Dealer

Dealer

Dealer, called oya (親) in Japanese riichi mahjong, is the player occupying the East seat who initiates each round of mahjong and holds special privileges and responsibilities regarding payment and position retention.

The mechanics of Dealer

Position and Role

The Dealer is always the player in the East seat (東, dong) at the start of a hand. This position rotates through the four players based on specific conditions. The Dealer draws first and discards first at the start of each hand. In gameplay, the Dealer’s position provides strategic advantages, particularly regarding timing and information gathering from other players’ discards.

Payment Structure

The Dealer’s most significant distinction involves the payment system. When a Dealer wins a hand (achieves agari), they receive payments at 1.5 times the standard rate from non-dealers:

• Dealer win from discard: Receives 1.5× the base point value from the discarder
• Dealer win from self-draw: Receives 1.5× the base point value from each player
• Non-dealer win: Receives standard point values

Conversely, when a non-dealer wins by tsumo, the Dealer pays a double share, twice what each other non-dealer pays. This asymmetry means the Dealer position carries both greater reward potential and greater risk.

Position Retention

The Dealer retains their position under two specific conditions:

1. Winning the hand: If the Dealer wins, they remain Dealer for the next hand (a repeat called renchan) and the round counter does not advance.

2. Hand ends in draw with Dealer in tenpai: If the hand ends without anyone winning and the Dealer is one tile away from winning (tenpai), they retain the Dealer position. Non-dealers in tenpai do not retain their position.

If the Dealer loses or the hand ends without the Dealer being in tenpai, the Dealer position rotates counter-clockwise to the player on the Dealer’s right (the South player, then West, then North).

Honba Counter

When the Dealer retains their position through winning or tenpai draws, the honba (本場, continuation counter) increases by one. This counter adds bonus points to the next hand: each honba adds 300 points to the winner’s payment: 300 from the discarder on ron, or 100 from each of the three players on tsumo. The honba resets to zero when a non-dealer wins a hand; it keeps increasing through drawn hands even if the dealership rotates.

Example: Dealer in a real hand

In a game of four-player mahjong, Player A starts as Dealer in the East seat. Player A draws and discards first. If Player A wins this hand by collecting a winning combination, they receive 1.5 times the normal payment from the discarder, retain the Dealer position, and the honba counter increases to one. Player A remains Dealer for the next hand with the increased point values from the honba bonus.

Alternatively, if Player A does not win but ends the hand in tenpai (one tile away from winning) when the hand concludes in a draw, Player A retains the Dealer position despite not winning. The honba increases, and play continues with Player A as Dealer.

If another player wins, the Dealer position rotates, the honba resets, and the round counter advances. If a draw occurs with Player A noten, the position rotates but the honba still increases by one.