Damaten: Difference between revisions

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 [[Image:Damaten.png|250px|right|thumb|Damaten applied to a standalone baiman hand. [http://tenhou.net/0/?log=2014070418gm-0089-0000-092c00f3&tw=2]]]
-'''Damaten''' {{kana|黙聴}} is a strategy used with closed [[tenpai]] hands.  This strategy may also be referred to as a "hidden tenpai".  [[Riichi]] is an optional play, rather than a mandatory one.  Therefore, a player may sit and wait with a closed tenpai hand, hoping to win the hand without riichi.  Typically during damaten, the player usually already has a valid yaku in their hand; otherwise, [[menzen tsumo]] (or other circumstancial yaku) would be the only option for winning.  An older term '''yamiten''' {{kana|闇聴}} refers to the same cases.
+'''Damaten''' {{kana|黙聴}} is a closed [[tenpai]] hand that has not called [[riichi]]. Typically, a dama hand will have a [[yaku]] without riichi; otherwise, [[menzen tsumo]] (or another circumstantial yaku) would be needed to win. An older term '''yamiten''' {{kana|闇聴}} refers to the same cases.
 ==Usage==
-The major weakness of riichi stems from the inability to change the hand after making the call.  In doing so, a player makes oneself vulnerable to the changing conditions of the game.  Sometimes, other players may simply not defend against a riichi and conveniently attain tenpai while avoiding the riichi hand.  In turn, the riichi call may result towards playing into another player's hand.
+There are many reasons to dama:
+*When the call for riichi wouldn't increase the hand's value by itself. For example, a [[haneman]] is scored if you have 6-7 han. If you have an 6 han hand, the +1 han for riichi wouldn't increase the score. Declaring riichi could still increase score with a tsumo, ippatsu, and/or ura dora, but these aren't reliable.
+*When the hand is valuable. Because players will often [[defense|defend]] against a riichi hand, declaring riichi will generally lower your hand's win rate. So if your hand is already a guaranteed [[mangan]], haneman, or higher, you may wish to dama to get the existing value. Plus, once mangan is reached, each han afterwards has reduced value.
+*When points do not matter. If you are far in the lead, dama can be used to increase your win rate (thus, ending the game faster). If the game is in [[oorasu|all last]], and declaring riichi wouldn't change your placement, dama can also be considered.
+*When you wish to change your hand. Riichi locks your hand in, preventing you from upgrading the wait or gaining yaku. If your hand has many upgrades, you may wish to dama.
+*When the hand is bad. You might get to tenpai on what would be a riichi-only bad wait hand and decide it's not worth it. If someone else reaches tenpai, you can [[betaori|abandon the hand]].
-The current score may afford players to win hands without calling riichi.  This is especially true for players with affordable leads [[Oorasu|near the end of the game]].
+That being said, you should not overuse dama. Riichi's +1 han is valuable, since each han below 4000 will roughly double your score. Plus, you can get even more han from ippatsu and ura dora. See [[riichi strategy]] for more details.
-Also, adding the yaku of riichi may not actually improve the value of a hand instantly.  For example, a haneman hand is worth 6 or 7 han.  Well, if a player's hand currently appears to be valued 6 han, it may not be necessary to take the risk of riichi just to upgrade the hand from 6 han to 7, when the point reward is no different.
-Finally, a player may not actually want to announce their hand as a tenpai hand.  Instead, a damaten hand awaits for other players to unexpectedly play into the hand.  Therefore, the clear advantage to using damaten aims to catch other players off guard.  At times, the hand may be devalued without the added value of riichi, especially when less than 4-han; but at times, the sacrifice may be worth it.
 ==Game examples==