Mahjiku › Questions › Hong Kong mahjong dealer rules: rotation, washouts and the dealer bonus
For the table game: four players, real tiles, Hong Kong style — not the solitaire puzzle.
The dealer sits East. In Hong Kong the dealer keeps the deal (連莊) after winning and, on Mahjiku's default sheet, after a washout too; the deal passes to the next seat only when someone else wins, and the round wind moves on once the deal has gone all the way round. A dealer bonus (莊家加倍, every payment to or from East doubled) is a house rule — off on every Hong Kong sheet Mahjiku ships.
Four players, numbered round the table in the order the deal travels; player 1 deals first. Six hands, replayed through Mahjiku's dealer engine. The left column is the default (the dealer keeps the deal on a washout); the right is a table that passes it on a washout instead. Whoever deals is East for that hand.
| Hand | What happened | Next dealer · keeps on washout | Next dealer · passes on washout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Player 1 wins | Player 1 keeps the deal · East round | Player 1 keeps the deal · East round |
| 2 | Washout — the wall runs out | Player 1 keeps the deal · East round | Player 2 deals next · East round |
| 3 | Player 1 wins again | Player 1 keeps the deal · East round | Player 3 deals next · East round |
| 4 | Player 3 wins | Player 2 deals next · East round | Player 3 keeps the deal · East round |
| 5 | Washout | Player 2 keeps the deal · East round | Player 4 deals next · East round |
| 6 | Player 4 wins | Player 3 deals next · East round | Player 4 keeps the deal · East round |
The deal moves East → South → West → North, and the round wind only advances after all four seats have dealt, so a game's length depends on how often dealers win. Tables agree up front how many rounds to play, and some cap how many times in a row one dealer may keep it. More on the seats: the order of the winds.
A washout (流局) is a hand nobody wins. Nothing is scored from the tiles; the hand is replayed, and the only question is whether the deal moves — the two columns above. The full answer is on what happens if nobody wins.
With 莊家加倍 on, every payment to or from East is doubled. The same 3-faan self-draw by South, on the default sheet:
East pays double when losing and collects double when winning — the chair is worth more in both directions. The seat wind bonus is separate: Seat / Round Wind.
Last updated: 2026-10-08 · editorially reviewed 2026-10-08. Every number on this page is computed from Mahjiku's rule sheets when the page is built.
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