Do you push?

[Mauro]

This is something I'm thinking about: when to push and when to fold.

I had a rather terrible game in which I ended up fourth, and while some of the hands I paid were kinda unavoidable some I'm not sure I played at best other hands; one was this:

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South 3, I'm third by 1700; toimen and kamicha could be tenpai and I drew 5z, which seems dangerous, since we are in late game and all of them are live.

One one hand, with riichi my hand is at least mangan, and I don't have much as defense. On the other hand, I'm still 1-shanten and it's late game, so not much time to reach tenpai and win.

I pushed 5z and paid 1500 to toimen; would it have been better to fold?

[Mauro]

Thinking about it, I should have at least three safe tiles: I see all of 9m and of 8m (and even three 6m); that means my three 9m are safe.

[Krabman]

This is very interesting and I don't know what's the best play here.

By winning, you can jump to 2nd in oorasu. Opponents' hands don't look very expensive but even a cheap Ron means 4th place in S4. Haku is even more dangerous because it adds 1 Han to the winner. I wonder what Shimocha is doing with all those tsumo giri, if you could post it with hands revealed?

I'd agree with your last post - folding with 9m seems like the best option. The priority is to avoid 4th place, not to win this hand.

[Mauro]

Sure:

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I'm currently again in a negative streak, way below my usual results; I'm trying to understand if I'm getting something really wrong, and meanwhile maybe I can improve my reading of the board.

[Krabman]

Thanks! Shimocha in iishanten hell

I feel you! I've once had like 10x3rd in a row... I think it's best to assume you're doing something wrong, analyze your playing & ask for opinions of others (which you do!). Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between (a lack of) luck & wrong/good decisions.

[Mauro]

One game I dropped from first to last because I paid three consecutive hands: two of them I was in riichi, the third was dama in fourth round (total: 18k). Another game, I never got tenpai. I'm sure I'm still making mistakes, but these last games luck isn't on my side

[Krabman]

Yes, that happens too! Tsumo fests are the worst xD But that's one thing I love about Mahjong. Just remember to keep your head cool & play efficiently.

I remember Puyo from Osamuko Mahjong group once mentioned not winning 17 (!!!) consecutive Riichis (does it have a plural??)