Starting the Game: the ordinary turn

Step 1 East discards first

Your goal: Understand an ordinary turn, a called turn and how a game ends.

Once the Charleston and any courtesy pass are over, East already holds 14 tiles. East begins by discarding 1 tile and saying its name. East doesn’t draw a 15th tile.

If East’s 14 tiles already make a winning hand, East declares Mah Jongg instead. When nobody calls, the next turn goes to the player on East’s right.

Before the first discard: here East sits on your left. East holds 14 tiles, and the others hold 13 each.

After it: East puts a North face up in the middle and says “North.” Now East holds 13, like everyone else.

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Step 2 Quick question: how play starts

East has 14 tiles but not a winning hand. What starts play?

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Step 3 Turns move to the right

Seen from your seat, ordinary play goes You → Right → Across → Left → You. That means counterclockwise around the table.

The numbers show the order from the start: East on your left (1), then you (2), Right (3) and Across (4). The gold ring marks the next tile in the wall.

A call can change this order. Section 2 shows how.

Your tile count: 13 tiles between turns; 14 right before you discard.

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Step 4 Draw, choose, discard

An ordinary turn has 3 parts:

1. Draw. Take the next tile from the wall (13 → 14).

2. Check. See whether the tile wins, or lets you exchange for an exposed Joker (Section 2 shows how).

3. Discard. Put 1 tile face up in the middle and say its name (back to 13).

East’s first turn is different: East starts with 14 and discards without drawing.

Drawing: the tile from the wall goes to the end of your rack, so 13 tiles become 14.

Here you play 1 ordinary turn. Pick 1 tile that doesn’t help the practice line shown.

This practice checks only which tiles fit the line. At a real table you’d also ask whether your discard could help another player win; Chapter 11’s section on defense covers that.

Practice line · X

A teaching example, not a line from the current NMJL card. X means exposures are allowed. You need all 14 tiles.

4 × 1 Bam

4 × 2 Bam

3 × 3 Bam

3 × 4 Bam

Whose turn it is

East is on your left. East discarded first, and nobody called the tile, so it’s your turn. You hold 13 tiles, all concealed.

The wall: the next tiles, face down

Your 13 tiles · shown in rows to fit the screen

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Step 5 Name your discard out loud

Place your discard face up in the middle of the table. Say its name clearly, such as “6 Crak,” “North,” “Red Dragon,” “Soap,” “Flower” or “Joker.” Look at the tile as you name it.

You discard the 6 Crak and say “6 Crak.” Your 14 tiles become 13.

Check the tile itself before you call, not only its name. If the name and the tile don’t match, say so. The discarder corrects the name but can’t swap the tile, and nobody can claim it until it is named correctly.

Say the name that matches the face: this tile is a 7 Dot, not a 7 Bam.

A wrong name can carry a penalty: see Chapter 10, Section 1: If someone misnames a tile. As a courtesy, don’t say what you’re collecting or how many tiles you’ve seen, and don’t advise another player about a discard.

Right discards a 7 Dot but says “7 Bam.” What happens next?

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