Buu Mahjong
Buu Mahjong 「ブー麻雀」, also known as Buu Man, and Sports Mahjong, is a variant of Japanese Mahjong with roots somewhere around the Kansai region of Japan (according to Aasada Tetsuya, author of the Maajan Hourouki). It is extremely fast paced and is more suited towards gambling than its eastern cousin, by which it has been almost entirely eclipsed in recent years.[1]
Gameplay
In Buu Mahjong, the game progresses similar to standard Riichi Mahjong. A notable difference is the discarded tiles in Buu Mahjong are arranged in a single row rather than cutting them into rows of six.[2]
Objective
Buu Mahjong is played as a full four-wind-round game, the game ends when a player has doubled their initial allotted points, or when a player has negative points.[2]
Sinking and Floating
In Buu Mahjong, the distribution of sinking players and floating players affects the end game ranking, which subsequently affects payout. Any player that possesses less than their initial allotted points is considering to be sinking, and any player with their initial points and above is considered to be floating. Thus, a game of Buu Mahjong can end in one of three different states:
- A Top (マルＡ): The winning player is the only player floating. Receives 10 chips from each player.
- B Top (マルＢ): Two players are floating. Winner receives 5 chips from each sinking player.
- C Top (マルＣ): Only one player is sinking. Winner receives 3 chips from the sinking player.
NOTE: The above values are example payouts. Payout can differ wildly from parlour to parlour. The only set rule is that usually, C-Top's payout is equivalent to the parlour's Badai, or table fee. This essentially means that any player that wins C Top doesn't win or lose any money, and as a result, trying to take C Top purposefully is seen as poor sport, and may not be allowed depending on the parlour.[1]
Rules
Buu Mahjong differs from standard Riichi Mahjong in several aspects, namely scoring, points, and winning.[1]
Scoring
Buu Mahjong utilize a different scoring system, derived from Aaru-Shi-Aaru Mahjong, the predecessor of modern Riichi Mahjong. The main difference between scoring is the lack of the Bazoro, which refers to the internal 2 Han automatically factored into every Riichi Mahjong hand. As Buu Mahjong uses considerably less points than regular Mahjong, re-denomination of the point sticks is necessary. Standard point sticks are used, but their values are cut down to a tenth, meaning that 100 points = 10, 1000 = 100, and etc.[1]
Play starts at 2000 points and ends when anyone either drops below 0 points or reaches 4000 points.[1]
No minimum Han is required to win a hand. Any hand with han value of 5 or higher is scored as mangan (2000点). Scoring a Yakuman hand ends the game with all other players sinking.[2]
As no minimum han is required, it is possible to score a hand of 0han 30fu valued at 120点.
Some rules award 1han to every hand by default, a 3han 40fu hand would therefore be scored as mangan.[3]
Other scoring rules:[2]
- Honba is valued at 300点, a 0han hand can not claim points for honba.
- Dora does not count as han, but is paid similar to Honba as 300点 ontop of the base points.
- There are two red fives, both pinzu. Holding more than one red five counts as one dora.
- A fully closed hand 門前 is awarded 300点
Sometimes, when the game reaches the South 4th round, it is played Aotenjou, meaning the Mangan cap for scoring is lifted.[1]
Yaku
Kuisagari is rarely used. (A property of some yaku that reduces the han value by 1 when the hand is open.)
Pinfu is not compatible with Menzen Tsumo. Rather Menzen tsumo is awarded 2 additional fu, (4fu total).[2]
The following yaku are optional but often used:[1]
- Iipeikou
- Chiitoitsu (Valued at 1han 50fu)
- Sanshoku Doujun
The following yaku are generally not used:[1]
Furiten
Furiten functions differently from standard Riichi Mahjong, as outlined below.
Furiten is only applied on tiles you have discarded. Therefore, if you had a 1-4 Man wait, and had already discarded the 1 Man, you can declare Ron off of a discarded 4 Man. In addition, if a player discarded a tile that would normally have put you into temporary Furiten (ie, the 1 Man in the previous example), it does not count as temporary Furiten.
Furiten Riichi is likewise, allowed to declare Ron, following the rules above. However, it is limited to the restriction that should you voluntarily pass on a winning tile, you become both unable to declare Ron and Tsumo on that tile thereafter.
Some restrictions may exist on damaten-Furiten hands depending on the parlour, such as a rule in which you cannot declare a win after the turn following the turn you entered Furiten. In these cases, Furiten Riichi also becomes unavailable.[1]
Riichi
- No deposit is required to declare riichi.
- Ippatsu and Uradora are not used.
- Riichi is not allowed if it is possible to bust another player without the player in riichi ending at the top.
- Calling Tsumo on a tile that is Furiten while in Riichi is not allowed.
The Chombo penalty is enforced in the case of these rule violations[2] for an amount equal to half of Mangan (1000点/1500点) [1]
Etiquette
You cannot declare a win that would put another player below 0 points if it does not change your standing from sinking to not sinking. This is commonly considered to be a rule violation. Declaring a win while floating or that will make you floating that does not make you win but busts another player is generally considered a rule violation.[1]
Other Rules
Tenpai Renchan, No-Ten Bappu, Kandora, Uradora, and Ippatsu are not used. Agari Renchan and Ryuukyoku are still utilized however, along with cumulative Honba sticks.
In general, for Tochuu Ryuukyoku, Suu Fon Renda and Kyuushuu Kyuuhai are always used. Though it has rarely been seen, Suukaikan is also probably in use. In general, however, Suucha Riichi is never used.
Atamahane (Head Bump rule), is usually utilized.[1]
Strategy
Players aim to Sink everyone else at the table to end with A Top (マルＡ). The maximum amount a player can win, awarded by A Top is 3x 10 chips minus the table fee of 3 chips, netting 27 chips. B Top nets 7 chips, and C Top nets 0 chips. And the maximum amount one can lose is 10 chips.
It is a common strategy to speed up a high value hand by calling open melds while in Tenpai, rather than calling Ron. And re-drawing for a furiten tsumo to Sink all three players.
A 3han 40fu hand with 1 dora is enough to end the game with Top A as the dealer on the first hand of the match. 3han 40fu awarding 640点 + Dora 100点 from each player is enough to set the dealer at 4220点, double the initial allotted points.