Self-Drawn

What Is Self-Drawn

Self-Drawn in Chinese Mahjong is a 1-fan bonus for drawing your own winning tile from the wall, whether your hand is concealed or partially melded. It synergizes especially well with concealed strategies and can be a natural addition to other 1-fan or higher-value patterns.

The Tile Pattern of Self-Drawn

The Final Tile from the Wall: The crucial aspect is the source of the winning tile: you must draw it yourself from the live wall (or the extra draw if you declared a Kong, depending on rules).

No Specific Suit/Tile Requirements: Unlike other patterns, Self-Drawn does not impose restrictions on which tiles or suits appear in your hand. The only requirement is that you personally draw the winning tile.

Applicable to Any Hand Structure: You can complete your hand with sets (chows, pungs, kongs) and a pair in any combination. As long as you draw the final tile on your turn, you get the Self-Drawn bonus.

Fan Value of Self-Drawn

Under Chinese Mahjong, Self-Drawn is typically worth 1 fan. This 1-fan bonus stacks with any other patterns you fulfill in your hand. For instance, if you also have No Honors or Edge Wait, you add those fans together for the final score.

Strategies and Considerations of Self-Drawn

Concealed Hands vs. Quick Melds

• While you can still claim Self-Drawn with melded sets, fully concealed hands often benefit more if they can also claim “Fully Concealed Hand” patterns.
• If speed is your priority, you might form melds quickly. You’ll still get the Self-Drawn fan if you draw your winning tile, but you lose potential bonuses tied to being concealed.

Tile Counting and Wall Reading: Keep track of how many copies of your waiting tile have been discarded or are visible in melds. If very few copies remain, you may want to shift to a faster approach or a different wait. If many remain in the wall, waiting for a self-draw could be more appealing.

Timing: If you suspect another player is close to winning, you might decide to finish faster by calling a discard rather than trying to self-draw. Balancing the risk of someone else going out with your desire for the extra fan is key.

No Guarantee: Self-drawing is inherently luck-based—there is no certainty you will draw your needed tile, especially if the game is close to the last few tiles. Evaluate whether the incremental +1 fan is worth potentially missing a safer or quicker win on a discard.

Combining Self-Drawn with Other Patterns

• Fully Concealed Hand: In many rulesets, a fully concealed hand that also wins by self-draw might get multiple fan bonuses—one for Self-Drawn and one for having no melded sets.
• Wait-Based Bonuses: If your final wait is also an Edge Wait, Closed Wait, or Single Wait, you can add +1 fan for Self-Drawn and +1 fan for the specific wait pattern.
• Suit-Based Patterns: Self-draw does not conflict with No Honors, One-Void Suit, or other tile-composition patterns. It simply adds on top.