Riichi Mahjong Beginner Guide
From the tiles to the final score: nine short chapters that teach you Japanese riichi mahjong. Each one takes a few minutes, and you can try it at the table right after.
New to mahjong? Start here
Set up your first game, read the table and learn what every button does. Then come back for the rules one chapter at a time.
Play your first game
Basic rules
The TilesA riichi mahjong set has 136 tiles: three numbered suits, seven honor tiles, and red fives.Winning HandsFour sets and a pair make a winning hand. Learn runs, triplets, tenpai, waits and the two special hands.How a Turn WorksDraw and discard, plus chi, pon, kan, riichi, tsumo and ron: everything that can happen in a hand.Yaku: No Yaku, No WinA riichi mahjong hand cannot win without a yaku. Learn the five easiest ones, then look up the full list.
Going further
Scoring: Han and FuPoints come from han and fu. Reading the table is enough to start, and working it out yourself takes one formula.Furiten and DefenseWhy can't you ron when you are in tenpai? And when someone declares riichi, how do you pick safer tiles?How a Match WorksEast-only and hanchan games, dealer rotation and repeats, abortive draws, and the final placings and points.