Mahjong Strategy Tips: How to Win More Hands at Bamboo Table

Game guideOct 16, 2026 · 9 min read

We built Bamboo Table 竹林雀局 for a quick hand of mahjong in the browser, against our AI or with friends. This guide is about winning more often. If you're still learning what a pung or a chow is, start with our beginner's guide to mahjong rules first.

Bamboo Table has two rule sets: Casual (休闲 · 推倒胡), the default, where any complete hand wins, and Guobiao (国标), where a win needs at least 8 fans.

Tile efficiency: the foundation of winning mahjong

A complete hand is four sets and a pair. On every discard, good players ask two things: how many steps am I from being ready (one tile from winning), and how many unseen tiles would move me forward?

Shapes, from best to worst

• Open-ended two-sided pairs like 3-4 or 6-7 accept 8 tiles (two kinds, four copies each). These are the best partial shapes in the game.
• Flexible shapes like 3-4-5-6 or 4-5-5 can become several different sets. Hold them.
• Gap shapes like 4-6 and edge shapes like 1-2 accept only 4 tiles. Drop them first when you need room.
• Pairs: you need one, and two can be handy, but four or five slow a normal hand down (unless you're aiming for seven pairs).

Count visible copies, too. A 4-6 gap is much worse if two 5s are already in the discards, and every river and meld is on the table for you to read.

What to discard in mahjong: a reliable order

Early in a hand, a sensible discard order looks like this:

1. Isolated honors that don't score for you, early, while they're least likely to complete anyone's hand. In casual mode honors have no special value at all.
2. Isolated terminals (1s and 9s). They connect in only one direction.
3. Isolated 2s and 8s, then other lonely middle tiles.
4. The weakest partial shape, once every remaining tile is part of something.

The exceptions: in Guobiao keep dragons and your seat or prevalent wind (a pung is worth 2 fans), keep your suit's terminals if you're building a flush, and keep honor pairs, which are easy to pung.

Safe discards when someone looks ready

In both rule sets, the player who discards a winning tile pays the most. The safest tiles, roughly in order:

• A tile the threatening player has already discarded themselves.
• Honors with three copies already visible. Only a thirteen orphans hand can still want the last one.
• Tiles outside a suit someone is clearly collecting. Two or three bamboo melds? Stop throwing bamboo.
• Terminals over middle tiles, which fit the most waits.

Signs a player is close: three or more exposed melds, melds all in one suit, or a low wall count.

When to call chi, peng and kong, and when to stay closed

Calling locks in a set without a draw, but reveals your plan and costs flexibility. It's a good trade when:

• It moves you at least one step closer to ready, not just sideways.
• It fits your plan: pungs for all pungs, the right suit for a flush, a dragon pung for its fans.

Stay closed when the call leaves a clumsy hand or a concealed hand is worth more. Remember: you can only chi from the player on your left, a win beats a pung or kong, which beats a chi, and after a chi or peng you must discard straight away.

Kongs are usually free value: +1 point each in casual mode; in Guobiao 2 fans for a concealed kong, 1 for a melded one. The replacement draw can even win outright (杠上开花). The catch is the added kong: when you upgrade an exposed pung, opponents can rob that tile to win, so think twice late in the hand.

Casual 推倒胡 strategy

With no house rules on, any complete hand wins: four sets and a pair, seven pairs, or thirteen orphans. There's no fan minimum, so the best strategy is speed first, value second.

The payment rule matters more than any single item. If you win on a discard, only the discarder pays. If you self-draw, each of the other three pays the full total. A plain concealed self-draw scores 3 points (basic, self-drawn, concealed) and collects them three times, which is why staying closed is so strong.

• Win when you can. A 1-point win beats letting someone else take a bigger one.
• With 4+ pairs at the start, seven pairs (+2) is a real option. If a hand reads both ways, the game scores the higher one.
• Chase a flush only when the hand already leans hard into one suit.
• When someone looks close and you're far away, play safe.

How each house rule changes your strategy

House rules (家规) are optional, casual-only, and set before the match.

• No chow (只能碰不能吃): runs get harder to finish, so pairs and pungs gain value and all pungs becomes a natural target.
• Win must include a run (胡牌必须包含指定顺子): e.g. 3-4-5 bamboo. Protect those tiles from the start; it's the hardest part of the hand. Seven pairs and thirteen orphans never qualify. With several runs listed, any one is enough.
• Must miss a suit (必须缺一门): decide your weakest suit within your first few discards and throw it out fast. Honors are still allowed.
• Self-draw wins only (只许自摸): no winning on discards, so defense matters less and wide waits matter more. Every win collects from all three.
• Concealed hands only (门清才能胡): any chi, peng or open kong kills your hand. Only concealed kongs are allowed.
• Seven pairs / thirteen orphans switched off: drop those plans entirely and break extra pairs earlier.
• No flowers (不用花牌): fewer free +1s, otherwise the same.

If a house rule blocks a complete hand, the table tells you why.

Guobiao strategy: reaching the 8-fan minimum

In Guobiao a complete hand isn't enough. It must score at least 8 fans, and flowers don't count toward that minimum (though they're still paid out). Payments are 8 plus the fan total: on a discard win the discarder pays 8 + fans and each other player pays 8; on a self-draw all three pay 8 + fans.

The classic mistake is a fast hand worth 3 fans; the table will tell you "Complete hand, but only 3 fan (Guobiao needs 8 to win)". Choose a plan early.

The easiest fans to combine

Some fans don't stack: Fully Concealed Hand replaces Concealed Hand and Self-Drawn, and Seven Pairs replaces Concealed Hand. The result screen lists exactly what counted.

Reliable 8-fan routes

• Half Flush + Dragon Pung (6 + 2). The most reliable route: pick your strongest suit, keep the dragons, call freely.
• All Pungs + a scoring pung (6 + 2). Great with several starting pairs. Peng aggressively; a dragon or seat/prevalent wind pung, or two concealed pungs (双暗刻, 2), finishes it.
• Mixed Straight (8) on its own. Spot 1-2-3 and 4-5-6 in different suits, then build the third.
• The concealed route: All Chows + All Simples + Fully Concealed (2 + 2 + 4). All runs, no 1s, 9s or honors, no calls. It only reaches 8 on a self-draw; on a discard it's 6.
• Melded Hand + extras. Call four times, win on a discard, and add 2 more fans (All Simples or a Dragon Pung).

Count your fans when you become ready, not after.

Playing against our AI

In Play vs AI there's no turn timer, so take your time. Here's how our AI thinks:

• It always takes a legal win.
• In casual mode it plays for speed, slightly prefers staying concealed, and follows every house rule.
• In Guobiao it picks a plan that can reach 8 fans (flushes, all pungs, straights…) and only calls when that helps.
• It plays defense when an opponent shows three melds, several melds in one suit, or the wall gets low, and stops feeding your flush suit.

Counter-tips: treat an AI with three exposed melds as close to winning. Keep a flush concealed longer so its defense can't read your suit. And in Guobiao, an AI with a dragon pung that keeps dumping other suits is often building a half flush.

Playing mahjong online with friends

Choose Play online, create a room, and share the 5-character room code or invite link. The host picks the rules, house rules and length (4 or 16 hands). Empty seats are filled by AI, so two or three friends still get a full table.

• Online play has a turn timer (20 seconds by default). Run out and the AI makes that move for you.
• Disconnect and the AI keeps your seat warm until you reconnect.
• With learners, start casual with no house rules, then add one at a time. "Must miss a suit" changes the game more than you'd expect.

FAQ

What is the most important mahjong strategy tip?

Discard isolated tiles and keep two-sided shapes. Tile efficiency wins more hands than anything else.

Should I always stay concealed?

No. Lean concealed in casual mode, but call when it clearly speeds you up. In Guobiao, calling is often the fastest route to Half Flush or All Pungs.

Why can't I win with a complete hand in Guobiao?

It scores under 8 fans (flowers don't count). Build toward one of the routes above.

Is seven pairs good?

In Guobiao it's worth 24 fans on its own. In casual mode it's +2 (or +4 with four of a kind), unless the host has turned it off or requires a run.

Does a hand with no fans ever win in Guobiao?

Chicken Hand (无番和) is worth 8 when nothing else scores, but any single fan, even Self-Drawn, cancels it. Don't plan for it.

Try one idea from this guide per session and watch your win rate climb. See you at the table.