Lesson 5 of 6
Playing a hand
4 min

How Jokers Work in American Mahjong

The eight jokers are the most useful tiles in the set. Learn where a joker can stand in and where it can't, call a discard with one, and take one back from another player's group.

Step 1 of 5

Wild in groups of three or more
A joker can stand in for any tile in a group of three or more: a pung, a kong or a quint, a set of winds or dragons, and, on Playboard, a run too.

You hold two jokers, raised. The first finishes your fourth 1-2-3 Dot run, and the hand card rings that slot in gold: covered by a joker. Yet the card counts only 12 of 14 tiles: the line also needs a pair, and the second joker can't help with that. (On a phone, open the card with Hand card under your rack.)
Not in pairs, singles or flowers
A joker can't stand in for a tile of a pair, for a single, or for a flower. Those need real tiles every time.

Your lone Red Dragon needs a partner. Can the second joker be it?
Question
Call with a joker
A joker counts toward a call. You hold one South Wind and a joker, and West has just thrown a South Wind: together that makes a pung. The group goes face up as two South Winds and the joker.
Your move
Call the South Wind for a pung, then discard.
Swap for a joker
A joker face up on the table isn't safe. On your turn, before you discard, you can trade a real tile for a joker in another player's exposed group: hand over the tile the joker stands for, and the joker comes to your rack. This is a joker exchange.

West's pung is 5 Dot, 5 Dot and a joker, and you hold a 5 Dot.
Your move
Trade your 5 Dot for West's joker, then discard.
A thrown joker stays thrown
Now and then a player throws a joker. West has just done it, and you hold two jokers of your own.

Can you call West's joker?
Question

What you learned

A joker stands in for a tile in any group of three or more: pungs, kongs, quints, wind and dragon sets, and runs.
It can never be part of a pair, a single or a flower.
A joker in your rack counts toward a call.
On your turn you can trade the real tile for a joker in another player's exposed group.
A discarded joker can't be called for a pung, kong or quint, so don't throw one.