Dora strategy

Dora tiles, due to their +1 han value, warrant extra attention. Ideally, players should incorporate dora, but this may not always be feasible.

Dora > Other Lone Tiles

Until mangan is reached, every han doubles your hand's score. Therefore, dora are very valuable. Even a guest wind dora should be kept over middle tiles (usually), as a dora pair will quadruple score.

Dora tiles are normally good to keep, but there are a few situations where dora isn't helpful:

• You don't need dora if the only thing you care about is speed.
• Dora is less valuable if the hand is already mangan+ without needing it, since every han past mangan is less efficient.
• Dora is much less valuable if it would deny a yaku (e.g. a dora terminal is weak with an otherwise tanyao hand).

The Dora, and tiles near it, are more dangerous

The dora itself is dangerous to discard: it is more likely to deal in, and when dealing in, the dora will increase your opponent's score. The exact deal in% varies by tile:

• Dora 2-8 is about x120% more likely to deal-in.
• Dora terminals/honors are about x170% more likely to deal in.

In any case, the dora must not be carelessly discarded. Players have two main options: discard dora as soon as possible to get them out of the way, or hold them as long as possible. Additional decision making on dora rests on point standing.

Number tiles near the dora, such as 3p and 5p when 4p is dora, are also more somewhat dangerous, about x110% as dangerous than normal.