Kyoku

Hand #	Japanese	English
0	東 1 局 0 本場	East 1
1	東 2 局 0 本場	East 2
2	東 2 局 1 本場	East 2 Bonus 1
3	東 3 局 0 本場	East 3
4	東 3 局 1 本場	East 3 Bonus 1
5	東 4 局 0 本場	East 4
6	南 1 局 0 本場	South 1
7	南 1 局 1 本場	South 1 Bonus 1
8	南 2 局 0 本場	South 2
9	南 2 局 1 本場	South 2 Bonus 1
10	南 3 局 0 本場	South 3
11	南 3 局 1 本場	South 3 Bonus 1
12	南 4 局 0 本場	South 4
Extra west round
13	西 1 局 0 本場	West 1
14	西 2 局 0 本場	West 2
15	西 2 局 1 本場	West 2 Bonus 1
16	西 3 局 0 本場	West 3
17	西 4 局 0 本場	West 4
Source

A kyoku 「局」 is one session of play - for example, East 1 or South 3. A kyoku starts when tiles are dealt, and ends when a player wins a hand, when tiles run out, or when an abortive draw occurs. They may be known as either "hands" or "rounds" (not to be confused with wind rounds) in English.

Kyoku are identified by the round wind, a number from 1-4, and the honba count 「本場」. East 1, Honba 0 「 東 1 局 0 本場」 is always the first hand of the game.

• The round wind advances, in order of East -> South -> West -> North, after the round # would increase past 4.
• The round # increases when the dealer does not renchan (repeat).
• Honba count increases when the dealer renchans, or when an abortive draw occurs.

If the dealer wins East 1, Honba 0, a renchan occurs, so the next kyoku would be East 1, Honba 1. If a non-dealer won in East 1, Honba 0, the round # would advance to East 2, Honba 0. If a non-dealer won in East 1, Honba 1, it would also advance to East 2, Honba 0. After East 4 comes South 1.

The most common game length, known as hanchan, lasts for 2 round winds - the game will end after South 4 (assuming no renchan).

Ikkyokusen

Main article: Ikkyokusen

For extra fast games, players may just determine the outcome on a single hand.