RIICHI STRATEGY
The most studied ruleset on earth, with the clearest doctrine: efficiency first, a yaku always, and the discipline to fold. These are the established lines, stated straight.
The flask marks work from THE HÉ FĒN STRATEGY LAB — our research, proven on hundreds of thousands of engine-scored hands. Visit the Lab →
TILE EFFICIENCY
Reach ready first — with a yaku attached
Always prefer the two-sided wait BEGINNER
A ryanmen (4-5 waiting on 3/6) is live on up to 8 tiles; a kanchan (4-6 waiting on 5) on 4; a penchan (1-2 waiting on 3) on 4 of the worst tiles to hold late. Taking the wider shape at every close call is the single biggest measurable edge in the game.
Waits 3m/6m — 8 tiles.
Waits 3p only — 4 tiles.
Cut lone honors on turns one and two BEGINNER
Unpaired winds and dragons are your least connective tiles and your most dangerous late-game discards. Releasing them immediately is efficient AND safe — the rare free lunch.
Have a yaku plan by the sixth discard BEGINNER
A complete hand with no yaku cannot win. The everyday toolkit: riichi (stay closed and ready), tanyao (nothing but 2–8), yakuhai (a pong of dragons or your winds). If none of the three is visible in your hand's future by turn six, reshape until one is.
VALUE VS SPEED
The declaration, the call, and what each one costs
Declare riichi with a closed ready hand — the default is yes INTERMEDIATE
Riichi adds a han, unlocks ura-dora, and forces three players to respect your discard pile. Stay quiet (damaten) only when you already hold a yaku AND the table is dangerous enough that keeping the option to fold outweighs the value. The literature is blunt: declaring is right far more often than beginners believe.
Call pon/chi only when the call buys something you can name INTERMEDIATE
Opening the hand forfeits riichi, menzen tsumo and ura-dora — the most valuable package in the game. Sound reasons to pay it: completing a yakuhai pong, a fast cheap tanyao to end a dangerous round, a half-flush with real value. "It advances my hand" is not on the list.
Count dora before you take a risk INTERMEDIATE
Dora never legalise a hand, but they decide whether a risk is priced right. Two dora in hand can justify pushing a dangerous tile; zero dora pushing into a riichi is paying premium prices for a discount hand.
DEFENSIVE PLAY
Deal-ins decide placements — folding is a skill, not a surrender
Against a riichi, fold fully at two shanten or worse INTERMEDIATE
If you are two or more tiles from ready when the riichi lands, the race is lost — stop improving that turn. Discard genbutsu first (tiles the declarer already discarded — they cannot ron them under the furiten rule), then suji and fourth copies. The half-fold that keeps "some" hand alive pays both plans' costs and earns neither's reward.
Fold ready hands when the price is wrong ADVANCED
Being ready is not a reason to push — it is one input. Cheap hand, bad wait, live riichi against you: fold it. Strong players routinely abandon tenpai; the habit of pushing BECAUSE you are ready is the most expensive reflex in the game.
Count your wait's real tiles before trusting it ADVANCED
At ready, count the wait's remaining live copies — subtract every one visible in discards and melds. A "good" ryanmen with five of its eight tiles gone is worse than a tanki on a live honor. Upgrade the wait when a draw offers more real outs.
READING THE TABLE
The river never lies
Early middle discards mean honors and ends — expect value INTERMEDIATE
A river that starts with 4s, 5s and 6s belongs to a player building around terminals and honors — chanta-style shapes or an honor-heavy value hand. Their danger zone is the edges of suits and every honor; adjust what you hold back accordingly.
Play the placement, not just the hand ADVANCED
The same tiles want different plays at different scores. Guarding a lead in South: cheap, fast, fold-ready. Chasing from fourth: value targets and calculated pushes. Before each hand, know what a win, a draw and a deal-in each do to your placement — then build the hand the standings ask for.
Every scoring claim above matches the values in our complete Riichi scoring guide — the same engine that scores your hands.
The fastest way to internalise any of this: play a few hands and watch the engine score them line by line. Play free in your browser →