Singapore Mahjong contradiction map
Ping Hu in Singapore Mahjong: the exact rule and why tables differ
Direct answer. On the WongHongWei.com practice table, Ping Hu is worth 4 Tai. The hand must contain four Chows and an unvalued eye, hold no Flower, Season or Animal tiles, and pass the discard-wait test. An exposed Chi is allowed. A self-drawn win is exempt from the wait restriction.
Ping Hu is often described as the clean all-sequence hand, but that shorthand hides the questions that cause real table disputes: which eye is allowed, whether bonus tiles break it, whether an open Chi counts, and which waits qualify.
Written and editorially reviewed by Wong Hong Wei ·
Review boundary: app-specific results are fixture-tested. Independent Mahjong-expert and fluent Chinese-language review remain pending; see publication status.
The exact Ping Hu rule used here
- All four sets are Chows; there is no Pong or Kong.
- The eye is not a Dragon, the player's seat Wind or the prevailing Wind.
- The player has no Flower, Season or Animal tiles.
- A discard win must have had at least two possible winning tile types; self-draw is exempt.
- An exposed Chi is allowed when every other condition passes.
Stacking: Ping Hu replaces the lesser All Chow award; it does not add another 1 Tai for the same four Chows.
Use this rule in the app, not as a claim that every Singapore household plays identically. For a physical table, agree the bonus-tile, eye, wait and openness conditions before the first deal.
Check a worked Ping Hu hand
Start with an example below, then open its fixed hand to see the tiles and check the result. These are authored examples under this site’s practice rules. If sets, pairs or Tai are new to you, try the short first-hand exercise.
| Fixture | Expected result |
|---|---|
SGMJ-PINGHU-EX-001Valid clean Ping Hu |
Ping Hu +4 Four Chows, an unvalued pair, no bonus tiles and a self-drawn finish. Check this worked hand |
SGMJ-PINGHU-EX-002Valued Dragon eye |
No Ping Hu and no All Chow Tai The four Chows are complete, but White Dragons form a valued eye. Check this worked hand |
SGMJ-PINGHU-EX-003Animal changes the category |
All Chow +1, plus the Animal's Tai The Cat prevents Ping Hu but does not erase the lesser All Chow shape. Check this worked hand |
SGMJ-PINGHU-EX-004Kah Long discard wait |
No All Chow Tai; cannot Hu without another source Only one tile type completed the hand from a discard, so this practice table removes the Chow-hand Tai. Check this worked hand |
SGMJ-PINGHU-EX-005Open Chi is accepted |
Ping Hu +4 One Chow is exposed; the remaining concealed tiles still complete three Chows and an unvalued eye. Check this worked hand |
Why Singapore tables disagree about Ping Hu
Published rules agree on the all-sequence core but do not always package bonus tiles, waits and the lower-valued all-Chow form the same way. The safest question is not simply “Do you play Ping Hu?” but “Which exact conditions and value does this table use?”
| Question | WongHongWei.com practice table | Documented alternative or caution |
|---|---|---|
| Can Flowers, Seasons or Animals remain? | No. Any bonus tile prevents Ping Hu, although a valid all-Chow shape may still earn All Chow +1 and the bonus tile may add its own Tai. | Some published competition rules describe a lower-valued mixed Ping Hu that can retain bonus tiles. |
| Which eyes are valued? | A Dragon, seat Wind or prevailing Wind eye blocks both Ping Hu and All Chow. | Published rules agree on blocking Dragons and relevant Winds, but a household should still state its exact valued-eye list. |
| Does the wait restriction apply to self-draw? | No. Kah Long and other single-type wait restrictions are applied to discard wins, not self-draw. | The SPGG competition rules also exempt a self-drawn Ping Hu from their listed wait restrictions. |
| Can the hand contain an exposed Chi? | Yes. Openness alone does not block Ping Hu on this practice table. | Some groups use a concealed-hand convention. Ask before the first deal rather than assuming. |
Ask these four questions before play
- Do any Flowers, Seasons or Animals break Ping Hu?
- Which Dragon or Wind eyes are valued?
- Which discard waits are disallowed, and is self-draw exempt?
- May the hand contain an exposed Chi?
Canonical rule record
This evidence block is generated from the public v1 registry. The legacy API key SGMJ-PINGHU-001 remains supported; SGMJ-PINGHU-001 is the stable cross-page identifier.
| Rule dimension | Machine key | Site default |
|---|---|---|
| All Sets Must Be Chows | allSetsMustBeChows | Yes |
| Exposed Chi Permitted | exposedChiPermitted | Yes |
| Pair Must Be Unvalued | pairMustBeUnvalued | Yes |
| Bonus Tiles Disqualify | bonusTilesDisqualify | Yes |
| Discard Requires Multiple Winning Tile Types | discardRequiresMultipleWinningTileTypes | Yes |
| Self Draw Exempts Wait Restriction | selfDrawExemptsWaitRestriction | Yes |
| Strict Tai | strictTai | 4 |
| Failed Strict All Chow Tai | failedStrictAllChowTai | 1 |
Check a table situation. The picker offers conditional examples, not a ruling on an unseen hand. Live replay currently covers the five Ping Hu worked hands only; Bao, passed claims and multiple-call positions remain unavailable.
Published deterministic fixtures
ping-hu-strict— Legal: Yes; Tai: 4ping-hu-bonus-fails— Ping Hu: No; Fallback: All Chow may score when its other conditions holdping-hu-one-type-discard-fails— Ping Hu: No; All Chow Tai: 0ping-hu-self-draw-wait-exempt— Ping Hu: Yes; Tai: 4
Registry 2026.08.26: canonical rules · fixtures. These records verify this site's chosen behaviour; they do not claim that all Singapore tables use it. Independent Mahjong-expert and fluent Chinese-language review remain pending.
Sources, review and correction method
- WongHongWei.com Singapore Mahjong Guide first-party-documentation
- WongHongWei.com Singapore Mahjong scorer first-party-implementation
- SingaporeMahjong.com rules external-ruleset
Defines Ping Wu as All Chow without exposed Flower or Animal tiles and explicitly notes that Singapore rules vary. - Singapore Polytechnic Graduates' Guild Mahjong Rules and Regulations, January 2024 external-competition-ruleset
Documents a four-double Ping Hu, its eye and wait restrictions, and a separate mixed Ping Hu treatment that may retain bonus tiles.
Reviewed: 2026-08-25 by Wong Hong Wei.
Method: The public rule text and worked fixtures are checked against the final scorer exposed by the playable table's test hook.
Machine-readable record: download the public JSON. It includes stable IDs, source links, rule choices and exact expected scorer results.
Corrections: material changes are recorded in the public changelog. To report a rule mismatch, send the rule ID and a reproducible hand.
Ping Hu questions
How many Tai is Ping Hu in Singapore Mahjong?
It is 4 Tai on the WongHongWei.com practice table. Other Singapore tables may use different labels, conditions or payouts, so agree the rule before play.
Does a Flower or Animal break Ping Hu?
Yes on this practice table. The hand may fall back to All Chow +1 if the shape, eye and wait still qualify, while the bonus tile may add its own Tai.
Can an open Chi still be Ping Hu?
Yes on this practice table. An exposed Chi is allowed; a Pong or Kong is not, because every set must be a Chow.
Does Kah Long block Ping Hu?
A one-tile-type discard wait blocks Ping Hu and All Chow here. The restriction is not applied when the winning tile is self-drawn.
Continue learning or test the rule
The complete guide covers the surrounding Tai, payout and house-rule system. The playable table lets you check a hand with the same scorer these fixtures exercise.