Calling tiles in mahjong

How to call a tile

1. A player discards a tile you need and names it.
2. Say "Call" before the next player puts their new tile on their rack.
3. Take the tile and lay the finished set face up on your rack.
4. Discard one tile.
5. Play continues to your right. Anyone between you and the discarder loses their turn.

You can only call the tile that was just discarded. Once the next player has put their new tile on their rack, no one can call that tile.

What you can call for

You can call a tile to finish a set of 3 or more: a pung, kong or quint.

You can't call a tile to make a pair, or to fill a single tile in your hand, such as one tile of 2026. The one exception is mahjong: if a discard completes your whole hand, you can call it for anything, even a pair or a single.

Exposed sets

A set you lay face up after calling is called an exposure. It stays on your rack, face up, until the hand ends. You can't take it back or rearrange it.

• An exposure can include jokers, as long as it is a set of 3 or more.
• Any player can swap the real tile for a joker in your exposure on their turn. See mahjong jokers.
• Exposures show the table what you are building. Other players may stop discarding tiles you need.

Make sure the set you expose fits a hand on the card. If it can't, your hand is dead. You stop playing until the next hand, and you still pay if someone wins.

When two players want the same tile

• If one player needs the tile for mahjong, that player gets it.
• If two players both need it for mahjong, the one next in turn gets it.
• If no one needs it for mahjong, the player next in turn gets it.
• Next in turn means closest to the discarder's right, following the direction of play.

For example, West discards a 3 Bam. North wants it for a pung and South wants it for a kong. North sits right after West, so North gets it. If South needed it for mahjong, South would get it instead.

Concealed hands

Some hands on the card are marked C, for concealed. For those hands you can't call a discard to make a set. You build the whole hand from tiles you draw, and you can only call your very last tile, for mahjong.

Hands not marked C (often marked X on other cards) can call and expose. Concealed hands are usually worth more for this reason. See how to read a mahjong card.

Calling and jokers

A discarded joker can't be called by anyone. But jokers in your hand can help you call. If you hold one real 6 Dot and a joker, a discarded 6 Dot finishes a pung. You expose two 6 Dots and the joker.

Should you call?

• Once a set is exposed, you can't switch to a hand that doesn't use it.
• Call early when you are sure of your hand and the tile is hard to get, such as the last of a tile.
• Wait when you still have two hands in mind, or when exposing would show your plan too soon.
• Late in the game, calling can get you to mahjong before the wall runs out.

Our strategy guide for beginners has more on when to pick one hand.