Its been 4 years since we last played pair Riichi! Since we have leftover 2 sessions before the year ends, we decided to bring it back. This time, each session’s winner will win $10 voucher!
What is Pair Riichi?
Inspired by manga-adaptation drama, Tohai, pair riichi is played with you and your partner sitting opposite of each other. If either you or your partner gets last place, your pair lose! There’s no signalling or communication that is related to how your partner should play. I.e Telling your partner to discard certain tile is considered cheating. The teamwork here is based on the strategic aspects of the game and how much you can read your partner during the game.
Rule to be played
- Session 1 – Aka-ari
- Session 2 – Aka-nashi
Ranking
| Positions | Points |
| 1st+2nd | 3 |
| 1st+3rd | 2 |
| 2nd+3rd | 1 |
| Whoever get 4th | 0 |
Pairing
Not everyone has a pair and there is only 1 winner per session so we will be testing on how adaptable players are to their partners. Therefore, ONLY for game 1, players are allowed to choose their pairs. For remaining players with no pairs will be paired up by drawing lots. For game 2 & 3, all pairs will be based on draw lots and the matching of pairs will also be based on draw lots.
Tie-breaker
If there are multiple winners amongst the top winners, their total score will be used as tie-breaker.
If within a game, 2 players have the same score in 4th place, the partner who has the higher score will be used as the tie-breaker.
Registration
For these sessions, there will be NO sit-outs. So it is like a 1 session “mini tournament”. So there will be some changes to our usual registration protocol.
Registration to start on every Monday 12pm. Players who register after Wednesday 12pm will be treated as first register first serve. Will accept registration in groups of 4.
How Pair Riichi is different from usual Riichi
- Damaten (Waiting without riichi) can be common as you wouldn’t want to win from your partner. Even for tsumo win, you will have to be careful not to do so when your partner is the dealer, especially when your hand is of high value. However it is still viable as long as your partner has enough points to handle your tsumo win. The ideal situation is to have both of you achieve 1st and 2nd.
- Skipping ron (Discard win) can be common as well. So you might want to discard any dangerous tiles right after your opponent has discarded. Late by 1 turn can be even more disastrous.
- Sashikomi (Intentionally playing into someone’s hand) can be more prominent in this tournament. For example, if you have a large lead as 1st, and your partner who is struggling at 4th declared riichi, you might want to do your best to spare him some of your points to save him from 4th. But there is always the risk of playing into your partner’s hand that is too expensive and you lose your advantageous position. Remember, you must not get 4th place. The balance here is like another ball game.
Riichi Mahjong in Singapore 