Pinfu - Riichi Mahjong Guide

[@ananousous]

Those tiles look edible

[@JoeOklahoma]

The larger HK style tiles always look like tasty ice cream sandwiches. >

[@M3rtyville]

I had trouble understanding Pinfu today and figured it out very late. This video is a nice refresher.

[@mila1195]

You really explained it very well and I understood everything. Very helpful video. You really explain it fantastically. Thank you!

[@poptacular6625]

I never understood PinFu as a no-fu wait, so that was interesting. How I understood it: the hand must be closed, all simples (no honours or dragons), no triples or kan (all sequences + the pair), and is a two-sided wait to complete the final sequence.

[@LightGrunty]

Yeah, there is a little bit more nuance than that. The main thing is that you can use certain wind tiles as your pair if they don't give any fu.

[@eugenides04]

I could be mistaken, but if you're using a set with red fives, those aren't allowed in a Pinfu hand as well, right? (I think the same for Dora as well.)

[@LightGrunty]

That's incorrect. Dora tiles are allowed in pinfu, provided they aren't the tiles that pinfu specifically excludes, like yakuhai.

[@chaotickreg7024]

@@LightGrunty By certain winds, do you mean winds that aren't the turn/seat winds?

[@LightGrunty]

@@chaotickreg7024 Yes, that's correct

[@ev5530]

tThank u for the video! I t helped a lot

[@mrshikad]

This is a very useful video, thank you

[@hamzahussain7794]

Just started mahjong because of Yakuza games and loving it...I finally understood pinfu thanks to this video!!!

[@shinichi9do]

thank you, you explained it well

[@HenkTheStenk]

So, wouldn't wind tiles be allowed to be the pair in a Pinfu as long as that pair is not your seat and not the round wind?

[@LightGrunty]

That's correct. Yakuhai pairs (dragon tiles, the round wind, and your seat wind) are not allowed in a pinfu hand, but all other tiles can make up the pair.

[@IAmMaxwellHearMeRoar]

Where did you get your set of tiles? Buying a set is driving me crazy.

[@LightGrunty]

The set I have is actually discontinued. Depending on where you live, you can probably find a mahjong set online. Perhaps the most well-known Japanese-style set in the US could be purchased from Yellow Mountain Imports. But if you want a higher-quality mahjong set, I would recommend importing an AMOS brand set from Japan.

[@tanukiskipper]

At 5:47 you talk about a 3 sided wait. If you get the 7th or the 4th it would be a Pinfu, but i'm also waiting for the 1st and that's not a Pinfu. I'm confused if this hand is accepted as a Pinfu or not? I'm new to this and I really want to understand it.

[@LightGrunty]

Whether or not the hand gets pinfu is based on which tile it wins on. This is fairly common in riichi mahjong, where one winning tile will add yaku to the hand but another will not.

[@RowanHawkins]

At 06:20, while getting the 1 Sou wouldn't qualify for Pinfu, it would qualify for a different yaku(2 han closed). Which I'm sure you'll go over later. As a strategy question, since I haven't watched your strategy videos yet, would you riichi this, or would it be better to not riichi if another player has already riichi'd? I'm beginning to think that being in Tenpai without Riichi leaves you flexibility if you don't require the "Riichi" yaku to reach a win condition since it lets you continue to manipulate your hand, and if possible avoid dealing into another player or even indicating you are in Tenpai yourself.

[@LightGrunty]

That's correct, a later video covers sanshoku doujun. And while there is sometimes merit to not declaring riichi, statistical analysis from various Japanese sources indicates that declaring riichi almost always has a higher expected value when compared to dama (closed tenpai without riichi) in rule sets that allow ippatsu and ura dora. This video series primarily focuses on the basic rules of the game and does not include much strategy discussion. I would highly recommend Riichi Book I, which covers "digital" theory, including tile efficiency, riichi judgment, calling judgment, and defense. It is a free resource that you can find here: dainachiba.github.io/RiichiBooks/