Tiles & Melds

Meld

Also called: Set, Group

A group of tiles that counts as a single unit in your hand — pung, chow, or kong.

A meld is any set of tiles your hand recognizes as a unit. The three meld types are: chow (3 consecutive same-suit tiles), pung (3 identical tiles), and kong (4 identical tiles). A winning hand requires four melds plus one pair (or special non-meld structures like Seven Pairs). Melds can be concealed (formed from your closed hand) or open (declared by calling another player's discard).

Related terms

Pung
A set of three identical tiles (e.g. 5p-5p-5p).
Chow
A set of three consecutive tiles in the same suit (e.g. 4m-5m-6m).
Kong
A set of all four identical tiles (e.g. 7s-7s-7s-7s).
Pair
Two identical tiles. Every standard hand needs exactly one pair.