All terminals 清老頭 · chinroutou
Every tile in the hand is a terminal — 1s and 9s only, no honors.
| Value | Yakuman |
|---|---|
| How often | very rare |
Six tile types qualify for this hand — the 1 and 9 of each suit — and that number dictates everything. Terminals cannot form sequences with each other, and seven pairs would need seven distinct types, so every chinroutou is four triplets or kans plus a pair: toitoi 対々和 in its most extreme form. Read your deal with that in mind. Scattered single terminals are not a real start; you want two or three terminal pairs from the outset, because pairs are what become pons.
Like its honor-tile cousin tsuuiisou 字一色, the supply arrives early. Players building sequences shed 1s and 9s in the first few turns, then keep them as safe tiles later, so your pon window is roughly the first third of the hand. Claim inside that window and keep your exits in view. Pick up an honor triplet along the way and the hand becomes honroutou 混老頭, still a strong toitoi hand; accept a 1-2-3 or 7-8-9 sequence and junchan 純全帯幺九 is the realistic landing spot. The mistake is paying yakuman-level patience for a hand that has lost its supply: when the last group refuses to come together, take the downgrade and the points that come with it.
Key points
- Only six tile types exist to build from, so the hand is always four triplets (or kans) and a pair — a seven-pairs version is impossible with six types
- The no-honors upgrade of honroutou
- Valid open or closed
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.
- Terminal in every set 純全帯幺九 — Chanta without honors: every set and the pair contains a terminal, honors excluded.
- All triplets 対々和 — A hand of four triplets (or kans) and a pair — no sequences at all.
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