Counting Tiles

Every tile has four copies, so take away the ones you can see on the table and in your hand to know how many are left. A wait whose tiles are all in sight is dead, however good it looks.

There are four of every tile, and most of them end up where you can see them. Counting them takes a few seconds and quietly fixes a lot of bad decisions.

The Basic Count

Every numbered tile, wind and dragon has four copies. To find how many of a tile are still out there, start at four and take away:

the copies in your own hand;
the copies in the discards;
the copies in everyone’s face-up sets, counting a claimed discard once, in the set, not again in the discards.

What’s left is the number of copies you can’t see. If you hold two 6 Dots and one sits in someone’s Chi, there’s exactly one 6 Dot left unseen.

In this game a concealed Kong is laid face up as standard, so count its four tiles too.

Unseen Isn’t The Same As Available

Unseen copies might be in another player’s hand, where they’ll stay if that player is using them. And the last stretch of the wall is never drawn: this game keeps a reserve of fifteen tiles, so some unseen tiles will never reach anyone.

So two unseen copies doesn’t mean two chances. It means two copies that might turn up, if nobody else is keeping them. The count tells you which waits are thin, not which will arrive.

Dead Waits

All four 6 Dots accounted for: a 4-5 Dots wait is down to the 3s.

A wait is dead when every copy you need is already visible. A pair of 2 Bamboo with the other two 2 Bamboo in the discards can never become a Pong. A kalong of 4-6 Characters with all four 5 Characters showing will never finish. Players hang on to these shapes for turns without noticing.

Half-dead waits matter too. Say you’re ready on 3 or 6 Bamboo, two-sided, and you can see two 3s in the discards and a Pong of 6s on the table. That’s two 3s and one 6 unseen: three copies at best. A kalong whose tile nobody has thrown has four. When you have the choice of which way to finish your hand, count both.

When your hand becomes ready, the game’s Hint tells you how many copies of your winning tiles are still unseen. It’s worth checking your own count against it.

Counting For Defence

The same count tells you what’s safer to throw. When three copies of a wind or dragon are face up, nobody can make a Pong of the fourth. It could still be someone’s single wait for an Eye, so it’s safer, not safe.

Three White Dragons showing: the fourth can’t make a Pong.

Numbers work less neatly, because runs can use a tile in several ways. Still, a tile with three copies showing can’t become anyone’s Pong, and a 1 or 9 fits fewer runs than a middle tile. More in Safer Discards.

Make It A Habit

You don’t need to track every tile. Count the ones that matter to you: your waits, your pairs, and anything you’re about to throw late in the hand. Glance at the discards each time a tile you need goes past, and you’ll find you already know the answer when it counts.