The game also features dora, that allow a hand to add han value, but they do not count as yaku.
Altogether, a hand's points value increases exponentially with every han.
Unlike poker, however, multiple yaku may be combined to produce hands of greater value.
The same applies to limit hands or yakuman, which separate from yaku and dora.
The calling player must display the completed group by placing the tiles face-up on the table.
For scoring purposes, the melded group is considered open, but the overall hand stays closed (menzenchin 門前清 or menzen 門前).
The following is a list of all the yaku, their names in English and Japanese, their han values, and any special conditions related to them.
This yaku is often called "reach" because its Japanese name is phonetically similar to the English word.
The player is not penalized if drawing another tile is prevented due to opponents making open melds or closed quads after the declaration.
If a hand ends in a draw, any riichi deposits carry over to the next game and are placed near the counters.
[1] A player declaring riichi may allowed to call a closed quad (kan).
Some rulesets have an exception: robbing a closed quad is allowed if it's used to complete Thirteen Orphans (in this situation, a limit would be awarded instead of the hand).
While there are certain melds or a set that awards fu, the hand must be entirely in sequence and its pair is neither a dragon tile, or winds tiles corresponding to the round or seating itself; any triplets, quads, or pairs of such award fu.
These hands involve terminals and/or honors, or lack thereof (such as tan'yao and yakuhai, due to their simplicity).
On the other hand, some rulesets will allow doubling of its points, which is also called daburu yakuman (ダブル役満).
The hands known as Thirteen Orphans, Four Concealed Triplets, and Big Three Dragons are considered relatively easy to complete among limit hands, and are collectively called "the three big families of yakuman" (Japanese: 役満御三家).
The Japanese name of this hand, kokushi musō, means "a peerless distinguished person in a country.
Some rulesets are laxer as the player can still achieve Blessing of Man after their first turn, if the tile they are calling was their opponent's first discard.
[11] The following table details yaku and yakuman hands that are usually not recognized as valid but may appear in house rules.