The Basics and Advanced play of Japanese Mahjong.

The game of Mahjong is often played and displayed in Japanese entertainment, and many do not know its rules
or even its terms. This guide serves to present the entirety of Japanese Mahjong.

In Japanese Mahjong, you will realize that rather than score calculations, the terms used are more important. I
hope by reading this guide that ambiguity is cleared up.

This guide was created by joyjason (Chihaya on Mahjong Hime). Please contact me at itsjoyjason@gmail.com
for any questions, suggestions, or corrections to this guide.

The Basics – Step By Step Towards Glory

The Japanese Mahjong is played similarly to the Chinese Mahjong that in order to win a round, you must have
4 “melds” and an eye. You do this by continuously drawing tiles and discarding one of your own tiles. While
you only have 13 tiles at any given time, whenever you have 14 tiles (4 melds and an eye) that is appropriate for
a win, you may call your win.

What is a meld?
A meld is defined best by “matching 3 pieces”. While a meld can be created using 3 of the same tile (there are 4
of the same tile in a game). A meld can also be created by a “straight”, which is the numerical increase in one
suit of the tiles; like 3, 4, and 5 of the bamboo tiles.

What is an eye?
An eye is simply any two matching pieces. Simple as that! However, it should be noted that the eyes are
important in scoring, and will be counted as part of the hand.

How is the game played?

In a game of four players, the 136 tiles are made into a “wall” of 17 tiles that are 2 tiles high. This wall is placed
in front of each player. In order to determine seats, the four “wind” tiles are placed upside down for the players
to choose to determine their seats. The East is always the first dealer, and care must be taken; it’s not like the
actual compass! This is how you would sit:

South

West Table East

North

Starting the Game:

A pair of die is rolled by the dealer (East), and you use that number to determine the “starting point” of
Mahjong. Let’s say that the total of the die is 8.
In this situation where the dealer is East, the dealer would be considered “1”, and you would count
counterclockwise to the 8th wall, which is North. In that particular wall, you count CLOCKWISE in, the number
on the die. At that point, the dealer takes 4 tiles, the person to the right takes four tiles, and this tile-taking is
repeated until everyone has 12 tiles. This is repeated with taking just one tile, and the game then begins with the
dealer. If there are less than 4 players, the number of walls is decreased.

NOTE!! : In many variations of Mahjong, the dealer is NOT referred to as “dealer”. In the Japanese version, the
dealer is known as “Oya”, which means parent, and the non-dealers as “Ko” or child. This becomes important
in the scoring section.
Stealing a piece that was thrown away:
One man’s trash is another’s treasure
More often than not, you will find that your opponents receive pieces that you’ll need. However, you will also
realize that some of these players do not need these tiles. You may call pon, chi, kan, or ron to “steal” these
tiles.

Pon: When a thrown away piece completes a meld with 3 of the same kind, you may call “pon” to take the
particular tile and reveal your own two tiles to create the meld. This meld is placed on the side to show
everyone that you have the three pieces, and will be used for scoring provided you win. If you do NOT win that
round, the meld is rendered useless. After receiving this “thrown away” piece, notice that you have a total of 14
tiles, and must throw away one tile. Also note that calling pon MAY skip someone else’s turn. Please be mindful
that this ALSO changes who gets which tile (by drawing)!!

Chi: Similar to pon, this is only available if the person LEFT of you throws away a tile that completes a straight
“chain” (If you had a 3 and 4 of one of the suits, you can call chi for 2 or 5 of the same suit). Because of this,
chi does not skip anyone’s turn, but WILL switch the “flow” of the tiles, just like calling pon.

Kan: On the occasions where you manage to have 3 of the same tile (remember that there are only four tiles of
each particular tile in a game), and the opponent throws away a piece that you could call “pon” on to complete a
meld, you may also call “kan”. Kan is a special move where you set aside your 4-meld and reveal another dora,
while drawing another tile immediately to renew the 13-tile set. We’ll talk about kan a little more in a bit.

WAIT! WHAT IS A DORA?!

A dora is a luck-based feature in Japanese Mahjong where the person who wins the round has extra chances to
score points. There is also a feature called ura-dora, but this will be explained later.

Ron: If you already have a complete set and can use the opponent’s piece to complete a winning hand, you may
call “ron”. The person who threw away the piece is usually called to have “been shot or attacked” (In Japanese,
this term is known as “furikomi”), and must pay the FULL amount of the winning hand. Note that Ron can be
extremely devastating; enough to 1hko your opponent with a strong hand. (e.g. You start out with 25000 points,
but a Yakuman is worth 32000 points!)

Calling a Win (Tsumo)

Now, what if you drew a tile that completed your set without anyone being involved? You may immediately call
“tsumo” and end the round. This is not possible, however, if the resulting hand has 0 yaku; this kind of 0 point
hand is most frequent in hands where there is an open meld. Note, however, that there is a yaku called
“Menzen Tsumo” (Closed Hand Self-pick) which gives one han. Because of this, even if you have the crappiest
hand in the world, as long as your hand is completely closed, you can call tsumo.

What is an “open meld?”

An open meld is simply a meld that has been created by the use of pon, chi, or kan. These are the melds that are
shown to the rest of the opponents. Generally speaking, it is suggested not to make open melds unless you
benefit greatly from it (honor tiles, dora tiles, etc). When making open melds, you are said to have “naki”
(“to cry” in Japanese), and winning with open melds is called “nakiagari”

Intermediate Strategy – Unforgiving Competition to Survival

More about Riichi (Ready Hand) – the Soul of Japanese Mahjong
This can only be called with a closed hand (No open melds). If, by drawing the 14th tile, you can get rid of one
tile to make your hand the “Ready State” (Tenpai), you may declare riichi. After calling riichi, for the rest of the
round, you MUST throw away the tile that you draw unless it completes your hand. In addition, after the
declaration, you must also place a 1000 point stick in the field as a deposit. The piece you threw away as you
call riichi is placed sideways as proof that you called riichi.
Pros and Cons of Riichi:
Pros:
 Intimidation. Calling riichi will alert the players that you are only one piece away from a
complete set. As mahjong is somewhat of a mind game, this will be a great mind attack,
especially if it is called in the beginning, as the opponents will not be able to predict your hand
at all.
 Access to ura-dora tiles. As stated above, dora and ura-dora tiles are bonuses that add to your
points. Riichi gives you additional bonuses as you reveal these tiles
 Even when Riichi is called, any tile discarded by your opponent can be used to complete your
own set, by calling ron.
 Maintain ability to call Kan. Remember that Kan is a gathering of a 4-of-a-kind, and also
increases the number of dora, (which in turn increases the number of ura-dora)
  Additional Points: You gain 1 han from calling riichi
 Because of this feature, you can still earn points for a hand that would originally not earn
any points. (Remember you need at least 1 han from yaku to win!)
Cons:
 Vulnerability: As you are forced to throw away any tiles that do not complete your hand, there
is a complete possibility that the tile you throw away is a hand-completing tile for another
person.
 Safe Tiles: As you are throwing away all the tiles you draw, the opponents will know that the
tiles you throw away are considered “safe tiles”, or tiles that they can throw away and avoid
furikomi.
 Furiten. This trait will be explained later on, in the Furiten Section

Calling Riichi is generally favorable, as it adds points even to a hand that may be worth nothing at all.
Note that even if your hand isn’t worth anything, dora tiles (and even ura-dora tiles) can add points to
your hand.

Ending of a Round: (Ryuugoku) – The Unfortunate Draw With No Compromise

The round ends in a “draw” if no one manages to complete a hand before they reach the “dead wall”. The dead
wall is the 14 tiles set aside, at the end of the drawing wall. Rinshan Kaiho draws from this wall. The players
then reveal their hands and determine if they have “tenpai” or “no-ten”. Depending on the number of players
who possess tenpai, a “no-ten” penalty is paid.

Tenpai and no-ten. – The Winners and Losers of a Stalemate

Tenpai simply refers to the state of a hand when it needs one more tile to complete the hand (Doesn’t matter if
the hand is worth 0 yaku). No-ten is the state where tenpai is not done.
If one player has tenpai, the three other players pay 1000 each.
If two players have tenpai, they both receive 1500 from the two players with no-ten.
If three players have tenpai, the fourth player pays 1000 to each player.
In the case the oya (dealer) does not have tenpai, oya is passed around counterclockwise. No exceptions.

Tiles – The Weapons of Japanese Mahjong

These are the tiles used in Japanese Mahjong. Besides the manzu, the other two suits have a pattern with their
number, so they shouldn’t be too hard to recognize. Make sure you memorize which tiles are which!

One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine

Pinzu

Sousu

Manzu

Honor Tiles
East Wind West Wind South Wind North Wind Green Dragon White Dragon Red Dragon

**

** This tile is often “blank”.

The Advanced Handbook: Scoring System
Mahjong’s scoring system is done using sticks that represent points. The sticks have a value of 10000, 5000,
1000, and 100.

Red: 10000 points

Yellow: 5000 points
Blue: 1000 points (Riichi Stick)
Green: 100 points (Honba Stick)

Do note that the colors do not matter in the sticks (They’re usually white). It’s the circles in the middle that
represent the score. However, for online mahjong and stuff like that, just let the computers handle the math.
Alright, here is the calculation for the BASIC POINTS:

Basic Points = fu x 2(2+han)

As you can see, there are two factors of points in mahjong, Fu and Han. In addition, it is possible to see that the
higher the han, the more exponentially your score will rise. This is why when calculating points, you always
calculate the number of han first.

Calculating Han:
Calculating Han is done mostly though the type of hand you have.
NOTE: the term “type of hand” will be replaced with a term called “yaku”.

Calculating Fu:
Fu is dependent on the tiles that you have, not the patterns. After calculating fu, the value is rounded UP to the
tens, so if you have 54 fu, you count that as 60 fu.

1. A winning hand is automatically awarded 20 fu. No exceptions.

2. Ten fu are added if you win by “ron” with a closed hand. However, this is not used if you have a pinfu
hand.
3. Add fu of the melds and the pair.*
4. Add fu according to how the waiting was. “waiting” is the property of the 14th tile.*
5. Add two fu if one wins by tsumo (whether if it’s closed or open). However, if the winning hand is a
pinfu, you maintain 20 fu (and exchange it for one han)
6. Chiitoi is given a fixed fu value of 25 fu, no matter what tiles you have. This value is not rounded up to
the tens
7. An exception to all these rules is if you have open melds. The only time you can have 20 fu is when you
make the yaku “pinfu”. However, pinfu requires a closed hand, so if any part of the hand is open, the
hand is given a value of 30 fu instead. (So you lose the 1 han)

*See Table Below for fu-value of melds and waits. The number of fu you get also depends on type of melds
and type of “waits”.

Type of tile For non-terminal, non-honors Terminal or Honor Tiles

Minko (Open Triplet)
Anko (Closed Triplet)
Minkan (Open Quad)
Ankan (Closed Quad)
Shuntsu (Sequence meld)
Toitsu (Eye)
2 fu (per triplet) 4 fu (per triplet)
4 fu (per triplet) 8 fu (per triplet)
8 fu (per quad) 16 fu (per quad)
16 fu (per quad) 32 fu (per quad)
0 fu, no matter what.
0 fu, EXCEPT if the two tiles are winds of your seat or the round, or is
dragon tiles.
Name Description Fu-value
Ryanmen-machi Sequential meld waiting for tiles on both sides (You have 6 0 fu
and 7, and wait for either a 5 or 8)
Kanchan-machi Sequential meld waiting for tile in the middle (You have 3
and 5, and wait for a 4)
Penchan-machi Sequential meld at the end, wait for one tile (You have 8, 2 fu
and 9, and wait for a 7)
Tanki-machi You wait to complete your eye (the pair)
Shanpon-machi You have two ways to complete a meld & eye. 0 fu, but note that you gain
fu from making a meld

========Yaku List========
Yaku is very important, because it is needed to actually earn points. Below is the full list of
yaku that is used in all forms of Japanese Mahjong. Most of the time, you will combine these
yaku to earn more points.

List of the most Common Yaku that contribute to Han.

 Riichi: No matter how you win, if you called riichi (remember that riichi is only available if you don’t
have open melds!), you earn 1 han

 Double Riichi: This special riichi is earned through calling riichi on your first turn. It is worth 2 han.

 Ippatsu: After calling riichi, if you manage to finish your set in one turn, you earn an additional 1 han

 Iipeiko: Pair sequences. Example: 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5 – tiles of one suit would qualify. Please do note that
this hand MUST be closed. Calling chi for two straights will not count for this yaku.

 Tanyao: Tanyao is a hand with the absence of honors or terminals. It is worth 1 han. Some rules often
prohibit tanyao that has been opened. Open hand Tanyao is called “Kuitan” and such rules that prevent
kuitan are called “Kuitan Nashi”

 Chiitoi: While mahjong requires 4 melds and an eye, chiitoi is a composition of 7 pairs of any tile. It is
worth 2 han and receives a fixed value of 25-fu. Note that this hand is always a closed hand.

 Menzen Tsumo: Provided that all your tiles are hidden, (aka, no open melds), if you complete your set
by drawing a tile, you are given 1 han

 Pinfu: Pinfu is a very easy yaku, in the sense it requires all the melds to be sequences, with the eye. It is
worth 1 han. Note that the eyes CANNOT be honor tiles. Additionally, you must have a “double wait”
(ryanmachi), meaning that there are two possible tiles that allow you to win. Furthermore, it needs to be
a closed hand. If the hand is not closed, it is given the exception of 30 fu when scoring.

 Toitoi: All tiles are triplets or quads. Worth 2 han if open, but if completely closed, this yaku becomes a
yakuman.

 Yakuhai: Yakuhai is simply a triplet or a quad of any dragon tiles, or seat/round wind. For round winds,
Either East or South Wind tiles can become yakuhai, and wherever your seat is also becomes yakuhai
for that round. Yakuhai are worth 1 han each, but if your seat wind matches up with the round wind, the
particular wind tile’s value is doubled to 2 han

 Ikkitsukan (Ittsu): You have all the numbered tiles of one suit. In another way, you have 3 melds
where the melds are comprised of 1, 2, 3 – 4, 5, 6 – and 7, 8, 9. Worth 2 han, but reduced to 1 han when
any part of the hand is open.
 List of the Uncommon Yaku that contribute to Han

 Haitei Raoyue: Winning by last draw, if you manage to complete your set on the very last tile, you earn
1 han. There is a variation of this rule with regards to the last discard, called “Hotei Raoyui” which is
of same value.

 Rinshan Kaiho: A special form of tsumo, this is a move where the extra piece from calling a kan
allows you to call tsumo. Rinshan Kaiho is usually worth more points than a regular tsumo, and
requires a huge amount of luck. While Rinshan awards only 1 han, there are more chances to earn han,
by using dora tiles.

 Chan-kan: Chankan is a bonus given to a player who completes his or her set by another player calling
kan. The player who called kan will be in furikomi as if they discarded the tile. Adds 1 han to the hand

 Chanta: Chanta is a yaku, where all your melds contain at least one terminal or honor tile. (Including
the eye). If this yaku is made open, it is worth 1 han, but if it’s closed, it is worth 2 han

 Junchan: An upgraded version of Chanta, all melds AND the eye contains at least one terminal tile.
Honor tiles are NOT allowed for this yaku. Worth 3 han closed, but 2 han open.

 Ryanpeiko: Very simple, the hand has two iipeko. This hand is NOT considered a chiitoi (So when
you call riichi, you might even qualify for pinfu), and gives 3 han. However, this hand (as with iipeko),
must be closed.

 Sanshoku doujun/douko: Sanshoku doujun is for straights, and sanshoku douko is for triplets. For
either yaku, you have the same sequence or triplet for all three suits. Worth 2 han if closed, and 1 han
open. In most cases, Sanshoku triplets are given 2 han even if it’s open.

 Honitsu: Your entire hand consists of one suit, with honors. Worth 3 han if closed, and 2 han if open.

List of the Rare Yaku that contribute to Han

 Hon-rou-to: All the tiles in your hand are terminals AND honors. Worth 2 han, but because of the
nature of this yaku, you will add 2 more han for toitoi. Note that if you ONLY have honors or terminals,
your hand is NOT a honrouto, and is considered a yakuman. This also works with chiitoi.

 Shosangen: You have a triplet/quad of two of the dragon tiles, and a pair of the third dragon tile. Worth
2 han, but due to the nature of this yaku, you add 2 more han for the yakuhai of the two dragon tiles for
a total of 4 han.

 Chinitsu: Your entire hand consists of one suit. Honors are not allowed. Worth 6 han if closed, but 5
han when open.

 San-anko: Your hand consists of three triplets/quads that are CLOSED. One meld can be open,
whether it is a straight or a meld. Worth 2 han. Note that calling “ron” and winning may not be
considered “closed” for this yaku!

 San-renko: Your hand consists of triplets that chain, three in a row. As an example, you can have a
triplet of 3-pinzu, 4-pinzu, and 5-pinzu for this yaku. Worth 2 han.

 San-kantsu: Your hand consists of three kans, whether it’s open or closed. Worth 2 han.

 Nagashi Mangan: This hand is not a yaku. If, by the end of the round, you discard only terminals and
honors, take no tile from players, and no other player takes a tile from you, your hand is given a
mangan (Basic Points: 2000) value.
 Yakuman Hands
Yakuman is a yaku that is given the highest score possible (8000 Basic Points), because it’s so rare. Extremely
rarely, if you manage to make more than one kind of yakuman in your hand, you will get the combined value
of the two yakuman hands.

 Kokushi Musou – Difficulty: ★

 Your hand consists of the 13 honor and terminal tiles, plus any extra tile to complete the set. If you
have the 13 UNIQUE honor and terminal tiles, and have a 13-way wait for the yakuman (any of
the tiles you have can complete your set), this hand is worth 2 yakuman, or Double Yakuman.
Must be closed.

 Suanko (Four Closed Triplets) – Difficulty: ★

 Your hand consists of triplets that are ALL hidden. If you are waiting for a tile to complete a PAIR,
(NOT a meld) this hand may be given Double Yakuman value. Remember that for this hand,
calling “ron” (except when waiting for pair) will nullify the Yakuman and down-grade it to a
sananko (3 closed triplets). Remember that calling an “ankan” will still allow the hand to be
considered closed. Must be closed.

 Daisangen – Difficulty: ★★
 Your hand has triplets or quads of all three dragon tiles. Can be open or closed.

 Shosushii – Difficulty: ★★★★

 Your hand has triplets or quads of 3 of the wind tiles, and a pair of the 4 th wind. Can be open or
closed.

 Daisushii – Difficulty: ★★★★★★

 Your hand has triplets or quad of all four of the wind tiles. Can be open or closed. Most rules award
Double Yakuman to this hand.

 Tsuiiso – Difficulty: ★★★★

 Your hand only has honors. Can be open or closed

 Daichisei – Difficulty: ★★★★★★★★★

 Your hand has two of each of the honor tiles. Is a variation of chiitoi, so it must be closed. This
hand is a Double Yakuman

 Chinroto – Difficulty: ★★★★★

 Your hand only has terminals. May be open or closed

 Ryuiiso – Difficulty: ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

 Your hand only has tiles that are “all green”. Tiles that qualify for this are the green dragon, and 2,
3, 4, 6, 8 of the Sousu. Can be open or closed.
 Nine Gates – Difficulty: ★★★★★★★
 Your hand has one suit, with the following tiles: 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9, 9, and any other tile
to complete the set. If you have a 9-way wait, meaning you have a hand, where 9 tiles would
complete the hand, the hand is worth a Double Yakuman. Must be closed

 Daisharin – Difficulty: ★★★★★★★

 Your hand has one suit, with two of each tile from 2-8. While Daisharin is the name for pinzu,
sousu variation is called “daichikurin”, and the manzu variation is “daisurin” Must be closed.

 Surenko – Difficulty: ★★★★★

 Your hand has triplets or quads that chain 4 numbers. As an example, having a triplet of 5-man, 6-
man, 7-man, and 8-man will qualify for this yakuman. Can be open or closed

 Sukantsu – Difficulty: ★★★★★

 You have made four kans. Be aware that any time 4 kan is called by two or more players, this is a
draw. So you MUST make all the kan calls yourself. In addition, you will only be left with a single
tile to wait for a pair after calling 4 kans. Can be open or closed.
  Tenho – Difficulty: ★★★
 The oya draws the first tile, and completes the hand.
 Chiiho – Difficulty: ★★★
 The ko draws his/her first tile, and completes the hand.
 Renho – Difficulty: ★★★
 If a ko can complete their hand on the first round’s discards, this is also a yakuman.

The Fun Box: What is the highest score possible in Japanese Mahjong?

Explanation: Four “Closed kan” (ankan) of each of the winds, and any pair of the dragon
tiles. This hand would qualify for the following Yakuman:
 Suanko (2 Yakuman, because it is a pair wait)
 Daisushii (2 Yakuman)
 Sukantsu (1 Yakuman)
 Tsuiiso (1 Yakuman)

Total: 6 Yakuman Value!!!

Basic Points: 48000
Actual Points: If oya, each player pays 98000 Points EACH.
Hand is worth 294000 Points!!
(In Official Tag-Team Tournaments the group of 5 is given a combined starting score of
100000. Note that in normal matches, you start with 25000 points.)

On to the scores!
This is a reminder of the formula to calculate the basic score:

Basic Points = fu x 2(2+han)

But there is something called Mangan in Japanese Mahjong, where if you reach a certain score, the basic points
do not matter anymore and you receive a fixed value as your “basic points”. Here is how they break down.
Fundamentally, the term “mangan” is used when the basic points exceed 2000 after calculation.

Name of mangan Number of han and fu Basic Point Value

Mangan 3 han and more than 70 fu 2000
4 han and more than 40 fu
5 han
Haneman (Ha-ne-man) 6 han 3000
7 han
Baiman 8 han 4000
9 han
10 han
Sanbaiman 11 han 6000
12 han
Kazoe-yakuman 13 han + 8000
Yakuman Special Yaku 8000
Multiple Yakuman Combination of Yakuman 16000+ Maximum 48000

What the heck is a Yakuman that you speak of?

Yakuman is similar to a flush or straights in poker; rare hands that are given high values. These yakuman are
separated into a list by themselves. Additionally, if you manage to combine two or more yakuman requirements
into one hand, you will receive even more points. This way, it is completely possible to 1HKO ALL OF YOUR
OPPOENTS AT ONCE! (Although the possibility of this is less than getting a royal flush twice in a row)
In the unfortunate event you gather less than 5 han, the number of fu must be counted to acquire the basic points.
Calculation of Actual Points
After the calculation of basic points, players transfer points according to the following directions. In each
situation, the score is rounded UP to the nearest 100
If a ko wins by ron, multiply the basic points by 4 and round up. This is the score that needs to be paid
If an oya wins by ron, multiply the basic points by 6 and round up. This is the score that needs to be paid.
If a ko wins by tsumo, multiply the basic points by 1 and 2 and round up. Other ko will pay the score that was
multiplied by 1, oya will pay the score that was multiplied by 2.
If an oya wins by tsumo, multiply the basic points by 2 and round up. Other players must each pay this score.

==Strategy and Advanced Terminology==

Furiten – The Despair of an Impossible Battle
Furiten is a concept not well understood by even the most experienced players. Simply put, furiten prevents
you from calling “ron” for any discard. However, for all types of furiten, the furiten rule is disregarded if YOU
draw the tile you need. Furiten is applicable whether you have yaku or not, and whether your hand is closed or
open. Starting off, there are three types of Furiten:

1. You have discarded the tile. Let’s say that you have a 7-sou and an 8-sou, and is waiting for either a
6-sou or a 9-sou for a complete hand. However, you now realize that you have thrown away a 9-sou a
while ago, at the beginning of the round. Furiten says you will not be able to win on either a 6-sou
OR a 9-sou. This is why you need to be careful about what you discard.

2. Let’s say you are going for an open “ittsu” (straight). You can use a 4-man or a 7-man to complete
your hand, but need the 7-man to complete your ittsu. If an opponent discards a 4-man tile and you pass
on it REGARDLESS OF YOU BEING ABLE TO WIN FROM THE TILE OR NOT, you will NOT
be able to win on a 7-man discard until one FULL turn has passed, or you make an open meld.

3. Riichi Furiten. After you call riichi, if you pass on ANY winning tile (whether it’s tsumo or ron), you
are in a furiten state, and cannot call ron for the rest of the round. (Remember that you can always
tsumo for any form of furiten)

The Ultimate Risk Factor: Kan.

In the game of Mahjong, there are only 4 of one kind of tile. If you manage to collect all four of them in some
way, you qualify to call Kan.

Kan is a special move that could turn the tide of the game!
 Calling kan will negate any melds that may require that particular tile.
 Calling kan will increase the number of dora tiles
 Calling kan is given similar properties to calling pon.
 There are 3 ways to call kan.
 Ankan- The best type of kan, this type of kan is only available if YOU collect the 4 tiles by
yourself, without calling anything. Two of the tiles are flipped upside down and sandwiches the two
other tiles that remain visible. The hand is still considered closed, so you can call riichi, menzen
tsumo, etc… After you draw an extra tile from the dead wall, you may immediately reveal another
dora indicator without discarding a tile. Because of its nature, calling ankan is very favorable
when you can call riichi (or have already declared riichi).

 Gakan- This kan involves first calling pon for a tile, then drawing the fourth tile yourself. Gakan
should normally be performed on yakuhai-tiles, or if your hand is very close to being finished.
When gakan is performed, you must draw an extra tile and DISCARD a tile before revealing
another dora indicator

 Kan- If you have three of the tiles, and someone discards the fourth, calling kan will result in the
same event as gakan. As with gakan, you must draw another tile from the dead wall, and discard a
tile before revealing another dora indicator.
Players call kan:

 When they want to earn points quickly. (By adding more dora)
 If it’s an ankan, and they call riichi for double dora, and ura-dora.
 When they want to take the risks below for rinshan kaiho.

Players shouldn’t call kan

 If someone already declared riichi (Remember that by calling kan, you’re doing THEM a favor by
doubling the dora tiles!!). This is especially so if it’s an oya-riichi.
 If it’s NOT ankan, and doing so will remove the chances of you earning your rightful yaku in many
cases
 If they are in 1st place. Unless they WANT people to pass them. Again, you are increasing the number
of dora, so people will catch up or pass your score much quicker!

Generally, calling kan has more penalties than benefits, so it’s not used frequently.

Betafuri – The Safe Road, Traveled by the Wisest Men

Betafuri is a term used to describe the action of discarding tiles that are part of your hand, in an effort to avoid
furikomi. Looking from a wide point of view, performing betafuri will negate any chances of you winning, but
a successful betafuri will result in a maximum points deduction of 1500 points. Remember that a 1-han, 30-fu
hand (the lowest score possible) by oya is worth 1500, so if your opponent seems to have a high-point hand,
such as chinitsu or honitsu, betafuri is a good, even strongly recommended, choice. (Getting hit by an oya
chiinitsu is a MINIMUM of 12000 points)

The continuous and approaching fear of superiority: Honba

In many forms of Mahjong, if you continuously win as the dealer, you are awarded something. This is the case
with Japanese Mahjong, where if the oya wins, the round is repeated. This “extra round” is called “honba”.

Honba Rounds are indicated with a 100 point stick placed by the oya on the table. One stick = one repeated
round (honba)

Honba Rounds raise the value of ALL hands by (300 x “number of repeated rounds”). Let’s say you are the
oya, and you get a “Tanyao” hand with 30 fu, for 3 straight rounds.

First Tanyao = 1500 points

Second Tanyao = 1500 points + (1 honba * 300) = 1800 points
Third Tanyao = 1500 points + (2 honba * 300) = 2100 points

As always, in the event of a ron, the player who discarded the tile pays the entire hand value. However, in the
case of a tsumo, each player pays 100 points more EACH (times the number of honba), to fulfill the +300 points
of the honba.
 =Secrets of Mahjong – Road to Supreme Expertise=
This section discusses the higher leveled playing styles of Japanese Mahjong. Please do note
that strategies and skills listed in section are difficult to master, and only takes repeated practice
over a long period of time.

Art of Omniscience – Reading the Opponent’s Hand

While I play online Mahjong, many players admire my furikomi percentage: less than 10%. This means that
when any three of my opponents win with a hand, less than 10% of the time, they win by my discard. This
means that I rarely pay the entire price of a hand.
In simpler terms, this trait that I possess prevents me from losing too many points.

How do I do this???
One of the required traits of a professional Mahjong player is the ability to read an opponent’s hand
within a short amount of time. By being able to read an opponent’s hand, the player himself has greater
chances of changing his own hand to counteract. The greatest requirement for this skill is the knowledge of
yaku.

Again, generally speaking, reading an opponent’s hand is easier if the opponent has open melds. However,
this guide will do its best to explain the theory behind “reading” hands. Remember, that “reading hands” must
be done quickly, as you can’t just simply read opponent’s hands; you need to decide how to counterattack it!

Generally speaking, reading hands from discards can follow most of the rules below:
 Discarding ANY tile automatically makes the player in a furiten state for that tile, and possibly more
(due to the ryanmachi furiten rule). This is the universal method to “read hands”
 Throwing away ANY tile means that the player does not need that tile to create a 3-of-a-kind meld for
the rest of the round. This is most common for honors.
 If at least 3 of the tiles are of one suit, for the first 6 discarded tiles, the player likely doesn’t need
any more tiles from that particular suit. However, this is very subjective.
 If one particular suit of a tile does not appear within the first 12 discarded tiles (or even the first 6 for
that matter!), the player is likely aiming to collect that suit. (Note: It doesn’t have to be chinitsu!!)

Reading the Opponent’s Hand using Open Melds: Generally, open melds score very low. Without dora tiles,
open hands cannot even reach baiman. (Chinitsu hands reach haneman with a very low rate)
 If an opponent calls “chi” using non-terminals, relax. The only hands they can create is tanyao (1 han),
yakuhai (1 han), honitsu or chinitsu (Refer to the discard reading--This will be a lot easier to see!).
They can also make a sanshoku, but because this hand is open, sanshoku is only worth a meager 1 han.
 If an opponent calls “chi” using terminals, the only yaku they have available is yakuhai (1 han),
chanta/junchan (fairly difficult, low scoring), and sanshoku (1 han). The max score without dora is
approximately 3000 points.
 In any of these cases, if the opponent calls chi and/or pon for two or more suits, you may
immediately throw away any chances of honitsu and chinitsu.
 If an opponent calls “pon” for a wind tile that’s not their seat wind or round wind, it is very likely
that they’re aiming for honitsu. (I leave out the chances of shushii Yakuman, because they’re
extremely rare)
 If an opponent calls “pon” for yakuhai (seat wind, round wind, or dragon tiles), use the discard reading
to figure out their hand. While it can be a simple 1 han, 30 fu hand, you cannot disregard the possibility
of a higher scoring hand.

Example 1: A player seems to only throw away Honor tiles, Sou-tiles, and Man-tiles. He has called a pon, with
a 2-pin and a chi that consists of 7, 8, and 9 of pin. Statistically, this person is most likely collecting a hand for
“honitsu” or “chinitsu” (note that even if the person throws away honor tiles, I do NOT throw away the fact that
the person may be going for Honitsu.
Example 2: Please take a look at the picture.

According to your knowledge, what would be my hand? (Note that the sideways 1-pin is what I called riichi
with)
Following the rule above, notice that I have 3 honor tiles and 3 sou tiles for the first 6 discards. Additionally,
you only see two pinzu discards and three manzu discards. Here’s the actual hand for this group of discards:

As you can see, my hand consisted of manzu and pinzu, which was lacking in my discard pile. Also, I’m
waiting for either a 7-pin or an 8-pin, which are NOT in my discard pile.

Example 3:

Can you predict my hand, given the above open melds and discards?

Answer for Example 3:

Whoa! That’s was a Honitsu that’s worth at least 2000 points, most likely with dora added (because of kan),
AND a 3-way wait for the win!! If I got a 3-sou tile, I would’ve gotten an extra han for Ittsu!

Example 4:

Slightly more tricky, but what could my hand be?

 ====Try to guess my hand first, before scrolling further!====

Answer to Example 4:

While this hand seems like a crappy hand, with only one tile available, take a closer look:
This hand has Sanshoku!! Remember that Sanshoku is worth 2 han if closed, (Which this hand is, because you
can see that I called riichi). This hand is worth AT LEAST 5200.

Mesmerizing Dilemma: Deciding the Fate of your Hand

Okay, so you’re dealt 13 tiles. You know you have to discard a tile when you draw your 14 th tile, but what do
you discard? This section is designed mostly to help you make that decision. As with other sections, the
memorization of yaku is ESSENTIAL to this higher-leveled skill. Here are some terms you need to familiarize
yourself with:

Most common hands you should aim for, right off the bat:
Yakuhai: Best described as a triplet of your seat wind, round wind, or dragon tiles. Worth 1 han, and is used
most frequently with dora tiles to raise its points

Pinfu: A closed hand with only sequences, and waits for at least two tiles. Note that you must already have the
eye (pairs). Pinfu is very often used with riichi for more points.

Tanyao/Kuitan: With tanyao, don’t worry too much about making open melds, because if your game allows
“kuitan” (tanyao with open melds), you won’t lose points. Tanyao is a relatively easy hand that people usually
associate with pinfu for an easy 2-han hand.

Chiitoi: Chiitoi is, remember, the 7-pair, closed hand. Quite often, when you make hands, you find that you
have a lot of times when you can go for pinfu OR chiitoi.

Toi-toi: Toi-toi hand is an “all-triplets” hand, and is extremely easy to make IF you already have a chiitoi.
Because of chiitoi’s nature, you are completely free to change from a chiitoi to a toi-toi if you feel like it.
Remember that with toi-toi, you have chances of additional points via sananko (3 closed triplets) or sankantsu
(3 quads)

Step 1: First, take a look to see if you have yakuhai. This should be the very first thing on your mind, because
Japanese Mahjong is a battle of speed. If you have triplet of winds or dragons, you should usually leave them be,
since it allows you to call riichi by following the next steps. In the case of having two of the yakuhai tiles, you
can either:
 Call when another player discards the third tile
 Advantage is that your yakuhai is made immediately
 Disadvantage is that your hand is not open
 Wait for the last tile
 Advantage is that you can wait for you to draw the last tile, which allows the use of riichi, as
well as hiding your yakuhai from other players.
 Disadvantage is that the “last tile” may be hidden in the dead wall pile, or be placed as a
dora-indicator, in which is impossible to draw it for your yakuhai.

Step 2: Carefully make melds in your head. If you see triplets, make them into a meld in your head, and keep it
that way until the end of the round. If you see tiles waiting for a ryanmachi, set the two tiles aside in your mind
to NOT throw away, since there are two tiles that can make them into a meld.

Step 3: Probably the easiest and most important step. NEVER make open melds unless you can fulfill any of
the conditions listed above. This limits your open melds to Yakuhai, kuitan, and toi-toi. However, note that toi-
toi is slightly harder to finish than Yakuhai or kuitan, so it’s not recommended.

Step 4: Observe the tiles being discarded. If you see the tiles you need being discarded, don’t call on them
unless you’re following Step 3. You should just simply change your hand instead.
I don’t know about you, dear reader, but I’m better with pictures. Here’s an example of one of my matches:

Possible Meld Possible Meld

Turn 1: Wow... 3 honor tiles I don’t need. Let’s get rid of them first! The order of them doesn’t really matter, but
throw away non-seat, non-round wind tiles first! See that the Round AND Seat for me this time, is East.

Possible Meld
Possible Meld
Ryanmachi

Turn 2: Let’s throw the West tile away, since the two dragon tiles can come in handy
 Possible Meld
Possible Meld
Ryanmachi

Turn 3: Hmm… a 2-man tile I don’t need… Let’s throw that away.

Possible Meld
Possible Meld
Ryanmachi

Turn 4: Oh, an 8-pin tile that I could use! Let’s keep that and throw a dragon tile out
 Possible Meld
Possible Meld
Ryanmachi

Turn 5: Another 8-sou? Let’s throw away the last dragon tile and see what we have

Possible Meld Possible Meld

Ryanmachi Ryanmachi

Turn 6: Looks like we have a pretty nice hand. That red dragon is unnecessary, so out with it!
 Possible Meld Possible Meld

Ryanmachi Ryanmachi

Turn 7: NOW we’re talking! I’m going to throw away the 1-sou, to make a meld with the 5,6 ryanmachi

Meld Meld
Meld

Ryanmachi

Turn 8: Aww… a 5-man that I don’t need. Bye-bye~!

 Meld Meld
Meld

Ryanmachi

Turn 9: Yet another tile that we can’t use. If we had the 1 sou from a few turns back, we could’ve used it… Oh
well!

Meld
Meld Variable

Turn 10: YAY! I got the tile I needed to call riichi! For this situation though, this hand is a 4-way wait!!
I can with any of the tiles below:
3-pin, 6-pin, 8-pin or 9-pin!
Turn 11: Looks I got lucky! Along with a great wait (4-way wait) a bit of luck allowed an ippatsu tsumo!

Result: Riichi ippatsu tsumo, pinfu! Too bad there wasn’t any dora tiles or ura-dora tiles, and that 1-man at the
left is preventing me from getting a tanyao added to my score. Nonetheless, I hope that with this example, you
get a feel of how you should create your hand.
 Glossary

Riichi The name given to the yaku, where you declare tenpai. Because Japanese
Mahjong is the only variation with this yaku, Japanese Mahjong is often called
“Riichi Mahjong”
Yaku The short way of saying “type of hand”. Various yaku have different values, and
your score depends on what yaku you have.
Dora The luck factor of Japanese Mahjong. When you win a hand, these tiles add one
han to your score. Dora tiles are determined at the beginning of the round, and
are whatever the suit # + 1. As an example, if the indicator is 6-pin, Dora tiles
are 7-pin.
Calling Saying “pon”, “chi”, or “kan” to declare that you can create a meld.
Uradora Same as the dora tiles, but this is only accessible by calling riichi
Pinzu (Pin) The suit with circles.
Manzu (Mahn) The suit with red “Man” (the number 10000) symbol on it, with the number on
top.
Sousu (Sou) The green (and sometimes red) tiles that look like bamboos
Honors Any Dragon or Wind tiles
Terminals Any tiles that have the numbers 1 or 9
Han The main factor used in score calculation. Essentially works by doubling your
score for every han
Fu The secondary scoring factor that’s used if Han value is 4 or less
Yakuman Extremely rare hands that are given “limit” values due to their rarity. In many
rules, yakuman can be combined for an even greater score.
Ko (子) Means “child”, and is often referred to as the “non-dealer”
Oya (親) Means “Parent”, and is often referred to as the “dealer”
Open Hand Any hand that was partially revealed due to pon, chi, or kan. The only exception
is ankan. Cannot qualify for Menzen Tsumo.
Dead Wall 14 tiles that are set aside for every round. 4 of these tiles are there for players
who need an extra tile after calling kan, but the other 10 tiles are used as “dora
indicators” or “uradora indicators”
Discards The tiles you “throw away” as an attempt to modify your hand
Nagashi-mangan The special score where all your discards are honors or terminals. In addition,
you cannot call any tiles, or have anyone take your tiles by calling.
Tenpai & No-ten Expression of your hand. If it is in “tenpai”, you just need one more tile to
complete it. “No-ten” means that you don’t have a hand that can be completed
with just one tile. These terms are used usually at the end of the round, and if
this is the case, the “one-yaku minimum requirement” is not applicable.
Furikomi This term is best translated as “shot”. The term is used for when a player wins
from a discard, so the person who discarded the tile has to pay the entire price
of the hand.
Naki The act of calling with pon, chi, or a non-“ankan” (Lit. trans, to cry)
Agari (lit. trans, to raise) Term used to describe action of completing the hand and
ending the round.

Possibility of Scores with a Closed and Open Hand (approximations)

Score Closed Hand (with Riichi) Open Hand Closed to Open Ratio
Sub-mangan ~60.0% ~95.0% About 1:1.58
Mangan ~30.0% ~4.9% About 6:1
Haneman ~9.7% ~0.099% About 100:1
Baiman ~0.29% ~0.00098% About 300:1
Sanbaiman ~0.0079% ~0.000017% About 460:1
Yakuman ~0.0021% ~0.000003% About 700:1

Example: With a closed hand riichi, you have about 100 times the chances to get a haneman, than if you went
with an open hand.