WHAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DO
Take three ideas to the table.
- Separate a complete hand, a sufficient fan total and the final point payment.
- Recount a scoring route after opening a set instead of keeping a bonus you have lost.
- Use this table’s published values without assuming every Hong Kong group uses them.
A HAND YOU CAN READ
The same tiles can be worth enough—or fall short
Dragon Hong Kong house rules
Table setup. You are South; East is dealer and round wind. One flower is set aside. No last-tile, replacement-draw or robbed-kong bonus applies. These are three alternative finishes, not successive turns. Points are game points, not money.
1. Closed hand, win from a discard
14 tiles · complete shape1 · Chow
Same suit, consecutive ranks.
2 · Chow
A separate bamboo sequence.
3 · Chow
The suit stays dots.
4 · Pung
Three identical red dragons: one fan here.
5 · Pair
Two identical tiles; this is the pair, not a fifth set.
Red-dragon pung: 1 fan. Closed hand: 1. One flower: 1. Total: 3 fan, exactly the minimum. The three-fan base is 8. As a nondealer discard win, Dragon charges the discarder 8 × 3 = 24 points.
2. Call a chow: the same faces no longer qualify
14 tiles · complete shape1 · Chow
Same suit, consecutive ranks.
2 · Chow
A separate bamboo sequence.
3 · Chow
The suit stays dots.
4 · Pung
Three identical red dragons: one fan here.
5 · Pair
Two identical tiles; this is the pair, not a fifth set.
Suppose you had previously called the 1–2–3 bamboo chow. The hand is now open. The red dragons and flower still contribute 2 fan, but the closed-hand fan is gone. The shape is complete; the discard win is below the three-fan minimum. Merely making a set faster did not preserve a winning route.
3. Instead, finish the open hand by self-draw
14 tiles · complete shape1 · Chow
Same suit, consecutive ranks.
2 · Chow
A separate bamboo sequence.
3 · Chow
The suit stays dots.
4 · Pung
Three identical red dragons: one fan here.
5 · Pair
Two identical tiles; this is the pair, not a fifth set.
If you draw that 9 dots yourself, the self-draw fan restores eligibility: dragon 1 + flower 1 + self-draw 1 = 3. Base 8; the dealer pays 16 and the two other opponents pay 8 each. You receive 32 points in total. The table’s actual payout rules matter after the fan calculation.
Remember: Before a call, count the fan you lose as well as the set you gain.
The blocks show how to read the hand, not its order in the game rack. Every example here has no kong; a declared kong adds one physical tile to the usual count.
Separate shape from value
A hand can have four sets and a pair and still fall short of the table’s minimum. Think of two checks: do the tiles form a permitted winning structure, and does that hand score enough? In Lightning Dragon’s Hong Kong mode, the second answer must be at least three fan.
This distinction changes useful decisions. Calling a sequence may complete a set, but it opens your hand and removes the concealed-hand fan. Keeping a difficult triplet plan may preserve value while slowing progress. Neither move is automatically right; check both completion and scoring before you commit.
Learn the house values you will use first
| Feature | Fan here | What to recognize |
|---|---|---|
| Dragon triplet or kong | 1 per dragon type | Three or four identical red, green or white dragons. |
| Seat-wind or round-wind triplet | 1 for each qualifying role | The wind must match the relevant seat or round. |
| All triplets | 3 | Four triplet-type sets and a pair. |
| One suit with honors | 3 | Numbered tiles from one suit, plus winds or dragons. |
| One suit without honors | 7 | The entire hand uses one numbered suit. |
| Seven distinct pairs | 4 | A closed special hand of seven different pairs. |
This is a starter reference, not every pattern the game recognizes. The scoring result identifies the awarded features. A matching wind pair does not earn the triplet fan, and merely holding three different dragons is not a dragon triplet.
Add the bonuses that actually apply
Our table awards one fan for a concealed hand, one for winning on your own draw, and one per flower or season. Flowers and seasons are exposed and replaced; they do not stand in for a tile inside the hand. Their fan count toward this table’s three-fan minimum.
For a concrete route, suppose a structurally complete hand has a dragon triplet and one flower. Those features contribute two fan. If you kept the hand concealed, that supplies a third. If you opened a set instead, you would need some other applicable scoring feature, such as a self-draw, to reach the minimum. Additional patterns may increase the final total.
Work through a fan ledger, then change one fact
Use this deliberately limited example: an otherwise complete ordinary hand has a red-dragon triplet, exactly one flower, and no other pattern fan. If the hand remains closed and wins from a discard, its ledger is dragon 1 + flower 1 + closed 1 = 3 fan. The hand must also satisfy the practice table’s discard-win restrictions.
| Change | What happens to these features? | Result under the stated assumptions |
|---|---|---|
| Call a non-scoring chow before finishing | Lose the closed-hand fan; keep the dragon and flower. | 2 fan on a discard win: below the minimum. |
| Finish that open hand by self-draw | Add one self-draw fan. | 3 fan: reaches the minimum. |
| Draw a second flower instead | Add one more flower fan after its replacement. | The open hand has a three-fan route even without the self-draw bonus. |
This is a comparison of scoring features, not a recommended call or a guarantee of finishing. A real rack may have additional patterns, unavailable winning tiles or an opponent about to win. Change the ledger whenever the facts change.
Do not spend fan you have not earned
A pair of red dragons is a potential scoring route, not an awarded dragon-triplet fan. A mostly bamboo rack is not a completed one-suit hand while dots remain. A plan to win by self-draw is uncertain until you actually draw the winning tile. Separate “could score” from “does score” before deciding whether a call is affordable.
Seat wind and round wind also need context. A triplet of West does not automatically count merely because West is an honor. Ask whether West is your seat wind or the current round wind. In this app, when a triplet qualifies for both roles, both listed one-fan awards apply. Keep a wind’s tile identity separate from the seat label.
Fan is not the final payment
Fan maps to a base-point table. Here, three fan starts from eight base points; four fan from sixteen; five fan from twenty-four. The conversion is not a simple “double forever” formula. Limit hands use the table’s thirteen-fan limit value.
Dealer status and the winning method then affect payments. Under our rules, a discard win makes the discarder pay the hand’s combined table charge. On a self-draw, the other players pay their shares, with dealer-related doubling. These are in-game points, not wagers or a promise of cash winnings.
Choose value that fits the rack
Start with what the deal already gives you. Several pairs may support triplets or seven pairs; a strong concentration in one suit may support a suit hand. A scattered rack does not become a good flush simply because the flush is worth more. Useful value is value you can realistically finish.
After each call, recount the likely fan. Then ask how many useful tiles are still available and whether another player is threatening to finish. The discard guide connects those questions to your next move.
Check another table before using this chart
Minimums, bonuses and payments vary across Hong Kong communities. Before an in-person game, agree on the exact rules instead of correcting someone with this app’s chart. Use practice to learn how scoring affects decisions, then adapt the numbers to the table you join.
MAKE THE DECISION, THEN EXPLAIN IT
Three table situations.
Choose an answer, then compare your reasoning. You can retry any situation or open its full explanation.
0 of 3 situations solved in this visit
SITUATION 1
Recount after the call
Your only planned fan are a dragon triplet (1), one flower (1) and a closed hand (1). You then call a non-scoring chow. Assume no other scoring pattern, and that you would finish from a discard. What is the new total?
Choose the move you would make.
Read the answer and compare every option
A. Three; I was closed earlier in the hand — Why this misses the point
The final hand’s status determines the concealed-hand fan. Once you make this open call, that one fan is lost.
B. Two; I need another qualifying feature — Best answer
Correct: dragon 1 + flower 1 remains. Under these stated assumptions, a discard win is below Dragon’s three-fan minimum.
C. Four; any call earns a fan — Why this misses the point
A chow is a way to complete a set, not an automatic scoring bonus. This call removes the closed-hand fan without adding another.
Take it to the table: Count the hand you will finish, not the hand you had before calling.
SITUATION 2
Which wind is valuable here?
You sit South in an East round. Consider just a triplet of West; no other scoring feature is being counted in this question. What does that triplet contribute as a seat-wind or round-wind bonus in Dragon?
Choose the move you would make.
Read the answer and compare every option
A. One fan because every wind is an honor — Why this misses the point
Being an honor makes matching sets possible, but the wind bonus requires the relevant seat or round. Your roles here are South and East.
B. Two fan because there are two wind roles — Why this misses the point
Both roles can count only when the triplet’s wind matches both. West matches neither South nor East.
C. Zero fan from those two wind bonuses — Best answer
Exactly. The triplet still fills one set, and the entire hand could have other patterns. It simply earns neither of these role-specific bonuses.
Take it to the table: A tile can help the shape without earning the scoring feature you expected.
SITUATION 3
Where does the flower belong?
You draw a flower in Dragon’s Hong Kong mode. Your hand is missing the second tile of a pair. What should the flower do?
Choose the move you would make.
Read the answer and compare every option
A. Replace the missing pair tile like a joker — Why this misses the point
A flower is a bonus tile, not a wild tile. It cannot impersonate the missing tile in a set or pair.
B. Be exposed and replaced, while contributing its flower fan — Best answer
Correct. The game replaces the bonus tile and counts one flower fan under these house rules. You still need a natural tile to complete the pair.
C. Be discarded with no scoring effect — Why this misses the point
Here, flowers are set aside and replaced rather than treated as ordinary discards; each contributes one fan.
Take it to the table: Flower fan helps value; the replacement draw supplies a tile for hand building.
YOUR NEXT HAND HAS A PURPOSE
Keep a fan ledger for one hand
The game starts a new random hand. The worked hand above is a demonstration, so look for the same idea in the tiles you actually receive.
- Open a Hong Kong bot table with its fresh random deal and list the scoring features your current rack could realistically finish.
- Label each feature “already secured” or “still a plan”; a dragon pair is not yet a dragon-triplet fan.
- Before an open call, cross out the concealed-hand fan and recount the remaining route.
- When the hand ends, read the actual awarded features and compare them with your prediction.
- Write one correction for the next hand, such as “the flower was a bonus, not part of my pair.”
Success looks like this: You can account for the actual minimum using named features, and explain why a call did or did not change your plan.
Rules & further reading
These guides distinguish our game’s rules from the rules used at other tables. Check your group’s agreed rulebook before a real match.