Questions: If during the game someone discards before picking and their hand is called dead, can another player call the discard? Answer: Unfortunately not. In this situation, the discarded tile is considered “dead” along with the hand and cannot be called by another player. The only exception is if someone discards before East has discarded […]
Question: Which way should a player position their exposures, facing in or out? Answer: Although not an official rule, it has long been customary for players to position their tiles facing themselves, not outward toward the center of the table. These are your tiles and your hand to build, so the focus should be on […]
Question: What happens when a player pushes out the wrong wall and another players picks a tile? Answer: There are three possible scenarios when a player pushes out the wrong wall: Picking from the Wrong Wall: If a player pushes out the wrong wall and another player picks from it, the player who picked the tile […]
Question: If I pass my tiles during the Charleston and they have not been picked up by the receiving player, can I take them back and change the tiles? Answer: You can only take them back and look at them if you have not yet looked at the incoming tiles that were passed to you. Source: National […]
The Value shown on the card which can be used as a point value or money value. In the examples below we will use .25 for the actual hand value to determine what is paid to the winner: Scenario 1: Player picks their own Mah Jongg (self pick win) using Jokers in the hand – […]
Question: If I give another player Mah Jongg, am I penalized? Answer: Yes, you would pay the winner double the value as shown on the card. If the hand is valued at .25, you would pay .50 while all the other players would pay, .25. Source: Mah Jongg Made Easy 2024, page 25, Standard Scoring
Question: I called and exposed a proper Kong on my rack and then accidentally took and placed an additional exposure using tiles from my hand (sloped part of my rack). Is this okay? Answer: This ruling was in the 2022 bulleting and said it was okay to put that second exposure back in your rack. […]
Proper Naming of Mah Jongg Tiles: Bams (1–9): Named 1 Bam, 2 Bam, etc. Dots (1–9): Named 1 Dot, 2 Dot, etc. Craks (1–9): Named 1 Crak, 2 Crak, etc. Flowers: Simply called Flower, regardless of whether they feature a number or an abbreviation for the seasons. Winds (N, E, W, S): Named North, East, […]
Question: I have been playing Mah Jongg for years and it isn’t until recent that I am hearing other players call the 1 Bam by different names. Is there a new rule that changed the way we name this tile? Answer: The official name for the ‘1 Bam’ tile has not changed—it remains simply ‘1 Bam.’ […]
Question: If playing for money, what are the circumstances in which a player would have to pay for the table? Answer: Here are the four scenarios in which the erring player would pay for the table: If a player calls Mah Jongg while the wrong wall is in play, they are entitled to the win […]