Damaten

Damaten lors d'une main valant déjà baiman. [1]

Damaten 「黙聴」 est une stratégie liée aux mains tenpai fermées. On peut aussi l'appeler "tenpai caché". Riichi est une déclaration optionnelle. Un joueur peut donc attendre avec une main tenpai fermée et espérer gagner sans riichi. En général un joueur damaten a déjà un yaku valide, autrement mentsumo ou certains yaku circonstanciels sont les seules solutions pour gagner.

is a strategy used with closed tenpai hands.  This strategy may also be referred to as a "hidden tenpai".  Riichi is an optional play, rather than a mandatory one.  Therefore, a player may sit and wait with a closed tenpai hand, hoping to win the hand without riichi.  Typically during damaten, the player usually already has a valid yaku in their hand; otherwise, mentsumo would be the only option for winning.

Usage

La faiblesse principale du riichi vient de l'impossibilité de changer la main après la déclaration. Ce faisant, un joueur se rend vulnérable aux conditions du jeu qui peuvent changer. Parfois les autres joueurs ne défendent pas contre un riichi et atteignent le tenpai sans donner la tuile gagnante. À ce moment-là, l'état de riichi peut obliger à donner à ces joueurs leur tuile gagnante.

The current score may afford players to win hands without calling riichi. This is especially true for players with affordable leads near the end of the game.

Also, adding the yaku of riichi may not actually improve the value of a hand instantly. For example, a haneman hand is worth 6 or 7 han. Well, if a player's hand currently appears to be valued 6 han, it may not be necessary to take the risk of riichi just to upgrade the hand from 6 han to 7, when the point reward is no different.

Finally, a player may not actually want to announce their hand as a tenpai hand. Instead, a damaten hand awaits for other players to unexpectedly play into the hand. Therefore, the clear advantage to using damaten aims to catch other players off guard. At times, the hand may be devalued without the added value of riichi, especially when less than 4-han; but at times, the sacrifice may be worth it.

Game examples

• 黙聴

Damaten sur la Wikipédia japonaise

• Usage

Multiple instances where damaten was employed.