Mahjiku › Questions › What happens if nobody wins a mahjong hand?
For the table game: four players, real tiles, Hong Kong style — not the solitaire puzzle.
If nobody wins, the hand is a draw — a washout (流局) — because the wall ran out before anyone completed a hand. Nothing is scored from the tiles and the hand is replayed. In Hong Kong the dealer usually keeps the deal; what varies by table is whether the deal passes on a draw, and whether anyone settles anything.
If the last tile is drawn and no one has completed a hand, the hand is a draw — a wall game (流局). It is a normal, frequent outcome, not an error.
Where tables genuinely differ is whether a draw costs anything. Some settle a small amount between the players — typically based on who was ready to win and who was not — and some simply move on. Mahjiku takes no position on this, and it is the one settlement in the app the engine will not compute: a draw's price sits on the losers' tiles, which nobody enters. So the table agrees the numbers and types them in, and the only thing the app enforces is that they cancel out — points can move between seats, but none may appear from nowhere.
Unless another sheet is named, examples use the legacy additive reference sheet. Fresh installs select Half Spicy, whose hand values and payments differ. Check the sheet selected for your table.
Four players, numbered round the table in the order the deal travels; player 1 deals first. Mahjiku's dealer engine replays the same four hands twice: once on the legacy additive reference sheet (the dealer keeps the deal on a washout), once at a table that passes it instead.
| Hand | What happened | Keeps on washout | Passes on washout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washout — the wall runs out | Player 1 keeps the deal · East round | Player 2 deals next · East round |
| 2 | Another washout | Player 1 keeps the deal · East round | Player 3 deals next · East round |
| 3 | Player 3 wins | Player 2 deals next · East round | Player 3 keeps the deal · East round |
| 4 | Washout | Player 2 keeps the deal · East round | Player 4 deals next · East round |
On the legacy additive reference sheet, two washouts in a row leave player 1 dealing the third hand too; the game only moves on when somebody wins. The other table has moved two seats round before anyone has won anything. Neither scores a point for a washout. More on the seat itself: Hong Kong dealer rules.
Last updated: 2026-10-24 · editorially reviewed 2026-10-10. Every Hong Kong number on this page is computed from Mahjiku's rule sheets when the page is built.
Game points only. Mahjiku records mahjong points for a friendly table — no betting, no money, nothing to cash out.
Mahjiku is a live scorekeeper with fully custom house rules — points only, no wagering.
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