Riichi Yaku

Four sets and a pair is only a shape. To call ron or tsumo you need at least one yaku, a named pattern worth at least one han, and dora don’t count as one. Most beginner frustration in Riichi comes from finishing a hand with nothing to win it with.

Start with the first group: riichi, menzen tsumo, pinfu, tanyao and yakuhai cover nearly every hand you’ll win early on. The bigger yaku come along once those feel natural. New to the game altogether? Read Riichi for beginners first.

A yaku’s worth can depend on how you played the hand. Riichi, menzen tsumo and pinfu need a closed hand, so one chi or pon and they are gone. Tanyao and yakuhai still count after you call, while the flushes, sanshoku and a few others are worth a han less once opened. Each guide shows the closed and open values side by side, straight from the game’s scorer. A concealed kan keeps a hand closed, but any tile you call with chi, pon or an open kan opens it for the rest of the hand. So before you call, check which yaku the call would cost you; staying closed often keeps riichi and pinfu alive, and that can lift a hand’s value a long way.

Han from every yaku you hold add together, and dora join in once you have at least one yaku. Learning which ones sit well together, such as tanyao with pinfu, toitoi with sanankou or a flush with yakuhai, is how a cheap hand becomes one worth waiting for.