I'm currently at Tenhou rank 6, and I'm trying various things to get to rank 7.
This time, I'd like to discuss the extremely important topic of avoiding last place.
(With my playing style this month, I haven't been able to avoid last place... Am I being too aggressive? I'm also concerned about the high number of third-place finishes.)
A collection of articles on improving your mahjong skills, techniques, mental game, Tenhou (online mahjong platform), etc.
6-tier distribution
The point distribution for the 6th dan is as follows: 1st place: 75 points, 2nd place: 30 points, 3rd place: 0 points, 4th place: -120 points.
The important point is that if you finish in 4th place, you'll lose points equivalent to at least one 1st place and one 2nd place finish.
This fact is extremely important.
If, for example, you are in third place in the final round and you have a bet where you have a 60% chance of winning first place (+45 points) but a 40% chance of winning fourth place (-48 points), you should not bet.
In many cases, you can't gamble on coming in last in order to get first place just once.
This is because the points earned by the top player are much less than the points lost by the last-place player.
This is a distribution typical of Tenhou, and it's a major difference from mahjong where the goal is to be the top player.
I think this is the reason why I have no choice but to play mahjong with an emphasis on defense.
If you're in the air, prioritize defense.
Now, even though a defensive strategy is advantageous, you'll only get worse if you don't attack when you have the opportunity.
However, if you are ahead by more than 30,000 points, you should not push by discarding a dangerous tile when you are one step away from a winning hand.
Even if you're slowly chipped away at by the opponent's winning tiles, you'll likely find yourself having to be patient most of the time.
One pattern to be careful of is when you declare a weak, low-scoring hand just because you have the first move, with the intention of blocking your opponent's hand. If you do this, you'll be in serious trouble when your opponent chases you down.
In particular, as the game progresses from the South round to the later stages, there are more instances where players tend to be more cautious.
20,000 points line
One guideline to avoid coming in last is to aim for around 20,000 points as the deadline.
With 20,000 points, I think you'd be in third place, or at least very close to last place.
Even if your score drops in the second half, don't try to make up for it all at once. Instead, aim to reach 20,000 points first.
In a situation where you only have 10,000 points in the South round, you might think, "What's the point of winning by 1,000 or 2,000 points...?"
However, by scoring 1000 points yourself, you can prevent the gap between you and others from widening.
In the second half, especially when the fourth-place finisher attacks aggressively, the others don't want to fall to last place, so they don't challenge as much.
When you're in last place, be aggressive and go on the offensive.
However, overly reckless attacks are not advisable.
If it seems impossible no matter how you look at it, another family might transfer the money, or you could just be patient and wait.
Consider the scores of other players.
Now, it's important to always keep an eye on the scores of the other players.
When you have a ready hand near the end of the last round, you always have to be careful about whether it's wise to declare a ready hand (reach).
By scoring 1000 points, the conditions for changing the rankings might change.
For example, if you have 20,000 points and are in 3rd place, and another player has 16,000 points and is in 4th place, declaring "reach" will increase the point difference to 3,000 points.
This loosens the conditions under which a comeback is impossible even if the fourth-place player scores 30 points and 3 han.
Moreover, if you include the reach stick, you get an additional 1000 points, so even 30 points and 2 han becomes acceptable.
You should be quite careful about changes in rankings towards the end of the race.
This also applies to situations where you are in a relatively safe position, but the dealer in second place is making a strong comeback in the final round.
If the players in 3rd and 4th place are competing to avoid last place, it can be effective to intentionally insert a tile or discard a tile that looks like it might be called.
Paying into the second-place player is the worst-case scenario, but if paying into a player other than second place doesn't result in being overtaken, then putting in a winning tile is a viable strategy.
summary
That concludes my explanation of the importance of avoiding last place.
Although it's a game heavily influenced by luck, mastering it requires an immense amount of patience.
Pechorin, a top player on Tenhou, has left the following words:
"First place is a miracle, second place is a big win, and third place is a victory."
When you don't want to get off, remember these words and think about whether you really should press the button.
Third place is a win.
A collection of articles on improving your mahjong skills, techniques, mental game, Tenhou (online mahjong platform), etc.
