[Glossary of Mahjong Terms #3] Mahjong Rules & Penalty Terms

By TAKEYuichi

September 22, 2025 2 min read

Mahjong Rules & Penalty Terms

Mahjong has many specific rules that govern priority, valid yaku, and how irregular situations are handled. This section covers rule-related terms (such as atamahane, ariari, atozuke) and penalty terms (such as chombo, pao, agari-hōki). Understanding these is key to playing fairly and avoiding costly mistakes.

1. Game Rule Terms

頭ハネ / Atamahane: If two players declare ron on the same discard, only the player closest in turn order (counter-clockwise from the discarder) wins. rule
当たり牌 / Atarihai: A winning tile that would allow a ron declaration. rule
アリアリ / Ariari: Rule set that allows both open tanyao (kui-tan) and atozuke (adding yaku after calling). rule
アリナシ / Arinashi: Rule set that allows only one of open tanyao or atozuke, but not both. rule
後付け / Atozuke: Winning by calling pon/chi/kan first and only adding a valid yaku later. rule
一本場 / Ipponba: A repeat hand where the dealer continues after a draw or consecutive win, marked with one honba (100-point stick). rule
九種九牌 / Kyūshukyūhai: If your initial hand (plus first draw) contains 9 or more different terminal/honor tiles, you may declare an abortive draw (if no calls have been made). abortive draw
供託 / Kyōtaku: A 1000-point stick paid for declaring riichi or making a mistaken call. Collected by the next winner. deposit
四風連打 / Sūfū Renda: If all four players discard the same wind tile as their first discard, the hand is aborted. abortive draw

2. Penalty Terms

誤ポン・誤チー / Go-pon, Go-chi: Mistakenly calling pon/chi. Penalized with a 1000-point kyōtaku payment. penalty
誤ロン / Go-ron: Falsely declaring ron. Considered a chombo—penalized as a mangan payment. penalty
錯和 / Chombo: Any illegal win declaration or serious rules violation. Penalties include paying mangan-equivalent points, hand forfeiture, or other sanctions. penalty
罰符 / Bappu: Penalty points or point sticks paid for rule violations or for having no tenpai at a hand’s end. penalty
包則 / Pao: Responsibility payment rule: if you feed tiles that complete an opponent’s yakuman (e.g., the 3rd dragon in Daisangen, or the 4th wind in Daisuushii), you must pay for their win. In tsumo, you pay all points; in ron, payment is split with the discarder. yakuman penalty
アガリ放棄 / Agari-hōki: A penalty where a player is forbidden from winning for that hand (e.g., due to too many/few tiles). penalty

Tip: Knowing both the rules and their penalties prevents costly mistakes. Even one mistaken call can swing thousands of points, so be sure to confirm your tiles before declaring.