In Garthe's Hands #2

December 26, 2006

In Garthe's Hands #2

Last week, I introduced Value Tiles and Simples, two hands that are mutually exclusive. It is totally impossible to ever have both of those hands in one hand. However, cramming as many of the different kinds of Hand Points as possible into one hand is how one gets more points out of a hand and is thus one of the secrets to winning games of Mahjong. It's similar to Poker in that respect. For example, a hand with one pair, or even a three of a kind is not that great. A hand with both, however, is a full house, and probably worth a lot. Straights and flushes are pretty good, but a hand that is both a straight AND a flush beats everything, yeah?

This week I'll continue with some more simple hands but they're Hand Points that can be found in the same completed hand, and may sometimes even be found in the same hands as last week's examples. I'm talking about Peace and Double-Run.

Peace: 1 Hand Point

Peace (Pinfu in Japanese) is fairly easily achieved though it has some peculiarities which may make it difficult to understand at first. At its simplest, it is merely 4 runs and the "pair" (head). The complications come first with the tiles you're waiting for to complete the hand. The remaining uncompleted run must be an open ended wait. For example, 4-5 waiting for the 3 or 6 would be acceptable, where as 3-5 waiting for the 4 or 1-2 waiting for the 3 would not be. Note also that 4 completed runs plus one tile waiting for its pair to create a "head" is also not acceptable. Another complication is that the "head" may use Honor Tiles, but may not Value Tiles. And finally, it is completely concealed, meaning that only your final tile is allowed to be taken from another player, the rest must be entirely concealed within your own hand.

Peace ex.1

Round: East
Seat: South


Notice the final run (7-8 of bams) is open-ended, waiting on 6 and 9.

Double Run: 1 Hand Point

Since Peace is so complicated, let's make this week's other hand an easy one, Double Run (Iipeikou in Japanese). It is simply two of exactly the same runs in the same suit. This must also be part of a completely concealed hand, so no stealing allowed! Let's look at some examples.

Double Run ex.1

Round: South
Seat: North


In this case there are two runs of 2-3-4 of bams.

Double Run and Peace together ex.3

Round: East
Seat: West


The Double-Run is 5-6-7 of Dots and the final run, 2-3 of bams is open-ended, waiting on 1 and 4.

Peace, All Simples, Double-Run all in the same hand

Round:South
Seat: East


This hand was won on the 3 of dots, completing the double-run. If the 6 of dots had come out instead of the 3, then the double-run would not be completed and the hand would only be worth 2 hand points (All Simples and Peace).