SLOPER ON MAH-JONGG

American Mah Jongg (2022 NMJL card). The National Mah Jongg League's annual bulletin-slash-newsletter (January 2023) has arrived in my mailbox. Of special interest every year is the Q&A section. The below are probably the most frequently asked, most vexing rules questions the League received from its members this past year.

2. Can I change my mind after I make an exposure? No, sayeth the League. Making the exposure commits you to the play, just as I wrote in the "change of heart" rules in FAQ 19-AM.

4. Definitively put to rest: when a player is declared dead for unwinnable hand, with two joker exposures, the joker in the second exposure is not available for redemption.
Not stated in the newsletter, but covered in page 17 of Mah Jongg Made Easy, the League's official rulebook: that second (death-causing) exposure must be returned to the sloping front of the rack. That's how the tile's unavailability is made apparent. FAQ 19-P.

5. Clarifying that the Charleston may be stopped if one or more players has passed second left, as long as no one has picked up second left. FAQ 19-AG.

7. Yes, it's true; if a player's hand is dead but nobody has said so, that player's jokers are still available for redemption.
But don't withhold a rightful death challenge just so you can have a chance to redeem that player's joker[s]; some people would call that "cheating." Now that I think of it, maybe that's why some groups use a "never call anybody dead" table rule, hmm...
I just noticed that my FAQ 19 didn't list any answers for questions involving "what if the player is dead but nobody has said so." So I added FAQ 19-DG today.

8. "Reverse redemption" is not allowed (rule 7 of the rulebook). You can use a tile to get a joker, but you can't use a joker to get a tile. FAQ 19-AL.

9. There is no rule that says a joker redemption must be verbalized. Saying you're redeeming is a courtesy that enables smooth play. To my knowledge, this was first in print in a letter from the League to Judi Nachenberg (shared on the Q&A BB on Sept. 12, 2022). Now it's in print for all to see.

10. Another of the "change of heart" rules: a caller may pick up the fresh live discard and put it back, so long as they do not put it on or in the rack. FAQ 19-AM.

11. An exposure may be changed as long as the player has not yet discarded. Very specific example: a player exposed three tiles and picked up the called discard, then realized she only needed a pung, not a kong. League says no problem; go ahead and place the discard with the fresh exposure, then put one of the exposed tiles back on the sloping front of the rack, to be discarded whenever. FAQ 19-AF.

No surprises to me. I knew these rules, and they're covered in FAQ 19 and in my book, The Red Dragon & The West Wind, or its up-to-date errata. Every table should have a copy of the League's official rulebook on hand, and every player should buy their card directly from the League so as to get the newsletter every year.

COMMENTS
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Join Johni Levene's popular Facebook group, "Mah Jongg, That's It!" for lively conversations about American mah-jongg and all things mah-jongg.

Where to order the yearly NMJL card: Read FAQ 7i. But you're missing a bet if you don't order your NMJL card directly from the National Mah Jongg League!

Need rules for American mah-jongg? Tom Sloper's book, The Red Dragon & The West Wind, is the most comprehensive book about the American game, a good supplement to the League's official rulebook. AND see FAQ 19 for fine points of the American rules (and commonly misunderstood rules). AND every player should have a copy of Mah Jongg Made Easy, the official rulebook of the National Mah Jongg League (see FAQ 3 for info on mah-jongg books).

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