Riichi Etiquette

When playing Riichi Mahjong with our group, we ask that you please follow these rules.

Etiquette rules have their origins from the time when Mahjong was played in shady places in Japan for gambling or by the yakuza.

These guidelines help promote a harmonious playing environment and are not dissimilar to other competitive games (chess: touching an opponent's chess piece without permission, poker: touching other players' chip stacks).

We will not be upset at anyone that shows up to our meetup and does not follow these rules, though we may inform you about them. They are primarily guidelines, however, we ask that you familiarize yourself with them as these are common practices in other groups and especially in ranked, tournament play, and in jansou (Mahjong parlours).

For our regular meetup for casual games, we do not follow all of these.

Manners

  • Do not put food or drinks on the table. If the location provides a table to the side, the one to your right is yours. Do not place your stuff on other people's tables.
  • Do not bluff with non-gameplay mannerisms such as sighing, making remarks, etc. when doing an action in the game such as discarding a tile.
  • Playing with anything, such as fiddling with your tiles, is considered rude.
  • Do not discuss the current situation at the table, such as suggesting someone could be close to or in tenpai. This also includes your own hand.
  • Do not touch anyone's points unless you have their permission.
  • Don't slam tiles onto the table or into other tiles.

Setup

  • Shuffle with as many tiles as possible face down. Don't palm tiles on the table or use your fingertips to hold tiles down when shuffling.
  • Shuffle for at least 20 seconds.
  • Do not break or touch someone else's wall unless you are grabbing a tile from it. This include breaking the wall, flipping the dora, dropping the replacement tile, and separating the dead wall.
  • Do not move tiles to complete the dead wall (when rolling 2 to 6).
  • Do not move tiles out and away from the dead wall into another wall (when rolling 8 or 9).
  • Let the dealer handle the dice — they belong to the dealer.
  • Do not flip the dora or backbreak a wall prior to everyone drawing their whole hand.

Drawing and discarding tiles

  • At the start of the hand (haipai), the East player may discard their tile as soon as everyone has seen their own tiles.
  • Do not reach for your next tile from the wall before the previous player has discarded and the tile is visible to the other players (give everyone a courtesy 1-2 seconds pause before drawing your next tile). The other players have the right to call on the most recent discard.
  • The active player's drawn tile must be clearly separated from their hand as they are deliberating their hand.
  • Use the same hand for drawing and discarding tiles for each hand (round). You may switch hands after each hand (round) ends but not before. Using two hands is permitted to:
    • push your wall
    • sort the tiles in your hand
    • straighten the tiles in your hand
    • reveal the tiles when winning or showing Tenpai status
  • Players must ask for help to reach a tile if they need it. Do not help preemtively by grabbing their next tile, the called tile, or the replacement tile.
  • A wall may be pushed slightly forward, however, only do this when it is not your turn and when someone else is watching to ensure that there is no cheating.

Gameplay

  • Do not replenish the dead wall when a kan is declared. If someone is unsure where the game ends, ask the player in front of the dead wall to count.
  • When asked for your score, count your points exactly.
  • If there is a reversable misplay such as picking up the wrong tile (before seeing it), players may ask you to rewind and fix your play. Even in professional play, this can happen and reversing the mistake is acceptable within reasonable limits.

Calling sets

  • Calls should be made loudly and clearly for everyone.
  • Keep in mind what tiles you will call on and what tiles you will discard to maintain the flow of the game. Calls and discards should happen within 1-3 seconds, however, it is okay to inform others you need more time (flush hands can be complicated!). When you call on a tile for a meld, you should:
    1. Declare the call (chii, pon, kan).
    2. Reveal the tiles that complete the call.
    3. Discard a tile quickly (does not need to be instantly but should happen within about 2 seconds after the previous step).
    4. Pick up the called tile.
  • When calling chii, wait a moment before revealing your tiles, in case someone else calls pon or ron on the same discarded tile.
  • It is considered rude to make a late pon call after a chii (jamapon). Our rules prevent this by prioritizing the timing of the calls.
  • Melded groups and concealed quads must be placed on the player's right side, in clear view for all players. They must be placed in the same order they have been made, either from right to left if placing horizontally, or from closer to farther if placing vertically.
  • When declaring ankan (concealed kan), the entire set must be shown first before flipping two tiles over.

Declaring riichi

  • Tiles should be drawn and discarded quickly.
  • Tiles drawn must not touch the tiles in the hand.

Scoring and post-hand

  • Declaration of tenpai/noten should be in turn order (East, then South, then West, then North).
  • Be gracious if you deal into a hand. The same applies if you win a hand.
  • It is okay to ask for help to score hands. If you are a regular player, you should make the effort to know the scoring and scoring table.
  • Do not integrate the tsumo tile into your hand. The penalty is a loss of all yaku and fu (minipoints) that are dependent on knowing the picked tile.
  • Do not pick up the winning tile from another player's discard. Leave it so that everyone knows who is responsible for the point payment.
  • When announcing the payment for a tsumo winning hand, announce the dealer payment and then everyone else's payment such as "1000 / 500" (not the total you would collect).
  • Pay promptly by opting to pay with the fewest number of point sticks exchanged. For example, pay with 4000 or 5000 for a 3900 point payment and use appropriate sticks for other payments that require 100 point sticks. If a convenient payment would cause you to lose all of your 1000 point sticks, provide another form of payment if possible. Players should have at least one Riichi stick if your total points is 1000 or more.
  • Chasing rabbits: Do not dig into the live or dead wall, look at potential ura-dora, the replacement tiles, or in opponents' hands to look for tiles, even after a hand is finished.
  • Players that have not won the hand or are noten must not reveal their hand, even after the hand has concluded.
  • Do not put points sticks in a player's hand or throw them to other players.