Tips for Riichi Mahjong newcomers.
- Focus on tile efficiency and learning to recognize Yaku over attaining high-valued Yaku.
- Keep your hand closed unless you have an open hand in mind. This allows you to focus on tile efficiency and gain Yaku by calling Riichi.
- Tiles at the center of the sequence (4, 5, 6) are most valuable. They easily evolve into waits that are very flexible.
- Tiles that a player discards early are less likely to be relevant to their ending hand.
- Don't collect too many pairs. You'll end up having to deconstruct or play around them to make a valid hand. The Riichi Book recommends a max of 2 for a closed hand. Complete one pair and the other becomes the head.
- Try not to go into tenpai with a head wait. You can form much nicer waits around sequences or double-pon that will be easier to complete.
- Discarding middle sequences late game is very risky. These tiles have a high probability of completing an oponent's set.
- Similar to the last point, tenpai with a terminal wait can work well in the mid/late game, since players are more likely to discard those tiles than middle sequences.
- Prioritize low-Yaku hands that have lots of Dora. An efficient hand with lots of Dora is more likely to bear fruit than a hand based on high-valued Yaku.
- Winds that belong to your opponents are often easy discards, but can be useful to keep if you're shooting for Pinfu.