Chinese Official Mahjong · 88 pt

Big Four Winds in Chinese Official Mahjong (MCR): Points, Examples and Odds

In Chinese Official Mahjong, Big Four Winds (大四喜) is worth 88 points, the top tier of the fan table: when you win, East, South, West and North are all pungs or kongs, plus any pair. The four wind pungs fill all four sets — the pair is the only free choice.

The rules for Big Four Winds

• Each of the four winds is a pung (three tiles) or a kong (four tiles)
• Claimed pungs, concealed pungs, melded and concealed kongs all count — no need to stay concealed
• The pair can be anything: suited tiles or dragons
• All four sets are wind pungs, so Big Four Winds is always an all-pungs hand

What Big Four Winds does not combine with

Under the non-repeat rule, Big Four Winds already includes these fan, so they are not counted:

• Little Four Winds and Big Three Winds: four wind pungs obviously include three
• All Pungs (6 points): all four sets are pungs
• Prevalent Wind and Seat Wind (2 points each): those winds are always among the four pungs
• Pung of Terminals or Honors (1 point): the wind pungs are honor pungs

Fan that still stack: Half Flush (suited pair), All Honors (dragon pair), Four/Three/Two Concealed Pungs, All Terminals and Honors, Concealed Hand, Fully Concealed Hand, kong fan, Single Wait, Last Tile, Self-Drawn and so on.

Big Four Winds vs Little Four Winds vs Big Three Winds

How Big Four Winds is scored

Both hands below are scored live by the same code the game uses, including the fan left out under the non-repeat rule.

Common combinations:

How it relates to other fan

• Little Four Winds: one wind pung short, that wind is the pair. Going for Big Four Winds and missing the last tile often ends as Little Four Winds.
• Big Three Winds: three wind pungs, non-wind pair, 12 points.
• All Honors: if the pair is Red, Green or White Dragon, the hand is All Honors too.
• Half Flush: with a suited pair the hand is one suit plus honors, so Half Flush counts.

Big Four Winds odds

Big Four Winds needs twelve wind tiles, and there are only sixteen in the set. Even just counting winds that are already paired, a 13-tile opening hand has two or more of them only about 0.90% of the time:

Source: 1,000,000 random 13-tile deals (flowers already replaced).

In 4,000 hands of normal computer play on this site there were 3,849 wins; Big Four Winds came up 0 times, and even Big Three Winds — one wind pung less — only 1. For an 88-point hand that sample is far too small to give a frequency; all it shows is that the hand is extremely rare.

Which hands can go for Big Four Winds

• Three winds already paired or in pungs at the start: that's the bare minimum; with two or fewer there's practically no chance.
• Pung the winds: the hand needn't be concealed, so claim the winds you need — after two wind pungs are on the table, opponents will start holding winds back.
• Keep a fallback: the same route passes through Big Three Winds (12) and Little Four Winds (64), so missing the fourth pung usually still clears 8 points.
• Watch the discards: a wind with two copies out can't become a pung any more — switch to Big Three Winds or Half Flush.

Want to try? Open a table of Chinese Official Mahjong online — the computers play with you and the scoring is done for you.

Big Four Winds in other mahjong styles

• Taiwanese mahjong: 16 tai (Taiwanese mahjong Big Four Winds)
• Japanese mahjong: a yakuman (Japanese mahjong yaku list)
• Hong Kong mahjong: also a limit-level hand (Hong Kong mahjong fan table)

FAQ

How many points is Big Four Winds?

In Chinese Official Mahjong Big Four Winds is worth 88 points, and it no longer counts Little Four Winds, Big Three Winds, All Pungs, Prevalent Wind, Seat Wind or Pung of Terminals or Honors.

What's the difference between Big and Little Four Winds?

Big Four Winds has pungs of all four winds; Little Four Winds has three wind pungs and the fourth wind as the pair, worth 64 points.

Can you claim tiles for Big Four Winds?

Yes. MCR doesn't require it to be concealed — claimed wind pungs and melded kongs count. If all four pungs are concealed, Four Concealed Pungs is added.

Does Big Four Winds also score Prevalent and Seat Wind?

No. Both winds are always among the four pungs, so under the non-repeat rule they are not counted, and the wind pungs don't score Pung of Terminals or Honors either.

Related fan

Little Four Winds 64 pt Three wind pungs plus a pair of the fourth wind for 64 points. Prevalent and Seat Wind still count; Big Three Winds and terminal pungs do not. Big Three Winds 12 pt Pungs of three winds for 12 points: Prevalent and Seat Wind still count, the terminal-pung point does not — one pair away from Little Four Winds. All Honors 64 pt A 64-point hand made only of winds and dragons: four honor pungs and a pair, or seven honor pairs. What it absorbs and the big fan it stacks with.