Japanese Mahjong - Special Yakuman

Here's a list of the special yakuman that you can possibly throw out.

1. DaiSanGen (大三元) (A.K.A The Three Great Dragons, Difficulty 4/10)

To get this yakuman you need to have 3 triplets of chun, hatsu and haku (red, green and white). Whether it is open or not it doesn't matter. Then follow it up by a pair and another triplet or a sequence. 1 yakuman reward.

A ShoSanGen (The Little Three Dragons) is NOT a yakuman, but awards you 2 hans if you have any of the 3 dragon pairs.

There is also a special rule regarding this hand (and also DaiSuuShi). If all of your dragon triplets are open, the person who discarded the last dragon tile to make the last pon will be in big trouble. If you tsumo your open Daisangen, he/she will have to pay you in full. If you ron from another player, the payment is split in half. (The one who dealt the last pon tile pays half of it, and the other person who get ronned pays the other half.)

2. ShoSuuShi (小四喜) (The 4 Little Winds, Difficulty 5/10)

You need to have 3 triplets of the winds and a pair of the last wind. Doesn't depend on close/open hand. 1 yakuman reward.

3. DaiSuuShi (大四喜) (The 4 Great Winds, Difficulty 8/10)

Same as ShoSuuShi, except all 4 winds must be a triplet. Again, you don't need to completely close the hand. Since it is a very rare yakuman, 2 yakuman limit is the prize. (A.K.A Double Yakuman)

The special rule such that the person who discarded the last tile for the last wind pon is to pay in full if you tsumo the hand applies here.

4. Tsuu-Ii-sho (字一色) (Pure honors, Difficulty 6/10)

This requires you to have just honors only. That's right, 4 triplets of honor and a pair of another honor tile. This is stack-able with other yakuman like the above, and maybe even a Suu-An-Ko. As usual, open or close doesn't matter much. Reward is 1 yakuman limit.

5. Suu-An-Ko (四暗刻) (4 concealed triplets, Difficulty 4/10)

This requires you to have 4 concealed triplets and another pair of your liking. Since you are waiting with 3 concealed triplet, the yakuman must be self-drawn. If you ron it, on the worst case scenario you'll only win a mangan hand. (Toitoi + Sanankou reaches 4 hans already) Your hand must also be completely closed. (An open kan is not counted, while a closed kan still counts as a concealed triplet.) Gives you 1 yakuman limit.

4. Suu-An-Ko Tankin (四暗刻 単騎待ち) (4 concealed triplets waiting for a single tile, Difficulty 8/10)

Same as above, except that you have 4 concealed triplets already and a dummy tile ready to get its mate. Since 4 concealed triplets has already been fulfilled, you can ron another person's winning tile. As said above, your hand MUST be closed. Awards 2 yakuman limit instead of 1.

5. Kokushi-Musou (国士無双) (The Thirteen Orphans, Difficulty 6/10)

This can be complicated to explain. All you need is a single 1 and 9 of every suit, and 1 honor each (all of them), and lastly 1 of them can be a dummy pair. If you have all 13 of every different kind, this will become Kokushi-Musou Juu-san Men-machi (国士無双 十三面待ち) instead, where you can take any 1 of the tile and win. Awards 2 yakuman limit if it is as said before, otherwise it is 1 yakuman limit.

There is a very unique rule for this hand. If someone makes a closed kan of the tile that you are waiting to win, you CAN actually RON that kan tile, in contrast with late open kan required to ron using Chankan. Ronning the 4th tile from the closed kan is only possible if you have Kokushi-Musou.

6. Chuu-ren-poutou (九蓮宝燈) (The 9 Heavenly Gates, Difficulty 7/10)

In order to win this hand you must have a Chinitsu first. You must have 2 triplets of 1 and 9, and a sequence of 2 to 8. If you are waiting like this hand : 1,1,1,2,4,5,6,6,7,8,9,9,9 , then you need to wait for a 3 in order to get Chuu-ren-poutou. It is quite risky in reality, because you are also waiting for a 2, thus losing this yakuman. That is why in certain scenarios, fewer waits are better if you want to nail this yakuman. In this case, 1 yakuman limit is awarded. If your hand is like this however: 1,1,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,9,9 , then you can say bye bye to your opponents, because there are 9 possible outcomes if you get any of the numbers. (In this case it is called Junsei-Chuu-ren-poutou (純正九蓮宝燈) ) Award 2 yakuman limit. Both cases must be closed hand.

7. Chin-Rou-Tou (清老頭) (Pure Old Man, Difficulty 5/10)

To win that, you must have a pure terminal triplets of 1 and 9 of any suits. The hand can be open or closed. Awards 1 yakuman and can stack with Suu-An-Ko if you're lucky.

8. Dai-Sha-Rin (大車輪) (Sequence pair of same suit, Difficulty 9/10)

The hand must be a Chinitsu pin tiles only. You must be able to get pairs of 2 to 8. 1 yakuman limit, and your hand must be closed.

9. Ryuu-Ii-Sou (緑一色) (Pure Green Suit, Difficulty 7/10)

First, you must take note of what tiles you need to do this hand : 2,3,4,6,8 sous and green dragon. Green dragon tile isn't necessary, but if you want to do it then thats fine. Open or closed hand. 1 yakuman limit.

10. Suu-Kan-Zi (四槓子) (4 kans, Difficulty 10/10)

This is by far one of the hardest yakuman to earn, for a simple reason. If more than 4 kans appears, the game stops here. However, if done correctly, then this hand is basically yours. 1 yakuman limit. Any type of kans is acceptable, and it definitely doesn't have to be closed.

11. Tenhou (Heaven hand), Chihou (Earth hand), Renhou (Man hand)

These 3 are special cases when you have already tenpai right from the start. For Tenhou, you must be a dealer and draw the final winning tile. For Chihou, any subsequent players who draw the first and final winning tile gets it. For Renhou, you must be able to Ron the first discarded tile before your turn comes. In all cases, it depends on how lucky your starting tiles are.

In some rules, Renhou is NOT a yakuman, instead they can make it as a baiman hand (meaning 16000/24000 points win for non-dealer/dealer) since it is considered as opening your full hand.

Japanese Mahjong - How NOT to fall for a tenpai hand

With many experience from getting rons, here's some tips in avoiding "most" of the tenpai/riichi hands for your opponents.

1. Riichi - Bail out or risk it?

When someone declares a riichi, any tiles discarded before the riichi is a furiten, and you know fairly well that the person cannot ron that furiten tile unless he/she self-draw win. Take a look at the previous discarded tile including the riichi tile, and if you want to bail it out, so be it. It is better to keep risky tiles and have a no-ten hand rather than discarding risky tiles at random. Don't forget to keep track of his subsequent discards especially if you are unsure of what to discard. ESPECIALLY when it comes to dora tile.

2. Repeating immediate discards.

If you have a feeling that someone is repeatedly discarding tiles at first sight, there is a chance that he/she is already tenpai. It is really hard to tell compared to a riichi hand, more so if someone decides NOT to declare riichi. It is hard, but as long as you look at the discard tiles you should still do fine.

3. Discards from others =/= safe tile

Lets take the first case, when someone declares riichi. Other people's discard before the riichi happens DOES NOT MEAN that it is safe to discard. For example, someone discarded the tile you want for a chi (sequence), but failed either by not declaring it, playing 3-person mahjong, or not your left-side player. Then, you declare riichi and still waiting for that tile. If the same person or another person has a preception that the tile by other player/self is discarded, it should be relatively safe. Sadly enough, this is exactly where they will get victimised. Thus, look carefully on other people's discards including yours. The previous discarded tile MAY be the one the riichi person is looking for.