Riichi Mahjong Glossary

A win, by tsumo or ron.

The red fives. Each one in a winning hand adds 1 han. See aka dora.

A closed kan: four of a kind made entirely from your own hand. It keeps your hand closed.

A concealed triplet, drawn yourself. Worth more fu than an open one and the basis of sanankou and suuankou.

Calling tiles before you have a yaku, hoping to pick one up later (usually a value tile you haven't paired yet). Allowed in Mahjong Soul rules, but risky: if the yaku never comes, the hand can't win.

Full defense: giving up on your hand and discarding only the safest tiles. See the defense guide.

Robbing a kan: winning on the tile another player adds to their pon. 1 han.

Calling the discard of the player on your left to complete a sequence. Opens your hand.

Seven pairs: one of the two hand shapes that break the four-sets-and-a-pair rule. 2 han, always 25 fu.

An open kan, called from a discard when you already hold three of the tile.

Staying silent: being tenpai without declaring riichi, so your waits stay hidden and you can still change your hand.

The East seat. The dealer wins 1.5× points, pays double on others' tsumo, and keeps the seat after a win or a tenpai draw.

Bonus tiles. The tile after the dora indicator is dora; each one in a winning hand adds 1 han. Not a yaku. See dora.

The face-up tile on the dead wall. The dora is the next tile in order: makes dora, makes dora, and the winds and dragons loop.

Minipoints for how a hand is built: triplets, honor pairs, closed ron, awkward waits. Rounded up to 10. See counting fu.

When one of your winning tiles is in your own discard pile, or you passed on a winning discard, you can't win by ron, only by tsumo. The most common beginner trap. See the rules.

A 100% safe tile against a player: one that is already in their discard pile. Thanks to furiten, they can't ron it.

The main unit of a hand's value. Each yaku and dora is worth han; every extra han roughly doubles the score. See scoring.

A full game: the East round and the South round, at least eight hands. Mahjong Sushi's "East + South" game.

The limit for 6–7 han: 12,000 points (18,000 for the dealer).

Repeat counters. Each one adds 300 points to the next win. They build up when the dealer keeps the seat or a hand is drawn.

The winds and dragons. They can't make sequences. See tiles.

One tile away from tenpai.

Winning within one go-around of declaring riichi, before any call. 1 han.

An added kan: putting the fourth tile onto a pon you already called. Also shouminkan. Can be robbed by chankan.

Four of a kind. Counts as one set, earns a replacement tile from the dead wall and reveals a new dora indicator.

A middle wait: waiting on . Only 4 tiles can complete it, and it adds 2 fu.

A counted yakuman: 13 or more han from ordinary yaku and dora.

Swap-calling: calling a tile and then discarding the same tile (or the other end of the sequence). Not allowed in riichi rules.

Open tanyao: all-simples after calling. Allowed in Mahjong Soul and Mahjong Sushi.

The first limit hand: 5 han (or 4 han 40+ fu, 3 han 70+ fu). 8,000 points, 12,000 for the dealer.

A closed hand: no chi, pon or open kan. Needed for riichi, pinfu, menzen tsumo and several other yaku.

An open triplet, made with pon (or completed by a ron).

Calling tiles (chi, pon, kan). A hand with calls is open.

Literally "what do you cut?": a discard puzzle. Try today's in the daily puzzle.

Not tenpai when the wall runs out. Noten players pay tenpai players a total of 3,000 points.

The very last hand of the game, where placement matters more than points.

An edge wait: waiting only on , or on . Adds 2 fu.

Calling any player's discard to complete a triplet. Takes priority over chi. Opens your hand.

The dealer keeping the seat for another hand, after winning or being tenpai at a draw.

Declaring a closed ready hand with a 1,000-point bet. 1 han, and the game's namesake.

The replacement tile drawn from the dead wall after a kan. Winning on it is rinshan kaihou.

Winning on another player's discard. The discarder pays the whole hand.

The best wait: an open-ended pair of tiles like waiting on . Up to 8 winning tiles.

Three-player mahjong, played without the 2–8 of characters. Mahjong Sushi plays four-player.

A double-pair wait: waiting on either to become a triplet.

How many tiles you are from tenpai. 2-shanten means two useful draws to be ready. See tile efficiency.

The 2 through 8 of each suit.

Tiles three apart (1-4-7, 2-5-8, 3-6-9). If a player discarded a 4, the 1 and 7 can't complete a two-sided wait for them, which makes suji a key defensive read.

A pair wait: holding a single tile and waiting for its match. Adds 2 fu.

Ready: one tile away from a complete hand. Being tenpai at the draw earns points from noten players.

The 1s and 9s of each suit.

Busting: a player dropping below zero points, which ends the game at once.

An East-only game: four or more hands. Mahjong Sushi's quick game.

Winning on a tile you drew yourself. Everyone pays a share. With a closed hand it's also a yaku: menzen tsumo.

The number of tiles that improve your hand (lower its shanten). More ukeire means faster hands.

Placement bonus at the end of the game: +15 / +5 / −5 / −15 in Mahjong Soul rules.

Hidden dora under the indicators, revealed only for a riichi winner. See ura dora.

The tiles stacked face down that everyone draws from. The last 14 form the dead wall.

A scoring pattern. A hand needs at least one to win. See the yaku list.

Value tiles: dragons, your seat wind and the round wind. A triplet of any is a 1 han yaku.

Limit hands like thirteen orphans or four concealed triplets: 32,000 points, 48,000 for the dealer.