4-09

Never underestimate a Tile Hog

Tile Hog is earned when you use all 4 of a tile in two or more elements in your hand. A Concealed Kong scores 2 points, and a Melded Kong 1 point. Tile Hog scores the same amount of points as the Concealed Kong, or 2 points. Tile Hog does not mesh well with All Chows, and most players consider it an extra bonus that comes up occasionally when you're shooting for a combination like Upper Four, as in Figure 1.

Figure 1

chow pung

But what about the hand shown in Figure 2?

Figure 2

chow pung

At first glance, the hand appears to lack the needed points. But take another look: if you draw your last tile, you will end up scoring All Simples (2 pts.) + Tile Hog (2 pts.) + Mixed Double Chow (1 pt.) + Voided Suit (1 pt.) + Single Wait (1 pt.) + Self-drawn (1 pt.) for a total of 8.

Figure 3

pung pung

And take a look at Figure 3. With All Simples (2 pts.) + Tile Hog (2 pts.) + Double Pung (2 pts.) + Voided Suit (1 pt.) + Single Wait (1 pt.), now you have enough to go out with an opponent's discard.

Figure 4

chow

Furthermore, you can often combine Tile Hog with Last Tile. In Figure 4, gives you All Simples and Mixed Shifted Chows, but only gives you All Simples --- not nearly enough to go out. If a player discards , you should immediately meld a pung with it.

Figure 5

pung chow

Now the last will give you All Simples (2 pts.) + Tile Hog (2 pts.) + Last Tile (4 pts.), bringing you to the needed total of 8.

Tile Hog also combines with Seven Pairs. Two ready hands are shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6

In the second example in Figure 6, you are waiting on the last . If it is discarded, you will score Seven Pairs (24 pts.) + Tile Hog (2 pts.) + Tile Hog (2 pts.) for a total of 28. But the possibilities don't end there. What if you draw , or ? In that case, of course, you will kong the tiles and go for Four Concealed Pungs, one of the highest-scoring patterns in the game.