Beginner's Guide to Riichi Mahjong

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT A GUIDE FOR BEGINNERS. THIS IS A GUIDE BY A BEGINNER. EVEN WHEN YOU'RE OUT OF NOVICE YOUR'RE STILL A BEGINNER.

You can send corrections through the contacts page ;)

Assumptions:

• You know how to make a hand (Pair + 4 Triplet/Sequence)
• You know some simple yaku (win cons)

I will use some Japanese terminology. Hover over underlined terms for tooltip

Game Start

My hand opens and I'm immediately thinking of multiple ways my hand can win

I will also decide here whether I play quick or for points. I tend to try and get one fast win so I have some points and don't end up getting drained from other Tsumos.

Opening the hand

I try not to call on any other tiles. It invalidates some yaku and reduces han in other. I'll usually only go if I have some dora in hand and playing relatively quick. Like with Tanyao.

Dama or Riichi

Riichi for more value but also for scaring other people into folding. Good if you're ahead or in last to catch up. Dama in second or third for surprise.

Discard reading and defending against Dama

I'm not particularly good at this and I don't think you need to discard read every turn. The more obvious tell is an opponent discards a middle tile (4/5 almost definite if aka and/or in their Honitsu suit/6). I would like to test a 4-5 Tedashi into Tenpai hypothesis at some point.

When to hold and when to fold

Should be pretty obvious, but I don't follow my own advice sometimes. If someone else calls Riichi, I'm folding. Unless I'm in last with a high value hand. Otherwise, I'm not getting Ron'd going into Tenpai again.