| Hand size | 16 tiles |
|---|---|
| Winning shape | Five sets and a pair |
| Deal | Two rounds of four stacks each |
| Scoring | Settled during the hand, not only at the win |
| Signature | Instant pays, the Goulash pass, and doubles on the break |
Filipino mahjong is a 16-tile game, and it is the most cash-flow-heavy member of the family. Where most styles hold everything back until somebody declares, Filipino settles constantly: money moves the moment a flower is replaced, the moment a kong is laid, the moment a secret is declared. A hand can be profitable long before anyone wins it.
A winning hand is five sets and a pair — sets being runs or triplets — which is why sixteen tiles rather than thirteen. The deal comes out in two rounds of four stacks each, a stack being the two-high pair every mahjong wall is built from.
What makes it Filipino
Flowers pay when they're replaced
Draw a flower or a season and you set it aside, take a replacement tile, and collect from the table there and then. Being dealt one pays too. This is the single biggest difference from the Chinese and Japanese games, where flowers are either scored only at the win or absent entirely.
Instant pays
Several declarations settle immediately rather than waiting for the win: a kong, a Secret, a Sagasa, a Pick. Each is a small, immediate collection from the other three seats. It means the game rewards playing your hand openly and often, not just hoarding toward a single big score.
The Goulash
Before play begins, every seat passes three tiles. One pass, simultaneous, and you choose what goes. A bad deal is not a lost hand in Filipino mahjong — it is a trade.
Doubles on the break, and the mano
The dice that break the wall matter. Throw a pair and the hand pays double — and that multiplies with a self-drawn win, so a self-drawn doubles hand pays four times. The mano (the dealer) is decided by a roll-off at the start of the table, and holds the deal on a win or a wash rather than passing it automatically.
What the app enforces
- Every instant pay, at the moment it happens, with the arithmetic shown
- The Goulash pass, with the advisor able to tell you which three to let go
- Doubles on the wall-breaking throw, folded into the payout and printed on the receipt
- Flowers replaced from the correct end of the wall
- The mano holding the deal on a win or a wash, passing counter-clockwise otherwise
- A seeded shuffle that knows nobody's hand — including the computer's
Every hand ends on an itemised receipt: what each line was worth, who paid what, and why. If you have ever argued about a settlement at a real table, that receipt is the point.
