Taiwanese Mahjong · 16 tai

Big Four Winds (Da Si Xi) in Taiwanese Mahjong: Tai, Examples and Odds

In Taiwanese mahjong, Big Four Winds (大四喜, da si xi) is worth 16 tai: when you win, East, South, West and North are all pungs (or kongs). It already includes round wind, seat wind, Little Four Winds and All Pungs; none of those are added.

The rules for Big Four Winds

• East, South, West and North are all pungs or kongs: claimed, self-drawn, exposed or concealed kongs all count
• The last set and the pair are free: a chow, a pung, dragons — anything
• No need to stay concealed

How Big Four Winds waits

The most common shape is two pairs: three wind pungs done, a pair of the fourth wind and another pair.

Once all four wind pungs are in place, the rest can wait any way — two-sided, edge or single wait, it's still Big Four Winds.

How Big Four Winds is scored

The tai below are computed live by the same scoring code the game uses (dealer and dealer-streak tai are added on top).

Common combinations:

How it relates to other hands

• Round Wind, Seat Wind: the four winds always include the round wind and your seat wind; Big Four Winds already covers them.
• All Pungs: if the last set is a pung too, the hand is five pungs, but this site doesn't add All Pungs.
• Little Four Winds: same family — only Big Four Winds counts.
• Half One Suit: if the last set and the pair are one suit, it's Half One Suit too, 20 tai.
• All Honors: if the last set and the pair are dragons, the whole hand is honors, 32 tai; a dragon pung as the last set adds 1 tai more.

Big Four Winds odds

What your opening hand needs

Big Four Winds needs three of every wind — all twelve of those tiles in one hand. In a random 16-tile opening hand:

Even with pairs of all four winds at the start, you still need one more of each — Big Four Winds is one of the hardest hands in Taiwanese mahjong.

Big Four Winds in computer play

In 12,000 hands of normal-level computer play there were 11,677 wins, and 0 of them were Big Four Winds. The computers never hold tiles for it and the sample is far too small to measure a hand this rare; that would take vastly more games.

When to go for Big Four Winds

• Three or more wind pairs at the start: aim for Little Four Winds first and pung winds as they come; pung the fourth and it's Big Four Winds.
• Don't wait forever: once two of a wind are discarded, you can't pung it — settle for Little Four Winds or ordinary round and seat wind.
• Defending: when someone has three wind pungs out, never discard the fourth wind.

To try it, open a table of online Taiwanese mahjong — the computers play with you and count the tai for you.

Big Four Winds in other mahjong styles

• Japanese mahjong: Daisuushii is a yakuman (Japanese mahjong yaku list)
• Hong Kong mahjong: Big Four Winds is a limit hand (Hong Kong mahjong fan list)
• Chinese Official (Guobiao): Big Four Winds, 88 fan (Guobiao mahjong fan list)

FAQ

How many tai is Big Four Winds?

In Taiwanese mahjong Big Four Winds is worth 16 tai, including round wind, seat wind, Little Four Winds and All Pungs. It still stacks with Half One Suit, All Honors, dragon pungs, concealed pungs and concealed self-draw.

Does Big Four Winds add All Pungs?

Not on this site. The four wind sets are pungs by definition, so Big Four Winds' 16 tai already includes it. Some tables add it anyway — agree before you play.

How many tai is Big Four Winds with All Honors?

Big Four Winds 16 tai plus All Honors 16 tai, 32 tai; if the last set is a dragon pung, add 1 more.

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

Big Four Winds is all four winds as pungs, 16 tai; Little Four Winds is three wind pungs with the fourth as the pair, 8 tai.

Related hands

Little Four Winds 8 tai Three wind pungs with the fourth wind as the pair — an 8-tai big hand. Examples, how round and seat wind count, and how it differs from Big Four Winds. All Honors 16 tai A hand made only of honor tiles, 16 tai: it always brings dragons or four winds along, so it starts at 20 tai. Round Wind 1 tai A pung of this round's wind is 1 tai: how to tell the round wind, how it stacks with the seat wind, and why a pair scores nothing.