Thirteen Orphans (十三么)
All 13 distinct terminal/honor tiles plus a pair of one of them. A non-standard structure with no melds.
How Thirteen Orphans (十三么) works
A special non-standard hand holding one of each terminal and honor tile, the 1 and 9 of every suit plus all four winds and three dragons, with one of those tiles duplicated as the pair.
The thirteen unique tiles are 1 and 9 of characters, bamboo, and dots, the East, South, West, and North winds, and the red, green, and white dragons; the fourteenth tile pairs up any one of them. It ignores the usual four-sets-and-a-pair structure entirely. It is one of the marquee limit hands and is mutually exclusive with all set-based patterns.
- •It breaks the standard melded structure, so chow, pung, and kong faan do not apply.
- •A so-called 'pure' or thirteen-wait form, holding all thirteen singles and waiting on any of them, is sometimes recognized as even higher at certain tables.
- •Every required tile must be present exactly once aside from the single duplicated pair tile.
Thirteen Orphans (十三么) — FAQ
Which tiles make up the thirteen?
The 1 and 9 of each of the three suits, all four winds, and all three dragons, with any one of these repeated to form the pair.
Does it score alongside normal melded patterns?
No. It has no chows, pungs, or kongs, so it stands alone as its own limit hand.