Oya: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:42, 16 August 2024

The oya 「親」 (lit. parent), known in English as the dealer, is the player in the East seat. The dealer gets special benefits when winning a hand.

Dealer rotation

During the course of the game, the dealer seat rotates among the four players. Seats rotate when:

A player other than the dealer wins a hand.
The dealer fails to attain tenpai at ryuukyoku (exhaustive draw).

Once every player gets to be a dealer once, the round wind changes. In a hanchan, everyone gets 2 chances at the dealer seat.

Conversely, if the dealer wins a hand, or is in tenpai at exhaustive draw, then the seats do not rotate. Each time this happens, the game length is extended by 1 extra hand.

Useful Info

When a player is the dealer, the following properties apply:

The dealer draws first, which is a slight advantage to hand speed.
The dealer's hand value is worth 50% more (or about 50% more) than non-dealer's.
If the dealer wins the hand, or is tenpai at exhaustive draw, the wind seating does not rotate, thus extending the game by an extra hand (renchan).
The dealer pays x2 as much when another player wins via tsumo. (Dealers do not pay more when dealing in.)

Due to the +50% point modifier, players greatly benefit from being the dealer. Games are often decided by dealer turns. A lucky player may rise from 4th all the way to 1st through consecutive renchans.

However, being the dealer is not always helpful:

When a dealer has a large lead near the end of the game, they should avoid winning to avoid extending the game. After all, each renchan gives the other players a chance to build a yakuman and comeback.
When another player wins by tsumo, the dealer has to pay more. The extra points lost from tsumo can be significant during close games or with big hands.

The current dealer is denoted by using the dealer marker. Alternatively, the dealer marker notes the original dealer, and some other method is used to mark the current dealer.

Rule variations

Renchan

There are two main rule variations regarding the dealer's renchan:

Renchan conditions:

Agari renchan: The dealer only renchans after a win.
Tenpai renchan: The dealer renchans after a win, or if tenpai at exhaustive draw.

Agariyame: In the last round, dealers may or may not be allowed to decline a renchan.

Some rules let the last dealer choose to end the game when they win the hand.
Other rules end the game when a 1st-place dealer wins, regardless of whenever they want to or not.
Other rules do not let the dealer to end the game. The game ends when the dealer does not win.

Tiebreakers

When players are tied at the end of the game, some rulesets break the tie based on initial dealership. In order of priority, 1st dealer (East player in East 1) > 2nd dealer (South player in East 1) > 3rd dealer (West player in East 1) > 4th dealer (North player in East 1). This order is used because, traditionally, being the last dealer is seen as an advantage. The last dealer can end the game as soon as they reach first place in the last round; other players do not have this luxury.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-For every hand, one player is designated as the '''oya''' {{kana|親}}, or dealer.  At all instances, this player is also [[Jikaze|seated]] as east.  During the game, player is denoted as the dealer with the dealer marker; or, the dealer marker notes the original dealer, while some other means to mark the dealer is used.
+The '''oya''' {{kana|親}} (lit. parent), known in English as the '''dealer''', is the player in the [[Jikaze|East seat]]. The dealer gets special benefits when winning a hand.
 == Dealer rotation ==
-During the course of the game, the dealer position rotates among the four players.  This can occur in two ways:
+During the course of the game, the dealer seat rotates among the four players. Seats rotate when:
 # A player other than the dealer wins a hand.
-# The dealer fails to attain tenpai at [[ryuukyoku]] (exhaustive draw).
+# The dealer fails to attain [[tenpai]] at [[ryuukyoku]] (exhaustive draw).
-Seldom, a game can end without the dealer position ever changing.  Notably, this scenario can occur if a player's points [[Tobi|fall below zero]] beforehand.  Of course, some [[Scoring_variations#Tobi|rules]] allow continuance of the game, despite the scores.
+Once every player gets to be a dealer once, the round wind changes. In a [[hanchan]], everyone gets 2 chances at the dealer seat.
-== Dealer conditions ==
+Conversely, if the dealer wins a hand, or is in tenpai at exhaustive draw, then the seats do not rotate. Each time this happens, the game length is extended by 1 extra hand.
-The dealer seat has some benefits:
-* If the dealer wins the hand, the wind seating does not rotate.
+== Useful Info ==
-* If the dealer is [[tenpai]] at [[ryuukyoku]] (exhaustive draw), the wind seating does not rotate.
+When a player is the dealer, the following properties apply:
-* The dealer's hand value is worth exactly or approximately 50% more than that of non-dealer hands.
-* The dealer is always the first to grab four dealt tiles.
-* The dealer always draws first and begins the hand.
-Ideally, players greatly benefit by retaining the dealer position, an event known as [[renchan]], in order to maximize point gains.  Often, games may be won or lost regarding the dealer position.
+* The dealer draws first, which is a slight advantage to hand speed.
+* The dealer's hand value is worth 50% more (or about 50% more) than non-dealer's.
+* If the dealer wins the hand, or is tenpai at exhaustive draw, the wind seating does not rotate, thus extending the game by an extra hand ([[renchan]]).
+* The dealer pays x2 as much when another player wins via [[tsumo]]. (Dealers do not pay more when [[ron|dealing in]].)
-Naturally, other players may force wind rotation by winning the hand themselves.  Yet, at times, it may be beneficial for the dealer to simply concede the dealer position.  Ideally, the dealer would prefer to let the wind seating rotate either when other players win points off of each other directly (by ron), other players win by tsumo using cheap hands, or being noten at ryuukyoku to minimize point losses.
+Due to the +50% point modifier, players greatly benefit from being the dealer. Games are often decided by dealer turns. A lucky player may rise from 4th all the way to 1st through consecutive renchans.
-[[Rule_variations#Agari|Variation]] on the rotation rule may be applied depending on the requirement. Sometimes, the rule setting may require the dealer to win the hand, instead of merely achieving tenpai at ryuukyoku.  This is to increase the pressure on the dealer to win hands.  This also prevents the dealer from elongating the game by attaining additional hands by being tenpai at ryuukyoku.
+However, being the dealer is not always helpful:
+* When a dealer has a large lead near the end of the game, they should avoid winning to avoid extending the game. After all, each renchan gives the other players a chance to build a [[yakuman]] and comeback.
+* When another player wins by [[tsumo]], the dealer has to pay more. The extra points lost from tsumo can be significant during close games or with big hands.
-The dealer is only disadvantaged when non-dealer players win by [[tsumo]].  In this case, the dealer plays approximately twice as much as the other players.  This is significant during close games or on big hands, where the point differences may be adequate enough for a [[gyakuten|place change]].
+The current dealer is denoted by using the dealer marker. Alternatively, the dealer marker notes the original dealer, and some other method is used to mark the current dealer.
+==Rule variations==
+===Renchan===
+There are two main [[Rule variations#Agari|rule variation]]s regarding the dealer's [[renchan]]:
+Renchan conditions:
+*'''Agari renchan:''' The dealer only renchans after a win.
+*'''Tenpai renchan:''' The dealer renchans after a win, or if tenpai at [[exhaustive draw]].
+Agariyame: In the [[oorasu|last round]], dealers may or may not be allowed to decline a renchan.
+*Some rules let the last dealer choose to end the game when they win the hand.
+*Other rules end the game when a 1st-place dealer wins, regardless of whenever they want to or not.
+*Other rules do not let the dealer to end the game. The game ends when the dealer does not win.
+===Tiebreakers===
+When players are tied at the end of the game, some rulesets break the tie based on initial dealership. In order of priority, 1st dealer (East player in East 1) > 2nd dealer (South player in East 1) > 3rd dealer (West player in East 1) > 4th dealer (North player in East 1). This order is used because, traditionally, being the last dealer is seen as an advantage. The last dealer can end the game as soon as they reach first place in the last round; other players do not have this luxury.
 [[Category:Game rules]]
 [[Category:Terminology]]