American Mahjong · 5 hands

Singles & Pairs Hands in American Mahjong: No Jokers, Scoring and Odds

In American mahjong, a Singles & Pairs hand is made only of single tiles and pairs — no pungs or kongs at all. On our House Card every line is seven pairs. Because jokers can't go into a pair, these hands are built entirely from real tiles, always concealed, and worth the most on the card: 50 points each.

What counts as a Singles & Pairs hand

• Only pairs and singles: on our card, every line is exactly seven pairs (flowers count as a pair)
• No jokers, ever. Jokers only fill groups of three or more, and these hands have none
• Every line is C — concealed: you can't call a discard to expose anything, only to take the tile that wins
• Colors decide the suits as usual (see reading the card); a dragon pair in a suit's color is that suit's dragon

Every Singles & Pairs hand on our card

• Odd pairs and a dragon pair — 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 in one suit, flowers, and the dragon of another suit.
• Wind pairs and a like number — a pair of each wind and one number as a pair in all three suits.
• Seven pairs in a row — seven consecutive numbers, one suit.
• 369 pairs in two suits — flowers plus 3, 6 and 9 twice.
• 2468 pairs and two dragons — flowers, 2-4-6-8 in one suit, its own dragon and one other.

Why jokers don't work in Singles & Pairs hands

On this site, as at most American mahjong tables, a joker can stand in for any tile in a group of three or more — never a single or a pair. Every group here is a pair, so there is nowhere to put one. That has a few consequences, all enforced by the game:

• A joker in your hand is a dead tile. It can't count toward any Singles & Pairs line; plan to discard it.
• A discarded joker is safe. Nobody can call a joker, so throwing one never feeds another player.
• No no-joker double. Other categories double when you win without jokers. Here every win is jokerless by definition, so there is no bonus; instead the card value is the highest on the card: 50 points, never doubled. See jokers for the general rules.
• The last tile can come from a discard. Concealed doesn't mean self-drawn only: you may call the tile that completes your final pair to win.

How Singles & Pairs hands are scored

Each hand pays its card value with no joker bonus. On a discard, the player who discarded pays twice the value and the other two pay once; on a self-drawn win, all three pay twice. The table is worked out by the game's own scoring code.

Singles & Pairs odds

How close your deal is

Pairs are common in a deal, so the first few come easily — it's the last ones that are hard, because every tile has to be real. Before the Charleston, a 13-tile deal is within 7 tiles of the nearest Singles & Pairs hand 8.0% of the time; after the Charleston, within 6 tiles rises to 19%.

Source: 20,000 random 13-tile deals (jokers and flowers included), before the Charleston.

Source: 1,500 games of computer-vs-computer play on this site (normal level, Charleston included). Each computer has its own slight taste for categories.

How often Singles & Pairs wins

When the computers play normally, Singles & Pairs hands were only 0.57% of all wins, collecting 238 points on average; 38% were self-drawn. That is a handful of games, so treat these numbers as rough. Getting close is common; finishing is not — the tile that finishes a pair is usually one of just three left, with no jokers to help.

Source: 1,500 games of computer-vs-computer play on this site (normal level, Charleston included). Each computer has its own slight taste for categories.

Is it worth forcing Singles & Pairs?

We had the player whose deal was closest to Singles & Pairs play nothing but these hands — Charleston, discards and wins — while the other three played normally, and compared the result with the same kind of deal played normally.

Source: 1,500 games of computer play on this site. In each, the player whose deal was closest to Singles & Pairs played only Singles & Pairs hands; the other three played normally. Money is the card value as paid in the game.

This was the starkest result on the whole card: forcing Singles & Pairs almost never worked.

• From a deal within 7 tiles, forcing it worked only 0.63% of the time, for an average of −37; the same kind of deal played normally averaged −2.
• From within 8 tiles, it worked 0.38% of the time (−39 against −2). Someone else won first 84% of the time, and 16% ran out of tiles.
• Across 1,500 games the chaser won only a handful of times — too few to say anything about the average win itself, but enough to see the pattern. With no jokers and no calls before the last tile, the hand can't speed up, while the other three players expose and win.

Tips for Singles & Pairs hands

• Commit late, and only with pairs in hand. Four or five pairs after the Charleston is a real start; two or three is not.
• Pass jokers? You can't — they never leave your hand in the Charleston. Discard them during play instead; they're the safest discard there is.
• Watch the discard pile closely. If two of a tile you need are already out, that pair is gone.
• Waiting on one tile is fine. You can call the last tile from a discard, so a hand one tile away can win on anyone's throw.

When to switch: if your pairs turn into pungs, the same numbers may fit 369, 13579 or a Consecutive Run with jokers. To feel how hard real-tiles-only is, play a few hands of free American mahjong online — the helper shows your closest hands as you go.

Other mahjong styles

Seven pairs is a hand in several other styles too, without the American card: Japanese riichi has chiitoitsu (see the yaku list) and Chinese Official mahjong has Seven Pairs (see the fan table).

FAQ

What is a Singles and Pairs hand in mahjong?

A Singles and Pairs hand is a line on the American mahjong card made only of single tiles and pairs. On our House Card every line is seven pairs.

Why can't you use jokers in Singles and Pairs?

Jokers can only fill a group of three or more identical tiles. Singles and Pairs hands have no such group, so every tile must be real.

Do Singles and Pairs hands get the no-joker double?

No. They can't use jokers at all, so the bonus doesn't apply; instead they carry the highest card value, 50 points.

Can you win a Singles and Pairs hand on a discard?

Yes. The hand is concealed, so you can't call discards along the way, but you may call the last tile you need for Mahjong.

Is this the official NMJL card?

No. The National Mah Jongg League publishes a new copyrighted card every year. This site uses its own original card with the same kinds of categories, so the exact lines differ.

Related categories

Consecutive Run 6 hands Numbers in a row, starting wherever your tiles are — every hand on our card, joker rules, scoring and odds. 369 5 hands Hands built only from 3s, 6s and 9s — every hand on our card, joker rules, scoring and odds. 13579 5 hands Hands built only from 1s, 3s, 5s, 7s and 9s — every hand on our card, joker rules, scoring and odds.