Situational analysis: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 19:37, 14 September 2024

When performing situational analysis, a player accounts for the game round and each player's current score to determine their decisions.

A player's final placement (1st/2nd/etc.) is often important, as the oka and uma systems tend to give huge bonuses/penalties for changing place. In online websites like tenhou.net and Riichi City, your placement is the only thing that matters for rank points. Therefore, players should act differently as the overall point conditions change. For example, when given the exact same hand, a player with a huge lead might not want to riichi, but a player far behind may be desperate to riichi. Therefore, it is not only important to look at the hand, but each players' current points as well.

Hand values

Main articles: Scoring table and Gyakuten

In order to perform situational analysis, players should know the potential hand values (or at least, the common hand values). Knowing the score table is important when determining when to riichi and when to open the hand. For instance, if it is the last round, there is no need to riichi when 2000 points behind 1st place with a 2 han hand.

Relative goals

Especially in the last hand, players may need to address the different goals of the other players. Players in last generally have a win-at-all-cost mentality. Players in second/third may seek to improvement their placement. Point leaders may simply want the game to end and/or protect their position. The point differences between players indicate any sort of possibility for these scenarios.

Fourth Place Avoidance

In the online clients tenhou.net and Majsoul (before Celestial rank), there is a huge penalty for 4th place for players of a high rank.

Tenhou.net: If a 6-dan player plays, they get 75/30/0/-120 points for placing 1st through 4th, respectively.
Majsoul: If a Saint 1 player plays in Jade Room, they get 125/60/-5/-255 rank points for placing 1st through 4th, respectively (counting uma).

Say a Saint 1 plays in Majsoul. When in an otherwise guaranteed 3rd place, and an action has a 50% chance to net 2nd, but a 50% chance to net 4th, it has terrible value. If successful, it nets only +65 points, but a failure results in a significant -255 points. Even with a 50% chance for 1st, and a 25% chance for 4th, it is just a net neutral.

It is important to restate that huge 4th place penalties only apply to high ranked players. If higher ranked, do what is possible to avoid being last - try not to take risks late in the game, even if there is no immediate threat of being 4th. At lower levels, it is best to improve on average placement (including fundamentals like tile efficiency and defense) rather than focus on avoiding 4th specifically.

The reason the 4th-place penalties is so high to punish players for leaving early. When playing with physical tiles, the point distribution is more even (they tend to favor 1st place, due to the oka system). Of course, no matter where you play: if you are currently in 4th place, you should do what is possible to escape.

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-When performing '''situational analysis''', a player accounts for important game conditions, namely the [[Ba|game round]] and the current scores. Because your final placement (1st/2nd/etc.) is often important in riichi mahjong, players should act differently the conditions change. For example, a player with a huge lead may not want to [[riichi]], but a player far behind may be desparate to riichi.
+When performing '''situational analysis''', a player accounts for the [[Ba|game round]] and each player's current score to determine their decisions.
-==Overview==
+A player's final placement (1st/2nd/etc.) is often important, as the [[oka and uma]] systems tend to give huge bonuses/penalties for changing place. In online websites like [[tenhou.net]] and [[Riichi City]], your placement is the only thing that matters for rank points. Therefore, players should act differently as the overall point conditions change. For example, when given the exact same hand, a player with a huge lead might not want to [[riichi]], but a player far behind may be desperate to riichi. Therefore, it is not only important to look at the hand, but each players' current points as well.
-In riichi mahjong, your placement often matters. Due to the [[oka and uma]] systems, you can gain huge bonuses/penalties when rising/falling down a place. For competitive play, your placement may also matter for your overall rating.
 == Hand values ==
 {{main|Scoring table|Gyakuten}}
-Players should know the potential hand values in order to accurately access a point difference. Knowing the score table is important when determining [[riichi strategy|when to riichi]] and [[naki strategy|when to open the hand]]. For instance, if it is the last round, there is no need to riichi if you are 2000 points behind 1st place with a 2 han hand.
+In order to perform situational analysis, players should know the potential hand values (or at least, the common hand values). Knowing the score table is important when determining [[riichi strategy|when to riichi]] and [[naki strategy|when to open the hand]]. For instance, if it is the last round, there is no need to riichi when 2000 points behind 1st place with a 2 han hand.
 == Relative goals ==
-Especially in the [[oorasu|last hand]], players may need to address the different goals of the other players. Players in last generally have a win-at-all-cost mentality. Players in either second or third may seek to [[gyakuten|improvement their placement]]. Point leaders may simply want the game to end and/or protect their position. The point differences between players indicate any sort of possibility for these scenarios.
+Especially in the [[oorasu|last hand]], players may need to address the different goals of the other players. Players in last generally have a win-at-all-cost mentality. Players in second/third may seek to [[gyakuten|improvement their placement]]. Point leaders may simply want the game to end and/or protect their position. The point differences between players indicate any sort of possibility for these scenarios.
 == Fourth Place Avoidance ==
-In the online clients [[tenhou.net]] and [[Majsoul]], there is a huge penalty for 4th place ''for players at a high rank''.
+In the online clients [[tenhou.net]] and [[Majsoul]] (before Celestial rank), there is a huge penalty for 4th place for players ''of a high rank''.
 *Tenhou.net: If a 6-dan player plays, they get 75/30/0/-120 points for placing 1st through 4th, respectively.
 *Majsoul: If a Saint 1 player plays in Jade Room, they get 125/60/-5/-255 rank points for placing 1st through 4th, respectively (counting [[uma]]).
-Say you are playing at Majsoul. If you currently 3rd and doing something has a 50% chance to be 2nd, but a 50% chance to be 4th, don't do it. If it succeeds, you'd only get 65 points, but if it fails you lose a significant -255 points. Even if you had a 50% for 2nd / 25% to be 4th, it is an unwise decision.
+Say a Saint 1 plays in Majsoul. When in an otherwise guaranteed 3rd place, and an action has a 50% chance to net 2nd, but a 50% chance to net 4th, it has terrible value. If successful, it nets only +65 points, but a failure results in a significant -255 points. Even with a 50% chance for 1st, and a 25% chance for 4th, it is just a net neutral.
-It is important to restate that an extreme level of 4th place avoidance only applies when you are at a high rank. At lower levels, it is best to improve on ''average placement'' (including fundamentals like [[tile efficiency]] and [[defense]]) rather than focus on avoiding 4th specifically. At these high ranks, do what you can to avoid being last - try not to take risks late in the game, even if there is no immediate threat of being 4th.
+It is important to restate that huge 4th place penalties only apply to high ranked players. If higher ranked, do what is possible to avoid being last - try not to take risks late in the game, even if there is no immediate threat of being 4th. At lower levels, it is best to improve on ''average placement'' (including fundamentals like [[tile efficiency]] and [[defense]]) rather than focus on avoiding 4th specifically.
-These online clients have big penalties to encourage players in 4th to not leave the game. In most real life areas of play, the point distribution is more even (they tend to favor 1st place, due to the [[oka]] system). Of course, no matter where you play: if you are currently in 4th place, you should obviously do what you can to escape.
+The reason the 4th-place penalties is so high to punish players for leaving early. When playing with physical tiles, the point distribution is more even (they tend to favor 1st place, due to the [[oka]] system). Of course, no matter where you play: if you are currently in 4th place, you should do what is possible to escape.
-Also, note that once you reach Celestial in Majsoul, there is no more special 4th place penalty. At Celestial, the point rating becomes 0.5/0.2/-0.2/-0.5, so there is no special need to avoid fourth.
 == External links ==