Seven pairs 七対子 · chiitoitsu
Seven different pairs. One of the standard exceptions to the four-sets-plus-a-pair pattern, alongside kokushi musou.
| Value | 2 han — closed hands only · always 25 fu |
|---|---|
| How often | common |
The signal comes early: a starting hand heavy on pairs but short on connected number tiles fights the normal four-sets shape, and pairs are often the faster route. A common rule of thumb: commit once the fifth pair arrives. From there the hand builds only from your own draws — pon or chii would open the hand and kill the yaku — which also keeps riichi available at the end.
Your final wait is always a tanki 単騎: one lone tile waiting to become the seventh pair, so wait choice is the whole skill. Prefer a tile with copies still unseen, ideally one opponents will release — a lone honor often beats a middle tile everyone is holding. Dora also arrive in twos, since a paired dora counts twice; that's how a plain 2 han hand climbs toward mangan. The fu never moves from 25 (see how fu works).
One habit to unlearn: a third copy of a tile you've already paired is dead weight — the pairs must be seven different tiles — so let it go early. For direction, pairs of 2 through 8 only bring tanyao along, while all-terminal-and-honor pairs point at honroutou.
Key points
- Closed hand only, always exactly 25 fu
- The seven pairs must be distinct — four of the same tile is not two pairs
- Cannot combine with iipeikou or ryanpeikou; combines well with tanyao, honitsu, and honroutou
Related yaku
- All terminals and honors 混老頭 — Every tile in the hand is a terminal or an honor — no 2 through 8 anywhere.
- All simples 断幺九 — A hand made entirely of number tiles 2 through 8 — no terminals, no honors.
- Two sets of identical sequences 二盃口 — Two separate pairs of identical sequences in a closed hand.
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