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How do I declare Mahjong, and what happens once I do?

The moment your fourteenth tile completes a line on the current card, whether you drew it or called it, say Mahjong and lay the whole hand face up on top of your rack. Every player checks it against the card, and nobody throws in their own tiles until it has been verified. You announce what the hand is worth, including whether it is jokerless, and then the table pays.

Answered by Prim. Last reviewed 2026-10-11.

When you may declare

Mahjong is declared on the fourteenth tile, the one that turns your thirteen into a complete line on this year's card. It may come from the wall on your own draw, or it may be someone else's discard. A discard can be called for Mahjong even when it finishes a single or a pair, which is the one time the rules allow that, and a concealed hand may win on a discard in exactly the same way.

If you want the discard, say so at once. A call for Mahjong beats a call for an exposure, even when the other player has already begun laying tiles down. If two players both call the same tile for Mahjong, the player next in turn after the discarder takes it.

Show the whole hand

Say Mahjong, then lay all fourteen tiles face up on top of your rack where the whole table can see them. Arranging them in the order the line is printed is a courtesy that makes the checking quick. Your exposures stay where they are; the rest of the hand joins them.

The game ends there. Once a Mahjong has been declared and shown, no earlier discard may be called for anything, and nobody draws again.

Everyone checks, and nobody throws in

Every player verifies the hand against the card: the right tiles, the right suits, the right line, and Jokers only where a Joker is allowed. This is not suspicion. It is simply how the game is finished, every hand, every time.

Until the hand has been verified, every other player leaves their own tiles exactly where they are. That rule exists for a good reason. If the declaration turns out to be wrong, the game may be able to go on, and it can only go on if the other hands are still intact. A player who sweeps their tiles into the middle the instant they hear the word has thrown away that chance, and the rules on a mistaken Mahjong treat it seriously.

Announce the value, then settle up

The winner announces what the hand is worth, reading the value from the card, and says so if the hand is jokerless, because a jokerless hand that permits Jokers is worth double. The value you announce stands, even if someone later notices it was worth more. Know your hand before you speak.

Then the table pays. On a discard win, the player who threw the winning tile pays double and the other two pay the value as printed. On a self-picked win, all three pay double. The tiles are washed, the walls are rebuilt, and the East seat passes to the right for the next hand.

New to the words? Mah Jongg · Self-pick · No Jokers · Rack