Tile efficiency: Difference between revisions

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==Yaku==
==Tile acceptance==
{{main|Yaku}}
{{Main|Ukeire}}
A hand's [[shanten]] measures how far a hand is from [[tenpai]]. A hand that is 1-shanten is 1-away from tenpai, a hand in 2-shanten is 2-away from tenpai, and so on.
 
[[Ukeire]], or tile acceptance, measures how many tiles can be used to reduce a hand's shanten. For example, a hand may have a tile acceptance of 40 tiles, meaning that there are 40 different tiles of tiles ''that can be drawn'' to advance the hand.
 
Note: when measuring tile acceptance in actual games, it is important to note the amount of tiles available to draw. Any tile discarded, used in your hand, used in an opponents call, or in the dora indicators can no longer be drawn, which affects the hand's tile acceptance. For example, a 67-pin ryanmen joint normally has an acceptance of 8 (four 5-pins; four 8-pins). However, if all four 5-pin and three of the 8-pin are discarded, the wait effectively has an acceptance of 1 tile.
 
==Basic Theory==
===Five-block theory===
"Five-block theory" states that a standard winning hand has five "blocks" - four groups + one pair. Each joint in the hand can be turned into a block. Since pairs can turned into triplets, each pair is also a block. When a hand has 6 blocks, one of them will eventually need to be discarded. Thus, it is good to build hands with a maximum of 5 blocks.
 
Example 2-shanten hands:
 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!# Blocks !! Hand !! Tile acceptance
|-
!align=center|Hand with 5 blocks
| align=center| {{#mjt:12367m23p334s334z}}
| {{#mjt:58m14p235s3z}} (26 tiles total, not counting the tiles in the hand)
|-
!align=center|Hand with 6 blocks
| align=center| {{#mjt:12367m23p3478s33z}}
| {{#mjt:58m14p2567s}} (28 tiles total)
|}
 
The hand with 6 blocks has a better tile acceptance right now, since it can accept 28 tiles total. (Note: the 5 block hand can accept the same # of ''types'' of tiles, but since some of those tiles are used in the hand, the acceptance is lower. E.g. 2/4 of the 3-sou tiles are used in the hand, so they can't be drawn.)
 
However, once a useful tile is drawn, the hand with 6 blocks has to discard one of the blocks, lowering the efficiency in the future.
 
Example 1-shanten hands:
 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!# Blocks !! Hand !! Draw !! Discard !! Tile acceptance
|-
!rowspan=2 align=center| Hand with 5 blocks
| {{#mjt:12367m233p334s33z}} || rowspan=2 | {{#mjt:5m}} || rowspan=2 | {{#mjt:4z}}
| rowspan=2 align=center| {{#mjt:14p235s3z}} (20 tiles total)
|-
| {{#mjt:123567m23p334s33z}}
|-
!rowspan=2 align=center| Hand with 6 blocks
| {{#mjt:12367m23p3478s33z}} || rowspan=2 align=center| {{#mjt:5m}} || rowspan=2 align=center| {{#mjt:7s}}
| rowspan=2 align=center| {{#mjt:14p25s}} (16 tiles total)
|-
| {{#mjt:123567m23p348s33z}}
|}


When building hands, yaku are certainly considered as they are a criteria for valid hands as well as added value to the hand. So, almost always, players have yaku in mind.
Going from 1-shanten to tenpai is generally the slowest part of the hand. Therefore, it's usually better to improve tile efficiency at 1-shanten than 2-shanten - the returns are bigger. In this example, the 5-block hand is 15% (24/28 tiles) worse at 2-shanten, but 25% better (20/16 tiles) at 1-shanten.


In other cases, players may end up simply having tenpai in mind, especially as the hand nears the later discards. This is of particular concern for the current [[dealer]], who may have an interest in retaining the position and [[Renchan|repeat the hand]].
Therefore, the 5-block theory is often recommended. E.g.: Once a hand has 5 blocks, it is better to "upgrade" a joint (e.g. turning a 45 ryanmen into a 445 complex joint) than to create a new joint.


==Counting tiles==
==Yaku==
{{main|Machi}}
{{main|Yaku}}


When developing the hand, tiles take on different shapes, especially when taatsu are involved. The hand will lean in search of particular tiles, by which some many no longer be available.  They may either be discarded, have one as the [[dora|dora indicator]], or be in a player's tile call. Any tile, whose whereabouts are unknown, are considered to be '''live tiles'''.
'''At least one yaku is required to win a hand'''. Therefore, yaku are certainly a key factor for tile efficiency. Having a yaku means you don't need to [[riichi]] for a yaku, which means you can call tiles, which allows you to complete tiles faster than a closed hand would. When you need to complete a fast hand, confirming a yaku is important. Of course, sometimes it's best to stay closed for the value.


==Shanten==
In other cases, players may end up simply having tenpai in mind, especially as the hand nears the later discards. This is of particular concern for the current [[dealer]], who may have an interest in retaining the position and [[Renchan|repeat the hand]].
{{main|Shanten}}


== External links ==
== External links ==
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