is 2 , open or closed. You hold triplets of two dragons and a pair of the third. Each dragon triplet is also yakuhai, so the hand never scores under 4 han.
The name players use is shousangen (小三元). This site's glossary also lists it as Little Three Dragons, and the EMA 2016 rules use the same English name.
Two triplets and a pair
The dragons are white 
, green 
, and red 
. Two of them are triplets or quads. The third is the pair.
Count the han in three pieces: 2 for shousangen, then 1 for each dragon triplet. A call changes none of them.
The glossary entry is the short form: two dragon triplets and a dragon pair, 2 han, and it comes with 2 .
Both dragons called
You called on and on : and . These seven tiles are still in your hand.
The hand waits on 
or 
, and either tile wins. The pair of green dragons completes shousangen: 2 han, plus 1 han each for the white and red triplets. That's 4 han.
The fu are the base 20, plus 4 for each open dragon triplet, plus 2 for the dragon pair. That's 30 exactly. At 4 han 30 fu, a collects 7,700. The dealer collects 11,600. Those payments have no , no , and no sticks. One dora makes it 5 han, a .
A closed shousangen
The red dragons are a closed triplet. The whites and the greens are pairs. The hand waits on or , a wait on two pairs. Either tile makes the second dragon triplet and leaves the third dragon as the pair, so shousangen is there on both.
A ron is 4 han 50 fu: the base 20, plus 10 for a closed ron, plus 8 for the closed red triplet, plus 4 for the triplet the discard finished, plus 2 for the dragon pair. 44 rounds up to 50. At 4 han, 40 fu and up is paid as a mangan. A non-dealer collects 8,000. The dealer collects 12,000.
The scoring guide shows why 4 han 30 fu stops 80 base points short of a mangan, and which tables round it up.
Open or closed
Tenhou's rules list shousangen at 2 han and don't mark it as losing a han after a call. The same list counts each dragon triplet as its own 1 han yaku. The EMA 2016 rules file shousangen with the 2 fan yaku and add one fan for each dragon pung. The World Riichi Championship rules add 2 han for the two triplets the same way. That's the row on this site: 2 han, plus the two dragon yakuhai.
Three dragon triplets is daisangen, a yakuman. Shousangen is one dragon short of it.
Common mistakes
- Calling shousangen 4 han by itself. It's 2 han, and the two dragon triplets add the other 2.
- Leaving out the yakuhai. Score the triplets every time.
- Pricing it as a mangan by default. Both dragons called and nothing else is 4 han 30 fu: 7,700.
- Forgetting the pair fu. The dragon pair adds 2.
What sits with it
Honitsu is the common partner: one suit plus the dragons. Toitoi fits when the other two sets are triplets. Chanta fits when the other sets are 123s or 789s. Honroutou fits when everything else is 1s and 9s.
Price a shousangen hand
The score calculator turns 4 han 30 fu, shousangen with both dragons called, into 7,700 or 11,600. At 4 han, 40 fu and up pays a mangan.
Open the score calculator