The First Few Turns

In your first turns, read the deal, choose a plan, and throw the tiles that do least for that plan first. Early discards are also the safest you will make all hand.

The first few turns set up the whole hand. A minute spent reading your deal is worth more than any lucky draw later.

Read The Deal

Sort your tiles, set your flowers and animals aside (replacements come from the other end of the wall), and ask four quick questions:

Where are my tai? Pairs of dragons, your Own Wind or the Round Wind; your own flower or season; any animal. You need at least 1 tai to win.
Does one suit dominate? Eight or more tiles in one suit points to a flush.
How many pairs? Three or four points to Pong Pong Hu.
Did I get a bonus tile? If not, and you hold plenty of connected middle tiles, Ping Hu is possible. One flower and it’s off.

You don’t have to commit on turn one. But have a first plan and a backup.

What To Throw First

Start with tiles that do nothing for any plan:

Lone winds that score nothing for you, neither your Own Wind nor the Round Wind. Even a Pong of them earns no tai.
Lone 1s and 9s with nothing near them. They fit only one run each.
Lone middle tiles in a suit you’re dropping.

Throw North (if it’s nobody’s wind for you) and the lone 9 before the dragon.

A lone dragon or a valued wind is different. It’s a tai if you get a Pong, so hold it a few turns while its copies are still unseen. Once two are on the table, it can never become a Pong: let it go. The game’s Hint weighs these the same way, keeping a live valued honour over an isolated number tile, and dropping it once it’s dead.

Early Throws Are Safer

Nobody is ready on turn two. That makes the start the best time to throw tiles that might be dangerous later: the dragon you’re not going to Pong, the off-suit tiles from a flush plan. Hold them too long and they become the tile someone is waiting on.

The exception is the Banker’s first discard. A player who wins on it scores Di Hu, a limit hand. It’s rare, but it’s the one time a first throw can be expensive.

An Example Deal

Thirteen tiles, sitting South, with East as the Round Wind.

Seven Characters, a pair of Green Dragons and four strays. Characters lean towards a half flush. The Green pair is a likely tai. West is worthless to you, and the 1 Dots and 9 Bamboo have no neighbours.

Throw West, the 1 Dots and the 9 Bamboo over the next turns. Keep South a little longer: it’s your Own Wind, and a Pong of it adds a tai. If you draw Characters and honours, you’re building Hun Yi Se; if Dots or Bamboo arrive in pairs and runs, drop back to a plain hand with the Green Pong as your tai.

Keep Reading

Your plan isn’t fixed. After a few turns, look at what others have claimed and thrown. If two players have both started collecting your flush suit, switching early beats fighting for the same tiles. Tile Efficiency helps with each choice along the way.