Skip to content

Pon and Chi (2)

Which Pair Is Better to Save for Pon?

When you have multiple pairs that could potentially be used for pon,

it is usually better to keep the pair that is easier to pon.

Honor tiles are the easiest to pon,

and terminal tiles with low utility are also easier to expect from the table.

Example 1 二万牌图四万牌图四万牌图二索牌图二索牌图三索牌图三索牌图三索牌图九索牌图九索牌图 Draw 二万牌图 白牌图白牌图白牌图

In Example 1, if there is no meaningful difference in how many copies are already visible,

the correct discard is 四万牌图.

The terminal tile 九索牌图,

and the awkward 二索牌图 blocked by the 三索牌图 wall,

are both tiles you would rather expect to pon from the table.

If you compare 二万牌图 and 四万牌图,

the more edge-side tile 二万牌图 is also a little easier to pon.

Think About How You Expose a Chi

Some hands can chi the same discard in more than one way.

Here are several cases where the exact way you call makes a difference.

Example 2 五万牌图六万牌图五筒牌图六筒牌图六筒牌图七筒牌图八筒牌图二索牌图二索牌图四索牌图四索牌图六索牌图八索牌图 Discarded 七筒牌图 Dora 八筒牌图

Suppose in Example 2 your upper player discards 七筒牌图 and you are going to call.

Here, you should take it as a kanchan chi.

Ryanmen chi 五万牌图六万牌图六筒牌图七筒牌图八筒牌图二索牌图二索牌图四索牌图四索牌图六索牌图 Chi 七筒牌图五筒牌图六筒牌图

Kanchan chi 五万牌图六万牌图五筒牌图六筒牌图七筒牌图二索牌图二索牌图四索牌图四索牌图六索牌图 Chi 七筒牌图六筒牌图八筒牌图

If you chi it the first way, the hand is locked into a guaranteed 2000 points.

But with the second shape, drawing the dora makes 3900,

and drawing 四筒牌图 also creates the possibility of 456 sanshoku.

Example 3 三索牌图四索牌图四索牌图五索牌图六索牌图六索牌图七索牌图一筒牌图一筒牌图西牌图 Pon 东牌图东牌图东牌图 Dora 一筒牌图

Sometimes the way you call even changes the final wait.

For Example 3, when 五索牌图 is discarded,

you might be tempted to choose between taking 五索牌图三索牌图四索牌图 to make a 五索牌图八索牌图 wait,

or taking 五索牌图六索牌图七索牌图 to make a 二索牌图五索牌图 wait.

But in fact, both are wrong.

If you take it as a kanchan chi, the hand becomes a sanmenchan.

三索牌图四索牌图五索牌图六索牌图七索牌图一筒牌图一筒牌图 Chi 五索牌图四索牌图六索牌图 Pon 东牌图东牌图东牌图 Dora 一筒牌图

Example 4 三万牌图四万牌图五万牌图五万牌图六万牌图六万牌图六万牌图七万牌图八万牌图中牌图 Pon 发牌图发牌图发牌图

Especially in flush hands, it is common for a tile to be callable as a ryanmen chi and also as a kanchan or penchan chi.

Most of the time, the kanchan or penchan chi is better,

but sometimes the ryanmen chi is the correct choice.

In Example 4, if 七万牌图 is discarded,

it is a big mistake to take it with 六万牌图八万牌图 as a kanchan chi.

Here, if you do not take it as a ryanmen chi, the 九万牌图 wait disappears completely.

Correct shape 三万牌图四万牌图五万牌图六万牌图六万牌图七万牌图八万牌图 Chi 七万牌图五万牌图六万牌图 Pon 发牌图发牌图发牌图

Shapes like this may not come up all the time,

but whenever you chi, get into the habit of checking:

“Does the remaining shape change depending on how I take this chi?”

Original Japanese page: http://beginners.biz/naki/naki04.html

Previous: Pon and Chi (1) Next: Kan (1)