Winning, Wall Games, and Settling Up

Every hand ends one of two ways: someone wins, or the tiles run out. Let’s look at both, and then at how the table settles up.

Winning

You win the moment you complete all fourteen tiles of a hand exactly as it appears on the card. Call out “Mah Jongg!” to stop play, lay your tiles face-up, and point to the line you’ve matched. It’s good manners for everyone to verify before any money changes hands.

Reading a Hand — an Invented Example

Pung (3 alike)

Kong (4 alike)

Pung (3 alike)

Pair (2 alike)

ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE ONLY — this is a made-up hand to show groups (pung, kong, pair) and how a joker fills a group of 3+. It is NOT taken from any real National Mah Jongg League card. Always read winning hands from your own current card.

Wall games and dead hands

If the wall empties before anyone finishes, that’s a wall game — nobody wins, nobody pays, and you wash the tiles for a fresh hand. A hand becomes dead when it can no longer win, usually from a wrong tile count or an exposure that fits no hand on the card; that player keeps picking and discarding so the game flows on.

Settling up

The winner is paid by all three others, at the value printed beside the hand. Many tables add a common twist: the player who discarded the winning tile — or who drew it themselves — pays double, and some tables give a bonus for winning without any jokers. These customs vary, so ask how your table plays before the first deal.