All Pungs

What Is All Pungs

All Pungs in Chinese Mahjong is a 6-fan pattern that requires your four melds be pungs (or kongs), plus one pair. It provides a strong scoring foundation, especially if you incorporate honor tiles (winds/dragons) or additional kong-based bonuses. While collecting multiple identical tiles demands careful planning and some luck, the potential to meld from discards or remain concealed offers flexibility in speed and secrecy. By balancing tile availability, paying attention to opponents’ discards, and leveraging synergy with other patterns, a well-timed All Pungs hand can yield an impressive final score.

The Tile Pattern of All Pungs

Four Pungs or Kongs + One Pair

• Each of the four melds must be a three-of-a-kind or a four-of-a-kind.
• A kong counts as a pung for structural purposes, occupying one meld slot.
• Any leftover pair (two identical tiles) completes the hand.

Examples

• Pung of 2 Bam, Pung of 2 Craks, Pung of Red Dragons, Kong of 7 Dots, plus a pair of 5 Dots.
• Pung of East Wind, Pung of 9 Dots, Pung of Green Dragons, Pung of 1 Craks, plus a pair of 4 Craks.

Melded or Concealed: In Chinese Mahjong rules, All Pungs does not require the hand to be concealed. You may call discards (melded sets) or form the pungs entirely by self-draw. However, if you manage to keep the hand concealed, you might combine All Pungs with Concealed Hand or Fully Concealed Hand for even more points.

Fan Value of All Pungs

Under standard Chinese Mahjong rules, All Pungs is worth 6 fan. This is already a substantial number of fans, often enough to produce a high-scoring hand.

Strategies and Considerations of All Pungs

High Base Score: Achieving an All Pungs hand immediately grants a significant number of fans, making it an appealing option if you gather many pairs early or find yourself drawing multiples of the same tile.

Synergy with Honor Tiles: If some of your pungs are winds or dragons, you can claim extra fan for Dragon Pung or Seat/Prevalent Wind Pung. This can turn an All Pungs hand into a very high-value combination.

Possible Kong Upgrades: If you draw the fourth tile of an already melded or concealed pung, you can upgrade it to a kong for additional patterns (Melded Kongs or Concealed Kongs) or extra draws.

Fewer Flexible Waits: You rely on collecting multiples of the same tile, reducing your ability to form sequences that might have multiple waiting options. You typically have fewer potential winning tiles in an All Pungs hand.

Competition for Honor/Terminal Tiles: If you rely on special tiles like winds or dragons, other players might hold or discard them carefully. Gathering three or four identical tiles for each pung can be time-consuming or luck-dependent.

Revealing Melds: Calling a pung from an opponent’s discard reveals your set and can indicate to others you might be heading toward an All Pungs hand. Skilled opponents may shift their discarding strategy accordingly.

Commitment vs. Flexibility: All Pungs requires you to keep duplicates. If you see you are drawing many pairs or triplets early, consider pivoting toward All Pungs. If your draws favor sequences, you might switch to a chow-based hand.