Winning: tsumo, ron and yaku

Every win needs a yaku

A complete hand only wins if it has at least one yaku, a scoring pattern. Without one there is no Tsumo or Ron button. The easiest yaku for a closed hand: winning by self-draw.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 E E 2 3

You drew 4. Can you win?

1 2 3 4 5 6 2 3 7 8 9 E E 4

Tsumo

YesNo: no yakuNo: furitenNo: not complete

Ron needs a yaku in the hand

Self-draw only counts as a yaku when you draw the tile yourself. Win the same hand on a discard (ron) and it needs something else.

Same hand, but the player across discards 4. Can you win?

1 2 3 4 5 6 2 3 7 8 9 E E 4

Ron from across

YesNo: no yakuNo: furitenNo: not complete

All simples: the easiest yaku

2 3 4 4 5 6 6 7 8 5 5 3 3

A hand with only tiles 2 to 8, no 1s, 9s or honors, has the yaku tanyao (all simples). It wins by ron or self-draw, open or closed.

Your first plan: keep the middle tiles and a pair of dragons, and keep your hand closed so you can declare riichi. Don't force all simples by breaking good shapes.

A closed hand of only tiles 2 to 8, no riichi, and the player across discards 3. Can you win?

2 3 4 5 5 4 5 6 3 3 6 7 8 3

Ron from across

YesNo: no yakuNo: furitenNo: not complete

Open hands: the yaku is in the tiles

After a call there is no riichi and no self-draw yaku. All simples still works, and so does a triplet of dragons ( Wh Wh Wh, G G G, R R R), of your seat wind or of the round wind.

You called pon on green dragons, and now 9 is discarded. Can you win?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 9 9

G G G

Ron from right

YesNo: no yakuNo: furitenNo: not complete

Dora are not yaku

Dora add value to a hand that can already win, but never make a hand winnable.