Why rules vary?(1)

You may mutter there are too many variations to play mahjong in Japan.
I think at least two major reasons exist.

More inflation in scoring
Dora, or lucky tile is of course most popular, especially red 5 tiles and "kandora" or doras added by some player's making a kong.
Making a kong increases at least another four doras, and four uradoras given only for riichi-declared winner.
Since your name is not Saki, I seldom recommend you to make a kong because you cannot always win with your added dora but help other players with bonus dora.

There may be extra award called "tip" for the winner who wins with red dora, uradora or ippatsu.

You may notice special terms including "yakitori" which Fukabori Sumiyo murmurs after her play.
Yakitori, "barbecued chicken," means "to conclude a game with no winning hand."
Yakitori player will be charged some penalty, usually 10000 points, if the game admits yakitori rule.


Faster game
Imagine you are the master of a mahjong parlor.
The faster game ends, the more you can earn the fare of another game.
Therefore each mahjong parlor has their house rules.
Example:
*Dealer cannot be continued without winning
In standard rule if you are a dealer, you can continue to be a dealer if you secure a ready hand and no win.


*Even the fourth player who calls riich, the round continues.
Originally when there are three players and each of them call riichi, the round will be draw if the fourth call riichii,

...so that before playing you have to consult other players about the rules hired by them.
"Ari-ari" rule is most popular. In another words, DO NOT PLAY WITH THEM if you cannot understand any part of their rules explained by them.

Pinfu 03 - CAUTION when the pair is honors

Pinfu means 'peace' in Japanese and 'mild' in Chinese.
But I think pinfu may be troublesome for newcomers in certain way.
One of the feature which includes problem is, this time, the head.

Not only suits but honors can be the pair (the eyes or the head) in pinfu.
But it does not mean any honors are OK with the head in pinfu.

For instance, no dragon, either white, red or green is accepted as a head of pinfu.
This rule is relatively easy.

The problem IS, neither round wind nor player's wind is allowed as a head of pinfu.
So that a beginner who doesn't (or can't) care what is the round wind or his own wind may make a hand with honors which will not be regarded as pinfu.

You can understand that the dealer never make a pinfu with a head made of east:
Because the dealer's own wind is always east.

Self-drawn is still OK because he will secure at least one yaku, concealed self-drawn or 'tsumo'.
If he tries to go out with other player's discard, he will pay a penalty called 'chombo'. 8000 if he is a non-dealer,
12000 if he is a dealer.

Conclusion: if you are new comer, you had better call 'riichi' in case your hand 'seems to be' pinfu and your head is made of honors.

Pinfu 02 - CAUTION when self-drawn

Pinfu means 'peace' in Japanese and 'mild' in Chinese.
But I think pinfu may be troublesome for newcomers in certain way.
One of the feature which includes problem is scoring system.

The minimum score of self-drawn hand in Japan is,
if you are a non-dealer,
300 for non-dealer and 500 for dealer .
It is called 'gomi' or 'garbage,' partly because it is a homophone of '5-3,'
partly because it is rather useless score as garbage.
Total earnings... 300*2 + 500 = 1100

Question: if you win pinfu with your self-drawn tile, how much can you earn?

1100 * 2 = 2200?  Nope.

The answer is 400 * 2 + 700 = 1500.

WHY?

OK, I understand you would like to read the following boring explanation.

The basic score of pinfu is 20.
Pinfu is 1 yaku, meaning 1 double
so the score will be 20 * 2 = 40

Since you draw your winning tile, you secure another yaku,
Tsumo ツモ　or "Menzenchin Tsumohou　門前清自摸和," 1 double
the score will be 40 * 2 = 80

Unlike in the end of WWII, Japanese mahjong scoring system quadruplicates the score since in the midst of the 20th century.
so that the score will be 80 * 4 = 320

Finally the score should be rounded to the nearest 100 above
therefore the score IS 400

Of course you do not have to memorize such procedure
Just keep in your mind that you will earn 400, 700

 N O T  1000 2000 OR MORE

Understand?

...I confess I didn't when I was a newbie.



Do you really understand?

Question 2
You have won pinfu, self-drawn with 2 dora.
How many point will you earn?
Hint: 4 doubles.

2000, 4000?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The answer is
1300, 2600

Therefore I say pinfu may be troublesome.

Pinfu -why also called "No Point" 01

A hand composed of sequence units (run) is called pinfu (peace).
Pinfu is also known as "no point," since this hand has no extra base points (mini-point) or "fu."

Basically the concept of evaluating hand is simple: the harder to complete, the higher the score will become.

Your hand will be counted as follows:

0. You will unconditionally earn 20 point.
1a. If your hand is concealed and going out with other player's discard, you will earn another 10 point.

1b. If your hand is concealed and going out with your self-drawn tile, you will earn 2 point and
     1 yaku, Tsumo(official name: menzenchinmohou 門前清摸和.)
     Pinfu is the exception: if you go out pinfu self drawn, at least you secure tsumo as well as pinfu
     without gaining 2 point : see Pinfu 02
1c. If your hand is partly revealed and going out with your self-drawn tile, you will earn 2 point.

2. If your hand contains a triplet or a four, you will earn extra point, from 2 to 32 according to the type.
3. If your last waiting component requires only one sort of tile, you will earn 2 point.
4. If your pair (eyes) is dragons, round wind or your own wind, you will earn 2 point.

Pinfu has only 0. and 1a...30 points. Therefore it is also called No Points.
Pinfu is 1 fan hand, one double, meaning 30 * 2 = 60 points.
In those days even if some player mistakenly discards a winning tile, each player except the dealer pays 60.
The dealer pays double: 120.

Later the rule has changed in Japan...the one who discards the winning tile pays all.
In this case, the loser pays 60 * 4 = 240.

In less than 50 years, the score has become inflated...4 times.
Today pinfu counts 240 * 4 = 960 rounded up to 1000.




If your pinfu contains no honor or terminal, it is also tan-yao ("tanpin")
Tan-yao is 1 fan, one double.
The score will be 960 * 2 = 1920 rounded up to 2000.

If your pinfu contains "mixed triple chow," three similar sequences (sansyoku)
the score will be 960 * 2 * 2 = 3840 rounded up to nearest hundred...3900.
Sansyoku is 2 fan, two doubles.

If your pinfu is tan-yao and contains sansyoku,
your score will be 960 * 2 * 2 * 2 = 7680 rounded up to 7700.

Please memorize the pinfu score as 1000-2000-3900-7700.
Do not calculate as (20+10)*4*2*4.
If you are a dealer, the score will be 1500-2900-5800-11600.

A case of failure

Here is a sample of failure found on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAqX7V3wXbE

The principle of winning Japanese mahjong is really simple:

make four sets and a pair WITHOUT CHII OR PON

if you are not familiar with Japanese mahjong.

In this case, you will need 1p or 4p, 8p or 6s

and declare 'riichi.'

C'mmonnn! What the hell are you doing?

Just discard 1s or east!

The player has made a fatal error: chow without strategy.

Few chances remain including three mixed chow(sansyoku) of 123,

final draw or final discard

Like the TV episode, Saki wins four concealed triplets,

suuankou...yakuman.

48000 directly hits (datsui mahjong rule) the player.

Trailers for each episode of Anime Saki TV series (introduction)

When Saki was on the air on every midnight Sunday, viewers expected next episode by each trailer shown at the end of the program.
I think less than half of the trailers are fully understood, cited from various mahjong manga and novel.
More explanation will be added later.

http://www19.atwiki.jp/saki-anime/pages/60.html

Ep02: 麻雀放浪記　Mahjong Hourouki by 阿佐田哲也 Asada Tetsuya


Ep03: はっぽうやぶれ　Happouyabure by かわぐちかいじ Kawaguchi Kaiji

Ep04: アイドル雀士スーチーパイ　Suuchiipai by ジャレコ JARECO

Ep05: 少年雀鬼　東 Shonenjanki Higashi　by 中島徹 Nakajima Toru

Ep06: 雀鬼流　Jankiryuu by 桜井章一 Jankiryuu

Ep07: 麻雀激闘録3/4　Yonbun-no san by ほんまりう Honma Riu

Ep08: 哭きの竜　Nakinoryuu by 能條純一 Noujou Jun-ichi

Ep09: 亜空間殺法　Akuukan by 安藤満 Andou Mitsuru

Ep10: スーパーヅガン　Superzugan by 片山まさゆき Katayama Masayuki

Ep11: 北京五輪女子卓球団体敗者復活戦への送る言葉　Phrase by Sakurai Shoichi

Ep12: 恋する麻雀～いつか勝ち組～　Koisuru Mahjong by 宇佐美うみ Usami Umi

Ep13: 天 天和通りの快男児　Ten by 福本伸行 Fukumoto Nobuyuki

Ep14: 哭きの竜　Nakinoryuu by 能條純一 Noujou Jun-ichi

Ep15: 玄人のひとりごと　Kuroutono hitorigoto by 中島徹 Nakajima Toru

Ep16: 伝説の雀鬼　Densetsuno Janki by 神田たけ志・安田潤司・桜井章一

Ep17: 天牌 麻雀飛竜伝説　Tenpai by 来賀友志・嶺岸信明 Kuga Tomoshi & Minegishi Shinmei
Ep18: スーパーヅガン　Superzugan by 片山まさゆき Katayama Masayuki

Ep19: 天 天和通りの快男児　Ten by 福本伸行 Fukumoto Nobuyuki

Ep20: 海雀王　Kaijan-oh by 渡辺みちお・志村裕次 Watanabe Michio & Shimura Yuji

Ep21: 麻雀無限会社39 ZANK　Mahjong Mugengaisya39 ZANK　by 本そういち・安藤満 Moto Souichi & Andou Mitsuru

Ep22: スーパーヅガン　Superzugan by 片山まさゆき Katayama Masayuki 

Ep23: 牌賊！オカルティ　Paizoku! Occulty by 片山まさゆき Katayama Masayuki 

Ep24: むこうぶち　Mukoubuchi by 天獅子悦也・安藤満 Amajishi Etsuya & Andou Mitsuru

Ep25:
（*1）兎 Usagi -野性の闘牌-　by 伊藤誠 Ito Makoto
（*2）バード 砂漠の勝負師　Bird by 青山広美 Aoyama Hiromi or 同人ゲーム「野性の闘牌 鰻」Unagi (a software developed by a fan)
（*3）ぎゅあんぶらぁ自己中心派　Gambler Jikochuushinha by 片山まさゆき Katayama Masayuki  
（*4）天牌 Tenpai 麻雀飛竜伝説　by 来賀友志・嶺岸信明 Kuga Tomoshi & Minegishi Shinmei
（*5）立-Ritz-　by 大和田秀樹 Owada Hideki

Full Flush (Chin-itsu) Trainer 03

You can play the game as diabolic yet kawaii Saki does: "Rinsyankaihou!!"

Shoot, I should have discarded 7s instead of 8s to win...

Kan!

Tsumo!! Rinsyankaihou!!

No lightning. Just a modest sound and graphic.