What Patterns to Start With – A Beginner’s Guide

So you’ve learned the Common Core of Mahjong and you’re trying to up your game and break into true Zung Jung. Awesome! But then you look at the list of all these patterns and are totally overwhelmed. Not awesome. Do you go for the big patterns because they are worth a ton of points? Do you go for the small ones because they sound easier to make? Do you really need to memorize this big freakin’ list of scoring elements?!

The answer to the last questions is yes, eventually, it’d be good to know all of the patterns. But that will come in time, and as you play, you’ll see that many of them are just variations on other patterns, and not nearly as much to remember as you think.

The answer to the first two questions, and the focus of this article, is based on the fact that the game steers players toward making hands worth around 30 points. The patterns set around 30 points are reasonably quick to make, not too much slower to make than the 5- and 10-point patterns. And if you spend all of your time making 1-, 5-, and 10-point hands, you’ll quickly be outpaced if even one person manages to win a hand around 30 points.

The Par Score’s setting at 25 points encourages this as well; it allows you to play a little more riskily and go for those bigger, slightly more complex patterns. If you accidentally discard into someone’s winning 1.1 All Simples hand, you only lose 5 points (along with the other two losing players) and the winner only gets a total of 15 points. You’re only down a net 20 points off the lead. Even if that happened 3 more rounds in a row, you (and the other two opponents) would be at -20 and the leader would be at +60. Meanwhile, if on the 5th round the leader discards into your 30-point 4.1 All Triplets hand, you gain 120 points jumping to +100, the other two opponents each lose 25 points and are down to -45 each, and the (now former) leader has to pay you out 70 points, bringing their score down from +60 to -10!

There are 10 individual patterns worth around 30 points in ZJ. When you first get your tiles, you should consider whether you are close to making one or more of these patterns and work to shape your hand toward them. So without further ado…

The Ten Patterns to Learn First

Listed by category and series numbers.

• 2.1.1 Mixed One-Suit (混一色) : 40 points
  You only have tiles in one suit and honor tiles. You want to consider this hand when you begin with a number tiles in one suit, probably around seven. It’d be nice if your other honor tiles could be a dragon or a seat wind for an extra 10 points, but don’t be penny-wise and pound-foolish – the honors are to decrease the number of same-suit tiles you need to get, so don’t be picky. The difficulty with this hand comes when you claim tiles. Exposing early a couple of sets of the same suit could tip off your opponents.
• 3.2.1 Small Three Dragons (小三元) : 40 points
  You have two triplets of two dragons and a pair of the remaining dragon. Consider going for this only if you have two pairs of dragons very early on. Difficult hand to pull off since dragon tiles often get discarded early, especially when pulling together the third, hence the higher point value. Keep in mind a triplet of dragons is worth 10 points on its own, so this hand actually score 60 points.
• 3.3.1 Small Three Winds (小三風) : 30 points
  Similar to Small Three Dragons, but it’s marginally easier because there are four winds compared to only three dragons. Consider if you have two pairs of winds early on. If one of your triplets is your seat wind, don’t forget your extra 10 points for 3.1 Value Honor.
• 4.1 All Triplets (對對和) : 30 points
  Exactly what it sounds like; you have four triplets in your winning hand. Consider if you have 3 or 4 pairs starting off, and definitely if you have 2 concealed triplets starting off. Pong anything you can, especially dragons or your seat wind for an extra 10 points. It is a hard hand to defend against, as your triplets don’t have to be related to one another. The risk is that your opponents figure out what you are up to and try to complete a low-scoring hand and go out before you can finish acquiring the full hand.
• 4.2.2 Three Concealed Triplets (三暗刻) : 30 points
  You hand has three concealed triplets/concealed kongs. No ponging for them; you have to build these the hard way. Also don’t make the mistake of claiming tiles for exposed kongs. Consider if you start off with a concealed triplet and one or two pairs. Harder to defend against since your hand remains concealed – if you manage to keep the whole thing concealed, you nab an extra 5 points for 1.2 Concealed Hand.
• 6.1 Three Similar Sequences (三色同順) : 35 points
  Three sequences each with the same numbers across the three different suits. Consider if you start with two tiles of each suit that if you ended up getting the third ones would make the similar sequences, especially if you have some open waits (e.g. 34 meaning you could make a sequence with a 2 or a 5) rather than closed waits (e.g. 35 meaning you have to get the 4 to make the sequence). Open waits will give you more flexibility in pursuing this pattern. The risk is in claiming tiles; two similar sequences exposed will easily tip off your opponents. Often can grab another sequence for 5 points from 1.1 All Sequences and sometimes an extra 5 from 1.2 Concealed Hand.
• 6.2.1 Small Three Similar Triplets (三色小同刻) : 30 points
  You have two triplets and one pair of the same number across the three different suits. Consider if you have something like 3 pairs of the same number or 1 triplet of one, a pair of another, and 1 of the third suit. Hard to pull off, as the third may never materialize and you end up trying for All Triplets – don’t go down with the ship if it looks unlikely.
• Nine-Tile Straight (一氣通貫) : 40 points
  Exactly what it sounds like, 3 sequences: a ‘123’ sequence, a ‘456’ sequence, and a ‘789’ sequence, all in the same suit, giving you a beautiful 1-9 of one suit. Consider if you start off with 6 or 7 single tiles of the same suit. Even better if you have some honor tiles to work with, as you can sometimes combine this with 2.1.1 Mixed One-Suit for an extra 40 points. The risk is in claiming tiles and in discarding everything but the suit your working for – watchful players may figure you out and fold their hand.
• 8.1.1 Mixed Lesser Terminals (混全帶么) : 40 points
  Terminals refer to the number tiles on the ends, 1 and 9. In this hand, each and every set in your hand must have either a 1, a 9, a wind, or a dragon in it, including the pair. Consider if you have the start of a good number of terminal-based sequences (e.g. 89, 78, 12 etc.) and some usable honor tiles, at least a pair. Statistically rarer than other 40 point patterns, let this one go if it looks too difficult. The risk is in claiming tiles and exposing your plan too early.
• 10.2 Seven Pairs (七對子) : 30 points
  The only irregular hand on the list, you make this pattern with 7 pairs of tiles. Consider if you start with a number of pairs, around 3 or 4, but any hand is only at most six tiles away from Seven Pairs. A difficult hand to defend against because your hand remains concealed and the pairs don’t have to relate to one another. Discard single tiles you’ve seen others discard – this hand is all about working the statistics since you have to draw them all yourself from the wall (except for the winning tile of course which you can steal from your hapless opponents). Keep in mind, this doesn’t earn the extra 5 points for a concealed hand nor can you count sequence-, triplet- or kong-based patterns with this hand.

These are the patterns to think about when initially assessing your hand. Until you get a better feel for the game, focus on these to build your foundation – in making your own hand and blocking your opponent from making theirs.

-ZJMJ

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