10 ADVANCED MAHJONG STRATEGIES FOR THE ADVANCED PLAYER

February 13th, 2010 by TACOS

1. Always attack, unless you should be defending.

2. Always defend, unless you should be attacking.

3. If you are an expert like me, you can even try attacking and defending at the same time.

4. Only deal tiles that other players cannot use, or you will be helping them form their hands.

5. When other players are in tenpai, it is important that you do not deal into their hands.

6. Make other players deal into your hand by waiting on unexpected tiles.

7. Always score as many points as possible.

8. Win as many hands as you can.

9. It is silly to call tiles when you can always draw it yourself anyway.

10. Do not discard tiles nobody has discarded, or that anybody has discarded early, mid, or late game. If possible you can consider not discarding at all. But it's a double-edged sword. I can't recommend this to amateurs.

11. Always remember what your tiles look like, in case of sudden blindness.

If you are an expert player you are welcome to leave any of your own tips.

31 Responses to “10 ADVANCED MAHJONG STRATEGIES FOR THE ADVANCED PLAYER”

  1. Tim Kish Says:

    If, while executing your strategy, you happen to find any legal winning hand whatsoever, declare "Ron" or "Tsumo" instantly, NO EXCEPTIONS

  2. Anonymous Says:

    when in doubt, hit the kan button.

  3. tyblazitar Says:

    I think you stole these strategies from Akagi.

  4. xKime Says:

    These tips are way too advanced for me. I will stick to cutting 3p for a while.

    Only go for quick hands when you are the oya, so you can retain the dealership. The only exception is when you are the ko, in which hase, you must only go for quick hands, so you can get your turn as oya faster.

  5. Independent Observer Says:

    If you have 356p, cut 3p.

  6. BunBun Says:

    Go for Yakuhai. Always.

  7. Sub Says:

    If I'm worrying about all this stuff how do I "KAN" "PON" "CHI" all tile

  8. Roger Sherman Says:

    If you plan to win a hand, don't call any tiles and instead wait to draw them yourself. If you don't plan to win a hand, call every tile possible so you can be Tenpai faster.

  9. 11218 Says:

    Open tanyao is always the best non-yakuman choice.

  10. Moku Says:

    http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/3261/mahjongflowchart.png

    The bad spelling is purposeful.

  11. enntwo Says:

    Always hane at the head of two stones.
    If someone has four corners, black should resign.

    Shit.. wrong game?

  12. xKime Says:

    Check mate the other dude's king.

  13. Anonymous Says:

    This is just like Kaiji's protip:

    Never choose scissors, unless the other guy chooses paper.

  14. Moku Says:

    @enntwo
    but some do work... Like "Never go fishing when your house is on fire."

  15. Japanman Says:

    You people play online too much. You forgot the best tip:

    --During the deal, take an extra block of four tiles and put it in your lap. Go for 7 pairs.

    You would be surprised at how well this works.

  16. anon Says:

    Once you see a glowing hand you should call a tile quickly. Glowing hands = they're about to tsumo.

  17. enntwo Says:

    @Moku
    They say don't fish while your house is on fire, as your house will burn down and you will have no where to cook your fish. I say, fish for the biggest fish you can when your house is on fire, since you will have a fire big enough to cook a whale.

    Also oddly applicible proverbs:
    Don't throw an egg at a wall
    Big dragons never die DAISANGEN
    Proverbs only apply to Kyu players

  18. Anonymous Says:

    Fukuchi's best Mahjong advice is: Don't play Mahjong. Ever. As it will ruin whatsoever is left of your life.

    And it's probably the best mahjong advice out there. Ever.

  19. Moku Says:

    Big dragons never DAISANGEN!

    I have heard the one about cooking the fish on the house many times before.

  20. xKime Says:

    If you're in Kokushi Musou tenpai, and you're missing the haku because it's dead, just draw any tile and erase its contents with your thumb. Declare tsumo. This requires epic strenght.

  21. Lorizean Says:

    alternatively, erase every tiles contents with your thumb. Declare tsumo. If you did it right, you get a dora72 in addition to your tsuuiisou,suuankou.

  22. Anonymous Says:

    Always go for all terminal discards, always.

  23. Fun Says:

    1. Japanese mahjong is not a kang mahjong. this is speically appliable for 3 man mahjong. Pung more, but kang less, unless you are having a huge point gap.

    2. mentally winning the other players and you are physically winning the other players.

    3. plan ahead before you are going to attack or even defense. Avoiding gambling with tiles.

  24. Zozma Says:

    Before you cheat, make sure to take into account how many people are in the room, who has guns, who has knives, etc.

  25. xKime Says:

    ALWAYS declare riichi. Sometimes even if you aren't tenpai. The whole table will respect you more, and you'll show you have the bigger balls.

  26. Anonymous Says:

    Tim Kish Says:
    February 13th, 2010 at 5:43 am

    If, while executing your strategy, you happen to find any legal winning hand whatsoever, declare "Ron" or "Tsumo" instantly, NO EXCEPTIONS

    Nop, I disagree with this. I didn't declare a ron from a player because I was in second place but if I took the ron from him I would have still taken second place as the player would have gone into the negatives thereby ending the game. In the end I had to either tsumo (which I did and didn't put him into the negatives), or take it from any other player.

  27. Coolfaccia Says:

    So you agree with all the other tips?

  28. xKime Says:

    @Anonymous

    All I read was "blah blah blah I do this and I'm so awesome."

    @Coolfaccia
    >So you agree with all the other tips?

    He obviously doesn't really get it. But you have to admit most of the tips are pretty much convincing, especially "If you have 356p, cut 3p." Pro stuff.

  29. KyuuAL Says:

    Declare "richii"... then get the hell out of the room!!!

  30. Anonyman Says:

    Vocal exercises will allow your cries of "TSUMO!!!" to be heard from a much greater distance. This will win you much respect.

  31. Osamuko's Mahjong Blog » Blog Archive » 何をuld you 切る? Says:

    [...] If you're looking for expert advice, why don't you check out TRA's Tips or mou's advanced strategies? [...]

Leave a Reply