Reachmahjong.com

I play my mahjong on Tenhou majority of the time and they have both 3 player and 4 player mahjong

I usually play 3 player mahjong when I want to relax and stay away from the 4 player ranked matches which can be quite stressful at times (MUST PROTECT THOSE POINTS!!) It is also much more fast paced, you can win alot of big hands frequently and hanchan usually only last as long as a tonpuusen which allow for a different twist compared to 4 player mahjong.

What I initially thought of 3 player mahjong as a attacking game, where you have to push and push to win you hand first. I also thought it was heavily luck based, rather than skill . What I have realised after playing about 600 hanchans is that it's actually the opposite in my opinion. It is more a defensive game then anything else and it is more skilled based than first thought. Although I am back primarily playing 4 player, I was at one point really getting into 3 player, and on how the generally tactic and strategies were actually rather deeper than expected

The question is I guess, has anyone else on this forum tried to play three player mahjong? and if so, did you like it or not. And also are any of you a massive fan of three player?


Thanks!!

I've played 3p for a while. Still do, sometimes. It's just different. I look at it as a fun game & a nice change from 'serious' playing. It's definitely more aggressive and favors Pon-based Yakus. Getting hit by Haneman may not be as bad (espacially by Tsumo) as in 4p since you can make a comeback easier. Pei Doras plus Red Fives can be lethal! That doesn't mean you can go all-out with every hand. It's still Mahjong.

I've heard opinions that your 4p skill level can benefit from playing 3p. I don't see that happening. I'd even say it's quite the opposite.

Apparently there is a similar thread somewhere else for three player mahjong. Anyways

I play 'serious' casually in the sense that I will play serious and try to perfect my play but I won't really care about the end result, so even if I come last i won't be annoyed.

Tenhou three player is tsumo-zon where if you tsumo a mangan, if you are ko it's 2000-4000 (total 6000) and oya will be 4000 all (total 8000) so you lose points when you tsumo. north is also a nuki dora.

Three player is heavily based on tile efficiency and i have a set of principle I try to follow when playing three player

1) Do not force your self into honitsu unless your likely to tenpai quickly. ( beginners mistake to aim for honitsu (or chinitsu) too much)
2) Always aim for the quickest tenpai possible (linked to (1))
3) do not pon yakuhai when you don't have a jyantou (optional but I do this for defensive reasons)
4) riichi immediately on tenpai (unless you are waiting on a kanchan for 4,5 or 6 and don't have any dora). This means riichi even if you have mangan without riichi or not.
5) Betaori only on genbutsu if possible (important) if other players riichi first, unless you are ishanten or tenpai with a high scoring hand in which case (you can riichi (tenpai) or push only around one or two sujis and jihais before tenpai (iishanten). (this bit is oshi-hiki and needs a bit of balance.)
6) If you feel other people are tenpai (open hands or damaten) with a high scoring hand, you should bail unless tenpai ( even if you are tenapi, you should bail if you draw a danger tile against oya who has a high scoring hand). (It's not rare for advanced players to bail kokushi tenpai!)
7) Main priority when you are ko is to not let oya renchan, and when you are oya to get as many points as possible. in other words, do not let oya renchan.

My play style is generally menzen and I try to riichi as much as possible but other play styles exist which avoid riichi and try to win hands as quickly as possible by opening your hand.
My three player mahjong skills are mainly taken from four player so if you are good at four player, I think it's easy to get into three player.

EDIT- i thought i might as well post a haifu of a hanchan i've just played

http://tenhou.net/0/?log=2015040801gm-0 ... fa0d1&tw=2

http://tenhou.net/0/?log=2015040801gm-0 ... 3a126&tw=0