Chinese Official Mahjong · 88 pt

Seven Shifted Pairs in Chinese Official Mahjong (MCR): Points, Examples, Odds

In Chinese Official Mahjong, Seven Shifted Pairs (连七对) is worth 88 points: seven pairs that are all in one suit with consecutive numbers, for example 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6, 7-7 and 8-8 characters. It's a special form of Seven Pairs, so it is always concealed and always won on a single wait.

The rules for Seven Shifted Pairs

• Seven pairs, all in one suit (characters, dots or bamboo)
• Seven consecutive numbers: 1–7, 2–8 or 3–9 — so there are only 3 suits × 3 starting points = nine possible hands
• No honors, no chows, pungs or kongs (Seven Pairs is concealed by nature)
• Self-drawn or on a discard; the last tile is always a single wait for the seventh pair

What Seven Shifted Pairs does not combine with

Under the non-repeat rule, Seven Shifted Pairs already includes these fan, so they are not counted:

• Seven Pairs (24 points): it's a kind of Seven Pairs
• Full Flush (24 points), No Honors, One Voided Suit: one suit, no honors
• Concealed Hand and Fully Concealed Hand: Seven Pairs is always concealed
• Single Wait: Seven Pairs always waits on a single tile

Fan that still stack: a 2–8 hand is all simples, so All Simples counts; self-drawn adds Self-Drawn (1 point), since Fully Concealed Hand is not counted and so its own "no Self-Drawn" rule doesn't apply; plus Last Tile, Last Tile Draw, Last Tile Claim, flowers and so on.

How Seven Shifted Pairs is scored

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

How it relates to other fan

• Seven Pairs: any seven pairs, 24 points; Seven Shifted Pairs is its most extreme shape.
• Full Flush: seven pairs in one suit score Seven Pairs plus Full Flush, 48 points — only "consecutive" short of this hand.
• Nine Gates: the other concealed one-suit 88-pointer.
• All Simples: stacks with a 2–8 hand.

Seven Shifted Pairs odds

Drawing 14 random tiles from the 136, the chance they are Seven Shifted Pairs is about one in 1,700,000,000,000; the chance they are any seven pairs is about one in 2,800,000. Seven Shifted Pairs is hundreds of thousands of times rarer than ordinary Seven Pairs.

A 13-tile opening hand has 5 or more pairs only about 0.11% 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 (3,849 wins), Seven Pairs appeared in 12% of wins and Seven Shifted Pairs 0 times — far too few to measure.

Playing for a Seven Shifted Pairs chance

• Seven Shifted Pairs is something you run into while building Seven Pairs or a flush; it isn't worth chasing on its own.
• When building one-suit pairs, keep the numbers connected: holding 2-2, 3-3, 5-5 and 6-6 characters, a lone 4 or 7 is worth more than a 9.
• In Seven Pairs you choose your single wait; if one choice makes Seven Shifted Pairs and that tile isn't in the discards, wait on it.
• Missing it costs little: one-suit Seven Pairs is already 48 points.

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

Seven Shifted Pairs in other mahjong styles

• Sichuan mahjong has no such hand; the same tiles score "Pure Seven Pairs" (Seven Pairs plus Full Flush) — see Sichuan mahjong Seven Pairs

FAQ

How many points is Seven Shifted Pairs?

In Chinese Official Mahjong Seven Shifted Pairs is worth 88 points, and it no longer counts Seven Pairs, Full Flush, Concealed Hand, Fully Concealed Hand, Single Wait or No Honors.

What's the difference from Seven Pairs?

Seven Pairs is any seven pairs, 24 points; Seven Shifted Pairs needs all seven pairs in one suit with consecutive numbers, like 2 to 8 characters.

Does 1-1-2-2-3-3-4-4-5-5-6-6-7-7 count?

Yes. 1–7, 2–8 and 3–9 all count, as long as it's one suit and seven consecutive numbers, one pair each.

How much is a self-drawn Seven Shifted Pairs?

Seven Shifted Pairs (88) plus Self-Drawn (1); Fully Concealed Hand isn't counted. A 2–8 hand also gets All Simples (2).

Related fan

Seven Pairs 24 pt Seven pairs for 24 points: four of a kind as two pairs, what it doesn't combine with, the wait, and how many opening pairs make it worth chasing. Full Flush 24 pt Every tile from a single suit for 24 points. Examples, the non-repeat rules, Half Flush vs Full Flush, and how many suited tiles you need. Nine Gates 88 pt The 1112345678999 nine-sided wait for 88 points: it must be concealed, the wait is what counts, and which winning tile adds which fan.