Korean 2-Point Mahjong Ⅸ
– Standard Rules and Scoring for Beginners
Chapter 9. Special Rules
In Korean 2-Point Mahjong, the two most difficult topics to understand are “uper” and “sacred discard.” If you know them thoroughly, it’s no exaggeration to say that you understand Korean 2-Point Mahjong perfectly.
Chapter 9.1 Uper (bonus 1 point)
“Uper” means declaring a ready hand to the other people playing the game. It is called “lizzy” (or “riichi”) in Japan.
If a player makes a ready hand with a concealed hand, the player may be able to declare an uper by clearly saying “Uper!” while discarding a useless tile. After declaring an Uper, the player should place the discard tile horizontally, not vertically on the floor.
Once you declare uper, you can never exchange any tiles in your hand until the game ends. If it’s not a winning tile, you should discard the tile you just drew from the wall as soon as possible. It is prohibited to declare an uper if there are less than 4 tiles left in the wall.
And you have to only declare uper when you can secure at least basic 2 points even if you going out on another player’s discard tile. It is because a win on self-draw with concealed hand has 2 basic point but a win by discard with concealed hand has only 1 basic point. The wrong (false) win declaration is a violation.
If a player declares a ready hand with having a concealed triplet and then draws the fourth tile of the triplet to complete a concealed kong, the player can declare a concealed kong and win with a “win on kong”. Let us calculate the score of this winning hand.
ante 10 points
basic 3 points (conceld hand + fully conceld hand + a dragon triplet)
bonus 6 points (a ready hand 1 point + “win on kong” 5 point)
Korean style Dora 3 points (total number of winning tile, 3 dragon tiles)
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Sum 22 points
Chapter 9.2 Sacred Discard (also known as “Furiten”)
“Sacred Discard” is a special rule in which you cannot win with discarded tile by another player. While your ready hand is in the Sacred Discard, you can only win by self-draw or can not win the current game.
There are 2 type of sacred discard: “Temporary Sacred Discard” and “Permanent Sacred Discard”. These rules are often used for effective defense strategies.
A player who is in the sacred discard can change his hand to avoid the sacred discard before declaring his or her “uper”. The method of dealing with the sacred discard depends on whether it was entered before declaring uper or after declaring uper.
❶ When the hand enters the “sacred discard” before declaring a uper
(1) when a winning tile is skipped by mistake
The ready hand enters a temporary sacred discard in which the player cannot win within the turn. For example, if a player missed the winning tile on the 7th turn of the game, the player can win with the winning tile at the next 8th turn. It is because temporary sacred discard ends next time the player draws or claims a tile.
When North Wind in the ready hand could have won with the tile just discarded from East Wind (e.g. “circle 5”) but North Wind did not win the game with that tile (circle 5) by mistake, North Wind cannot win with the circle 5 tile within that turn even if South or West wind discards circle 5 tile. North Wind can win with circle 5 at the next 8th turn.
(2) when a player has already discarded a winning tile
The ready hand enters a permanent sacred discard in which the player cannot win on another player’s discard tile. The player can only win with a self-draw. If it is not a winning tile, the tile should be discarded as soon as it is drawn from the wall.
Discarding a winning tile is the most common form of sacred discard. In this kind of sacred discard, the player can avoid the trouble by changing his ready type.
(3) when a player has already discarded a stem-pattern tile of the winning tile
The ready hand enters a permanent sacred discard in which the player can not win on another player’s stem-pattern tile. The player can not only win with a self-draw but also win on another player’s discard tile with not stem-pattern tiles.
There are 3 kind of stem-pattern tile in suit tiles: “1-4-7”, “2-5-8”, and “3-6-9” patterns. This pattern is deeply related to “two-sided sequence wait”. For example, if a player has already discarded a “wan 4” tile, the player cannot declare the win by discard when another player discards “1, 4, 7” tiles.
Taking advantage of this, the stem-pattern rule is also used for effective defense. This is because all the tiles discarded by a player with ready hand are 100% safe for other 3 players.
❷ When a player is declaring uper while discarding a suit tile
The ready hand enters a permanent sacred discard in which the player cannot win with another player’s stem-pattern tile. however, the player can not only win with a self-draw but also win on other players’ discard tile other than the stem pattern tiles.
➌ When the hand enters the “sacred discard” after declaring a uper
(1) when the first winning tile is skipped by mistake
The ready hand enters a permanent sacred discard in which the player cannot win on another player’s discard tile. The player can only win with a self-draw. If it is not a winning tile, the tile should be discarded as soon as it is drawn from the wall.
(2) when discards the winning tile by mistake
The ready hand enters a permanent sacred discard in which the player never can win the game. As soon as the player draws a tile from the wall, he or she needs to discard the tile he just drew on the floor. The player also cannot claim a pung or kong.
