Honba

Honba

Honba at a glance

Honba (本場) refers to counter sticks placed on the mahjong table that indicate consecutive wins by the dealer or consecutive drawn rounds. Each honba stick represents a bonus of 300 points added to the next winning hand (on ron the discarder pays it all; on tsumo each opponent pays 100 per stick).

Honba, explained

Honba is a fundamental scoring mechanism in riichi mahjong that encourages action and rewards persistence. The system works as follows:

Placement and Accumulation

At the start of a game, there are zero honba on the table. When the dealer (oya) wins a hand, they remain dealer and one honba stick is placed on the table. If the dealer wins again, another honba is added, creating a cumulative stack. Similarly, if a round ends in a draw (ryuukyoku) with no winner, a honba is added regardless of who the dealer is.

Point Calculation

When a hand is won with honba present, the winner receives an additional 300 points per honba stick in total: on ron the discarder pays the full amount, and on tsumo each opponent pays 100 points per stick. For example, with 2 honba on the table:

• On ron: the discarder pays an extra 600 points (300 × 2)
• On tsumo: each opponent pays an extra 200 points (100 × 2)

This bonus is added on top of the regular hand value calculation based on han and fu.

Honba Reset

Honba sticks are cleared and reset to zero when:

• A non-dealer player wins a hand (the turn passes to that player as the new dealer)
• The round advances to the next wind round after the dealer’s turn ends without a dealer win

Importantly, honba does NOT reset when the dealer wins, it accumulates instead.

Draw Rounds

When a round ends in a draw without any winning hand, one honba is added to the table. This creates tension and incentive for players to try harder in subsequent rounds, as the pot of honba continues to grow.

Example: Honba in a real hand

Consider a hand where the dealer wins a mangan by tsumo. With 2 honba already on the table:

• Base mangan payment: 4,000 points per player
• Honba bonus: 100 × 2 = 200 points per player
• Total payment: 4,200 points per player

If this same dealer wins again on the next hand, now with 3 honba on the table, a different hand value would be calculated, but again with the 300 × 3 = 900 point honba bonus added per player.

The accumulation of honba can significantly impact final scores, especially in games with multiple consecutive dealer wins or drawn rounds.

Related Terms

Renchan, The continuation of the dealer’s turn, which occurs when the dealer wins a hand. This is directly connected to honba accumulation, as each renchan typically adds another honba to the table.

Dealer (Oya), The player whose turn it is to be the “house.” The dealer’s wins are what primarily cause honba to accumulate, and the dealer receives honba bonuses from all other players.

Han, The number of pattern combinations in a winning hand, used to determine base hand value before honba bonuses are applied.

Mangan, A hand worth 8,000 points total for non-dealers (12,000 for the dealer) before honba calculation, often used as a reference point for hand values.

Riichi, The betting declaration system in modern mahjong that works alongside honba scoring to create the complete point structure.

Understanding honba is essential for strategic play in riichi mahjong, as it creates opportunities for significant point swings and influences how aggressively players should pursue their hands.