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Hi there. I'm a beginner and I require some assistance. If we are aiming for the fastest possible tenpai, what do we discard from here?
draw:

Oh, and here's another one that I need help with...
draw:

Why not ? It's not connected to anything else.

Edited to add: If you do discard , you are one away from ready, and will be ready with , , or . That's 12 tiles to get you to a single, 3-tile wait.

If you discard, say, , you have two disconnected tiles and are two tiles from ready. You need to draw a matching two pin as well as your 2 or 4 man to get the two-sided wait. I'm no riichi player, but that seems farther away from ready to me.

The thing is, if you discard the , you are breaking up changes of meeting and so that you could obtain a two sided wait afterwards. With , you are probably a step closer to tenpai but have a bad wait to get into tenpai. I'm just not sure which one's exactly a better shape and or faster to get into tenpai.

GG, where did you get these puzzles (what prompted you to post these particular hands)?

If you discard you are not only ready with , or , but with , , or too (don't forget the pair).

GGnores wrote:With , you are probably a step closer to tenpai but have a bad wait to get into tenpai.

With you have a good wait _78_ and a "bad" wait 12_.
With you have a good wait _78_ and nothing at all.
The choice is quite simple: a "bad" wait is better than nothing.

For the second hand:
- The bamboos can be improved in several ways by many tiles, and give a good chance for itsu -> keep them.
- : if you draw you have a set, if you draw or you have a two-side wait -> keep them.
- and : there is not much differences between these two. It's both middle waits and it can be improved into a two-side wait by only one tile (a will not improve ).
The choice between breaking and will depend on which tiles remains on the game and which one are already out.

If you play with red fives, is more interesting: It's easier to use a 5 if you have a 4 (_45_) or already 234 (2345-> 345 discard 2), than with a 7 (5_7).

Tom Sloper wrote:GG, where did you get these puzzles (what prompted you to post these particular hands)?

These are actually hands that I've experienced. Being unfamiliar with these shapes, I was unsure of what to discard so I made a note and recorded them. Thanks for the help, everyone.