Yama (The Wall) - Where You Draw Tiles in Mahjong

What is Yama?

Yama (The Wall) refers to the stacked tiles that players draw from during gameplay. Also called “haiyama” (tile mountain), it consists of the remaining 70 tiles after the initial deal, stacked in two layers.

Each player has 17 stacks (34 tiles) in front of them, with 14 tiles reserved as the dead wall (wanpai). The game progresses by drawing tiles from the wall in turn.

Wall Structure

Total tiles (136):
Starting hands: 13×4 players = 52 tiles
Dealer's first draw: 1 tile
Dead wall: 14 tiles
Live wall: 70 tiles
───────────────
Total: 136 tiles

Each player's section:
Top row: 17 tiles
Bottom row: 17 tiles
= 34 tiles per player

Wall Components

Section	Tiles	Purpose	Notes
Live wall	70 tiles	Regular draws	Drawn in order
Dead wall	14 tiles	Special use	Dora indicator, kan draws
Dealt	52 tiles	Starting hands	Already distributed

Dead Wall Breakdown

Dead wall (14 tiles):
├─ Rinshan tiles (4) ─ Replacement after kan
├─ Dora indicators (5) ─ Shows dora tiles
└─ Ura dora area (5) ─ For riichi ura dora

*Always kept at 14 tiles

Wall Depletion by Turn

Turn 1: 4 tiles drawn (one each)
Turn 5: 20 tiles drawn
Turn 10: 40 tiles drawn
Turn 15: 60 tiles drawn
Turn 17-18: 68-70 tiles (haitei)

*Varies with calls (pon/chi/kan)

Strategy by Remaining Tiles

Turns Left	Wall Tiles	Strategy
10+ turns	40+ tiles	Normal play
5-9 turns	20-36 tiles	Push/fold decisions
1-4 turns	4-16 tiles	Genbutsu focus
Near haitei	0-3 tiles	Prepare for draw

Reading the Wall

Basic Probability

Drawing a specific tile from 70:
1 remaining: 1/70 ≈ 1.4%
2 remaining: 2/70 ≈ 2.9%
3 remaining: 3/70 ≈ 4.3%
4 remaining: 4/70 ≈ 5.7%

*Probability increases as wall shrinks

Useful Count Expectations

Wait Type	Max Tiles	Expected in Wall
Tanki	3 tiles	~1.5 tiles
Kanchan	4 tiles	~2 tiles
Ryanmen	8 tiles	~4 tiles
3-sided	11 tiles	~5.5 tiles

Tsumo: Drawing from the wall
Wanpai: Dead wall (14 reserved tiles)
Haitei: The last drawable tile
Rinshan-hai: Replacement tile after kan

Summary

The wall (yama) is where players draw tiles during mahjong. Each player has 34 stacked tiles in front of them, with 14 reserved as the dead wall. The live wall contains 70 drawable tiles.

For beginners, remember: “wall = where you draw” and “14 dead wall tiles are untouchable.” While advanced wall reading is a high-level skill, understanding remaining tile counts is crucial for push/fold decisions and improving your game.