragon pair. Composite 3 + 1 + 1; may stack 混一色/對對糊/字一色. |
| 大三元 | Great three dragons | daai6 saam1 jyun4 | 8 | All three dragon pungs. Composite 5 + 3; stacks 混一色/對對糊/字一色. |
| 小四喜 | Small four winds | siu2 sei3 hei2 | 6 | Three wind pungs + wind pair. Composite 3 + 3 — ≥9 in practice once wind pungs add. ⚠ values 6 / 8 / limit across tables. (house rules differ) |
Honours
| Pattern | English | Jyutping | Faan | Definition & validity notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 番牌·三元牌 | Dragon pung/kong | faan1 paai2 | 1 each | Any dragon triplet/quad, 1 faan each. |
| 番牌·門風 | Seat wind pung/kong | mun4 fung1 | 1 | Pung/kong of your own seat wind. |
| 番牌·圈風 | Round wind pung/kong | hyun1 fung1 | 1 | Pung/kong of the prevailing round wind. Seat + round both matching = 2 faan (雙番東). |
Flowers
| Pattern | English | Jyutping | Faan | Definition & validity notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 正花 | Own-seat flower | zing3 faa1 | 1 each | Each flower/season matching your seat number, 1 faan each. |
| 一臺花 | Complete flower set | jat1 toi4 faa1 | 2 | All 4 seasons or all 4 plants. No longer counts the contained 正花 (East with 梅蘭菊竹 + 春 = 2 + 1 = 3). ⚠ New-Territories tables count 3. (house rules differ) |
| 無花 | No flowers | mou4 faa1 | 1 | Completing the hand with no flower replacements taken. |
| 花糊 | Seven-flower win | faa1 wu4 | 3 | 7 flowers = instant win, normally counted 2 (一臺花) + 1 (自摸); some tables 3 + 1. (house rules differ) |
| 大花糊 例牌 | Eight-flower win | daai6 faa1 wu4 | 8 | All 8 flowers = instant win (八仙過海); may be treated as a 例牌. (house rules differ) |
How you won
| Pattern | English | Jyutping | Faan | Definition & validity notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 自摸 | Self-drawn win | zi6 mo2 | 1 | Winning tile drawn from the wall. Also changes the payment split. |
| 搶槓 | Robbing the kong | coeng2 gong3 | 1 | Claiming an added kong to win. Concealed-kong robbing is 十三幺-only. |
| 海底撈月 | Last tile of the wall | hoi2 dai2 lau4 jyut6 | 1 | Win on the final drawable tile (or the last discard, by some tables). ⚠ some count 自摸 separately on a self-drawn 海底 (2 total). (house rules differ) |
| 槓上開花 | After a kong | gong3 soeng5 hoi1 faa1 | 1 | Winning on the kong replacement. The implied 自摸 is a separate +1 (2 total). ⚠ flower-replacement wins: some tables award, some don't. (house rules differ) |
Patterns & limit hands
| Pattern | English | Jyutping | Faan | Definition & validity notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 槓上槓 | Kong-on-kong | gong3 soeng5 gong3 | 8 | Win on the replacement after a second consecutive kong (implies 自摸, quoted as 8); flowers between kongs void it. ⚠ HKMA lists it as a 10-faan 例牌. (house rules differ) |
| 坎坎糊 | Four concealed pungs | kaan2 kaan2 wu2 | 8 | 對對糊 with nothing claimed — no kongs, even concealed. Single-wait eyes may win on a discard; pair-pair wait must self-draw. Does not stack 門前清/對對糊; stacks dragons/flushes. ⚠ 10 例牌 in HKMA events. (house rules differ) |
| 字一色 例牌 | All honours | zi6 jat1 sik1 | 10 | Honours only; no add-on faan counted. |
| 清幺九 例牌 | Pure terminals | cing1 jiu1 gau2 | 10 | Terminals only (all pungs by necessity); 對對糊 not counted separately. |
| 九子連環 例牌 | Nine gates | gau2 zi2 lin4 waan4 | 10 | Fully concealed 1112345678999 of one suit + any same-suit tile. Discard win must be on the true 9-gate wait. |
| 十三幺 例牌 | Thirteen orphans | sap6 saam1 jiu1 | 13 | 1&9 of each suit, one of each wind and dragon, plus one as the pair. 牌王 — may rob a concealed kong; cannot be head-bumped. |
| 大四喜 例牌 | Great four winds | daai6 sei3 hei2 | 13 | All four wind pungs/kongs; no other faan counted. ⚠ some lists say 15 or simply 'limit'. (house rules differ) |
| 十八羅漢 例牌 | Four kongs | sap6 baat3 lo4 hon3 | 13 | Four kongs + a pair (18 tiles); no other faan counted. ⚠ range 10–18 across tables. (house rules differ) |
| 天糊 例牌 | Heavenly hand | tin1 wu4 | 13 | Dealer wins on the opening 14-tile hand (after flower replacement; a dealer concealed-kong voids it). (house rules differ) |
| 地糊 例牌 | Earthly hand | dei6 wu4 | 13 | Mainstream: a non-dealer wins on the dealer's first discard. ⚠ Cantonese variant: first-go-around self-draw (a first-go-around discard win is separately 人糊). (house rules differ) |
All Terminals as a limit; Jade Dragon (green dragon + all-green bamboos), Pearl Dragon (white dragon + dots), Ruby Dragon (red dragon + characters); "Moon from the Bottom of the Sea" (last tile is 1筒); 7- or 8-flower limit wins; Little Four Winds as a limit. The classic 全求人 (all four melds called, winning on the final discard) is not part of the standard 清章 canon — if a table plays it, agree its value first.
The shape of money
Faan → price is exponential; every convention doubles per (or per two) faan and differs only in the base and in who pays. Two live wires:
Discard win — who pays?
- 全銃制 — discarder-pays-all: the 出銃 player pays the whole price. Used by HKMA/GGHK, the traditional Cantonese table, and one of the two Wikipedia options.
- 出銃雙份 — discarder pays double: the discarder pays 2 units, the two others 1 unit each. The common casual HK method.
Self-draw — everyone pays
- Casual HK: each of the three pays the table amount.
- Wikipedia / HKMA / traditional: the winner collects 1.5× the discard price — each of three pays half of it (keeps totals divisible by 3).
- HKOS / Amy Lo: each pays twice the point value.
Each faan doubles the base; common bases are 二五雞 (base $0.25), 五一 ($0.5) and 一二蚊 ($1). Scale shortcut: divide all points by a constant — preferably even — to fit your stakes.
Reference conversion tables
(a) Full spicy — points = 2faan:
| Faan | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 32 | 64 | 128 | 256 | 512 | 1,024 | 2,048 | 4,096 | 8,192 |
(b) Half spicy — double every 2 faan from 4, odd steps ×1.5:
| Faan | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 32 | 48 | 64 | 96 | 128 | 192 | 256 | 384 |
(c) Traditional Cantonese 全銃 table (half-spicy from a 4-faan 滿糊 base) — discarder-pays-all price, and the self-draw total (each pays half):
| Faan | 出銃 (discarder pays) | 自摸 (total) | 自摸 split | Faan | 出銃 | 自摸 (total) | 自摸 split |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | — | 7 | 48 | 72 | 24×3 | |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 1×3 | 8 | 64 | 96 | 32×3 |
| 2 | 4 | 6 | 2×3 | 9 | 96 | 144 | 48×3 |
| 3 | 8 | 12 | 4×3 | 10 | 128 | 192 | 64×3 (細爆) |
| 4 | 16 | 24 | 8×3 (滿糊) | 11 | 192 | 288 | 96×3 |
| 5 | 24 | 36 | 12×3 | 12 | 256 | 384 | 128×3 |
| 6 | 32 | 48 | 16×3 | 13 | 384 | 576 | 192×3 (爆棚) |
(d) HKMA tournament (100-base half-spicy, 全銃): 3番 出銃 32 / 自摸 16×3 = 48; each further faan follows the same half-spicy curve up to the 10-faan 例牌 at 512 / 256×3.
Worked examples — full arithmetic
Example 1 — a first legal win (3 faan, self-draw)
South seat, East round, flowers in play, no flowers drawn. Concealed hand: 123萬 456萬 789萬 234筒 55索, drawing 5索.
| 平糊 (all chows) | 1 |
| 自摸 (self-draw) | 1 |
| 無花 (no flowers) | 1 |
| Total | 3 faan — legally winnable under 三番起糊 |
|---|
Payments (base 一二蚊, unit $8): casual self-draw — each pays $8 → +$24. Wikipedia full-spicy — 8 pts → self-draw total 1.5×8 = 12 (each pays 4). HKMA table — 自摸 16×3 = 48. Amy Lo — 8 pts, each 2× = 48. Had the 5索 been a discard under Cosmopolitan 陪銃: discarder $16 + others $4 + $4 = $24; under 全銃 the discarder alone pays 32.
Example 2 — 7-faan discard win (混一色 對對糊)
West seat, East round (no wind bonus available). Hand: 111萬 999萬 777萬 中中中 88萬, winning on a discarded 8萬.
| 混一色 (half flush) | 3 |
| 對對糊 (all pungs) | 3 |
| 紅中 (dragon pung) | 1 |
| Total | 7 faan |
|---|
Mixed suits of terminals earn nothing extra in HK — 花幺九 fails on 777萬/88萬. Payments: HKMA 全銃 — discarder pays 192. Wikipedia full-spicy — 2⁷ = 128 → discarder-pays-all 128, or the doubled split 64 + 32 + 32; half-spicy 48 (24/12/12). Cantonese traditional table — 48 from the discarder. 一二蚊 — unit $128 → discarder $256, others $128 each. Amy Lo — 48 pts → discarder 96, others 48 each.
Example 3 — 大三元 with stacking and liability (pao)
Hand: 中中中 發發發 白白白 123萬 99萬, winning on the discarded 白板 — the same player who earlier supplied the third dragon meld.
| 大三元 (5) + three dragon melds (3) | 8 |
| 混一色 (honours + characters only) | 3 |
| Total | 11 faan |
|---|
Cap rules: HKMA (cap 10) — the hand pays as 10番, discarder-pays-all 512. 13-cap game (Cantonese traditional) — 11番, discarder 192. Wikipedia full-spicy uncapped — 2¹¹ = 2048. An 8-faan table where 大三元 counts 例牌 prices it at 8番 ($256 unit in 一二蚊).
Liability (包牌): because that discard completed the third dragon meld, 大三元包 is pinned on the discarder — under 全銃 they pay the whole win anyway. The pao's real bite: if the winner instead self-draws later in the hand, the pao player alone pays all three shares (HKMA: 256×3 = 768). Only one pao can be live per hand; a later pao replaces an earlier one (包後不包先).
Example 4 — cap comparison (清一色 自摸 + 正花)
East seat, East round; concealed hand 123萬 456萬 789萬 123萬 55萬, self-drawing 5萬; holding flower 春 (own seat).
| 清一色 (full flush) | 7 |
| 平糊 (all chows) | 1 |
| 門前清 (concealed) | 1 |
| 自摸 (self-draw) | 1 |
| 正花 (own flower) | 1 |
| Total | 11 faan |
|---|
Cap 10 (HKMA): pays as 10 → 自摸 256×3 = 768 (each 256); discard price 512. Cap 8: 8番 → Cantonese traditional 自摸 96 total; 一二蚊 $256 each = $768. Cap 13 / uncapped: 11番 → Cantonese traditional 自摸 288; full-spicy 2048 (self-draw 3072 at 1.5×). Same hand, three stakes — this is why you agree the cap first.
Quick counting drills
- 混一色 + 紅中 + 自摸 = 3 + 1 + 1 = 5.
- 門前清 + 對對糊 + 清一色 = 1 + 3 + 7 = 11.
- 平糊 + 番牌(中) + 正花 = 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 — the minimum legal win under 三番起糊.
- 小三元 quoted as 5: pattern 3 + two dragon pungs 2.
- 大三元 quoted as 8: pattern 5 + three dragon pungs 3; add 混一色 3 → 11 total.
Liability — 包牌
A player whose discard enables a threatening exposed hand can be pinned to pay for it. Under the tournament set (HKMA/GGHK, 全銃) the pao player pays the self-draw total alone if the hand later self-draws; a plain discard win is still billed to the discarder:
- 十二章包 / fourth-meld pao: you supplied the discard that gave a player their 4th exposed meld (12 tiles exposed). A 4th meld that is a concealed kong pins nobody.
- 大三元包: you supplied the tile completing the third dragon meld.
- 包後不包先: only one pao per hand; the latest replaces the earlier.
The traditional Cantonese set adds the "landing" paos (清一色落地, 清幺九落地, 字一色落地, 大三元落地, 大四喜落地 — three exposed melds of the pattern plus your enabling discard, 十八羅漢落地 for a fourth-kong-enabling discard) and 十二張包自摸 (any discard giving a player their 12th exposed tile → pao for a later self-draw). Discarder-pays-half variants include 九張包 and 五子包生.
Faan calculator 番數計算機
Tick every faan the winning hand qualifies for, pick the doubling curve, the payment system and the cap — the calculator sums the hand and works out who pays whom. No HK rule set doubles payments for the dealer.
Total: 0 faan 番
例牌 limit hand — takes no add-on faan; if several limit conditions coincide only the highest counts.
| Payer | Pays (units) |
|---|