The comparison & result
The comparison isolated a broad habit: declare when eligible, or remain quiet every time. Other decisions followed the normal playing policy.
The declared policy gained from the available scoring bonuses despite revealing readiness. This is not a comparison of every possible hand, wait and match-score situation; it cannot tell you that every individual riichi declaration is best.
At your table
- Check that your hand is eligible and consider the quality of the wait.
- Use the result as evidence against always staying quiet, not as an unconditional instruction.
Check your table’s scoring rules before applying the finding. Read the Japanese Riichi reference.
How it was tested
Published experiment: 100,000 simulated Riichi hands, declaring when eligible versus always remaining quiet, with alternating seat assignments.
The players were software policies, not human participants. This report describes the published experiment; it does not establish the best move for every possible hand or opponent.
Results without a published uncertainty interval should be read as point estimates. Similar results do not prove two choices are equivalent.
Read the Lab’s method and limitationsPublished by Hé Fēn Mahjong. Ask about this finding or suggest a correction.