Chinese Official Mahjong · 64 pt

Little Four Winds in Chinese Official Mahjong (MCR): Points, Rules and Examples

In Chinese Official Mahjong, Little Four Winds (小四喜) is worth 64 points: three of the four winds are pungs (or kongs), the fourth wind is the pair, and the last set can be anything.

The rules for Little Four Winds

• One pung or kong each of three winds, with the fourth wind as the pair
• The remaining set can be any set: a chow, a suit pung or a dragon pung
• Claiming and kongs are allowed — it does not have to be concealed
• If all four winds are pungs it is Big Four Winds (88 points) instead

What Little Four Winds does not combine with

• Big Three Winds (12): the three wind pungs are already part of it
• Pung of Terminals or Honors: the three wind pungs no longer score 1 each

Still counted: if one of the wind pungs is the prevalent or your seat wind, Prevalent Wind (2) and Seat Wind (2) are added; a terminal pung as the fifth set still scores its own Pung of Terminals. Half Flush, Outside Hand, Three Concealed Pungs and even All Honors often stack on top.

Scoring examples

Scored live by the game's own code. Note the round and seat wind shown in each box: the same tiles score differently from another seat.

Little Four Winds vs Big Four Winds vs Big Three Winds

With the same three wind pungs, whether the pair is the fourth wind is the difference between 64 and 12 points.

How Little Four Winds waits

With the winds already in hand, two waits are typical:

• Dual pung wait: two wind pungs plus pairs of the other two winds, waiting for either to become a pung — whichever comes, you have three pungs and a pair, i.e. Little Four Winds.
• Single wait: three wind pungs and the fifth set complete, holding a single fourth wind; waiting on it for the pair also adds Single Wait.

Odds of Little Four Winds

You need at least a pair of every wind, and each wind has only four tiles. The chart counts how many winds are already paired (or better) in a 13-tile opening hand:

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

Two paired winds at the start happen only 0.90% of the time. In 4,000 computer-played hands (3,849 wins) Little Four Winds appeared 0 times — for a fan this rare the sample only shows that it is very rare, not how rare.

When to go for it

• With two or three paired winds, claim early: winds are what everyone throws in the first turns.
• Secure 8 points first: two claimed wind pungs with prevalent/seat wind plus Half Flush is often enough already; upgrade if the third wind pung arrives.
• Once three of the fourth wind are in the discards, only Big Four Winds or Big Three Winds remain possible.

Try it in a real game — play MCR online against the computer, with scoring done for you.

Little Four Winds in other mahjong styles

• Taiwanese mahjong: Little Four Winds is 8 tai (Little Four Winds in Taiwanese mahjong)
• Riichi mahjong: Shousuushii is a yakuman (Japanese mahjong yaku list)

FAQ

How many points is Little Four Winds?

Little Four Winds is worth 64 points in Chinese Official Mahjong. It does not add Big Three Winds or Pung of Terminals or Honors; Prevalent Wind and Seat Wind still count.

Do Prevalent Wind and Seat Wind still count?

Yes. A pung of the prevalent wind adds 2, a pung of your seat wind adds 2; if one wind is both, both are added.

What is the difference from Big Four Winds?

Big Four Winds has all four winds as pungs, 88 points; Little Four Winds has three pungs and the fourth wind as the pair, 64 points.

Three wind pungs but the pair is not a wind?

That is Big Three Winds, 12 points. Only a fourth-wind pair makes it Little Four Winds.

Related fan

Big Four Winds 88 pt Pungs of all four winds for 88 points: the rules, what it doesn't combine with, how it differs from Little Four Winds and how rare it is. 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. Prevalent Wind 2 pt A pung of the round wind for 2 points (no terminal-pung point); if it is also your seat wind, add Seat Wind too. Other winds only give 1 point.