Draw

Draw

What Draw means

A draw (also called ryuukyoku in Japanese) is an exhaustive draw where the mahjong wall is completely depleted before any player achieves a winning hand. When a draw occurs, the hand ends without a winner, and points are distributed among players based on their hand status rather than through a winning payment.

How Draw works

In standard mahjong rules, a draw represents one of the possible outcomes when a hand concludes without anyone declaring a win. This occurs when the last tile of the live wall is drawn (by whichever player is due) and the final discard passes without anyone winning.

Point Distribution in a Draw

When a draw is declared, points are exchanged based on players’ hand statuses:

• Tenpai players (those one tile away from winning) receive points from noten players (those not in tenpai)
• The number of tenpai players determines the distribution: if one player is tenpai, they receive points from all three opponents; if two players are tenpai, they split payments from the two noten players; if three players are tenpai, only one noten player pays all three
• Point values vary by ruleset, but commonly range from 1,000 to 3,000 points per player involved
• If all four players are tenpai or all four are noten, no points are exchanged

Declaring Tenpai Status

When a draw occurs, players must declare their tenpai status by revealing their hands. This declaration is binding and must be honest. Some rulesets require players to show their waiting tile(s) to prove their tenpai status.

Draw vs. Agari

A draw differs fundamentally from agari (a winning hand). In agari, one player completes a valid winning combination and receives payment from opponents. In a draw, no player wins, and the hand ends through wall exhaustion.

Variations and Special Cases

Different mahjong variants handle draws with slight variations:

• Hong Kong mahjong: No payments are exchanged on a draw; the hand is simply replayed
• Japanese mahjong (Riichi mahjong): Incorporates draw rules into more complex scoring systems
• Singaporean/Malaysian mahjong: May have different point values for draws
• Competition play: Some tournaments use specific draw protocols to ensure fair play

A special case called abortive draw (tochuu ryuukyoku) can occur under certain circumstances, such as when four kans are declared across two or more players, four riichi are declared, or all four players discard the same wind on the first go-around, though this is less common than exhaustive draws.

Draw at the table

Scenario: In a late hand of a hanchan session, Player A has been waiting for a 3-bamboo tile to complete their hand. Player B is waiting for either a 5-dot or 7-character. Players C and D have no winning possibilities. The dealer draws the final tile from the wall, a 4-character, and no one can win.

The hand ends in a draw. Players A and B reveal their hands and confirm they are in tenpai. Players C and D are noten. Since two players are tenpai and two are noten, the following payment occurs:

• Players A and B each receive 1,500 points
• Players C and D each pay 1,500 points (the fixed 3,000-point pool split between the two noten players)

The hand concludes, the wall is reset, and play moves to the next hand.

Related Terms

• Ryuukyoku: The Japanese term for draw; used interchangeably in mahjong terminology
• Tenpai: Being one tile away from a winning hand; players in tenpai receive payment during a draw
• Noten: Not being in tenpai; players in noten pay during a draw
• Agari: A winning hand; contrasts with draw as the alternative hand conclusion
• Hanchan: A half-game consisting of the East and South rounds; draws can occur during any hand