In most mahjong you may take a discard only from the player before you. In American Mah Jongg any player may claim any discard, and the turn jumps to whoever takes it. That is the rule that makes the table a race rather than a rota.

The rules

  • A discard may be claimed only to complete a group of three or more (a pung, kong, quint or sextet), or to complete your whole hand for mahjong. You cannot call a tile to finish a pair or a single unless it wins.
  • A claim for mahjong beats a claim for an exposure. Between two exposure claims, the seat nearest to the discarder, going right, wins.
  • The claimed group goes face up on your rack. It is now an exposure: everyone sees it, and it is permanent.
  • A discarded joker cannot be claimed.
  • A line marked concealed cannot be called for at all, except the winning tile.

Two 5 Bams in hand and a third thrown across the table: a claim makes the pung, face up on your rack, for keeps.

Why the claim is a commitment

An exposure is irrevocable. The moment a pung of five bams is on your rack, every line on the card without a group that could be five bams is gone for you. Two exposures narrow it further; three usually leave one line, and the whole table can read which.

So a claim buys you a tile and sells two things: your flexibility, and your privacy. The question every time is whether the tile is worth both.

When to call

  • When it takes you from far to near on the line you are actually playing. Two tiles away after the call is a good reason; five away is not.
  • When the group could not be finished any other way. If you hold two of a tile and the other two are already on the table, the discard in front of you is the last chance for that pung.
  • When your hand is already exposed. After one exposure your privacy is mostly spent; a second call costs less than the first did.
  • For mahjong, always. There is no reason to pass up the win.

When not to

  • Early, on a hand you are not sure about. A first-turn call on a line you might abandon is a line you can no longer abandon.

An exposed pung with a joker in it. Anyone holding the third 7 Crak may swap it for your joker on their turn.

  • With a joker in the group. An exposed group holding a joker can be raided: anyone with the natural tile may swap it for your joker on their turn. A concealed joker cannot be touched.
  • When the tile also helps the pair. Calling three of something you needed a pair of is fine only if the line has room for the pung.
  • When it tells the table exactly what you need. Late in the hand the discard you are waiting on will not come from a player who can read your exposures.

Practise it

The school's report card after every game shows each call you made and each one you let go, with what a strong player would have done and why.