Keeping options open

I’m going to offer what I feel is a very obvious example of where a hand has multiple potential routes…

We all have our biases and inclinations. Those sometimes lead us to be blind to options. Taking a step back and assessing yaku without the time pressure can be a useful exercise. I’ve ignored dora potential etc. and riichi is considered in the discussion of the hand shape yaku here.

Option 1

The straight/ittsuu is the most obvious yaku or at least it’s likely the one your eyes are drawn to. Two of its sets are complete and you’re waiting for two tiles to complete it in its entirety.

Value - 2 han closed/1 han open. But if you do keep it closed, pinfu is an option but only if you build the wait in the pin suit, Your other shapes are not giving you pinfu vibes. Even if you get the pinfu wait, that brings its own risk that you win on the side that doesn’t secure you the straight. Overall, a mixed bag but any points at the start of the game aren’t something to sneer at.

Difficulty rating - The issue here is you cannot call for it without drawing the 4p or 6p. Those are useful tiles too so someone could horde them up without your awareness, making the hand is a no-starter. Or even if you draw one of those, you might not draw the other and the other players may not oblige you. 3/5

Option 2

Depending on your preferences the 3-colour run/sanshoku is possibly the next yaku you’re eying. One set complete with two to go. The sanshoku is locked in due to the waits but they’re not comfortable waits.

Value - 2-han closed, 1-han open. You’re unlikely to build a pinfu into this so you’re really only boosting value with a riichi if you remain closed. Opening a hand like this for 1-han sanshoku seems a real waste.

Difficulty rating - The difficulty here lies in knowing if/when to attempt an acceleration to ready/tempai. You’re at the very start of the game so I would not recommend it until you’re calling into tempai. An open sanshoku-only hand really is not that exciting with this material. Certainly by the time you’ve got there, someone else is probably going to have built something better. Unless it goes very quickly, I’m not advocating strongly for this. Unless you can build something that includes option 3…. 4/5

Option 3

OR maybe you see outside/chanta is the yaku you have a preference for. You have two sets locked in for that with two more in a proto form plus at least one other tile that works. You could even reach higher for a pure chanta.

Value - What makes this an exciting option is you will be pairing it with the sanshoku. A pure outside hand would then be 3-han open. Closed, it is 5-han without even considering a riichi. If you keep an honour tile there and open your hand, you’re starting at 2-han. This is just fundamentally a better proposition.

Difficulty rating - Low! You’re already most of the way there and you can call whilst maintaining some value. If you want to go the extra mile and challenge yourself, draw some north tiles. 1/5

Bias

So how does my header relate to any of this? I have observed that some people can unwittingly be attracted to the obvious visual allure of yaku like straights and flushes. They feel easier because you can see them better. Even where players are stepping into the intermediate level of their game can be blind to a sanshoku potential in their open tanyao or pinfu hand. Sure, they may not make the yaku in the end but having never seen it in the first place, they never even had a chance.

The Conclusion

I fought hard to maintain the chanta sanshoku but the hand ended up playing itself and it came together rapidly. Riichi, pinfu with a potential for a straight is good going this early. Had it not started coming together so easily and the hand was progressing slowly, you can bet I would have been focusing on a combination of Option 2 and 3 to maximise the rewards for my efforts.