Pinfu
Pinfu 「平和」 is a standard yaku. This yaku is defined by having 0 fu aside from the base 20 fu, or 30 fu in the case of a closed ron. It is worth 1 han and closed only. Under all cases, a tenpai for pinfu requires the wait pattern of ryanmen (open wait).
| Type | Yaku |
|---|---|
| Kanji | 平和 |
| English | All sequences |
| Value | 1 han |
| Speed | Very fast |
| Difficulty | Very easy |
Tile diagram
Winning tile: 
or 
The winning tile completes the last sequence, which is worth 0 fu, making the hand pinfu.
Definition
In English, pinfu is sometimes referred to as "all sequences". However, the yaku is not as simple as that. There are hands that have all sequences and are not valid for pinfu.
The exact definition of pinfu is a closed hand that has no fu, other than the fu from winning. To score pinfu:
- The hand must be closed.
- The hand cannot have any triplets or quads - it must be all sequences.
- The pair cannot be composed of yakuhai - the pair cannot be the round wind, seat wind, or a dragon.
- The hand must have a ryanmen wait. A ryanmen wait is two consecutive tiles waiting to complete either side of sequence, such as {23} or {45}.
- The pair must be complete before reaching tenpai. This means that a "two-sided" nobetan wait does not count, it has to be a wait to complete a sequence.
- Complex waits can score pinfu if they are composed off of ryanmen waits. Therefore, a sanmenchan wait always counts as ryanmen. Ryantan counts if you win by completing the sequence (e.g. a wait of {4555} only scores pinfu if you win with 3 or 6).
If you know how fu is scored, the requirements for pinfu make sense. Triplets and quads score at least 2 fu each. A yakuhai pair scores 2 fu. A non-ryanmen wait scores 2 fu. Therefore, by having a closed hand that avoids all extra sources of fu, you gain pinfu. Pinfu is allowed to score the 10 fu from winning from a closed ron.
As an exception, pinfu does not score fu from tsumo (win from self draw). Normally, a win by self draw is worth 2 fu. When a hand wins with pinfu, these 2 fu are waived. Thus, a pinfu tsumo is worth 20 fu, and is the only hand that can be worth 20 fu. (Open hands with 0 fu gain +2 fu for being open.)
Counter examples
The following examples are all "all sequence hands", but they are not pinfu.
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Every tile group is a sequence, but this hand is open. |
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The pair of east winds disqualifies the hand as pinfu for the dealer or for any player in the east round. |
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The pair wait disqualifies this hand as pinfu. |
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The dragon pair does not qualify this hand as pinfu. |
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The middle wait does not qualify this hand as pinfu. |
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This hand qualifies for pinfu using either 6-pin or 9-pin. However, the first tile, 3-pin, functions as tanki. Coupled with the 6-pin, it is on a 3-6 nobetan. Nevertheless, 6-pin still qualifies for pinfu, because the han increase takes precedence over fu. |
Value
By definition, pinfu has less fu than other hands at the same han value. Specifically, a pinfu ron has 30 fu, while a pinfu tsumo has 20 fu. Therefore, for hands below mangan, pinfu results in less points than other yaku.
To demonstrate:
- Riichi + Pinfu ron (2 han 30 fu) = 2000 points
- Riichi + Tanyao ron (2 han 40 fu) = 2600 points
- Riichi + Mentsumo + Pinfu (3 han 20 fu) = 2700 points
- Riichi + Mentsumo + Tanyao (3 han 30 fu) = 4000 points
Of course, pinfu still increases your score even with the fu decrease (riichi + tanyao + pinfu > riichi + tanyao). Also, once the hand reaches mangan or higher, fu no longer matter, so pinfu is worth the same as any other 1-han yaku.
Compatibility
^ Ippatsu requires riichi to be of any use.
| RCH | DRI | IPP | SMO | TAN | PFU | IPK | ITT | YAK | SDJ | SDO | TOI | SNA | SNK | CHA | JUN | RPK | SSG | HRO | HON | CHN | CHI | RIN | HAI | HOU | CHK | |
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Pinfu is incompatible with any yaku that requires a triplet, including rinshan. It is similarly incompatible with chiitoitsu, which does not use mentsu at all. On the other hand, pinfu works any sequential based yaku. As long as the hand is closed, the pair does not produce "fu", and the wait is open, then pinfu may be applied.
Usage
Pinfu is one of the most common yaku. While complex, the requirements are not difficult to meet.
- When playing with a closed hand, sequences are much easier to complete than triplets, so having "all sequences" is reasonably common.
- Ryanmen waits have better tile efficiency than other waits, so players will normally gather and keep ryanmen in their hand.
- Pairs are even easier to complete than sequences.
Therefore, by aiming to complete a closed hand quickly, players will often end up scoring this yaku as a byproduct. While pinfu won't be as fast as tanyao or yakuhai, because it cannot be scored open, this yaku is still seen often.
It naturally combines with other sequence based yaku, namely iipeikou, sanshoku doujun, and ittsuu.
External links
- Pinfu in Japanese Wikipedia