Double riichi 両立直 · daburu riichi
Declare riichi on your first discard of the hand, before any call — worth 2 han instead of 1.
| Value | 2 han — closed hands only |
|---|---|
| How often | rare |
Check for it before anything else: the moment you sort your starting tiles, ask whether the hand is already tenpai テンパイ — and if it isn't, whether your very first draw gets you there (see riichi and tenpai). Either way qualifies: declaring riichi with your very first discard is worth 2 han instead of 1. The window is exactly one discard wide — take a turn to reshape the hand and any later declaration is a normal riichi. One outside event can also downgrade it: if anyone calls chii, pon, or kan before your first discard, the double is off, though the declaration still counts as a regular riichi.
The common dilemma is a thin wait. First-turn tenpai hands often wait on an edge shape or a single tile, and it's tempting to spend a turn improving that. Doing so costs the extra han and the earliest possible ippatsu 一発 window. Most of the time, declaring immediately is right: a full hand of draws at even a thin wait, plus ura dora on the win, usually beats a slightly better wait one turn later. And the stack builds fast — double riichi, ippatsu, and a self-draw is 4 han before any dora.
Key points
- You must be tenpai by your first discard — dealt tenpai or reaching it on your very first draw both qualify
- Any call before your first turn cancels the double and it reverts to normal riichi
- All normal riichi rules apply: locked hand, ura dora, the 1,000-point stick
Related yaku
- Riichi 立直 — Declare that you are one tile from winning, with a closed hand, by betting a 1,000-point stick.
- Ippatsu 一発 — Win within one go-around of your riichi declaration, with no calls in between.
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