Joker Exchange: Pick First

 

 Do you get excited when another player makes an exposure with a Joker? Oh, happy day! A Joker has appeared and you have that very tile in your Hand. You fidget, waiting for your turn and then, Bam! You whip out the tile and ask for a Joker exchange. 

Wait! Don't do it.

Not just yet. First, you need to pick a tile from the wall. Then you can exchange that Joker. If you exchange the Joker first, your hand is Dead the moment that Joker drops onto your rack. 

It's not just a Joker exchanges that should wait. All Mah Jongg "business" should be conducted after you pick a tile from the wall. This includes reviewing your tiles, making stay/pivot decisions and scanning the exposures for other Joker treasures. Unless you're calling a discard, pick first. 

 Let's talk about the mechanics of a turn. I get questions about this in my beginner's class. While players are learning the structure of the game and its components, they often get confused over turn contents and play order. Here's a standard turn flow in Mah Jongg:

1. Pick - this action begins your turn

    Pick a tile from the wall and rack it on the sloped part of your rack.

2. Look 

    Look down at the new tile to assess and Look up around the table for Jokers to trade

3. Chuck* - this action ends your turn

    "Chuck" your discard on the table

*A note on the word "Chuck". It's crude and undignified but it stays until I conjure a snappier trilogy.

The Joker Exchange is done in the "Look" phase.  That's the time to make adjustments to your hand. You start by looking at the new tile you just picked. Does this new tile help your hand or should you consider pivoting? Will the Joker still help or is it now just a throw-away tile? During the Look phase, you can also survey the discard pile, look at other player exposures and take a moment to think before choosing what to Chuck to end your turn. The game stops between Pick and Chuck. Take a moment if you need it. Just don't be a jerk-wagon about it. 

And while I still have my Mistress Mahjong sun hat on, here's a "that can't be true!" about the rules of Joker exchange. Say you have a Kong (4 identical tiles) of 6-Dots with a Joker exposed. A player extends a tile and says "Joker exchange". You politely make the exchange and then you realize you just accepted a 9-Dot instead of a 6-

Your hand is Dead. 

Your hand is Dead!? What about your new nemesis, who handed you the wrong tile? Nemesis is not penalized. Only you are. Your hand is dead because you have an invalid exposure. 

Mah Jongg is a game of observation. It is up to you to see the error and correct it. You have a window from the time the Joker is exchanged until the nemesis discards. If you correct it in that window, there's no foul. But if you don't, then your hand is Dead and Nemesis has a Joker besides. 

Pick-Look-Chuck

MahjLove to All,

Amy

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