The comparison & result
The experiment used eager callers at beginner difficulty and more selective callers at advanced difficulty, under the three-faan minimum in Hé Fēn’s Hong Kong ruleset. Other decisions can also differ between those difficulties; this compares playing styles, not just one calling rule.
Over 100,000 hands, the published run recorded about 186,000 blocked win attempts for eager callers. A hand can trigger more than one attempt, so this is not a count of distinct hands. Before calling, identify the route by which the resulting hand can still qualify.
At your table
- Count the scoring value a call preserves or adds.
- A completed shape is not enough if it falls below the minimum.
Check your table’s scoring rules before applying the finding. Read the Hong Kong reference.
How it was tested
Published experiment: 100,000 simulated Hong Kong hands, beginner-level eager players versus advanced-level selective players, with alternating seats. Difficulty was not held constant.
The players were software policies, not human participants. This report describes the published experiment; it does not establish the best move for every possible hand or opponent.
Results without a published uncertainty interval should be read as point estimates. Similar results do not prove two choices are equivalent.
Read the Lab’s method and limitationsPublished by Hé Fēn Mahjong. Ask about this finding or suggest a correction.