SLOPER ON MAH-JONGG

American Mah Jongg (NMJL rules). Is it a real rule? Is it a myth? Is it an ex-rule?

1. You can earn a jokerless bonus if you make a quints hand (the minimum possible number of jokers counts as "jokerless").
    a. Real rule
    b. Apocryphal (not a rule)
    c. Deprecated (used to be a real rule)

2. You must have a natural tile (a non-joker) in a concealed set of identical tiles (pung, kong, quint).
    a. Real rule
    b. Apocryphal (not a rule)
    c. Deprecated (used to be a real rule)

3. You must have a natural tile (a non-joker) in an exposed set of identical tiles (pung, kong, quint).
    a. Real rule
    b. Apocryphal (not a rule)
    c. Deprecated (used to be a real rule)

4. You can pick up the most recent natural tile when the most recent discarder said "same" when discarding a joker.
    a. Real rule
    b. Apocryphal (not a rule)
    c. Deprecated (used to be a real rule)

5. The player who speaks the claim first gets the disputed discard.
    a. Real rule
    b. Apocryphal (not a rule)
    c. Deprecated (used to be a real rule)

6. The dealer is the one who distributes the tiles to each player during the deal.
    a. Real rule
    b. Apocryphal (not a rule)
    c. Deprecated (used to be a real rule)

7. The fifth player, if there is one, replaces the player who dealt the previous hand.
    a. Real rule
    b. Apocryphal (not a rule)
    c. Deprecated (used to be a real rule)

8. The dealer wins instantly if she has a complete hand before she passes any tiles in the Charleston.
    a. Real rule
    b. Apocryphal (not a rule)
    c. Deprecated (used to be a real rule)

9. You can keep playing after a death challenge, if you're positive you are playing a valid hand.
    a. Real rule
    b. Apocryphal (not a rule)
    c. Deprecated (used to be a real rule)

Answers below. Don't look until you've written down all your own answers...

**See FAQ 19-BJ.

Click the entries in the header frame, above, to read other columns.

Question or comment about this column? Email and the discussion will be posted on the Mah-Jongg Q&A Bulletin Board. Like these...

---

Column 687, #3

>From: "lindaz
>Sent: Friday, September 1, 2017 6:19 PM
>Subject: wait--what??
>Hi Tom,
>I must be very dense--I don't understand the reasoning behind your answer to question #3 in column 687. For example, if I win MJ and expose 3 jokers in place of any other pung, how is that not logical? Would you please elaborate?
>Thanks, Linda

Hi, Linda.
Perhaps the question could have been written more clearly. The question doesn't say what you seem to think it's saying. It says:

3. You must have a natural tile (a non-joker) in an exposed set of identical tiles (pung, kong, quint).

It says "in an exposed set" - it doesn't say "in an exposed hand" - I'll try again, with a picture. Here's what a player has exposed atop her rack:



That's all she has atop her rack. No other tiles. Can she do that? How?
Below the answers in column 687, it says:

*You cannot claim a discarded joker - you can only claim a discarded natural. So there must be at least one natural in an exposed set. Not specifically stated in rulebook, but logical from accurate knowledge of the way the rules work.

Make more sense now? May the tiles be with you.
Tom Sloper

Creator of the weekly Mah-Jongg column and the Mah-Jongg FAQs -- donations appreciated!
Author of "The Red Dragon & The West Wind," the definitive book on Mah-Jongg East & West.
Los Angeles, California, USA
September 1, 2017

---

Column 687, #3, part 2

>From: "lindaz
>Sent: Saturday, September 2, 2017 4:44 AM
>Subject:
>Hi Tom,
>I think I understand your explanation. I just could not imagine anyone exposing a pung/kong/quint of jokers before calling maj (I mean, why would you do that?) but only at the time of the win. Clever trick question, Tom!!

Good morning, Linda!
I'm glad you get it now. I didn't intend it as a trick question - I can imagine someone doing it. (It's a good thing you couldn't!) I can imagine two ways someone might do it -
{1} illegally claiming a discarded joker (unaware that it's illegal) and exposing a pung of jokers, or
{2} simply [illegally] exposing a complete joker pung after picking a tile from the wall (a thing a raw beginner might do, out of a misguided misconception that Mah-Jongg rules are the same as Rummy rules).
May the tiles be with you.
Tom Sloper
トム·スローパー
湯姆 斯洛珀
Creator of the Sloper On Mah-Jongg column and the Mah-Jongg FAQs -- donations appreciated.
Author of "The Red Dragon & The West Wind," the definitive book on Mah-Jongg East & West.
Los Angeles, California, USA
September 2, 2017

---

Column 687, #3 (part 3)

>From: Al D
>Sent: Sunday, October 8, 2017 2:06 PM
>Subject: Wrong answer
>Hello,
>Regarding FAQ 19 BJ.
>I believe it has a wrong answer. It states: So there must be at least one natural in an exposed set. Not specifically stated in rulebook, but logical from accurate knowledge of the way the rules work.
>**See FAQ 19-BJ.
>I called the National Mahjongg league and was told a Pung, Kong, Quint or Sextet may be composed of all Jokers!
>Jean

Hi, Jean!
I tricked you with the tricky wording of a quiz question, and the tricky use of two asterisked footnotes to the quiz answer key.

You are not referring to FAQ 19-BJ (FAQ 19-BJ discusses "heavenly hand"). You are instead asking about Column 687, question 3. There is one asterisk on the answer to question 3, which refers to a footnote as follows:

*You cannot claim a discarded joker - you can only claim a discarded natural. So there must be at least one natural in an exposed set. Not specifically stated in rulebook, but logical from accurate knowledge of the way the rules work.

Question 8, however, has two asterisks, which refers to the footnote about FAQ 19-BJ. Question 8 is about a dealer who has a complete hand before passing any tiles in the Charleston. It's question 3 that talks about having an EXPOSED set of all jokers. Linda Z also wrote me about my answer to question 3, on September 1. I explained to her then:

It says "in an exposed set" - it doesn't say "in an exposed hand" - I'll try again, with a picture. Here's what a player has exposed atop her rack:



That's all she has atop her rack. No other tiles.

Jean, if you say that a player can expose a pung or kong or quint of jokers, and no other tiles, then I challenge you to explain the series of events leading up to such an exposure.

How is an exposure made? By taking another player's discard, and then placing other tiles beside it from one's own hand. BUT: what tile could have been discarded to initiate the cascade of actions resulting in an all-joker exposure? It could only be a joker... BUT it's illegal to call for and take a discarded joker. You can scroll down and see my conversation with Linda Z on September 1. Standing by for further discussion if necessary!
May the tiles be with you.
Tom Sloper
トム·スローパー
湯姆 斯洛珀
Creator of the Sloper On Mah-Jongg column and the Mah-Jongg FAQs -- donations appreciated.
Author of "The Red Dragon & The West Wind," the definitive book on Mah-Jongg East & West.
Los Angeles, California, USA
October 8, 2017

If you appreciate the free information on this site, your donation would be gratefully accepted, and would help keep this site running as a free service. Thank you!
    DONATE!    

Where to order the yearly NMJL card: Read FAQ 7i.

Need rules for American mah-jongg? Tom Sloper's book, The Red Dragon & The West Wind, is the most comprehensive book in existence about the American game. AND see FAQ 19 for fine points of the American rules (and commonly misunderstood rules). AND get the official rulebook from the NMJL (see FAQ 3). Linda Fisher's website is the only website that describes American rules: http://sites.google.com/site/mahjrules/.

---

© 2017 Tom Sloper. All rights reserved.