Chuuren poutou
Chuuren poutou (九連宝燈) is a yakuman. It contains the 13-tile pattern 1-1-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-9-9 of the same suit, plus any one more tile from the suit. A chuuren poutou tenpai with the specific pattern already in place has a 9-sided wait, the winning hand is then called junsei chuuren poutou (純正九蓮宝燈).
| Type | Yakuman |
|---|---|
| Kanji |
九連宝燈 純正九蓮宝燈 |
| English |
Nine gates Pure nine gates |
| Value | Yakuman (closed only) |
| Speed | Very slow |
| Difficulty | Very hard |
The 13-tile pattern generates a 9-sided wait even as a normal hand with four sets and a pair. Chuuren poutou is therefore no hand shape exception, unlike chii toitsu and kokushi musou.
Tile pattern
Regular
Agari: 
- Note: This hand can also win with
. However, that would downgrade the hand to a mere chinitsu.
Nine tile wait
Agari: Any pinzu 1 through 9.
Value
As a yakuman, it is worth 32,000 points for a non-dealer and 48,000 points for the dealer.
Some rules award a double yakuman instead when the hand goes out from the 9-sided wait.
Formation
The key to this yakuman is the possession of ankou of both 1's and 9's of one suit. If two of either group of tiles are not available, then any attempt at this yakuman is no longer possible. Of course, that is in addition to the collection of a string consisting of 2-8 tiles of the same suit. Since this hand uses a single suit, it overlaps chinitsu during development. In fact, many tenpai formations may result in chinitsu, rather than the yakuman. This is due to the ability of chinitsu to form some complicated waits.
Sample tenpai configurations
| Row | Tenpai | Yakuman | Chinitsu | Machi |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pure |          |
Any | None | |
| 1-A | |
|
|
Shanpon, Penchan |
| 1-B |          |
|
|
Kanchan, Ryanmen |
| 1-C | |
|
|
Shanpon, Sanmentan |
External links
- Chuuren poutou in Japanese Wikipedia