SUITS

一 二 三 四 伍 六 七 八 九 — man (1 - 9)
bird (1), bamboo - sou
balls - pin

中 - RED
(blank) - WHITE
發 - GREEN

東 - EAST
南 - SOUTH
西 - WEST
北 - NORTH

1 and 9 are called “terminals”
anything that isn’t a number is an “honor”
numbers 2-8 are called “simples”

リーチ - RIICHI (declare you’re one away from winning)
ツモ - TSUMO (win from your own draw)
ロン - RON (win off of someone else)

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BUILDING HANDS:
Generally, four melds of three, one pair.
Melds are either:
-three of a kind, triplets
-a sequence (3-4-5, 4-5-6, etc.)
Hands must have at least one yaku.

easy yaku:
-riichi (declare it, you’re good to go. can’t have called anything.)
-tanyao (all simples)
-yakuhai (a triplet of a dragon, or your own wind (which is the one next to your name), or the seat wind (which is indicated in the center)
-chiitoi (seven pairs)
-toitoi (all triplets)
-sanshoku (same sequence in all three suits)
-ittsuu / straight (three sequences, 1-2-3, 4-5-6, 7-8-9, same suit)
-honitsu/half-flush (contains only one suit and honors)
-chinitsu/flush (contains only one suit)