Here's the situation.....

[or2az]

I play these games at a very fast pace (which wasn't always the case), but lately, every once in a while,
I pause, and go, hmmmm, should I or shouldn't I ?
Here's the situation:

Screenshot_20260108-132931_Mahjong Beginner.jpg (198.68 KiB) Viewed 161 times

Screenshot_20260109-184813_Gallery.jpg (56.48 KiB) Viewed 161 times

Should I continue with the concealed hand and aim for riichi ?
Should I ditch the cracks and go for the flush or half flush ?
Should I keep the 4 pairs and try for toi-toi ?

This time, I went with the 3rd choice.
Why ?
North tossed a and two of my pairs were the and the , which usually get discarded,
a decent chance for 3 quick pungs, maybe.

As it turned out, I fell short, got close, but no cigar. It ended in a draw.

Screenshot_20260108-132931_Mahjong Beginner.jpg (198.68 KiB) Viewed 161 times

Any thoughts on the situation ?
What would you have done ?

Note: disregard the duplicate picture above, don't know how it got there.

[Barticle]

It is an interesting scenario to have several distinct options after the first row of discards.

Personally I've always gone for half-flushes too often, even "Bakahon" (fool's Honitsu) with no added value.

A similar term could be applied to Toi-Toi (the "Pon Palace" I guess) as it can be hard to complete triplets - you'll usually be calling for most sets so you're left with a pair wait and you lock away most of your tiles which limits your potential for defence (here including ones and nines which could be safer). The 2/3/8 Dots already discarded make those ones and nines even more likely to come out, but also that's one less 3 Dots to call and the 5 Craks is a less likely discard especially with few middle tiles from that suit on the table. You did eventually make all four sets but too late and without even Tanyao or Yakuhai.

With these tiles earlier in the hand I would've been calling for a full flush, maybe even at this stage. Keeping the white dragon would've added potential for the half-flush instead with another call and another Yaku, albeit with one white and one green already out. Otherwise maybe stay closed now and try to complete the sequence sets since there are three good shapes (including one that would receive the Dora) and you have two pairs to chose from (although both denying Tanyao). If it goes to a draw, middle/late calls to make Tenpai for up to 3000 pts would be a decent outcome.

Contextually it's East 1 so you're not fighting to regain position and you're not east so you don't need a quick win to retain dealership.

[or2az]

Here's the situation;
(shown to me by one of my players for clarification)



Someone discarded a . (No red fives in this game)

The app screen provided a choice of 3 buttons: RON, PON, and PASS
Why would someone not call RON in this situation?
I can't think of any reason NOT to call RON.

If you PON, you must discard, then FURITEN.
And why PASS? ( Temporary furiten, I think)

The game I play would not offer the other choices or I've just never seen it.
Am I missing something?

[Barticle]

Generally video-games will always give you the freedom to pursue any of the options that are technically possible, regardless of whether you'd be skipping a win, becoming Furiten, continuing with a hand that has little potential to add value (Yaku or Dora) or even reducing your hand value.

Here's an old example with Pon, Chii, Kan, Agari (hand win) and pass all at the same time.

Screenshot 2026-01-27 175421.jpg (45.64 KiB) Viewed 15 times

(That's from Mahjong Fight Club on PS3. Exceptionally in that game, if I'd had the 'auto-win' function turned on, it would've automatically taken the first opportunity to Tsumo/Ron.)

Some games might have optional suggested moves (discards/calls/wins) but even then you'd still have the freedom to choose other options.

In your example maybe you'd pass the win if you want to Ron a different opponent or perhaps you need more points to avoid 4th place and 4 Dots (or 2 Bams) is the Dora.

[or2az]

I see. Let me think about this.
I might choose a different option if the 1000 points I would get for winning would not do me any good.

I could PASS (and live with temporary furiten) and maybe a would come my way (self-draw or discard),
Then call KAN and have another dora indicator turned over, and maybe get lucky.
or
I could PON the and go for a different pair to negate furiten, and perhaps a or a would come my way for a KAN and another dora, and then maybe get lucky.

Still have to win the hand though. It's a long shot, a very long shot.

Hold on........

I could also win on the supplemental tile (rinshan kaihou) and double my hand value to 2000 pts, if that helps.
Waiting to Ron a different opponent (higher score than mine) might also help a little.
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