Riichi (立直)

Menzenchin Only

Declared riichi. You may declare riichi if your hand is both menzenchin (closed) and tenpai. Bet 1,000 points. Allows Ura Dora.

Tanyao (断么九)

May be Menzenchin Only if Kuitan (喰い断) is not used.

A hand with no terminals or honors (2-8 of any suit only). AKA All Simples.

Menzen Tsumo (門前清自摸和)

Menzenchin Only

A closed hand won by Tsumo. AKA Fully concealed.

Yakuhai (役牌)

A hand may score multiple yakuhai

A triplet of any:

• Seat Wind
• Round Wind
• White Dragon (Haku)
• Green Dragon (Hatsu)
• Red Dragon (Chun)

Pinfu (平和)

Menzenchin Only

A hand which has no fu. Composed of 4 sequences, a non-Yakuhai pair, and a ryanmen (open) wait.

Iipeikou (一盃口)

Menzenchin Only

A hand with 2 identical sequences (same values, same suit). AKA Pure Double Sequence

Chankan (搶槓)

Special Rules Apply

Call Ron when another player calls Kan for a shominkan (upgrade Pon to Kan). Special exception for Kokushi Musou, where all kans apply. Special exception for Suukantsu, where you cannot call Ron against the 4th kan that player makes. AKA Robbing the Kan

Rishan Kaihou (嶺上開花)

Sekinin Barai rule may apply.

Win with Tsumo off of the tile drawn from the Dead Wall immediatley after calling a Kan or Nuki. In some rule sets, under the Sekinin Barai (Pao), or Responsibility rule, the player who dealt the tile which was called for a kan may pay for the winning player's Tsumo as though it were a Ron. AKA After a Kan

Haitei Raoyue/Haitei Raoyui (海底撈月/河底撈魚)

Win by Tsumo/Ron off of the last draw/discard of the game. AKA Under the Sea/River.

Ippatsu (一発)

Riichi only

Win within 1 uninterrupted turn after declaring riichi. Calls interrupt the turn, so any Pon, Kan, Chii, or Nuki will kill the ippatsu.

Dora (ドラ)

Not Yaku

Dora count for 1 Han if they are in your winning hand. Dora tiles are the next tile after the flipped Dora Indicator Tile. 9s cycle back to 1s. For winds, the order is: East -> South -> West -> North. For dragons, the order is: Haku -> Hatsu -> Chun. To remember this, winds go clockwise around the compass, and dragons go in alphabetical order (in EN and JP).
Ura Dora (裏ドラ) are given to hands that win with Riichi. The tiles underneath the Dora Indicator Tiles are used as Ura Dora Indicator Tiles.

Red Five (赤ドラ)

Optional replacement 5 tiles which always count as dora.

Kita (キタ) or Nuki (抜き)

Sanma

In some versions of Sanma, the deadwall may be adjusted to have 4 additional rishan draws, and the North tile may be called. After calling Kita or Nuki, the player puts the north tile into their calls and draws from the Dead Wall (you can score Rishan Kaihou from this). Each Kita/Nuki call will count as a Dora for that player (it does not count as a Dora if used in the hand).

Other versions of Sanma do not use this, and instead the North tile is always Yakuhai.

Double Riichi (ダブルリーチ)

Mezenchin Only

Declare riichi on your first turn. That turn must not be interrupted (calls interrupt turns, so there cannot be any Pons, Kans, Chiis, or Kitas).

Chanta (全帯)

Kuisagari applies.

A hand where each meld and pair has a terminal and/or an honor. Must have an honor tile (otherwise it'd be junchan, honroutou, or chinroutou). AKA Half Outside Hand or honchantaiyaochuu (混全帯么九)

Kuisagari: Loses 1 han when open.

Sanshoku Doujun (三色同順)

Kuisagari applies.

A hand with 3 sequences of the same value in 3 different suits. AKA Mixed Triple Sequence, 3 Colored Straight

Kuisagari: Loses 1 han when open

Ittsuu (一通)

Kuisagari aplies.

A hand with 3 sequences in 1 suit with values 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9. AKA Full Straight, Ikkitsuukan (一気通貫)

Kuisagari: Loses 1 han when open

Toitoi (対々)

A hand with 4 triplets and a pair. AKA All Triplets, Toitoihou (対々和)

Note: If the hand is completely concealed (and wins by Tsumo), Suuankou is scored instead. If the hand is completely concealed but wins by Ron, Sanankou is scored in addition to toitoi.

Sanankou (三暗刻)

The final triplet cannot be completed by Ron.

A hand with 3 concealed triplets. If the 3rd triplet is achieved from a Ron, that triplet is not concidered concealed, and as such this yaku is not awarded. When combined with Toitoi, if the hand wins by Tsumo, the yakuman Suuankou is scored instead. AKA 3 Concealed Triplets

Sanshoku Doukou (三色同刻)

A hand with 3 triplets of the same value in 3 different suits. AKA Triple Triplets

Sankantsu (三槓子)

A hand with 3 kans. AKA Three Kans

Note: If a hand has 4 kans, the yakuman Suukantsu is scored instead.

Chiitoitsu (七対子)

Mezenchin Only

A hand with 7 unique pairs. AKA Seven Pairs, All Pairs

Honroutou (混老頭)

A hand with only terminals and honors. Unlike Chanta, Honroutou cannot have any sequences. If the hand is only terminals or only honors, then Chinroutou or Tsuuiisou is scored instead. Though this yaku is worth 2 han, the hand will score at least 4 han because of Toitoi. AKA All Terminals and Honors

Shousangen (小三元)

A hand with 2 triplets of 2 different dragons, plus a pair of the 3rd remaining dragon. Though this yaku is worth 2 han, the hand will score at least 4 han because of Yakuhai. If the hand has triplets of all 3 dragons, the yakuman Daisangen is scored instead. AKA Little Three Dragons

Honitsu (混一色)

Kuisagari applies.

A hand with only one numbered suit and honors. If there are no honors, the hand scores Chinitsu instead.

Kuisagari: Loses 1 han when open.

Junchan (純全)

Kuisagari applies.

A hand where each meld has a terminal, but doesn't have any honors. AKA Fully Outside Hand, Outside Hand, Junchantaiyaochuu (純全帯么九)

Kuisagari: Loses 1 han when open.

Ryanpeikou (二盃口)

Mezenchin Only

A hand with 2 different identical sequences. Two iipeikous, if you will. AKA Twice Pure Double Sequence

Chinitsu

Kuisagari applies.

A hand with only one numbered suit. No honors.

Kuisagari: Loses 1 han when open.

Tenhou (天和) and Chiihou (地和)

Tenhou for Dealer, Chiihou for Non-Dealer

Win by Tsumo in the first uninterrupted turn.

Kokushi Musou (国士無双)

Mezenchin Only

A hand which has 1 of each terminal and honor, plus an additional terminal or honor. AKA Thirteen Orphans

Under some rule sets, if the hand is waiting on any of the 13 tiles, it is scored as a Double Yakuman instead (Kokushi Musou 13 Menmachi, 国士無双１３面待ち). AKA Thirteen Wait Thirteen Orphans

Daisangen (大三元)

Sekinin Barai applies.

A hand with a triplet of all 3 dragons. AKA Big Three Dragons

Sekinin Barai: If a player has 2 out of 3 possible dragons called, then calls Pon or Kan on the final dragon triplet needed for the Yakuman, the player who dealt that tile will be responsible for that Yakuman, should the hand win. If the player with Daisangen wins by Tsumo, it is treated as a Ron against the player who is responsible. If the player with Daisangen wins by Ron, the player who is responsible will pay for half of the hand.

Suuankou (四暗刻)

Mezenchin Only

A hand with 4 concealed triplets. AKA Four Concealed Triplets

Under some rule sets, if the hand is waiting on 1 tile, it is scored as a Double Yakuman instead (Suuankou Tanki, 四暗刻単騎). AKA Four Concealed Triplets, Single Wait

Suushiihou (四喜和)

Shousuushii (小四喜) and Daisuushii (大四喜)

A hand with 3 triplets of 3 winds, plus a pair of the remaining wind (shousuushi), or a 4th triplet of the remaining wind (daisuushi). AKA Little Four Winds and Big Four Winds.

Under some rule sets, Daisuushii is scored as a Double Yakuman instead.

Sekinin Barai: If the player has 3 out of 4 possible winds called, then calls Pon or Kan on the final wind triplet needed for the Yakuman, the player who dealt that tile will be responsible for that Yakuman. If they win by Tsumo, it's treated as a Ron against the player responsible. If they win by Ron, the player responsible will pay for half of the hand.

Tsuuiisou (字一色)

A hand with only honor tiles. AKA All Honors

Ryuuiisou (緑一色)

A hand with only green. This means only the 2,3,4,6,8 souzu and hatsu tiles are allowed in this hand. In some rule sets, the hand must have the hatsu tile in order to score this Yakuman.

Ryuuiisou in the JMPL

Chinroutou (清老頭)

A hand with only terminal tiles.

Chuuren Poutou (九連宝燈)

Mezenchin Only

A hand with 1112345678999 of any suit. AKA Nine Gates

Under some rule sets, if the hand is waiting on 9 tiles, it is scored as a Double Yakuman instead (Junsei Chuuren Poutou, 純正九蓮宝燈). AKA Pure Nine Gates

Suukantsu (四槓子)

Sekinin Barai applies.

A hand with 4 kans. AKA Four Kans

Sekinin Barai: If the player has 3 Kans, then calls Kan on another player's discard, the player who discarded that tile will be responsible for that Yakuman. If they win by Tsumo, it's treated as a Ron against the player responsible. If they win by Ron, the player responsible will pay for half of the hand.

Big Seven Stars (大七星)

Menzenchin Only. Double Yakuman

Chiitoitsu + Tsuuiisou

American Civil War

Mezenchin Only. Yakuman

Have 1861 in one suit and 1865 in another, then a triplet of North and South.

"Mah-jongg" is a valid replacement call for Ron and Tsumo for this yaku.

Open Riichi (オープン立直)

Mezenchin Only. 2 Han / Yakuman

As you declare riichi, you may reveal your hand. On tsumo, the riichi is worth 2 han. On ron, it's worth a Yakuman.

Renhou (人和)

Yakuman/Variable

A hand won by Ron within the first uninterrupted turn.

If the hand is won off of the first discard of the game, it is worth a Yakuman. If it is won off of a tile dealt by a non-dealer, it is worth a Mangan. If the hand is more valuable than a Mangan, it is scored as normal (Renhou is not awarded, the hand must always be scored to be the highest possible).

Komokuten's Blessing

+1 Yakuman

If you win by Ron on a West tile, and West is not a Yakuhai, with a Yakuman hand, the hand gains an additional Yakuman.

Killer7

Alternate Win

Have a hand composition that is the same as in this video (does not need to have open melds). If you are waiting on a tanki 5 man, and are furiten, you may call Ron off of the 1 man. Scored as though it were a normal hand with a valid wait.

"Lon" is a valid replacement call for this yaku. So is saying, "Too bad, like I said, I know your train of thought."

Extra Large Tomato

Sanbaiman at Draw

In your first row, if you discard 1 type of tile, then 4 of another type, then 1 more of the first type, at exhausive draw, you score a Sanbaiman. If a player calls any tiles from you, this yaku is invalidated.

1 Han 110 Fu

Yakuman

A hand with 1 han and 110 fu. In this example, the hand is mezenchin, won by Ron, and is East at East round. This hand would normally be worth 3600 non-dealer or 5300 dealer, but since it is so incredibly rare, it deserves to be a yakuman.

• 1 Han from Yakuhai
• Base 20 fu.
• Closed Ron 10 fu.
• Closed Honor Triplet 4 fu.
• Closed Honor/Terminal Kan (x2) 64 fu
• Double Yakuhai Wind pair 4 fu.
• Total: 102 fu, rounded up to 110 fu

Washizu Mahjong (鷲巣麻雀)

Equipment

The game is played with transparent tiles, just like in the Akagi manga and anime. All other rules are the same.

Yamashiro Mahjong (山城麻雀)

Rule Set

The game is played with 2 teams. Teammates sit across from each other, and Mahjong is played as usual. At the end, each team combines their points, and the player with the top score gets an additional bonus. In the arcade game Usagi: Yasei no Touhai Yamashiro Mahjong Hen (where this rule set comes from), this bonus is 20,000 points. This bonus could be anything, though.

"fun" yaku counting exercise: count the yaku and find out the value of the hand, then click here to see if you were right!
Note: The player to the left deals in with the 3 souzu.

Sanma to Suuma

Rule Set

An optional set of rules made to make sanma a bit more like regular mahjong.

• Chii — Enables Chii in sanma
• All Manzu — All Manzu tiles are used. 4 walls built.
• North Yakuhai — The North wind is always a Yakuhai (no Nuki)

All Rules We Use