Finding the dora
At the start of each hand, one tile in the dead wall is turned face up: the dora indicator. The dora is the next tile in order. If the indicator is a 4 of characters, the dora is the 5 of characters. After 9 comes 1. Winds go east, south, west, north and back to east; dragons go white, green, red and back to white.
More dora
Each kong reveals another indicator. A player who wins after declaring riichi also flips the tiles under all the indicators to reveal ura-dora. Each dora in the winning hand adds one han.
Red fives
Most modern sets include red fives — commonly one in each suit, sometimes two in dots. Each counts as a dora. They make the game livelier and are standard in Japanese parlours and online play, though some competitive rule sets omit them.
Dora strategy
Dora make hands more valuable without changing their shape, so it is often worth keeping a dora even if it is slightly less efficient. But remember: dora are not yaku. A hand with three dora and no yaku cannot win.
