Chapter 11 of 12 · Section 2 of 2
All 19 steps of this section, written out on one page. The pictures and activities aren’t included: to see them, open a step in the lesson.
Your goal: Compare risks using what you can see, without pretending to know hidden hands.
You’re working to finish your hand and also to avoid handing an opponent their winning tile. Defense means weighing both of these jobs, and step 15 weighs them against each other.
When someone wins on your discard, you pay twice what each of the other 2 players pays. Chapter 8: Scoring & Payouts showed the full calculation.
Across won on your 5 Dot with a hand worth 30. You, the discarder, pay 60; Left and Right pay 30 each.
You don’t need that arithmetic to spot a risky tile. This section shows what to look at.
Move through the steps with Back and Next, or jump to one from Chapter contents. This browser saves your answers and your place on this device, so you can leave and come back.
An exposed group shows which tile and how many, and that can’t change for the rest of the hand. If that player wins, their line must be an X line that includes this group. That is stronger evidence than a guess from discards.
Right’s 2 exposures prove 2 groups. Right’s 7 hidden tiles are unknown.
Proved: Right’s 2 exposed groups, a pung of 3 Bams and a pung of 6 Bams.
Unknown: Right’s 7 hidden tiles.
The same rack, close up.
Two Bam groups don’t prove the whole hand is Bams. Check every line on the card that includes both groups, including lines with other suits or special tiles.
3 × 3 Bam
3 × 6 Bam
4 × 9 Bam
4 × Flower
3 × 3 Bam
3 × 6 Bam
4 × 9 Crak
4 × 9 Dot
Two teaching lines that include both pungs. Only Line A needs 9 Bams; Line B needs 9 Craks and 9 Dots.
Question 1 of 3
2 × Flower
3 × 1 Crak
3 × 3 Crak
3 × 5 Crak
3 × 7 Crak
3 × 1 Crak
3 × 3 Crak
4 × 5 Bam
4 × 5 Dot
Two teaching lines that include both of Across’s pungs (green outlines).
Across has exposed pungs of 1 Crak and 3 Crak. Lines C and D above both include them. You’re about to discard a 7 Crak. What does the card tell you?
From two Bam exposures, you know the opponent must finish an all-Bam hand.
If a player keeps discarding one suit, or passes you several tiles of one suit in the Charleston, those tiles probably mattered less to them at that moment. They may have changed lines, let go of spare copies or kept other numbers in that suit.
Left let 3 Craks go. A clue, not proof: Left may still hold other Craks.
Left’s last 3 discards: 2 Crak, 5 Crak and 8 Crak. Left’s 13 hidden tiles may still hold other Craks.
Left’s discards, close up.
Remember what you see, but don’t announce tile counts or coach other players while a game is being played.
Right’s discards so far: no Dots.
Right’s discards so far: 3 Bam, 7 Crak, North, 2 Crak and 9 Bam. None is a Dot.
Right’s discards, close up.
Right hasn’t discarded any Dots. What can you conclude?
Count every copy you can see: on your rack, in the old discards and in exposures. Each numbered tile, each Wind and each Dragon has 4 natural copies; Flowers and Jokers have 8. The copies you can’t see are unseen: in the wall or in another player’s hand.
Try each setting below. A Joker in an exposure isn’t a North, so only the natural Norths count.
You hold one North Wind. Change the number of other copies in old discards; those can’t be called anymore. Then try an exposure that holds North Winds.
1
In your hand
0
Old discards
0
Exposed
3
Unseen copies
A tile is a concern when it can fill a missing place in a line an opponent could still finish. No rule makes every middle number dangerous and every 1 or 9 safe.
Right’s exposures
3 × 2 Dot
3 × 4 Dot
3 × 6 Dot
3 × 8 Dot
2 × Flower
6 Dot: a concern. It fills a place this line still needs.
1 Bam: less concern from Right. This line has no place for it, but check the other players too.
One line that fits Right’s exposures, and 2 tiles you might discard.
Check the exact groups, which suits each line needs, its natural singles and pairs, and the newest exposures. A risky tile may still be worth discarding if keeping it would cost you a strong chance to win; defense is a comparison. Step 15 works through one.
An old discard narrows some possibilities. So does holding the fourth natural copy yourself. Neither removes every way a player could use the tile.
Three 6 Dots are old discards, and you hold the fourth.
Your last copy can still be called for a group whose other places are Jokers, or claimed as the last single of a winning hand. Only the newest discard can be called, but each new discard is a new chance.
Another player may call your 6 Dot and expose it with 2 Jokers: a pung.
It may be the last single of someone’s hand, claimed to win.
Two ways the last 6 Dot can still help another player. Green check: may be called. Amber diamond: only to win.
If a tile fits none of your lines and you keep it, you may have to discard it later, when an opponent is closer to winning. Weigh its later cost as well as its cost now.
Early: your 8 Dot fits none of your lines, and Right shows only 1 pung of Dots.
Late: the same 8 Dot, but Right now shows 3 pungs of Dots and the wall is short. It is riskier to let go now.
Your 8 Dot: it fits none of your lines, early or late.
Early: Right shows 1 pung of Dots, and the wall is still long.
Late: Right shows 3 pungs of Dots, and only 8 tiles are left in the wall.
The same 2 moments, close up.
This doesn’t mean you must discard every risky tile early. A player may be close very early, and a different discard may be better.
Question 1 of 3
Left shows no exposures; Across shows 3.
Left hasn’t exposed anything. Could Left already be one tile away from winning?
The wall limits how many draws are left. With 4 players and no calls, about one draw in four is yours. Calls skip turns and a win ends the hand early, so that is only a rough guide.
12 tiles left in the wall: about 3 draws each, if nobody calls.
As the wall gets short, compare how many tiles you still need, and which ones, with the draws you may get. Don’t call a small chance impossible unless the tiles prove it.
You can make avoiding a winning discard your main aim. This is sometimes called folding. You still draw and discard on every turn. It isn’t a dead hand: nobody has challenged your hand, and you keep playing (Chapter 10, Section 2: Understanding a dead hand).
You drew, so you hold 14. You break up your pair of Wests and discard one: with your 2 and the 2 old discards, all 4 Wests are seen. Your 6 Dots stay, because Right may need them.
To make a safer discard, you may break up concealed groups. Exposed groups stay as they are. Nobody can call a discarded Joker, but discarding one gives away a tile that could help you, so compare the natural tiles first.
Right shows pungs of 2 Dot and 4 Dot, Across shows a Red Dragon pung, and Left has no exposures. You have drawn, so you hold 14 tiles. Your line and the tiles that fill it are below. You could discard the 6 Dot, the Red Dragon or the 3 Crak. What facts would you check before you rank them?
Who sits where, and what each player shows. Your 3 candidate tiles are outlined in gold.
3 × 1 Bam
3 × 2 Bam
3 × 3 Bam
3 × 5 Crak
2 × North Wind
Fits nothing
11 of your 14 tiles fill places. Your line still needs a 2 Bam, a 3 Bam and a 5 Crak, or Jokers. The 3 candidates fill none of its places.
Each group of your line, with the tiles from your rack that fill it. Dashed: an empty place. Your 3 candidates are outlined in gold.
Right’s exposures: pungs of 2 Dots and 4 Dots.
Across’s exposure: a pung of Red Dragons.
Left: no exposures.
Your 3 candidate discards: 6 Dot, Red Dragon and 3 Crak.
What the others show, close up.
Your hand first. Your line uses 11 of your tiles and still needs a 2 Bam, a 3 Bam and a 5 Crak. The 6 Dot, Red Dragon and 3 Crak fill none of its places, so keeping any of them doesn’t help you. The choice rests on what each might do for someone else.
Count. Across shows 3 Red Dragons and you hold the 4th, so all 4 are seen: nobody else holds one.
Right (2 Dot and 4 Dot pungs): look through the card for lines that include both pungs. If one of them needs a 6 Dot, your 6 Dot could fill its place.
Across (Red Dragon pung): that pung is complete and can’t grow. Your Red Dragon could still be the last single of someone’s hand, or join a group made with Jokers, so it is less risky, not safe.
Left (no exposures): nothing is known, so the 3 Crak isn’t proven safe either.
Red Dragon. All 4 are seen, so no other player holds one. Only a group made with Jokers, or a last single, could use it.
3 Crak. Nothing on the table points to it, but Left shows nothing, so it isn’t proven safe.
6 Dot. It may fill a place in a line with Right’s 2 Dot and 4 Dot pungs. Of the three, the most likely to help someone.
From least to most likely to help someone, on what you can see.
On what you can see: the Red Dragon first, then the 3 Crak, then the 6 Dot. That is a ranking, not a promise, so say what you are unsure of: here, Left’s hand.
Defense is a comparison: what a discard does for your own chance to win, against what it might do for someone else. Here is the same choice in 2 situations. For each one, choose your discard and the fact that decides it. Nothing is marked until you check both, and your first answer to each situation is kept.
Situation 1 of 2
A few turns after step 14. You discarded the Red Dragon, drew a 2 Bam and discarded the 3 Crak. Now you have drawn a 3 Bam, so you hold 14 tiles. Right still shows pungs of 2 Dots and 4 Dots, with 7 hidden tiles. About 40 tiles are left in the wall.
The table now. The 6 Dot at the right end of your rack is outlined in gold.
3 × 1 Bam
3 × 2 Bam
3 × 3 Bam
3 × 5 Crak
2 × North Wind
Fits nothing
13 of your 14 tiles fill places. Your line needs just 1 more tile: a 5 Crak, or a Joker. The 6 Dot is the only tile it doesn’t use.
Each group of your line, with the tiles from your rack that fill it. The 6 Dot fits none of its places.
What do you discard?
Which fact decides it?
Question 1 of 10
2 × Flower
3 × 2 Crak
3 × 4 Crak
3 × 6 Crak
3 × Red Dragon
3 × 2 Crak
3 × 4 Crak
4 × 2 Dot
4 × 4 Dot
The only 2 teaching lines that include both of Right’s pungs.
Right has exposed pungs of 2 Crak and 4 Crak. On this teaching card, only Lines G and H include both. You’re about to discard an 8 Crak. What does the card tell you?
Each question shows the 8 Bams you can see. Count the natural copies; a Joker isn’t an 8 Bam.
Question 1 of 4
Your 8 Bam and Across’s exposure.
You hold one 8 Bam. Across’s exposed pung is two 8 Bams and a Joker. How many natural 8 Bams are unseen?
Answer without looking back at the examples first. Each answer comes with an explanation, and you can revisit a lesson or practice the questions you missed.
Question 1 of 6
Across has exposed a kong of 8 Dots. What does that group prove?
Explain one discard to yourself with 3 facts: what your hand needs, which lines an opponent could be playing and the copies you can see. Also name what you’re unsure of. Say it out loud only after the hand, or at a practice table where everyone has agreed.
What your hand needs. Your line still needs a 2 Bam, a 3 Bam and a 5 Crak. The 6 Dot, Red Dragon and 3 Crak fill none of its places.
Which lines an opponent could be playing. Right’s pungs fit lines that may need a 6 Dot.
The copies you can see. All 4 Red Dragons: Across’s 3 and yours.
And what you’re unsure of: Left’s hand, which shows nothing.
The 3 facts from the worked example in step 14, and what you can’t know.
Chapter 12 turns these clues into reading opponents’ hands.
Opening this recap doesn’t complete exercises you haven’t tried. A quiz score is feedback on your practice, not proof that you’re ready for a real table.