Phishing for DQ (Letter 9)

I play with friends and we pride ourselves on following the rules. In a recent game, I was looking at my friend’s exposures and said, “Let me see, your hand might be dead.” As I looked at the card, I found the hand that they were playing so I said, “Oh, I see what you are doing.” My friend thought that was unfair to call attention to her hand but I thought it was ok. Can you confirm the rule and the process?

Doxed & Stunned

Dear Doxed & Stunned,

Framing a disqualification as a statement or question has the same repercussions as saying, “You are disqualified” or “Your hand is dead” because they would all draw scrutiny. If the player who raised the red flag is wrong, they incur a penalty for the unwarranted attention they caused. The official rule for disqualification has a prerequisite. You must be able to prove that their hand is invalid or no longer viable based on visible tiles (e.g., discards, exposures) because if you are incorrect, you will incur a penalty. If a player contests a disqualification, the game continues as usual. At the end of the game, the player who initiated the disqualification and the player who contested are the only ones who debate the issue. The wrong player pays the other player 50 points or 50 cents if you play for money.

The next time you think someone has a potentially invalid or inviable hand, say, “I need a minute.” Use that time to survey the discards, check exposures, and look for hands. If you cannot prove that the hand is invalid or inviable, say, “Ok, I’m ready to move on.” If you can provide evidence that the hand is invalid or inviable, disqualify the player and share your proof.