Hong Kong Mahjong · Limit
Small Four Winds (小四喜) in Hong Kong Mahjong: Scoring, Examples and Odds
In this site's Hong Kong mahjong, Small Four Winds (小四喜) is a limit hand, scored at Limit: when you win, three of the four winds are pungs (or kongs), the fourth wind is the pair, plus any fourth set.
A limit hand scores the 10-fan maximum straight away, without adding up other fan.
On this page
The rules for Small Four Winds
- Three winds as pungs or kongs, and the fourth wind exactly as the pair
- The fourth set can be any chow or pung
- Claiming is fine — it doesn't need to be concealed
- Scored at the limit; round wind, seat wind and No Flowers are not added
Small vs Great Four Winds
| Hand | Wind pungs | Wind pair | Fan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Four Winds | three | the fourth wind | Limit |
| Great Four Winds | four | not needed | Limit |
How Small Four Winds is scored
The fan below are computed live by the same scoring code the game uses.
Won on a discard
| Small four winds (小四喜) | Limit |
| Total | 10 fan · Limit |
|---|
Anything over 10 fan scores 10 (the limit).
| Combination | Fan |
|---|---|
| Small Four Winds | Limit |
| Four wind pungs (Great Four Winds) | Limit |
| Small Four Winds with a dragon pung as the fourth set (All Honours) | Limit |
How it relates to other hands
- Great Four Winds: the fourth wind punged too — four pungs, a limit hand.
- Round wind, seat wind: if Small Four Winds doesn't come off, any of your wind pungs matching the round or your seat still scores 1 fan.
- All Honours: Small Four Winds with a dragon pung as the fourth set is all honours — also a limit hand.
- Mixed One Suit: with a chow as the fourth set, it's often Mixed One Suit as well, but the limit already covers it.
Small Four Winds odds
Small Four Winds needs eleven wind tiles: three pungs and a pair. A 13-tile opening hand has two or more wind pairs about 0.90% of the time, and three or more only 0.014%.
Over 100,000 hands of computers playing normally on this site, Small Four Winds came up 0 times and Great Four Winds 0 times. Winds can only be punged, never chowed, so every set depends on a discard or your own draw.
Playing for Small Four Winds
- Three wind pairs at the start: pung every one, then keep one of the fourth wind as the pair.
- A single wait on a wind is the hardest: if only one or two of the fourth wind are left, break it up and wait on another pair — fall back to All Pungs or Mixed One Suit.
- Two exposed wind pungs make others hold winds: from then on you'll mostly have to draw them.
To try it, open a table of online Hong Kong mahjong — the computers play with you and count the fan for you.
Small Four Winds in other mahjong styles
- Japanese mahjong: Shousuushii is a yakuman, see the Japanese mahjong yaku list
- Taiwanese mahjong: see the Taiwanese mahjong tai table
- Chinese Official (Guobiao): see the Guobiao fan table
FAQ
How many fan is Small Four Winds?
This site scores Small Four Winds as a limit hand: the 10-fan maximum straight away. Some tables give it a fixed number of fan instead, so check before you play.
What's the difference between Small and Great Four Winds?
Small Four Winds is three wind pungs with the fourth wind as the pair; Great Four Winds is pungs of all four winds. Both are limit hands on this site.
Can the fourth set of Small Four Winds be a chow?
Yes. Besides the three wind pungs and the wind pair, the fourth set can be any chow or pung.
Related hands
Great Four Winds Limit
Pungs of all four winds — a limit hand scored at the maximum at once: the difference from Small Four Winds and why it's so rare.
Round Wind 1 fan
1 fan for a pung of this round's wind, for every player — East in the East round, South in the South round, plus another fan if it's also your seat wind.
Seat Wind 1 fan
1 fan for a pung of your own seat's wind: dealer East, then South, West, North — plus another fan when it's also the round wind.
Try it at the table
Hong Kong Mahjong — Play classic Hong Kong (Cantonese) mahjong free in your browser against three computer opponents. 13-tile hands, flowers, 3-fan minimum, 10-fan limit and automatic fan scoring. No sign-up, works on phone and desktop.