Furiten: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 14:58, 26 June 2024

Baiman tenpai, in furiten due to 9-sou in discard. Ron cannot be called here.

While a player's hand is in furiten 「振聴」, the player cannot declare a win on another player's discard (i.e., they cannot ron). They are still allowed to win with their own draw (tsumo), assuming the hand is valid.

The most common form of furiten is with discards: if any tile a player's hand could have won off had been discarded before, it is furiten. A hand may also enter furiten when a player skips a win.

This rule is often used for defense purposes to determine safe tiles: any tile a player discards is 100% safe against that player.

Rule overview

A hand in tenpai is in furiten in any of the following scenarios:

Discard furiten: When at least one winning tile had been discarded before, the hand enters furiten. This applies even if the hand couldn't actually win if it got that tile (due to lacking yaku). A does not have to be in your discard pile to invoke furiten; if an opponent called a tile, it will still trigger fuirten.
Permanent furiten: After declaring riichi, if the first winning tile is skipped, the hand permanently enters furiten.
Temporary furiten: When not in riichi, when a winning tile is skipped, the hand enters temporary furiten. This furiten lasts until the player's next draw.

While in furiten, the hand is unable to call ron upon a discard. However, it is still winnable via self-draw, assuming the hand has valid yaku.

Note: If a hand is in furiten, it is unable to win off any player's discard, regardless of which tile caused the furiten. For example, if your hand is waiting to win with 2p and 5p, and you had discarded 2p before, you are unable to win off an opponent's 5p.

Discard furiten

Example discard pile
2-pin in this discard applies furiten to the example hand

The most common case of furiten involves a player's own discard. If a player's own winning tile had been discarded before, then their hand enters furiten.

You can tell what tiles a player discarded by looking at their discard pile, and looking at the rotated tiles in other players' tile calls. This leads to the most basic strategy to avoid dealing into a player's hand: tiles they have already discarded are guaranteed to be safe against a ron call from that player.

It is important to bear furiten in mind when developing a hand. Frequently, if a hand gets to tenpai and is furiten, then the hand was inefficiently developed. This is not always the case, however, as a player can make a correct decision but still be in furiten.

A common reason for furiten is when a player is in tenpai with an open hand, but it has no guaranteed yaku. In these cases, the hand will only gain yaku if it draws a certain winning tile. If a different winning tile is drawn, the hand will have no yaku, and is thus forced to discard its own winning tile - entering furiten. This most commonly occurs with:

A shanpon wait, with one tile completing a yakuhai triplet, and the other having no yaku.
A ryanmen wait on 14 or 69 on a hand that would otherwise complete tanyao.

These type of cases are known as atozuke.

Finally, a player considering a double riichi should carefully inspect their hand before discarding; if they had a complete hand to begin with, then being in furiten will add insult to the injury of having [passed] on a tenhou or chiihou tsumo.

A hand can escape this type of furiten by changing its waits.

Example tenpai hand

Waiting for:

This hand waits on three different tiles. If the player has a 2-pin in their discard pile, then the hand is in furiten and may not win by ron on any tile. Even if a 5-pin or 8-pin gets discarded by an opponent, ron may not be called.

Temporary furiten

Any player in tenpai has the option to ignore a winning tile. By declining a call for ron, the player then becomes temporarily furiten until their next discard. This is called temporary furiten, because it only lasts for 1 turn. This applies to discarded tiles, as well as tiles used to create a shouminkan.

The primary purpose of the rule is to prevent a player from targeting a later player in the turn order. Once a player sees a tile discarded, they know that they can follow with the same tile and it will be safe for that turn.

A player may deliberately skip a win, entering temporary furiten in the process. This is often done after point standing analysis, such as:

When a player is close to bankrupting, a player in 1st may want to target them in order to end the game faster.
When close to all last, a player may need to ron a specific player to rise up in rank.

Temporary furiten can also be entered by a player who does not have a guaranteed yaku, as described above. Otherwise, a player may mistakenly enter furiten if they don't know their waits correctly.

Rarely, some rulesets vary the rules by allowing a tile call made by another player to cancel temporary furiten.

Permanent furiten during riichi

Main article: Riichi

When a player has declared riichi, the state of temporary furiten does not expire. Therefore, if a riichi hand skips a win, it is no longer able to call ron.

The purpose of this rule is to make it easier to defend against riichi. Any tiles discarded since the declaration is safe against that riichi player.

A player in riichi never has to worry about having no yaku unless they are playing with ryanhan shibari. When ryanhan shibari, a riichi without a guaranteed second yaku may be quite dangerous due to furiten.

Strategy

Defense

Main article: Defense

The furiten rule is essential for defensive play. Any tile that would invoke furiten to a player is 100% safe against that player:

Discard furiten: Any tile that an opponent discarded is 100% against them.
Permanent furiten: After an opponent declares riichi, any tile anyone discards is 100% safe against that riichi player.
Temporary furiten: Any tile that the player to your left has discarded this turn is 100% safe against every player for this turn only.

Suji is a technique that is related to furiten. When a tile is suji, a hand cannot have a ryanmen wait (2-sided wait; the most common type of wait) for that tile without being in furiten.

Working with furiten

Sometimes, it may be necessary to enter tenpai when it would be furiten. Often, this is the result of developing the hand and defending simultaneously.

An important thing to realize is that you only enter furiten when in tenpai. Therefore, it is not the worst thing to keep a wait that could cause furiten later. So long as you complete the wait before tenpai, there is no punishment.

Even if you do enter furiten, a 3-sided wait in furiten is still strong, and a 2-sided wait in furiten remains reasonable (around the level of a 1-sided wait).

Rarely, a hand in damaten can intentionally enter furiten. In this case, the hand is in tenpai, but after a winning tile is drawn, the player does not declare a win but declares riichi - immediately entering furiten. This may be done to score a yaku like pinfu.

Exiting furiten

To exit discard furiten, you can change the hand's wait so that it can no longer win off any of the discarded tiles. For example:

Draw:

Waiting for:

(furiten)

If the hand had discarded previously, it would be in furiten. By drawing and discarding , it now waits on and . Thus, the hand is no longer waiting on , and is no longer in furiten.

External links

振聴

Furiten in Japanese Wikipedia

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[Image:Furiten.png|right|thumb|250px|Baiman tenpai, in furiten due to 9-sou in discard.  Ron cannot be called here.]]
+[[Image:Furiten.png|right|thumb|250px|[http://tenhou.net/0/?log=2012110112gm-0009-7447-14ec5c8d&tw=0&ts=4 Baiman tenpai], in furiten due to 9-sou in discard.  Ron cannot be called here.]]
-'''Furiten''' {{kana|振聴}}, meaning '''sacred discard''', is a particular rule associated with the tile discards. Unlike many other mahjong variations, the [[discard pile]] for Japanese mahjong is specifically arranged in front of players.  Likewise, [[naki|tile calls]] have specific arrangements to point the source of these discarded tiles.  The main purpose is the enforcement of the '''furiten rule'''.  Basically, the player in [[Tenpai|tenpai]] is furiten if winning tiles are present in one's own discard pile or other player's discard pile, barring certain conditions.  Players in furiten may still win by tsumo, but not by ron.
+While a player's hand is in '''furiten''' {{kana|振聴}}, the player cannot declare a win on another player's [[ron|discard]] (i.e., they cannot [[ron]]). They are still allowed to win with their own draw ([[tsumo]]), assuming the hand is valid.
-== The rule ==
+The most common form of furiten is with discards: if any tile a player's hand could have won off had been discarded before, it is furiten. A hand may also enter furiten when a player skips a win.
-Furiten imposes the following conditions:
-* '''Players in furiten may not win by ron''', even if they have a yaku.
-* Declaring ron while in furiten is penalized with a [[Chombo|chombo payment]].
-* Players in furiten may still win by tsumo.
-== Causes ==
+This rule is often used for [[defense]] purposes to determine [[genbutsu|safe tiles]]: any tile a player discards is 100% safe against that player.
-With regards to furiten, all cases of furiten involves the discard pile.  When a player has called a win, particularly via the call for ron, the discard pile is checked for furiten along with a few other rules.  In event when furiten is determined among the discards after the the call for ron, then chombo is enforced.  For games played via the computer, players are denied the ability to declare "ron" in the first place.
+== Rule overview ==
+A hand in [[tenpai]] is in furiten in any of the following scenarios:
-=== Discard-based furiten ===
+* '''Discard furiten:''' When at least one winning tile had been discarded before, the hand enters furiten. This applies even if the hand couldn't actually win if it got that tile (due to lacking [[yaku]]). A  does not have to be in your discard pile to invoke furiten; if an opponent [[naki|called]] a tile, it will still trigger fuirten.
+* '''Permanent furiten:''' After declaring [[riichi]], if the first winning tile is skipped, the hand permanently enters furiten.
+* '''Temporary furiten:''' When not in riichi, when a winning tile is skipped, the hand enters temporary furiten. This furiten lasts until the player's next draw.
+While in furiten, the hand is unable to call ron upon a discard. However, it is still winnable via self-draw, assuming the hand has valid yaku.
+Note: If a hand is in furiten, it is unable to win off ''any'' player's discard, regardless of which tile caused the furiten. For example, if your hand is waiting to win with 2p and 5p, and you had discarded 2p before, you are unable to win off an opponent's 5p.
+=== Discard furiten ===
 {{Discard pile
@@ Line 23: / Line 28: @@
 }}
-A player is furiten if a winning tile is present in his own's [[discard pile]].  It does not matter whether this tile would have provided a yaku or not. Tiles turned sideways within open melds are considered part of their discarder's discard pile.
+The most common case of furiten involves a player's own discard. If a player's own winning tile had been discarded before, then their hand enters furiten.
+You can tell what tiles a player discarded by looking at their discard pile, and looking at the rotated tiles in other players' tile calls. This leads to the most basic strategy to avoid dealing into a player's hand: tiles they have already discarded are guaranteed to be safe against a ron call from that player.
-As long as the player has not declared [[Riichi|riichi]], furiten can be avoided by altering the hand and changing [[Machi|tile waits]].
+It is important to bear furiten in mind when developing a hand. Frequently, if a hand gets to tenpai and is furiten, then the hand was inefficiently developed. This is not always the case, however, as a player can make a correct decision but still be in furiten.
-'''Example tenpai hand'''
+A common reason for furiten is when a player is in tenpai with an open hand, but it has no guaranteed yaku. In these cases, the hand will only gain yaku if it draws a certain winning tile. If a different winning tile is drawn, the hand will have no yaku, and is thus forced to discard its own winning tile - entering furiten. This most commonly occurs with:
-:{{#mjt:77m 34567p 678s 777z}}, waiting on {{#mjt:2p}}, {{#mjt:5p}}, or {{#mjt:8p}}
+*A [[shanpon]] wait, with one tile completing a [[yakuhai]] triplet, and the other having no yaku.
+*A [[ryanmen]] wait on 14 or 69 on a hand that would otherwise complete [[tanyao]].
+These type of cases are known as [[atozuke]].
-This hand waits on three different tiles. If the player has a 2-pin the discard pile, then the hand is in furiten and may not win by ron on any tile. Even if a 5-pin or 8-pin gets discarded by an opponent, ron may not be called in this instance.
+Finally, a player considering a [[daburu riichi|double riichi]] should carefully inspect their hand before discarding; if they had a complete hand to begin with, then being in furiten will add insult to the injury of having [[http://osamuko.com/delicious-riichi-button-must-click-it/ passed]] on a [[tenhou and chiihou|tenhou or chiihou tsumo]].
-=== Permanent furiten during riichi ===
+A hand can escape this type of furiten by changing its waits.
-{{main|Riichi}}
-A riichi declarer may ignore a winning tile and not call ron. The ignored tile may have been a discarded tile or a [[Chankan|tile used to extend a minkou to a shominkan]].  After ignoring a winning tile, the riichi declarer is permanently furiten for the rest of the hand.  Therefore, it is advised for any player declaring riichi to call ron, at the first instance of a winning tile.  Otherwise, a win via [[mentsumo|tsumo]] becomes the only option.
+'''Example tenpai hand'''
+:{{machi
+|pattern      = 77m34567p678s777z
+|tilewaits    = 258p
+}}
-The furiten rule emphasizes that all tiles discarded by any player after the riichi declaration are deemed [[genbutsu|safe tiles]], in addition to the player's own discards. Riichi declarers may not decline a ron against one player and expect to declare ron against another.  Even if a winning tile different from the ignored one appears, the player may not call ron. This rule requires knowledge of all own [[machi|possible waits]].
+This hand waits on three different tiles. If the player has a 2-pin in their discard pile, then the hand is in furiten and may not win by ron on any tile. Even if a 5-pin or 8-pin gets discarded by an opponent, ron may not be called.
 === Temporary furiten ===
 [[Image:TempFuriten.png|thumb|right|250px|Ron declined, so [http://tenhou.net/0/?log=2014022617gm-0089-0000-ee8c6631&tw=2&ts=11 temporary furiten invoked] until the next own's tile draw.]]
-A tenpai player who has not declared riichi may also ignore a winning tile.  In some plays, this may be a valid option in order to achieve a higher scoring hand or to target a specific player.  By declining a call for ron, the player then becomes temporarily furiten until the next own discard. Some rules additionally cancel temporary furiten on any [[naki|tile call]] by any player.
+Any player in tenpai has the option to ignore a winning tile. By declining a call for ron, the player then becomes temporarily furiten until their next discard. This is called '''temporary furiten''', because it only lasts for 1 turn. This applies to discarded tiles, as well as tiles used to create a [[shouminkan]].
+The primary purpose of the rule is to prevent a player from targeting a later player in the turn order. Once a player sees a tile discarded, they know that they can follow with the same tile and it will be safe for that turn.
-The furiten rule does not consider [[yaku]]. Sometimes, a hand can be completed with several tiles, but only some of them provide a yaku, others would produce a yakuless hand. If a yakuless tile appears, it must be ignored, because a winning hand must contain a yaku. The player must remain temporarily furiten.
+A player may deliberately skip a win, entering temporary furiten in the process. This is often done after [[situational analysis|point standing analysis]], such as:
-This rule makes it harder to target a specific player with ron, or to ignore a winning tile of lesser value and hope for a tile giving more yaku.  Sometimes, a player simply needs a specific win condition in order to attain a certain result, like [[Gyakuten|passing another player]].  Win conditions that do not meet certain requirements may end up being ignored.
+*When a player is close to [[tobi|bankrupting]], a player in 1st may want to target them in order to end the game faster.
+*When close to [[oorasu|all last]], a player may need to ron a specific player to [[gyakuten|rise up in rank]].
+Temporary furiten can also be entered by a player who does not have a guaranteed yaku, as described above. Otherwise, a player may mistakenly enter furiten if they don't know their waits correctly.
+Rarely, some rulesets [[Rule variations#Furiten|vary the rules]] by allowing a tile call made by another player to cancel temporary furiten.
+=== Permanent furiten during riichi ===
+[[Image:Furiten riichi.png|250px|thumb|right|[http://tenhou.net/0/?log=2015082022gm-0089-0000-a1177c83&tw=1&ts=11 Furiten riichi] applied upon declaration and discard declining a winning hand.]]
+{{main|Riichi}}
+When a player has declared riichi, the state of temporary furiten does not expire. Therefore, if a riichi hand skips a win, it is no longer able to call ron.
+The purpose of this rule is to make it easier to defend against riichi. Any tiles discarded since the declaration is safe against that riichi player.
+A player in riichi never has to worry about having no yaku unless they are playing with [[ryanhan shibari]]. When ryanhan shibari, a riichi without a guaranteed second yaku may be quite dangerous due to furiten.
 == Strategy ==
 === Defense ===
+{{main|Defense}}
-{{main|Defense}}
+The furiten rule is essential for defensive play. Any tile that would invoke furiten to a player is 100% safe against that player:
+*Discard furiten: Any tile that an opponent discarded is 100% against them.
+*Permanent furiten: After an opponent declares [[riichi]], any tile anyone discards is 100% safe against that riichi player.
+*Temporary furiten: Any tile that the player to your left has discarded this turn is 100% safe against every player for this turn only.
+[[Suji]] is a technique that is related to furiten. When a tile is suji, a hand cannot have a [[ryanmen]] wait (2-sided wait; the most common type of wait) for that tile without being in furiten.
+===Working with furiten===
+Sometimes, it may be necessary to enter tenpai when it would be furiten. Often, this is the result of developing the hand and defending simultaneously.
+An important thing to realize is that you only enter furiten when in tenpai. Therefore, it is not the worst thing to keep a wait that could cause furiten later. So long as you complete the wait before tenpai, there is no punishment.
-The furiten rule may be applied for defensive play, which focuses on discarding [[safe tiles]]. By discarding tiles that are also visible in an opponent's discard pile, a player can avoid a ron call by that opponent.  Likewise, usage of [[suji]] and [[kabe]] may also help players deduce safe tiles, based on opponent discard.  This is applied when a player does not have any matching tiles in the hand with opponent discard; or a player may rather keep certain tiles, for the sake of developing the hand without [[betaori|tearing it apart]].
+Even if you do enter furiten, a 3-sided wait in furiten is still strong, and a 2-sided wait in furiten remains reasonable (around the level of a 1-sided wait).
-===Dealing with furiten===
+Rarely, a hand in [[damaten]] can intentionally enter furiten. In this case, the hand is in tenpai, but after a winning tile is drawn, the player does not declare a win but declares riichi - immediately entering furiten. This may be done to score a yaku like [[pinfu]].
-Sometimes, it may be necessary to deliberately place the hand in furiten.  Often, this is the result of developing the hand and defending simultaneously.  To escape the bind applied by furiten, then the hand's [[wait|machi]] must simply change.
+===Exiting furiten===
+To exit discard furiten, you can change the hand's [[wait]] so that it can no longer win off any of the discarded tiles. For example:
-=== Furiten tsumo ===
+:{{#mjt:22288m23p3456'78s}} Draw: {{#mjt:3p}} Waiting for: {{#mjt:14p}} (furiten)
-Hands in furiten can still win.  However, furiten imposes a limit of tsumo only.  For open hands, the hand then requires a valid yaku.  For closed hands, then [[mentsumo]] will be acceptable or added.
+If the hand had discarded {{#mjt:1p}} previously, it would be in furiten. By drawing {{#mjt:3p}} and discarding {{#mjt:2p}}, it now waits on {{#mjt:3p}} and {{#mjt:8m}}. Thus, the hand is no longer waiting on {{#mjt:1p}}, and is no longer in furiten.
 == External links ==