Tenpai

Tenpai is also referred to as the "ready hand". A hand in this state is said to be "ready", when only one more tile is needed to complete the hand. The completion may be either done by draw and/or discard, where applicable. Most often, the yaku composition of the hand determines the possible methods of winning.

Example tenpai hands

• Closed tenpai

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Tenpai with no yaku

This is a common mistake for many beginner. Hands are achieved by tenpai. However, due to lack of or limited knowledge of the yaku, players may find themselves building a hand to tenpai but are unable to declare a win. Furiten may be a case here; but often, this is due to the lack of yaku.