We play a lot of riichi mahjong and we have taught a lot of new comers to the game \u2026 hundreds of them. It doesn\u2019t stick with everyone, it is the kind of game where you are trying to beat yourself as well as your opponents. You can always be better and it takes practice and losing to improve. Not everyone likes losing! EVERY game has someone who comes last, even if the four best players in the world were to play together, one of them would come last. It is in the nature of this game. Even coming second can feel like failure in a close fought game. And there is enough luck in the game that a weaker player can defeat a stronger player (not all luck is good!).<\/p>
Online game systems such as Tenhou and Mahjong Soul will measure your strength for you. Simple algorithms push you up the ranks \u2026 or demote you. The difference between 3rd and 4th can be quite significant. But in real life, away from points accumulations, we can spot some levels of play. Here, for fun, are some definitions. Do you remember playing like this? Where are you now?<\/p>
Absolute beginner - has a cheat sheet for the character tiles and some of the easier yaku. Can confuse 6 bamboo with 9 bamboo. Thinks the 1 bamboo is a chicken. Tries to go clockwise. Thinks a set of each different dragon is worth something for sure.<\/p>
Enthusiast - calls chi or pon (usually for a valueless wind or with a terminal). Reaches for the called tile before showing the two qualifying tiles. Calls riichi with an open hand. Maybe not sure of the difference between a yaku and a dora. Counts tiles for the wall out loud.<\/p>
Optimist - has learned about seat winds and round wind. Holds on to a single wind or a single dragon in the belief that another will soon drop into their hand. Often ends a hand with the same tile still there.<\/p>
Tanyao all the way - has learned Open Tanyao and rushes headlong this way. May discard pairs of Dragons or Seat\/Round Winds unwittingly. May call for a tile which reduces hand efficiency nearby, eg leaving separated sequences. Discards terminals and honours early.<\/p>
Proficient - a great position, knows the main yaku and their han, plays for tile efficiency. Often beats players in preceding categories. Hopes someone else knows how to score. Still discarding terminals and honours early.<\/p>
Riiiiichiiii - dash for riichi. Keeps hand closed. Wonders why keeps losing on riichi or just as going tenpai. Experiments with higher yaku hands.<\/p>
Calculator - calculates possible value of own hand and decides to bail out if other players look like they are dangerous and own hand is not worth so much. May still try and keep a valid hand and sometimes discards a winning tile when gets close to tenpai. Especially if currently last around the table. May not always declare riichi to be hidden tenpai (damaten).<\/p>
Defender - definitely bails out if East is open or riichi, or if other players look close. Waits for a good opening set of tiles. Discards dangerous tiles early except keeps a safe East tile until East calls riichi\/opens hand. . Will call riichi on a single wait.<\/p>
Manga hand - only interested in high scoring hands. If not East, will aim for multiple han which will come off now and then, otherwise will bail when high scoring hand becomes unlikely or opponents look too ready. Tries to have awkward waits, especially others\u2019 previous discards.<\/p>
Professional - takes tile efficiency to a new level, has learned all the shapes, available tile proportions, and likely decisions. Wins quickly and doesn\u2019t deal in.<\/p>
I\u2019m sure you can come up with some other clich\u00e9s and observations. <\/p>","urlTitle":"what-level-riichi-mahjong-player-are-you","url":"\/blog\/what-level-riichi-mahjong-player-are-you\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/what-level-riichi-mahjong-player-are-you\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/madcrowd.co.uk\/blog\/what-level-riichi-mahjong-player-are-you\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1678968746,"updatedAt":1678973180,"publishedAt":1678973180,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":246184,"name":"madcrowd"},"tags":[],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/qfkonxgkznxv4hmaetw1taivshjycswwigvlclke6alfnz4y.jpeg?z=1.312&fx=0.39674050969585&fy=0.38550943185612","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/qfkonxgkznxv4hmaetw1taivshjycswwigvlclke6alfnz4y.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855&z=1.312&fx=0.39674050969585&fy=0.38550943185612","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/qfkonxgkznxv4hmaetw1taivshjycswwigvlclke6alfnz4y.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440&z=1.312&fx=0.39674050969585&fy=0.38550943185612"},"metaTitle":"","metaDescription":"","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":28945,"title":"Is Japanese riichi mahjong different from Chinese mahjong?","url":"\/blog\/is-japanese-riichi-mahjong-different-from-chinese-mahjong\/","urlTitle":"is-japanese-riichi-mahjong-different-from-chinese-mahjong","division":246184,"description":"Riichi mahjong discards are in nice neat disciplined rows of 6 tiles per row so you can see what your opponents discarded and when.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ofe787c0en7u7emdiod0evcpusn6wrn577xb9hmqruhdxixm.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ofe787c0en7u7emdiod0evcpusn6wrn577xb9hmqruhdxixm.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}