Riichi Mahjong · Closed 1 / open 1

Houtei Raoyui (Last Discard Win) in Riichi Mahjong: Rules, Scoring and Odds

In riichi mahjong, Houtei raoyui is worth 1 han: whoever draws the last tile of the wall must still discard one tile — the final discard of the hand. If you win by ron on it, you get houtei. It's 1 han open or closed and a yaku on its own.

The rules for Houtei

• You ron the final discard of the hand: the tile thrown by the player who drew the last tile
• Ron only; winning by tsumo on the last tile yourself is haitei
• 1 han open or closed, a yaku on its own, so no other yaku is needed
• As with any ron, you can't be in furiten
• Chankan is never houtei: nobody can kan once the wall is empty

How Houtei is scored

The yaku, han, fu and points below are computed live by the same scoring code the game uses.

Houtei is a ron, so fu are counted like any ron. Unlike haitei, there's no menzen tsumo to add on top.

Rules for the final discard

• The final discard can't be called with chi, pon or kan — players can only ron it or let it go.
• Double ron: if two players wait on it, both can win, following this site's setting.
• If nobody wins, the hand is an exhaustive draw and players who aren't tenpai pay the noten penalty.

Houtei odds

There's only one final discard per hand, and most hands end before it. In 40,000 hands between four computers at normal level, houtei was 0.77% of all wins — about once every 156 hands.

Source: 40,000 computer hands on this site (all four at normal level), 33,226 wins. A win usually has several yaku, so the shares add up to more than 100%.

Houtei in other mahjong styles

Not every style rewards winning on the last discard:

• Sichuan mahjong: "hai di pao", 1 fan (Sichuan Last-Tile Discard)
• Chinese Official (Guobiao): "Last Tile Claim" (hai di lao yue), 8 fan; the last-tile tsumo is called miao shou hui chun (Guobiao fan list)
• Taiwanese mahjong: 1 tai (Taiwanese mahjong tai list)
• Hong Kong mahjong: only the last-tile tsumo scores; winning on the last discard has no fan (Hong Kong mahjong fan list)

FAQ

How many han is Houtei?

Houtei is 1 han, and 1 han when open. It's a yaku on its own.

Can you call pon on the final discard?

No. The final discard can only be won by ron or passed; chi, pon and kan aren't allowed.

What's the difference between Houtei and Haitei?

Haitei is your own tsumo on the last tile; houtei is a ron on the discard of whoever drew the last tile. Both are 1 han, one by tsumo and one by ron. To play out the end of a hand yourself, try free online riichi mahjong and keep going until the wall runs out.

Related yaku

Haitei Closed 1 / open 1 Win by tsumo on the last tile of the wall — 1 han, open or closed. Rules, how the last tile moves, scoring and odds. Chankan Closed 1 / open 1 Ron the tile someone adds to their pon — 1 han. Rules, closed kans, scoring examples and how often it happens.