Category-a-Day 2, Section 2: One Suit

This category of patterns have a theme of having only one of the suits in your hand. This is sometimes called a pure hand or a clean hand in other styles.

2.0 One-Suit patterns

2.1.1  Mixed One-Suit       :  40

2.1.2  Pure One-Suit        :  80

2.2    Nine Gates           : 480

These patterns encourage players to collect a single suit in their hands. The challenge is that there are four players, but only three suits.

2.1.1 Mixed One-Suit is also called One Suit and Honors. It means all your suit tiles belong to the same suit, and you also have honor tiles in your hand.

2.1.2 Pure One-Suit is also called One Suit Only. It means all of your tiles belong to the same suit, and you have no honor tiles.

These patterns are assigned relatively high scores because the statistics show they are relatively difficult to attain, and these patterns are some of the easiest to detect and therefore defend against. If you see a player hasn't discarded a particular suit until the 10th turn or so, be very wary. Discarding into a winning pure suit puts that player 320 points ahead of you, and you drop 245 against your other opponents too.

These patterns frequently combine with All Simples, Four Sequences, and Value Honor. They often combine with Four Triplets, and sometimes combine with big patterns Three- or Four- Consecutive Triplets. 222d 333d 444d 888d 55d gives you Pure One-Suit 80 + Four Triplets 30 + Three Consecutive Triplets 100 + All Simples 5 for 215 points! There might also be points for kong and concealed triplets.

These two patterns can add up in a hurry, so be alert to opportunities in your own hand, and be watchful of your opponents trying to complete big hands with these patterns.

2.2 Nine Gates

Many people call this the most beautiful hand in all mahjong. To score this pattern, you must have exactly these 13 tiles: 1112345678999 all in one suit, and all in your concealed hand. This gives you a nine-sided wait, meaning you can go out on any tile of that suit, as follows:

1. A 1 gives you 111, 123, 456, 789, 99

2. A 2 gives you 111, 22, 345, 678, 999

3. A 3 gives you 11, 123, 345, 678, 999

4. A 4 gives you 111, 234, 456, 789, 99

5. A 5 gives you 111, 234, 55, 678, 999

The rest of the patterns are symmetrical to those. This is a listed limit hand, meaning you can only score one pattern. If you manage to collect these 13 tiles, you then have a powerful decision to make: Should you go out your very first chance, or should you target one opponent? After all, you will gain 1920 points on the unlucky player who discards any tile of your suit. It might be best to try to go out on a self-draw, distributing that pain. To score this pattern, you must keep your winning tile separate to show you had a nine-sided wait. It's good practice to keep your winning tile separate all the time as a habit, so you don't forget when you get a huge hand.

Most players who attempt this pattern give up and settle for Pure One-Suit, which is much faster to complete. After all, having 12 of these tiles when someone else goes out gets you nothing.