Was it too reckless to riichi?

[Mauro]

South 1, I'm in first place with a not so good lead on second, but a pretty good lead on third and fourth; seven winning tiles still out there, four of which dora, but with no dora discarded could be hard for someone to risk it. Also, not so much pin discarded, I'm waiting on pin, and toimen seems to be up to some pin flush (indeed, he was).

In the end I riichied, draw and with it paid 8000 to toimen (which had three out of seven tiles I needed, the other four still being somewhere in the wall ) and ended up second in the game (could be I'd have been second nevertheless, since first was more than 8000 ahead of me, but whatever, I'm still think could have been better not to riichi).

[Krabman]

I think instant Riichi and hoping for tsumo was correct. It was still pretty early, you had ryanmen machi with most outs available and didn't need to upgrade your shape. I see no clear signs of danger yet. No melds.

Riichi increases your chances for tsumo and can force your oppponents to bail.

I believe your doubts are dictated by hindsight bias - don't fall for that. Yes, you eventually dealt in but the only thing that counts when analyzing a decision is THE very moment you made it. And at that point I see no reason not to go for an insta-Riichi.

I think if you did the same thing in 100 games, you'd succeed most of the time. That's what counts.

I'm a beginner though, perhaps some stronger players here will provide different arguments

[Mauro]

Riichi increases your chances for tsumo

Not sure what you mean here: how come doing riichi increases the chance for tsumo?

I believe your doubts are dictated by hindsight bias - don't fall for that. Yes, you eventually dealt in but the only thing that counts when analyzing a decision is THE very moment you made it

It could be biases influence my analysis post game, but I was very unsure also during the game, so they're not the only factor.

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Shirluban]

Not sure what you mean here: how come doing riichi increases the chance for tsumo?

It incites your opponents to defend, and may "force" them to break their hands to do so.
Riichi -> fewer players able to win -> longer game -> more draws -> more chance to draw your winning tile.

[Mauro]

Ok, I get it, thanks.