How to Play Da Tian Jiu (打天九)
Objective
Win the last trick of each round. The round winner collects payments from all other players based on their trick counts. The player with the highest score after the 8th dealer completes wins.
Equipment
32 domino-style tiles in two categories:
- Civil tiles (文牌, 22 tiles): 11 types × 2 identical copies each.
- Military tiles (武牌, 10 tiles): 10 unique tiles, paired by pip total.
Each player receives 8 tiles per round.
Leading a Trick
The trick leader may play:
- 1 tile (single) — civil or military.
- 2 tiles forming a valid pair — same-category pair, supreme pair, or mixed pair.
- 3 tiles forming a mixed triple — 3 tiles from one mixed group (2 civil + 1 military, or 1 civil + 2 military).
- 4 tiles forming a mixed quad — all 4 tiles from one mixed group.
Following a Trick (May-Follow / Escalation)
Followers do not have to match the lead category. Instead, they must either:
- Play face-up — play tiles that beat the current highest face-up play (not just the lead). Each face-up play must escalate.
- Fold (play face-down) — discard the same number of tiles face-down. Folded tiles cannot win.
You may always choose to fold, even if you have a valid face-up play.
Winning a Trick
The last player who played face-up wins the trick (since each face-up play must beat the previous one). If everyone after the leader folds, the leader wins.
Trick Counting
The number of tricks won depends on the type of play:
| Play Type | Tricks Counted |
|---|
| Single | 1 |
| Pair / Mixed Pair | 2 |
| Mixed Triple | 3 |
| Mixed Quad | 4 |
The total trick count across all players always equals 8 per round.
Tile Rankings
Civil Tiles (strongest to weakest)
| Name | Pips | Rank |
|---|
| 天 (Heaven) | 6-6 | 12 |
| 地 (Earth) | 1-1 | 11 |
| 人 (Man) | 4-4 | 10 |
| 和 (Harmony) | 3-1 | 8 |
| 梅花 (Plum) | 5-5 | 6 |
| 長三 (Long Three) | 3-3 | 5 |
| 板發 (Board) | 2-2 | 4 |
| 斧頭 (Axe) | 6-5 | 3 |
| 紅頭十 (Red Ten) | 6-4 | 2 |
| 高脚七 (Tall Seven) | 6-1 | 1 |
| 銅錘六 (Copper Six) | 5-1 | ▼0 |
Civil pair rank = same as single tile rank. ▼ marks the weakest tile in each category (triggers 幺結).
Military Tiles (strongest to weakest as singles)
| Name | Pips | Rank |
|---|
| 雑九 (Nine) | 6-3 or 5-4 | 12 |
| 雑八 (Eight) | 6-2 or 5-3 | 11 |
| 雑七 (Seven) | 4-3 or 5-2 | 10 |
| 大鶏六 (Big Six) | 4-2 | 9 |
| 雑五 (Five) | 3-2 or 4-1 | 8 |
| 細鶏三 (Small Three) | 2-1 | ▼7 |
Military pairs: 雑九 > 雑八 > 雑七 > 雑五. Mixed-group partners share the same rank number (e.g., 天 and 雑九 are both rank 12).
(大鶏六 and 細鶏三 cannot form a regular pair — only a supreme pair when leading.)
Supreme Pairs (Lead Only)
These special pairs can only be played when leading:
- 銅錘六 Supreme (5-1 + 5-1): Can only be beaten by a 高脚七 pair (6-1 + 6-1).
- Military Supreme (大鶏六 4-2 + 細鶏三 2-1): Unbeatable — all opponents must fold.
Mixed Pairs and Mixed Quads
Certain civil and military tiles share a mixed group and can be combined:
| Mixed Group | Civil | Military |
|---|
| 天 + 雑九 | 天 (6-6) | 雑九 (6-3 / 5-4) |
| 地 + 雑八 | 地 (1-1) | 雑八 (6-2 / 5-3) |
| 人 + 雑七 | 人 (4-4) | 雑七 (4-3 / 5-2) |
| 和 + 雑五 | 和 (3-1) | 雑五 (3-2 / 4-1) |
- Mixed pair (2 tiles): 1 civil + 1 military from the same group (e.g., 天 + 雑九).
- Mixed triple (3 tiles): 2 civil + 1 military, or 1 civil + 2 military from the same group (e.g., 天 + 天 + 雑九).
- Mixed quad (4 tiles): Both civil copies + both military tiles from the same group (all 4 tiles).
Mixed pairs/triples/quads rank: 天+雑九 > 地+雑八 > 人+雑七 > 和+雑五.
Last-Trick Restriction
On the last trick (when the leader has no remaining tiles after playing), if the lead is a single tile: any player with 0 tricks won must fold. (This restriction does not apply to pair or quad leads.)
However, if 七支結 is confirmed (one player has won 7+ consecutive tricks from trick 1), this restriction is lifted and all players may play face-up. This final trick only determines whether the result is 七支結 or 八支結.
Special Scoring: Immediate Bonuses
These bonuses are paid immediately and are affected by the dealer multiplier when the dealer is involved.
Dealt-hand bonuses (resolved immediately — the round is skipped, no tricks are played):
- 八枝牌 (8-Branch Hand): Any of: (a) all 8 tiles are military, (b) no pip value "1" or "4" appears anywhere in the hand and no 天 (double-six) is present, or (c) the hand contains tiles from all 4 mixed groups (天+雑九, 地+雑八, 人+雑七, 和+雑五) → same scoring as 八支結 (×4 settlement). Each opponent pays 20 (base 5 × 4) before dealer multiplier.
- 七枝牌 (7-Branch Hand): Either (a) 7 of 8 tiles are military, or (b) across all pip values in the hand, the digit "1" appears exactly once, the digit "4" does not appear at all, and no 天 (double-six) is present → same scoring as 七支結 (×2 settlement). Each opponent pays 10 (base 5 × 2) before dealer multiplier.
Trick bonuses (paid when a trick is resolved):
- 四大賀 (Mixed Quad Win): The winner of a mixed-quad trick receives +4 from each opponent.
- 賀尊 (Supreme Pair Lead): When leading with a supreme pair (大鶏六+細鶏三), the leader receives +2 from each opponent.
- 包尊 (Supreme Beaten): When a 銅錘六 supreme pair is beaten by a 高脚七 pair, the beater receives +2 from each opponent instead of the leader.
Note: When 四大賀, 賀尊, or 包尊 occur on the final trick, the immediate bonus is not applied — only the corresponding settlement multiplier (賀四結, 賀尊, or 包尊) takes effect.
Special Scoring: Settlement Multipliers
These multipliers apply to all round-end payments and stack multiplicatively:
- 賀四結 (Mixed Quad Finish): Last trick won with a mixed quad → ×4.
- 幺結 (Weakest Single Finish): Last trick led with the weakest single tile (銅錘六 or 細鶏三):
- Leader wins → ×2.
- Beaten by the specific counter (高脚七 beats 銅錘六, or 大鶏六 beats 細鶏三) → ×4 (幺結反殺, Counter-kill). The leader who attempted 幺結 bears sole responsibility for all losers' payments — other losers pay nothing.
- 賀尊 on last trick: Supreme pair lead on the last trick:
- Leader wins → ×2.
- 銅錘六 supreme beaten by 高脚七 → ×2.
- 七支結 (7-Trick Sweep): One player wins 7+ consecutive tricks from trick 1 → ×2. When 七支結 is confirmed, all 8 tricks belong to that player and all other players are treated as having 0 tricks. On the final trick under 七支結, 幺結 (leader wins ×2) still stacks, but 幺結反殺 (counter ×4) does not apply (the trick only determines 七支結 vs 八支結).
- 八支結 (8-Trick Sweep): After 七支結 is confirmed, if the same player also wins the final trick → ×4.
Scoring
The player who wins the last trick of the round is the round winner. However, in the case of 七支結/八支結, the player who won consecutive tricks from trick 1 is the round winner.
Each loser pays the round winner based on tricks won:
| Tricks Won | Payment |
|---|
| 0 | Pay 5 (4 + 1 penalty) |
| 1 | Pay 3 |
| 2 | Pay 2 |
| 3 | Pay 1 |
| 4 | Even (pay 0) |
| 5+ | Winner pays YOU (you exceeded baseline) |
Payments are first multiplied by the settlement multiplier, then by the dealer multiplier (when the dealer is involved).
Dealer multiplier: Payments involving the dealer (as winner or loser) are multiplied based on the dealer's consecutive wins. The provisional dealer (仮親) has no multiplier. Once a player becomes the full dealer (本親) — by winning the round — that win already counts, so the multiplier starts at ×2:
- Provisional dealer (仮親): ×1 (no multiplier)
- New full dealer (本親, 1 win): ×2
- 2 consecutive wins: ×3
- 3 consecutive wins: ×4...
When the dealer wins, all losers' payments are multiplied. When a non-dealer wins, only the dealer's payment is multiplied.
All payments are zero-sum. Starting score: 50 points.
Dealer System
- The first dealer is the provisional dealer (仮親), determined randomly.
- If the dealer wins the round, they remain dealer (連荘, consecutive deal) and the multiplier increases. A winning provisional dealer is promoted to full dealer.
- If someone else wins, they become the new full dealer (multiplier starts at ×2 since that win counts).
- The transition from provisional to full dealer (whether by winning or losing) counts as 1 dealer change.
Game End
The game ends after the 8th dealer completes (or a safety limit of 32 rounds). The player with the highest score wins. Ties share the victory.
Short Match / Tonpuusen (Optional Variant)
In short match mode (東風戦), the game ends after the 4th dealer completes, for a quicker game.