EXPOSURE COMPLETED WITH ANOTHER EXPOSURE MADE BY MISTAKE (Article 7)

Commentary: If a player claims a discard and makes an exposure, then proceeds to expose other tiles from their hand, and they are not ready to win, they should be disqualified for mah jongg in error. They showed their intent whether or not they declared mah jongg.

Question from a player: A player discards a 2 Bam, another player calls the 2 Bam and places the 2 Bam on their rack along with three other 2 Bams from their rack. The same player takes three Dots from their rack and places them on the flat part of their rack alongside the Kong of 2 Bams. The player then says, “Oh I can’t do that,” and puts the tiles back in her rack. She never declares Mah Jongg. Can she do this?

Answer from the NMJL: A player may change the number and type of tiles displayed in the exposure up until the player has discarded, which ends their turn. Exception: If a player accidentally exposes more than one pung, kong, quint, or sextet at a the time a tile is called, the hand is now considered dead.

Source: National Mah Jongg League Bulletin (2025)

Other answers from the NMJL:

The league has recanted this bulletin’s ruling by phone with another community leader. In that phone call, they said that if a player exposes extra tiles after completing an exposure because they think they have mah jongg, they have mah jongg in error and should be disqualified. Until the league clarifies this in writing, your group should decide how to handle this situation. Source: Mahjong Community Facebook group, 9/2/2024

SUPERSEDED: The player in question, after properly calling and exposing the 2 Bams, may expose other tiles as well, as long as the player has not yet discarded them. This really hurts no one but the caller, as it now becomes apparent which hand is being played. As long as mah jongg was not called, this player may return the second erroneous exposure to their hand and discard it normally.

Sources: National Mah Jongg League Bulletin (2022)