Dora

What They Are

At the start of the hand one tile in the dead wall is turned face up. That’s the dora indicator, and the dora is the next tile in order:

• Numbers go up by one, and 9 wraps round to 1.
• Winds go East, South, West, North, and North wraps to East.
• Dragons go haku, hatsu, chun, and chun wraps to haku.

Each copy of the dora in your winning hand adds a han, melds included. Holding three 5 Circles with that indicator is three han.

Not A Yaku

This is the rule that trips new players up: dora never count as a yaku. A finished hand with five dora and no yaku can’t win. Dora only add han to a hand that already has one.

So an open hand full of dora still needs tanyao, yakuhai, a flush or another yaku that survives the call. Closed, riichi is the easy answer.

Kan Dora And Ura Dora

Every kan turns another indicator, so more tiles become dora for everyone. A concealed kan’s indicator turns at once; an open kan’s turns when that player next discards.

A winner who declared riichi also lifts the tile under each indicator. These ura dora work the same way and count only for that riichi winner. It’s a lottery, and it’s a big reason riichi is so popular.

Red Fives

This game uses three red fives, one in each suit. A red five plays as an ordinary five and adds a han as aka dora. If a red five is also the dora, it counts both ways.

Playing With Dora

Keep dora when you can: a hand with two or three of them is worth building around, even with a cheap yaku. Throwing the dora, especially late, hands a big score to anyone who can use it.

Watch out for dora-heavy opponents too. An open hand with a dora pon is worth respecting, however small the yaku looks.

What They Combine With

Every yaku. Dora sit on top of the han from the hand itself, which is why a plain pinfu with riichi and two dora is suddenly a hand worth fearing. In chiitoitsu, a paired dora counts twice. Only a yakuman ignores them.