Yaku: What Makes a Hand Valid

Here’s the crucial rule we’ve been building toward: You need at least one yaku to win. A yaku (役, やく) is a scoring pattern—specific combinations or conditions that make your hand valid and valuable. Think of yaku as poker hands: you can’t win with random cards; you need at least a pair, a straight, a flush, etc.

Riichi mahjong has over 40 defined yaku, but as a beginner, you only need to know 5-7 essential yaku to start winning consistently. This chapter covers those core patterns.

The Beginner-Friendly Yaku

1. Riichi (立直, リーチ) - 1 Han

The most important yaku for beginners. When you’re in tenpai (one tile away from winning) with a closed hand, you can declare “Riichi!”

Requirements:

• Closed hand (no called melds)
• In tenpai (waiting for 1+ tiles to win)
• Have at least 1,000 points to bet
• Declare before your discard

How it works:

1. Declare “Riichi!”
2. Turn your discarded tile sideways (to mark when you declared)
3. Pay 1,000 points to the table (goes to the winner)
4. Reveal one tile from the dead wall as the ura-dora indicator (checked only if you win)
5. You cannot change your hand after declaring (auto-discard all draws)

Example:

You declare riichi, bet 1,000 points, and wait. If you win, you get:

• Riichi (1 han)
• Menzen tsumo if self-draw (1 han)
• Any dora (variable han)
• Any ura-dora (bonus dora revealed after riichi win)

Why riichi is powerful:

• Guarantees at least 1 han (makes your hand valid)
• Unlocks ura-dora (often +1-3 han)
• Unlocks ippatsu (winning within one turn cycle, +1 han)
• Pressures opponents into defensive play
• Auto-pilot mode (you just wait for your tile)

When to riichi:

• Almost always, when you’re in tenpai with a closed hand and a good wait
• Skip riichi (damaten - concealed tenpai) only when: you’re far ahead in points and don’t want to risk the 1,000 bet, or you want to change your wait later

2. Tanyao (断么九, タンヤオ) - 1 Han

A hand using only simples (2-8 of each suit, no terminals or honors).

Requirements:

• All tiles are 2-8m, 2-8p, or 2-8s
• No 1s, 9s, or honors (winds/dragons)
• Can be open or closed (1 han either way in most rules)

Example:

No terminals (1 or 9), no honors. This is tanyao.

Why tanyao is beginner-friendly:

• Easy to recognize (just avoid 1, 9, and honors)
• Works with open hands (can still call melds)
• Common tiles (2-8 are abundant in the wall)

Strategy tip: If your starting hand has lots of 2-8 tiles, aim for tanyao. Discard terminals and honors early.

3. Yakuhai (役牌, ヤクハイ) - 1 Han Per Triplet

A triplet of value tiles: dragons (white, green, red) or your seat wind or the round wind.

Value tiles:

• Dragons:
  (always valuable)
• Seat wind: Your position’s wind (if you’re South, 2z is valuable)
• Round wind: The current round’s wind (usually 1z for East Round)

Requirements:

• One triplet of a value tile = 1 han
• Two triplets of value tiles = 2 han
• Three triplets = 3 han

Example (dealer in East Round):

The dealer’s seat wind is East (1z), and the round wind is also East (1z). The East triplet counts for both seat wind and round wind, but only gives 1 han total (not double-counted). The Red Dragon (7z) triplet gives another 1 han. Total: 2 han from yakuhai.

Why yakuhai is great:

• Easy to build (just keep dragons or your wind)
• Works with open hands (you can pon)
• Stacks with other yaku

4. Pinfu (平和, ピンフ) - 1 Han

A “peaceful” hand: all sequences, no triplets, no value pair, and a ryanmen (both-sides) wait.

Requirements:

• Closed hand (no calls)
• Four sequences (no triplets or quads)
• Pair is not a value tile (not dragons, not your wind, not round wind)
• Winning wait is ryanmen (both-sides, e.g., waiting on 3 or 6 with 45 in hand)

Example:

Wait, that example is already complete. Let me show the tenpai state:

Actually, that’s a kanchan wait (middle wait on 3s). Let me correct:

The waiting state would be:

All sequences, pair of 8s (not a value tile), waiting on 3s or 6s to complete 345s or 456s. This is pinfu.

Why pinfu is valuable:

• Reduces fu (base points), making your hand slightly cheaper, but adds 1 han
• Common in closed hands
• Stacks with riichi and menzen tsumo

Common mistake: Beginners often think any all-sequences hand is pinfu. Remember: the pair must be non-value, and the wait must be ryanmen.

5. Menzen Tsumo (門前清自摸, メンゼンツモ) - 1 Han

Winning by self-draw with a closed hand.

Requirements:

• Closed hand (no called melds, but ankan is okay)
• Win by tsumo (not ron)

Example: Any closed hand that wins by drawing the winning tile gets menzen tsumo automatically.

Why this matters:

• Often stacks with riichi (riichi + menzen tsumo = 2 han minimum)
• Ensures your hand has at least 1 han if you forgot to build other yaku

6. Iipeikou (一盃口, イーペーコー) - 1 Han

Two identical sequences in a closed hand.

Requirements:

• Closed hand
• Two sequences that are exactly the same (same suit, same numbers)

Example:

The 123m sequence appears twice (using 1122233m tiles). This is iipeikou.

Why it’s less common for beginners:

• Requires specific tiles (duplicates)
• Closed only
• Often conflicts with other yaku (you might discard tiles that would make iipeikou)

Situational Yaku (Know These Exist)

7. Haitei / Houtei (1 Han)

• Haitei: Winning on the very last tile draw from the wall (tsumo)
• Houtei: Winning on the very last discard of the hand (ron)

These happen automatically if you win on the last tile. Rare but occasionally adds +1 han to your win.

8. Chankan (1 Han)

Winning by robbing a kan (opponent adds a tile to their open pon, and that tile completes your hand). Very rare.

9. Rinshan Kaihou (1 Han)

Winning on a replacement tile drawn after declaring kan. Rare but exciting.

10. Ippatsu (一発, イッパツ) - 1 Han

Winning within one turn cycle (before anyone makes a call) after declaring riichi. Gives +1 han. Very common with riichi.

Requirements:

• You declared riichi
• You win before your next turn, and no one called a meld (chi, pon, kan) after your riichi declaration

Dora: The Bonus (Not a Yaku!)

Dora (ドラ) are bonus tiles worth +1 han each. Dora is NOT a yaku—it only adds value to a hand that already has yaku.

Dora Indicator

At the start of the hand, one tile is flipped on the dead wall. This is the dora indicator. The next tile in sequence is the dora.

Examples:

• Indicator: 3m → Dora: 4m
• Indicator: 9p → Dora: 1p (wraps around)
• Indicator: 4z (North) → Dora: 1z (East, winds wrap: E→S→W→N→E)
• Indicator: 7z (Red) → Dora: 5z (White, dragons wrap: W→G→R→W)

Ura-Dora

If you win after declaring riichi, the tile underneath the dora indicator is revealed. The next tile in sequence from that is ura-dora, which also gives +1 han per tile.

This often adds +2-4 han to riichi wins, making them extremely valuable.

Aka-Dora (Red Fives)

Red fives (

) are automatic dora (+1 han each). If you have all three red fives, that’s +3 han just from dora.

Yaku Stacking

Multiple yaku add together:

Example hand:

Yaku:

• Riichi (1 han)
• Menzen tsumo (1 han)
• Pinfu (1 han)
• Tanyao (1 han)
• Iipeikou (123m and 234m… wait, no, those aren’t identical)

Actually, let me fix that:

Yaku:

• Riichi (1 han)
• Menzen tsumo (1 han)
• Iipeikou (1 han, 123m appears twice)
• Dora: If 4m is dora and you have three 5m (including aka-dora 0m) = +1 han

Total: 4 han. This is a strong hand.

Essential Beginner Strategy

Focus on these three yaku:

1. Riichi: Declare it almost every time you reach tenpai with a closed hand
2. Tanyao: If your hand has lots of 2-8 tiles, discard terminals/honors and aim for this
3. Yakuhai: Keep dragons and your seat wind; pon them if you can

These three yaku will cover 90% of your early wins.

Common Beginner Mistake: No-Yaku Hands

You build a perfect 4 melds + pair structure, declare tsumo, and… the game rejects it. You have no yaku.

Example of a no-yaku hand:

This hand has:

• Four sequences/triplets ✓
• One pair ✓
• But NO yaku:
  • Not riichi (you didn’t declare it)
  • Not tanyao (has honors)
  • Not yakuhai (1z might not be your seat wind or round wind, and 2z pair doesn’t count)
  • Not menzen tsumo (you won by ron, let’s say)
  • Not pinfu (has a triplet)

You cannot win this hand by ron. You’d need to either:

• Have declared riichi earlier
• Win by tsumo (gets menzen tsumo yaku)
• Hope 1z is the round or seat wind (gets yakuhai)

Always check for yaku before declaring tenpai!

Full Yaku Reference

For a complete list of all yaku with examples and strategy, check our Yaku Reference. We’ve documented all 43 standard riichi yaku with visual examples and detailed explanations.

Next: Basic Scoring

You now understand the yaku you need to win. In the next chapter, we’ll cover how yaku translate into points: the han/fu system, payment patterns, and what score values mean.

Ready to learn scoring? Click “Next”!