Taiwanese Mahjong · 5 tai

Four Concealed Pungs (Si An Ke) in Taiwanese Mahjong: Tai, Examples and Odds

In Taiwanese mahjong, Four Concealed Pungs (四暗刻, si an ke) is worth 5 tai: when you win, four of your sets are pungs you drew yourself (concealed pungs). The fifth set can be a run, a claimed pung, or a pung completed by a discard.

The rules for Four Concealed Pungs

• Four pungs you drew yourself: pungs in your hand, or concealed kongs
• Claimed pungs, exposed kongs and added kongs are exposed and don't count
• A pung completed by someone's discard is not concealed
• The fifth set is free — chow it or pung it; the hand doesn't have to be concealed
• Concealed pungs are one family: three 2 tai < four 5 tai < five 8 tai; only the highest counts

How Four Concealed Pungs waits

Single wait: four pungs done, waiting for the pair

The winning tile makes the pair, not a pung, so a discard win doesn't touch your concealed pungs. Only one tile wins, so it also scores single wait for 1 tai.

Two-pair wait: three concealed pungs plus two pairs

Self-drawing the fourth pung makes Four Concealed Pungs; if it comes from a discard, that pung is exposed and only three remain. The same hand scores Four Concealed Pungs, 5 tai, on a self-draw, but only Three Concealed Pungs, 2 tai, on a discard.

How Four Concealed Pungs 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

• Five Concealed Pungs: all five concealed, 8 tai, replacing four. A concealed four-pung hand on a two-pair wait becomes five when self-drawn.
• All Pungs: if the fifth set is a pung too (claimed, or completed by a discard), add All Pungs for 4 tai.
• Concealed self-draw: 3 tai, on top of Four Concealed Pungs.
• Dragon and wind pungs: dragon, round-wind or seat-wind pungs still score their own tai.

Four Concealed Pungs odds

Pungs and pairs in the opening hand

You need four self-drawn pungs, and an opening hand usually has none or one. A 16-tile opening hand has 2 or more pungs about 0.78% of the time and 3 or more only 0.0086%; the more realistic starting point is lots of pairs — 5 or more pairs about 2.1% of the time.

How common it is in real games

In 12,000 hands of four computers playing normally, only 1 of the 11,677 winning hands had Four Concealed Pungs. That's too few to give a meaningful share; all we can say is that fast play almost never produces it.

How to play for Four Concealed Pungs

• Many pairs whose tiles haven't been discarded: don't rush to pung — wait to draw them. Every pung you claim is one concealed pung fewer.
• In a concealed hand, think about five: four concealed pungs plus a pair on a two-pair wait self-draws into Five Concealed Pungs + All Pungs + concealed self-draw.
• Single wait beats a two-pair wait: with four pungs done, a single wait is Four Concealed Pungs on a discard or a self-draw; a two-pair wait won on a discard drops to three. You can switch the single wait to an honor or edge tile others are likely to throw.
• When to give up: less than half the wall is left, you still have only two concealed pungs, and your pair tiles are being discarded — pung your pairs and play for speed.

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

Four Concealed Pungs in other mahjong styles

• Japanese mahjong's "Suuankou" is a yakuman and must be fully concealed (Japanese mahjong yaku list)
• In Hong Kong mahjong, Four Concealed Pungs is a limit hand (Hong Kong mahjong fan list)
• In Chinese Official (Guobiao) mahjong, Four Concealed Pungs is 64 fan (Guobiao fan list)

FAQ

How many tai is Four Concealed Pungs?

In Taiwanese mahjong Four Concealed Pungs is worth 5 tai. It stacks with All Pungs, concealed self-draw, single wait, dragon pungs and more; Three and Five Concealed Pungs are the same family, so only the highest counts.

Does Four Concealed Pungs need a concealed hand?

No. The set besides the four concealed pungs can be chowed or punged. A concealed hand just adds concealed self-draw when you self-draw — and may even reach Five Concealed Pungs.

Two-pair wait, won on a discard: is it still four concealed?

No. The pung made from the discard is exposed, leaving three concealed pungs: Three Concealed Pungs for 2 tai. Only a self-draw makes it four.

Is Four Concealed Pungs always All Pungs?

Not always. If the fifth set is a run, it isn't All Pungs; if it's a pung too, add All Pungs for 4 tai.

Related hands

Three Concealed Pungs 2 tai Three self-drawn pungs for 2 tai: which pungs count as concealed, when a discard costs you one, and how to upgrade to four. Five Concealed Pungs 8 tai All five pungs self-drawn, an 8-tai big hand: always All Pungs too, and a single wait on a discard still counts. All Pungs 4 tai Five pungs and a pair, no chows allowed — 4 tai. Examples, scoring combos and how many pairs you need to go for it.