KGMBSP: Introduction

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Mahjong is tanoshii but people seem to shy away from it. Even though a huge Saki, Akagi, and Koizumi following exists, there is still a low population of gaijin mahjong players.

Is it because it looks tough to play? Maybe for some people; it doesn’t help available tutorials are needlessly complex. Or what about people who keep losing because they’re not sure what the hell they are doing? Today’s tutorials seem to be written for people who already played mahjong in mind. Even for an intermediate player like me, I am confused what the fuck they are talking about. It’s like reading the Necronomicon with random romaji terms.

So I do hear your woes. When I was little, I used to play HK-style mahjong. Riichi mahjong though is more complex (and interesting). And because of that, it took me two months to learn it and two months is way too damn long for most people. I recognize that as one giant reason to stay away from the game.

So I’ve decided to start a project: Let’s make riichi mahjong simpler to understand for everyone. This is a riichi mahjong guide for beginners and Saki fans in mind. There will be no complex suji theory or anything that will boggle the beginners’ mind. I will teach you how to defend, attack, understand what’s going on in Saki MADs, and be a proper lesbian mahjong player.

This guide assumes that:

1. You are learning riichi/reach mahjong (リーチ麻雀). This is the Japanese style mahjong and it’s different from other mahjong forms. The Taiwanese and Hong Kong variations are the most popular. Weebs like me though play riichi mahjong. So for this reason alone, I will teach everyone this form.
2. On that note, this is the sub-variation where we have the akadora (赤ドラ). To make it simpler, this is what Saki plays. There are other variations including 3-player mahjong, each with their own tweaks. There might be a time where I will teach people 3 player mahjong but for now, I will only talk about the akadora form.
3. You can read a bit of Japanese. Hiragana, katakana, and kanji will be used in screenies when Tenhou is concerned. If this is a problem, have the yaku page handy.
4. You are not dumb. I’ll try to not reiterate obvious thoughts. For example, I won’t go into what a ‘suit’ is.
5. You are alright with pictures of Saki pixiv~

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong or if there needs to be more clarification. I don’t consider myself an expert in mahjong; I’m just an intermediate player who plays a bit too much. If there are better ways to word something better, feel free to help. And if one wants to truly thank me, the best way is to play with me on Tenhou. I’m always ready for a good match.

Why do I just want people to play riichi mahjong with me instead of money and praise?

Because mahjong wa tanoshii yo ne~

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