Mahjiku › Questions › Minimum faan in Hong Kong mahjong: why tables set 3, and what "faan only" and "spicy" mean
For the table game: four players, real tiles, Hong Kong style — not the solitaire puzzle.
The minimum (起糊) is the faan a hand must count — flowers excluded — before it may be declared a win. Most Hong Kong tables set 3: low enough that ordinary hands reach it, high enough that a bare chicken hand cannot. "Faan only" and "half spicy / full spicy" are not minimums at all; they are what a table does with the count afterwards.
Without one, the fastest hand always wins: grab any four sets and a pair and end the hand. A minimum makes a hand carry something — a flush, a dragon pung, a concealed win — so the game rewards building. On Mahjiku's default sheet, where every win already starts at 1, 28 hands and bonuses clear the minimum of 3 on their own (with the base): All Types, Concealed Hand, Ping Hu, Double Kong Win, Mixed Straight, Pure Double Chow, All Triplets, Half Flush and more.
Flowers do not help. The engine measures the minimum on the hand's count without flowers, so a weak hand cannot be rescued by bonus tiles — see flowers and seasons.
These name what happens after the count. Mahjiku ships them as separate sheets, and they differ like this:
| Sheet | Minimum | Cap | Faan becomes points by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mahjiku's default sheet | 3 | none | the count itself (no curve) |
| Half Spicy 半辣上 | 3 | 10 | 半辣上 half spicy curve |
| Full Spicy 辣辣上 | 3 | 10 | 辣辣上 full spicy curve |
| Faan Only | 3 | none | the count itself (no curve) |
| Chicken Hand 雞糊 | 0 | 10 | 半辣上 half spicy curve |
The curves side by side: half spicy vs full spicy. A table that drops the minimum to 0 is playing chicken hand.
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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