Special hands illustrated.doc
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SPECIAL HANDS This section illustrates the special hands recognized by Shanghai: Dynasty. There are many other special hands recognized by players around the world; we wanted to allow for the most widely recognized or most "logical" patterns. And we have also added one new special hand in recognition of the history of Hong Kong, which has been very important to the history of Mah-Jongg. Special hands are used most widely in the Western game. The Chinese game recognizes a small number of special hands too. In the West, some players require special hands -- that is to say, a normal legal hand of chows and pongs and a pair does not qualify for a win. When playing "special hands required," it is recommended to play with the Jokers (otherwise, most players believe that Jokers make the game too easy). Some players prefer to play without special hands. Most players allow their use and just award bonus points when one is attained. Sometimes you can find a special hand described by one name in one book, and find a different description of that hand in a different book -- or find the same hand with two different names. And sometimes even different spellings. Sometimes "honors" are considered as including only Winds and Dragons -- sometimes as including Winds and Dragons and Terminals. Mah-Jongg players have to be flexible! The hands are shown here in their natural state (without Jokers). By their very nature, many special hands must be concealed. It is not possible to meld (expose) a pair or a single "unconnected" tile during the course of play, and "knitted" pongs or pairs also cannot be melded. Each of the hands below is marked as to whether it is Concealed or Exposed, and how much it earns. Jewel Hands
To understand the "jewel" hands it is important to keep two concepts in mind. Firstly, the Bams suit is comprised of "green" tiles (2, 3, 4, 6, 8) and "red" tiles (1, 5, 7, and 9) -- for the purposes of these hands, the other suits also are broken into identical groups.
The Green Bams
The Red Bams
Secondly, in Western Mah-Jongg each suit is associated with a dragon. The Red Dragon is associated with the Craks (and, in the case of Ruby hands, with the Red Bams), the Green Dragon is associated with the Bams, and the White Dragon is associated with the Dots.
Craks Red Dragon
Bams Dots Green Dragon White Dragon
For this reason, the tiles in your hand are sorted differently when you play Shanghai: Dynasty's Mah-Jongg game depending on whether you have chosen the Western rules or the Chinese rules (in the Chinese game there is no association between suits and Dragons). Jade Hand
Exposed
Limit
Western game
Pongs (or Kongs) and/or Chows of green Bams with a pair of Green Dragons.
Special hands illustrated.doc
5/30/2010
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Notes: Some players require this hand to contain no more than one Chow, but Shanghai: Dynasty allows multiple Chows in the Jade Hand. Keep in mind that when you have multiple Chows concealed in the hand (the same hand as seen above), the sorting does not separate the Chows as seen above.
This is how a pair of 2-3-4 Chows would look when concealed in the hand. Imperial Jade (Also called: Jade Dragon)
Exposed
Double Limit
Western and Chinese games
Pongs or kongs (may include no more than one Chow) of Green Dragons and Green Bams, with a pair of Green Bams. Pearl Hand
Exposed
Limit
Western game
Pongs or kongs or chows of 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 of Dots, with a pair of White Dragons. Pearl Dragon
Exposed
Double Limit
Western and Chinese games
Pongs or kongs (may include no more than one Chow) of White Dragons and 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 Dots with a pair of Dots (those numbers only). Ruby Hand
Exposed
Limit
Western game
Pongs or kongs of Red Bams with a pair of Red Dragons. Imperial Ruby (Also called: Royal Ruby)
Exposed
Double Limit
Western and Chinese games
Pongs or kongs of Red Dragons and Red Bams, with a pair of Red Bams.
Special hands illustrated.doc
Ruby Jade
Bams.
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Exposed
Limit
3
Western game
Pongs or kongs of Red Dragons, Green Dragons, Red Bams, and Green Bams, with a pair of any
Ruby Crack (Also called: Red Coral)
Exposed
Limit
Western game
Pongs or kongs (chows allowed) of 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 Craks and Red Dragons. Pair of any of those particular tiles. Pair Hands
Concealed Dirty Pairs (Also called: Small Seven Pairs)
Half Limit
Western and Chinese games
Limit
Western and Chinese games
Seven pairs of anything. Clean Pairs
Concealed
Seven pairs in one suit (Winds or Dragons allowed). All Pair Honours
Concealed
Limit
Western game
Seven pairs of Terminals, Winds, and/or Dragons only. All Pair Terminals (Also called: Earthly Twins)
Concealed
Limit
Western game
Seven pairs of Terminals only (kong is counted as two pairs if concealed).
