Your mahjong tutorials are trash SEGA.

[0JMachine]

Cant we have a hand list or the ability to bring up the tutorial during actual gameplay at least? I had to watch anime for crying out loud just to figure out the basics and how hands work. Still can't figure out how the points work.

[LArc7thHeaven]

press triangle and you find the hands list

[0JMachine]

what is that on keyboard?

[LArc7thHeaven]

press F

[0JMachine]

thanks my internet crapped out for a week but i ended up figuring things out and learned how to play just enough to beat all the tables then peerless tile the tournaments. my advice:

1. Only steal a tile to get a set of honour tiles (winds or dragons) that way you already made a han by doing so and as such won't need a new special han after to go ron or tsumo.

2. turn off red tiles. tutorials say to do this but I find the amount of points that can come from this can easily turn the tables on you in a single hand, erasing any progress you made.

3. Just worry about getting 4 sets/runs and a pair. I try to pair a wind or dragon at the start of my hand based on what I have available and what was discarded before it's my turn. there are only 4 of each tile so it's easy to see your odds of getting another and if you get a third because it's a pair then you already have a han and even in a draw that usually means points for you.

4. throw away 1 and 9 tiles unless they are either already making a set/run at the start of the round or they make one when i's grabbed. It's less limiting to your choices to rely on getting a 6 or a 9 then it is to wait on a 7 or 8 for example. You want two ways to make your runs and you should concentrate on runs as they are easier to form than sets.

4. don't bother with kan. the moment you make it is the moment you can't win with a basic hand. sure you get another tile in the middle revealed but good luck as a beginner trying to make a hand to capitalise on those bonus points.

5. always look at whats discarded. Not in the sense of trying to figure out what your opponent needs but more so about what you can get to make your hands. if you are waiting on an 8 of circles but 3 are already discarded it's better to try for something else.

Once I played by these rules it only took a few hours to win all the tables. Hopefully this helps anyone else struggling.

[fejota]

As someone that learnt to play Mahjong from Yakuza PC games, I will complement your advices:

Originally posted by 0JMachine0:

1. Only steal a tile to get a set of honour tiles (winds or dragons) that way you already made a han by doing so and as such won't need a new special han after to go ron or tsumo.

Beware! Not all wind triplets will get you a han. Only the round's or your seat's wind will get you the han.

Originally posted by 0JMachine0:

2. turn off red tiles. tutorials say to do this but I find the amount of points that can come from this can easily turn the tables on you in a single hand, erasing any progress you made.

Well, red dora can get your hand more points. And that is also true for your rivals.
The other options are:
2 han minimun: turn off so you can win with cheaper hands. Also true for your rivals.
Kuitan: turn on so all simples can be made with open calls. All simples is a hand where you don't have any terminal (1 and 9) and honors (dragons and winds).
The last option is about the game's lenght, so it's up to you.

Originally posted by 0JMachine0:

3. Just worry about getting 4 sets/runs and a pair. I try to pair a wind or dragon at the start of my hand based on what I have available and what was discarded before it's my turn. there are only 4 of each tile so it's easy to see your odds of getting another and if you get a third because it's a pair then you already have a han and even in a draw that usually means points for you.

That's an excelent advice for newcomers: make your hand with 4 triplets/sequences plus one pair while avoiding stealing.
Triplet: 3-of-a-kind tile
Sequence: 3 tiles from the same suit in an ascending order. Examples 1-2-3, 2-3-4, 6-7-8, etc. Bear in mind that 9-1-2 is not a valid one, so 1 will always begin a sequence while 9 will always end it. Please note that you can't make sequences with honor tiles.
After having more experience with the game, you can check the hands section in case that you want to win big.

Originally posted by 0JMachine0:

4. throw away 1 and 9 tiles unless they are either already making a set/run at the start of the round or they make one when i's grabbed. It's less limiting to your choices to rely on getting a 6 or a 9 then it is to wait on a 7 or 8 for example. You want two ways to make your runs and you should concentrate on runs as they are easier to form than sets.

As referenced in my earlier advice, 1 and 9 have less options to make sequence out of them. Also you can discard them if you want to achieve an all simples hand.

Originally posted by 0JMachine0:

4. don't bother with kan. the moment you make it is the moment you can't win with a basic hand. sure you get another tile in the middle revealed but good luck as a beginner trying to make a hand to capitalise on those bonus points.

I agree with you on there. Kan is like calling a discard: you must know what you are doing before doing it.
There are 2 kinds of kan: open and closed. Closed means that you draw 4 identical tiles. If you do a closed kan, your hand is still hidden (you can still opt to a riichi) assuming you didn't make any calls before.
When a Kan is made, a new dora indicator is unlocked. Players that did a riichi in the current round will benefit from additional ura dora (reverse/hidden dora), so declaring kans when your oponent declared riichi is suicidal.

Originally posted by 0JMachine0:

5. always look at whats discarded. Not in the sense of trying to figure out what your opponent needs but more so about what you can get to make your hands. if you are waiting on an 8 of circles but 3 are already discarded it's better to try for something else.

I also agree. Checking the discards is a must. Your discards must also be checked. For example, if you discard 7 of circles and later on you need that tile to win, you can't win the round by ron. If you draw the tile yourself you are good to go.

[lPaladinl]

The 100% completionist guide on Steam has a lot of this information in it.

Can't say I am happy with playing Mahjong though even with the understanding I do have. Seems majority of the time I call a Richi I just end up losing to someone calling Ron for a full house.