When a player makes Mahjong +Value on card +10 – Self-drawn Mahjong (picked from the wall) +20 – Jokerless Mahjong (no jokers in hand at the time of Mahjong; excludes Singles and Pairs hands) When a player discards the winning tile Points deducted from the discarding player −10 – Winner had 0–1 exposures −20 – Winner had 2 exposures −25 – Winner had 3+ exposures Wall games +10 – to all players
The following are reasons why a player's hand may be declared dead. Do not call your own hand dead. Any player may call another player's hand dead. East determines if the call is accurate. If a player's error does not affect the fairness of the game or gameplay, East may decide to let it go. • Tile count incorrect: Rack holds less than 13 or more than 14 tiles • Invalid joker exchange: player exchanges a joker before obtaining their tile (from wall or call) • Incorrect Exposure: Non-identical or otherwise invalid exposed tiles (NEWS, 2025, 123) • No Such Hand: Exposed tiles do not match any hand on the current NMJL card • Unwinnable Hand: It's clear from a player's exposures & the table's discards that the player cannot get Mahjong • Concealed Hand Exposure: A player makes exposures on a concealed hand & they cannot pivot; or they call Mahjong on a concealed hand & previously made exposures • Mahjong in Error: Player incorrectly declares Mahjong & exposes their hand What happens to a dead hand? The answer depends on if the player whose hand was correctly called dead was going for a concealed hand or an exposed hand. • Exposed: all valid exposures made prior to being called dead stay exposed. Any tiles exposed in error (e.g., when the player mis-called mahjong) go back to the player's slope. Jokers from valid exposures remain redeemable for joker swaps. • Concealed: The entire hand is returned to the player's slope. No jokers are redeemable.
