Mahjong etiquette and table rules

The basics everyone expects

• Name your discard clearly as you put it down: "four crak", "flower".
• Put discards face up in the middle, in a tidy area everyone can read.
• Call promptly. If you want a discard, speak up right away. Once the next player racks the tile they picked, it is too late.
• Do not rush your pick. Give others a moment to call the last discard.
• Keep your rack to yourself. Do not look at other players' tiles, and do not reveal yours.

When two players call the same discard

A call for Mah Jongg always wins. Otherwise the player whose turn comes first gets the tile.

It happens often: two players both want the same discard. If one of them needs it to win, that player takes it. If neither is winning, the tile goes to the caller who would play next in turn order, counting to the right of the person who discarded, unless the other caller has already started laying out tiles.

Once the next player has racked the tile they picked, discarded, declared Mah Jongg or exchanged a joker, the previous discard can no longer be called. Speak up promptly.

Table talk and helping others

At most tables, players do not advise each other during a game, unless everyone has agreed it is a teaching game.

Comments like "I wouldn't throw that" can change the outcome of a game. If your group is teaching, say so at the start, and everyone can talk freely. Otherwise, save the advice for after the hand.

Mistakes and dead hands

A hand is declared dead if a player calls Mah Jongg in error, has exposures that cannot make any hand on the card, or has the wrong number of tiles. Point it out gently. The player stops playing for the rest of that hand but still pays the winner.

When someone wins

The winner lays out the whole hand so everyone can check it against the card. Do not move or mix your tiles until the hand has been confirmed. Then pay up cheerfully, push the tiles in, and start building the next wall.