Like a Dragon: Ishin! Mahjong Guide, Part 3: Recognizing Winning Hands

Like a Dragon: Ishin! Mahjong Guide, Part 3: Recognizing Winning Hands A hand can look finished and still be unable to win. Four groups and a pair give you the usual shape, but you also need a scoring condition, called a yaku. Dora adds value after that; it doesn't replace the requirement. This reference explains the standard riichi hands and terms you'll encounter while learning Ishin's mahjong. For the game's completion target, tournament ladder, and prizes, use Part 2. A few terms first A sequence is three consecutive numbers in one suit, such as 4-5-6 of bamboo. A triplet is three identical tiles. A quad is four identical tiles declared as a kan. Terminals are the 1s and 9s; honors are winds and dragons. Closed means you haven't opened the hand by calling another player's tile for a group. A concealed kan doesn't open your hand. Winning by ron also doesn't remove your hand's closed status, although the tile it completes can matter for concealed-triplet scoring. Common one-han hands • Riichi: declare a closed hand ready to win and put down the 1,000-point deposit. • Menzen tsumo: complete a closed hand by drawing the winning tile yourself. • Ippatsu: win within the uninterrupted go-around after declaring riichi. A call breaks the opportunity. • Tanyao: use only numbered tiles from 2 through 8. No 1s, 9s, winds, or dragons. For an open hand, the table's Open Tanyao setting must allow it. • Iipeikou: two matching sequences in the same suit, with the hand closed. • Yakuhai: a triplet or quad of a dragon, your seat wind, or the round wind. Each qualifying value group adds a han. A wind that is both your seat and the round wind counts for both. Pinfu needs a closer look Pinfu is one han and requires a closed hand, four sequences, a non-value pair, and a two-sided wait. For example, holding 4-5 and waiting for either 3 or 6 is two-sided. Holding 1-2 and waiting only for 3 is an edge wait. Holding 4-6 and waiting only for 5 is a middle wait. The last two don't qualify for pinfu. Your pair cannot be dragons, your seat wind, or the round wind. A pair of a different wind is allowed. Calling a sequence also removes pinfu, even if all four groups are still sequences. Situational one-han wins • Rinshan kaihou: win on the replacement draw after a kan. • Chankan: win by claiming the tile an opponent adds to an existing triplet to make a kan. • Haitei: win on the final live-wall draw. • Houtei: win on the final discard. Useful two-han hands • Double riichi: declare riichi on your first turn before calls interrupt the opening. This replaces ordinary riichi rather than adding to it. • Chiitoitsu: seven different pairs, closed. Four copies of one tile do not count as two different pairs. • Toitoi: four triplets or quads plus a pair. Open is allowed. • Sanankou: three concealed triplets or quads. The fourth group can be open. If ron completes one of the three triplets you needed to keep concealed, that triplet does not qualify. • Sankantsu: three declared kans. • Sanshoku doukou: triplets or quads of the same number in all three suits. • Shousangen: two dragon triplets or quads, plus a pair of the remaining dragon. The two dragon groups also score their own yakuhai. • Honroutou: the entire hand uses terminals and honors. It can be built as triplets or seven pairs. Sequence hands that lose value when opened Sanshoku doujun means the same sequence in all three suits. For example, 3-4-5 in characters, circles, and bamboo. It is two han closed and one open. Having 3-4-5 in two suits and 4-5-6 in the third doesn't qualify. Ittsu uses 1-2-3, 4-5-6, and 7-8-9 in one suit, plus the remaining group and pair. It is two han closed and one open. Merely having all nine numbers somewhere in the hand isn't enough if they cannot form those three sequences. Chanta requires a terminal or honor in every group and in the pair, including at least one sequence. It is two han closed and one open. The sequences therefore have to be 1-2-3 or 7-8-9. Bigger ordinary hands • Ryanpeikou: two pairs of identical sequences, closed, for three han. It replaces iipeikou. Treat the tiles as sequences for this score, not as seven pairs at the same time. • Honitsu: numbered tiles from one suit together with honors. Three han closed, two open. A pair from a second numbered suit ruins it. • Junchan: a terminal in every group and the pair, at least one sequence, and no honors. Three han closed, two open. • Chinitsu: every tile is from one numbered suit, with no honors. Six han closed, five open. Yakuman shapes These are rare hands. Learn to recognize them, but don't throw away an easy win every round trying to force one. • Kokushi musou: one of each of the thirteen different terminals and honors, plus a duplicate of one of them. Closed only. • Suuankou: four concealed triplets or quads and a pair. A ron that completes the fourth triplet does not qualify; a ron completing the pair can. • Chuuren poutou: 1112345678999 in one suit, plus one additional tile of that suit. Closed only. • Daisangen: triplets or quads of all three dragons. • Shousuushii: three wind triplets or quads and a pair of the fourth wind. • Daisuushii: triplets or quads of all four winds. • Tsuuiisou: a completed hand consisting entirely of honors. • Chinroutou: a completed hand consisting entirely of 1s and 9s. • Ryuuiisou: only green dragon tiles and the 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 of bamboo. The allowed tiles still have to form a complete hand. • Suukantsu: four declared kans, with the pair completed too. • Tenhou: the dealer's initial hand is already complete. • Chiihou: a non-dealer wins on the first draw before any call interrupts the opening. What to do with this list Look at the hand you were dealt before choosing a direction. Several pairs suggest seven pairs or a triplet hand. Lots of one suit may justify a half flush. A mostly ordinary mix of sequences is often better left closed so you can declare riichi. Before calling a tile, name the yaku you'll still have afterward. If the answer is only that the hand will be closer to finished, stop and check. Opening a hand quickly doesn't help if you've removed its only way to score.