Basic lone tiles

Honor tiles:
Terminals (1,9):
2,8: 3-7:

Helpful tile count:

Helpful tile count: 15 Helpful tile count: 19
11
Helpful tile count: 3

3-7 tiles >2,8 tiles >1,9 tiles > Honor tiles

Example 1: Sample starting hand
East round, seat-west
Dora: North wind

Example 2: Sets and lone tiles

Example 3: Poor hand exception

Seat:west
Basic set waits

Middle wait/Kanchan (4
Pair to triplet (2 tiles) Edge wait/Penchan (4 tiles)
tiles)

Double middle
wait/Ryankan (8 tiles) 2-sided/Ryanmen (8 tiles) 3-sided wait (11 tiles)

(Requires 3 tiles)

Example hand: Choosing the best wait

Example hand: Improvable waits

Less useful tiles and overlapping waits
1) less useful tiles

2) Overlapping waits

Example hands
Basic pairs, part 1: No clear pair hands
Pair waits

Single pair wait Double pair waits

More complex pair waits

Example hands
With no clear pair, choose set waits over good pair waits

Basic pairs, part 2

In general, keep 2 pairs …

Lost tiles:

And only 2 pairs:

Review of the basics
Middle lone are better than edge lone tiles
Sometimes, lone tiles can be less useful (or more useful) than normal
Groups of 2 are better than lone tiles
Some groups of 2 are better than other groups of 2
Be careful about breaking up completed sets of 3

Focus on making hands rather than making yaku

Think about lost tiles
There are plenty of exceptions!
Check the dealer, dora, and score
Dora: West wind

Dora: 8m

Dora: 9s

Dora: 8p

Dora: 2p

Dora: West wind

Basic defense
Genbutsu – tiles the player has discarded and all tiles discarded after riichi.

Suji
Suji comparison
Terminal waits:

2/8 waits:

3/7 waits:

Non yakuhai honor tiles, yakuhai honor tiles, terminals

When playing aggressive against a riichi, discard safest useless tiles first

When to defend:
Often against riichis (Maybe no when: in tenpai, close to a big hand, or in a must win
situation)
Against big open hands
Against the dealer
In higher level rooms, consider defendig against damaten hands as round progresses

Lost tile and furiten

Flexible hands
Dora: 5s
Complex hands
More defense
Walls:

eliminates and

making safer

makes safer
 Red 5 discard: safer

Outer tiles:

Discarded early makes tiles closer to the edge likely safe

Hand range:

Value considerations:
Suji guarantees no pinfu
Honors and terminals guarantee no tanyao

Playing in on a dora guarantees at lest that dora

Near dora tiles are at risk for playing into a hand with dora

Special yaku considerations: Honitsu/ Chinitsu, Chanta/ Junchan

Situational play and declaring riichi

When to consider not riichi`ing:
Closed 4 han (or 6 han) hands

No riichi ron: 7700, Riichi ron: 8000 (12000)

No riichi tsumo: 8000, Riichi tsumo: 12000 (rare 16000)

Very improbable hands

Winning is more important tan points

Last draws, unlikely to win

Riichi can be better with tricky waits

Player’s choice:
2/3 han (pinfu) hands

No riichi ron: 3900, Riichi ron: 7700 (8000/very rare12000)

No riichi tsumo: 5200, Riichi tsumo: 8000 (12000)

No riichi ron: 2000, Riichi ron: 3900 (7700)

No riichi tsumo: 2700, Riichi tsumo: 5200 (8000)

South 4:
You (South) – 23500
West- 24000
North -14000
East – 33500

South 4:
You (West) – 40000
North - 27000
East - 23000
South - 10000

South 3:
You (East) – 8000
South - 45000
West -26000
North – 21000
South 3:
You (South) – 8000
West- 45000
North -26000
East – 21000

South 4:
You (West) – 8000
North - 45000
East -26000
South – 21000

East 1, renchan 2, 3 riichi sticks in middle:

You (West) – 24000
North - 25000
East -22000
South – 26000

South 2:
You (East) – 55000
South - 21000
West -13000
North – 11000

South 4:
You (North) – 29000
East - 26000
South -23000
West – 22000

West 2,8th turn

You (North) – 24700
East - 24400
South -28100
West – 22800

Dora: 9m
South 4, renchan 4,3 riichi sticks in middle:
You (South) – 23500
West- 23000
North -22800
East – 27700
Thenhou and last place avoidance:
East – South matches

Ippan (general) room points gain: 1st = +45

Joukyuu (expert) room points gain: 1st = +60, 2nd = +15
Tokujou room points gain: 1st = +75, 2st = +30
Houou room points gain: 1st = +90, 2st = +45

4th dan point loss: 4th =-90

6th dan point loss: 4th =-120

3 kyuu point loss: 0

1 kyuu point loss:4th =-30 (can’t rank down)
2st dan point loss: 4th =-60

A note on tiles near triplets and pairs

Awareness
Recognizing empty waits or weak waits
No 1 bamboos remaining

Noticing curious discards and important (dora) discards

Seeing waits (for defense and tile distribution)

Noticing discards from the hand vs tiles discarded after being draw
Hand planning and defense planning
Defense!
Want to avoid:
Unnecessary risks (genbutsu before honor tiles or suji)
Excessive risks
High risk low reward

Defend against riichi

Defend in dangerous situations (Dealer with double east and dora/yakuhai)
Avoid dangerous discards late

Try to be aware of all genbutsu, all suji, and all walls

Easy to miss:
Middle suji (ex 5 when 2 and 8 are safe)
Walled tiles late

Be wary of honor tiles when they are missing late

There are many easily believable “fake rules”
-A player discarding a lot of one suit doesn’t make every tile in that suit more likely to be
safe
(depends on what the tiles are and if the tiles came from the hand…)
-A player not discarding any of one suit doesn’t always make that suit the most
dangerous
(depends on held tiles, most recent discards from hand…)

Safe vs dangerous first

Play dangerous tiles while you think they are safe
Play safe tiles first when you think (or know) a player is in tenpai

In some cases, the normally safer tile may be more dangerous

When defending , may want to play tiles that are safe but more dangerous to others, and
hold tiles that are safe to everyone (can think of it as the “dangerous first” rule for other
players)

Defensive hand progression and exceptions to the efficiency rules

Defensive hands
Can give chance at more value. Particularly when dora is a terminal or honor tile

Defensive vs risk chiitoitsu

Defensive vs risk open yakuhai hands

Hold a lone 3 over a lone 6, and a lone 7 over a lone 4

Defensive progression

Hand reading and dangerous tiles, general topics

You can’t know the opponent’s wait for sure
However , the tiles that complete the wait you knew about are clearly more dangerous

Hand reading basics

The question: Why would you discard that tile, or why would you hold that tile?
Two big notes: unusual held tiles and early stronger number tile discard

Early 1 (terminal) before non yakuhai: Higher likelihood of needing 2,3,5

Early 2(non terminal) before a 1 or non yakuhai: Higher likelihood of needing 3, 6
Early 3 , 4, 6, 7: Higher likelihood of needing next suji towards the middle
Early 5: Higher likelihood of needing 1, 4, and/or 6,9

But , not all early discard indicate a wait:

This is less applicable when a group of 2 is discarded

Riichi/near riichi discards from hand:

Nearby tiles may be dangerous

Before discarding suji near riichi tile, think if it completes a wait that makes sense
5799p->799p->79p
799p, 899p, 779p, 889p, 999p
6899p->899p->99p
899p->888p
889p is unlikely against a strong player (barring special hands, defensive play, or 9p dora)
But , not all riichi discards even indicate a wait

It is rare to see a riichi on an improved wait:

46->67
So, the tile 4 away from the riichi tiles is not more dangerous. But it may be a separate
wait:
24467->234 67
Or, may be a 3 sided wait:
344567p->34567p
Open hands are much easier to read like this. Tiles close to the most recent discard from
the player`s hand are quite often dangerous

The “center half suji”

If a player discarded 1, 2, or 3 (or 7, 8 or 9) early, the middle tile on the same suji is slightly
safer than the opposite edge on the same suji
1-4-7
2-5-8

But, this doesn’t mean it’s safer compared to other tiles!

Hand reading and dangerous tiles, specific examples

Must use good reasoning and understanding to put together information accurately
1.

You can see all

Player riichis and discards from hand

Is safer or more dangerous?

(Walled 3 makes 2 safer, riichi on 5 makes 2 more dangerous)

2.

Player discards early

You can see all

 Is safer or more dangerous?
(Early 7 discards makes 3/6 more dangerous but you can see all 6)

3.

Player discards early

Player riichi and discards from hand

Is safer or more dangerous?

(Early 7 discards makes 9 safer as it’s outside of the 7, but tiles near riichi discard more
dangerous)

4.

Player discards early

Player riichis and discards

Is or safer?
(Early 2 makes 5 safer than 8… usually)

5.
 Player discards early

Player riichis and discards

Is or safer?
(Early 2 makes 5 safer than 8… usually)

maybe

unlikely

6.

Player discards early and discards on the draw

You can see all

Is safe or more dangerous?

(Early 6 makes 2/5 more dangerous. 6 then 8 may change meaning but 8 was in the
draw . Does walled a matter?)

A Trick with middle tiles, suji, and walls:

For 4, 5, 6 to be safer, usually you need to see the suji on both ends
With walls, you sometimes only need to see one suji
All 2 out: safe 7 makes 4 likely safe
All 3 out: safe 7 makes 4 likely safe (same as a suji terminal)
safe 8 makes 5 likely safe

Strong drawing ranges

Don’t do this incorrectly!

Intimidation plays and aggressive plays

+1300 (2000) on ron, +3000 if only player tenpai

Kan double east or double south
Other (closed) kans
Dora pon
Obvious honitsu or chanta
Giving up on tenpai too easily might be giving up too much of an edge:
-Can stick to your hand when other players’ hand are probably cheap
-Sometimes knowing likely safe tiles helps you play safe and hold on to your hand

Special tips and tricks

Predicting tiles in the wall
Early 1 may mean player has 4 (especially 1/9 before non yakuhai honor tile)
Early 2 mean player likely doesn’t have 3
If tile behind a wait aren’t discarded, maybe no one has them (67789 with two 7’s
discarded)

5 over 6
Hands that discard 6:
246, draw 3
46, draw 3

Hands that discard 5:

135, draw 2
579, draw 8
35, draw 2
57, draw 8

There is surely much more out there…

Example hands from actual matches
South 1, west wind hold
http://tenhou.net/0/?log=2014102909gm-0089-0000-xd06647d172ad&tw=1

South 2. safe as dealer with 4 dora

http://tenhou.net/0/?log=2014111113gm-0029-0000-x60e12725fea3&tw=1

East 2, reckless read as dealer

http://tenhou.net/0/?log=2015051114gm-0029-0000-72adbbb6&tw=1

South 1. steal the win from the open hand

http://tenhou.net/0/?log=2015060408gm-0029-0000-081d21a3&tw=3

East 3 (1), riichi tile suji; South 2 (1), north wind hold
http://tenhou.net/0/?log=2015061112gm-0029-0000-226c14a4&tw=3

South 1, missed dodge .

http://tenhou.net/0/?log=2015062114gm-0029-0000-d74a7770&tw=0

East 2. tenpai vs 2 riichis: South 4, riichi and dealer damaten

http://tenhou.net/0/?log=2015072806gm-0029-0000-5df39d9d&tw=0

East 1 (1), after a frustrating loss

http://tenhou.net/0/?log=2015080313gm-0029-0000-caab9475&tw=1

East 2 (1). 9 vs suji 3

http://tenhou.net/0/?log=2015080808gm-0029-0000-9ae46da2&tw=0

South 1 (1). north wind hold

http://tenhou.net/0/?log=2015072407gm-0029-0000-bf6c2763&tw=3

South 3, situational risk

http://tenhou.net/0/?log=2015080613gm-0029-0000-6e3574b7&tw=2

South 2. houou room, dodge the open hancj

http://tenhou.net/0/?log=2015090213gm-00a9-0000-baee5e89&tw=0