(z m / zi6 mo2) - Known in English typically as a self-pick, the winning tile

must be drawn (rather than discarded).

(d tng / duk6 teng1) - Known in English typically as a one-shot win or a last

chance win, this occurs if the winner was looking for one and only one tile to win the
hand (eg. the middle tile in a Chow). In some variations, this may extend to cases
where two or more tiles could win the hand, but all but one were previously
discarded.

(qing gng / coeng2 gong3) - Known in English typically as robbing the Kong,
the winning tile was also claimed by another player for a Kong. As claiming a tile for
the win takes precedence over claiming a tile for a Kong, the player who claimed the
winning tile for a Kong is said to be robbed.

(gng shng hu / gong3 soeng5 faa1) - Known in English typically as the

extra tile win, this occurs if the player wins off the extra tile drawn from replacing a
flower or a Kong. In such a case, self-pick is awarded plus an extra point to denote the
"self-pick" from the dead wall.

(gng shng gng / gong3 soeng5 gong3) - Known in English typically as the
Kong on Kong win, this is similar to the extra tile win, except that the tile that was
used to make the Kong was itself an extra tile from declaring a Kong. Like the above
case, whether self-pick is awarded is based on how the first Kong (the Kong not
formed from an extra tile) is obtained. Variations may have further levels of extra-tile
victory, and some variations may have similar criteria for extra tiles drawn from
flower tiles.

(tin h / tin1 wu4) - Known in English typically as the heavenly hand or the
heavenly victory, this occurs when the winner, as the dealer, wins the round on the
first turn (i.e., with the tiles given after dealing and - in all versions except
American - flower replacement). Because of its rarity, this criterion is often the one
worth the greatest number of points.

(d h / dei6 wu4) - Known in English typically as the earthly hand or the earthly
victory, this occurs when a non-dealer wins off the dealer's first discard. This is
typically the rarest and most valuable criterion for non-dealers. In Japanese variations,
chi h may also refer to a non-dealer winning on their first turn.

(p h / pei3 wu4) - Also known in some circles as (tu do h/teoi1 dit3

wu4) or (ji h/gai1 wu4 "Chicken Hand"), this is used to describe a winning hand
worth zero fn, or no points.

(zh h / zaa3 wu4) - Known in English literally as a trick hand, used to describe
a "false alarm" when a player claims to have won the amount claimed but in fact has
not.

The most common criteria, however, are criteria based on the presence of certain melds, or
certain combinations of melds:

(1 fn)
seat wind.

(1 fn)
/
/
/
x3 - The winning hand contains a meld of the prevailing
wind. In some variations, a double wind, where a certain wind is both the winner's
seat wind and the prevailing wind, may result in a point bonus.

(1 fn)

- The winning hand contains a meld of the red dragon.

(1 fn)

- The winning hand contains a meld of the green dragon.

(1 fn)

- The winning hand contains a meld of the white dragon.

(1 fn)
- Known in English as the
sequence hand, this occurs when every meld is a Chow.

(3 fn)
- Known in English as the
triplets hand, this occurs when every meld in the winning hand is either a Pong or
Kong. Variations allowing for Joker tiles will also permit melds of five or more, but
disallow an all-Joker meld.

x3 - The winning hand contains a meld of the winner's

Criteria may be formed from the presence or absence of certain groups or tiles in the
winning hand:

(3 fn)
- Known in English as the
mixed one suit hand, the winning hand must have only honor tiles and tiles from one
suit.

(7 fn)
- Known in English as the
pure one suit hand, the winning hand must be either all honor tiles, or tiles all of the
same suit. This is traditionally the highest value non-special hand, although newer
variations have subsets that are of a higher point value. Some variations splinter hands
of all honor tiles into a separate rule (below).

(10 fn)
- Known in English as the
pure honor hand, the winning hand must consist of all honor tiles. (Does not get extra
points for a triplets hand (), see below.)

Or the methods in which melds are formed:

(1 fn) - Known in English as a pure hand or a purely concealed hand, this

occurs if the winner wins without taking a discarded tile to form a meld. Depending
on variation, there may also be the additional requirement of winning by self-pick, in
which case, this is known as men qing zi mo, or purely concealed self-drawn hand.

Standard special hands

Standard special hands are typical in their composition (as they are standard hands), but are
regarded as special thanks to their contents (which are typically intersections of many
criteria). Because of this, it is possible to obtain a hand that fulfills two or more "special
criteria", or a combination of special and nonspecial criteria.

(3 fn)
- Known in English as the
three lesser scholars, the winning hand contains melds in two of the three dragons and
a pair of the third dragon.

(6 fn)
- Known in English as the
three great scholars, the winning hand contains melds in all three dragons.

(8 fn)
- Known in English as the
four small blessings, the winning hand contains melds in three of the four winds and a
pair of the fourth wind. Some variations have a further restriction with the prevailing
wind or the seat wind disallowed as the pair.

(10 fn)
- Known in English as the
four great blessings, the winning hand contains melds in all four winds.

+ any tile in the same set - A Nine

Gates Hand is one where a player has 1 through 9 all in the same suit. The 14th tile
may be any tile from the same suit. It is called nine gates because there are 9 tiles that
the player can win with. In some games it is required that the hand be totally
concealed (i.e. the three 1s and 9s must be drawn from the wall and not taken from a
discard).

Non-standard special hands

(13 fn)
+ any tile in the set - Known
in English as the thirteen terminal hand or the thirteen wonders, this occurs in 13-tile
variants when the winning hand consists of one of each one, nine, wind, and dragon,
and a 14th tile. Because the hand is so greatly divergent from the standard hand, this
hand is generally considered the highest scoring hand of any kind (although it is not
the hand that is least likely to occur - the nine gates is said to be some 450 times more
rare, barring criteria that are probabilistic in nature. Thus, in scoring systems where a
maximum point value is imposed, this is often an automatic maximum-point hand.