Curriculum · 7 / 50
Riichi
Riichi is the closed-hand tenpai declaration: you bet 1000 points, gain a yaku, reveal uradora on a win, and lock your hand until the end of the hand.
The principle
Under Tenhou rules, you may declare riichi when your hand is closed and tenpai, your score is at least 1,000 points, and one more draw remains. You call riichi, turn your discard sideways and place a 1,000-point deposit. WRC 2025 also allows riichi below 1,000 points and on the final live-wall tile.
Rule and example
In return, riichi is a yaku worth one han, which lets even a hand with no other yaku win by ron or tsumo. It unlocks ippatsu, one extra han if you win before your next discard with no tile call or kan declaration in between, and uradora: on a win you flip hidden uradora indicators that can inflate the score. Declared on your very first discard with no prior calls, it becomes double riichi, worth two han.
What changes
The 1000-point stick goes into the pot and is normally claimed by the next winner; on an exhaustive draw it carries over to the following hand. If the declaration discard is ronned, riichi is void and that deposit is returned. If it is called for chi, pon or daiminkan, riichi remains valid and the next discard is turned sideways to mark the declaration.
Mistake to avoid
Once riichi is valid, your hand is frozen: you normally discard every non-winning tile you draw and your wait can never change. Under Tenhou, only an ankan using the drawn tile remains possible, and only if the wait stays unchanged; structure and yaku may change. WRC 2025 also requires the structure to stay unchanged. Beware furiten: passing a tile that completes the hand blocks ron for the rest of the hand.
Rules references
- Tenhou rulesReference profile used for game mechanics and scoring.
- WRC Rules 2025International rules compared whenever their options differ from Tenhou.