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Dora
The dora is a bonus tile that inflates your score without being a yaku: learn the indicator, uradora, kan dora and aka dora rules.
The principle
The dora is a bonus tile set by an indicator (dora hyoji) turned face up on the wall at the start of the hand. The dora is not the indicator tile itself, but the one that follows it in order: every copy adds one han to an ordinary winning hand. Dora are not counted on a genuine yakuman and can never, on their own, let you declare a win.
Rule and example
To read the indicator, move one step forward, wrapping around at the end of each series. For number tiles, 1 points to 2, 8 to 9, and 9 loops back to 1. For winds the order is East, South, West, North, then back to East; for dragons it is white (haku), green (hatsu), red (chun), then back to white. So an indicator of 5p gives dora 6p, and an indicator of 9s gives dora 1s.
What changes
Uradora is revealed only when you win after riichi: the hidden tile beneath each visible indicator then designates an extra dora. Under Tenhou, each suit contains one red five worth one dora. Kan-dora appears immediately for ankan, then normally after the discard for daiminkan or shouminkan. WRC 2025 uses no red fives and reveals the indicator before the discard for every kan.
Mistake to avoid
This is your hand's turbo: a modest yaku plus three or four dora quickly turns into an expensive hand. The classic combo is riichi plus uradora, the only way to reach those hidden dora. The pitfall never changes: piling up dora without ever securing a real yaku, because a hand with no yaku cannot ron or tsumo, dora or not.
Rules references
- Tenhou rulesReference profile used for game mechanics and scoring.
- WRC Rules 2025International rules compared whenever their options differ from Tenhou.