What Makes a Hand Dead in American Mah Jongg?
 

A hand can be called 'dead' when it can no longer legally match any complete line on the NMJL card.

 

Once a hand is dead, it may not win, even if the player later completes 14 tiles.

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Common reasons a hand can be called dead include:

• Exposing tiles incorrectly

• Calling a tile that is not permitted under the rules

• Using a joker in a single or a pair

• Exposing tiles in a concealed hand

• Building a hand that no longer matches any full line on the card
   

When a hand is declared dead, the player continues to discard tiles as the game proceeds, but the hand is no longer eligible to declare Mah Jongg.
 

Published by the American Mah Jongg Association — the trusted home for American Mah Jongg players.