Big three dragons 大三元 · daisangen
Triplets of all three dragon tiles — white, green, and red.
| Value | Yakuman |
|---|---|
| How often | very rare |
Daisangen rarely announces itself at the deal. It usually starts as ordinary yakuhai 役牌 work: you pair one dragon, pon it, then find yourself pairing a second. That is the moment to take stock. With two dragon triplets and a pair of the third, your floor is already shousangen 小三元, and the yakuman sits one tile away. The rest of the hand is just one set and a pair of anything, so keep that part simple and fast.
The obstacle is the table. After your second dragon pon, nobody lets the third dragon go willingly, so the finish usually has to come from your own wall draws. This is where pao 包 (sekinin barai, liability) matters: in many rulesets, defined explicitly in WRC and EMA rules, the player who discards the tile completing your third dragon triplet becomes liable for the payment. Experienced players therefore hold that tile to the very end, and the classic defensive error is the opposite habit: releasing a lone dragon late against two visible dragon pons. If you are the builder, count the remaining copies before committing, and plan to draw the last one yourself.
Key points
- Valid open or closed — two dragon pons in, the table goes on high alert
- Pao (liability): under WRC/EMA-style rules, the player whose tile completes the third dragon set by pon or kan can become liable for the yakuman payment — exact handling differs between ron and tsumo
- One of the most frequently completed yakuman, alongside suuankou and kokushi musou
Pao (liability) rules for feeding the third dragon pon vary; WRC and EMA define it explicitly.
Related yaku
- Little three dragons 小三元 — Triplets of two dragon types and a pair of the third.
- Value-tile triplets 役牌 — A triplet (or kan) of dragons, your seat wind, or the round wind — 1 han each, open or closed.
- All honors 字一色 — The whole hand is honor tiles — winds and dragons only.
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