World Series of Mahjong - Mahjong Rules (v1.03)

Long Hand and Short Hand

1. If it is discovered that a player has the wrong number of tiles in his hand, he will be prohibited from winning the current hand.
2. A player should have 14 tiles when it is his turn to discard, or 13 tiles when it is not his turn to discard. For the purpose of this rule, a kong counts as a set of 3 tiles.
3. If a player has too few tiles, it is called a short hand. The player's hand is dead, and is prohibited from winning.
4. If a player has too many tiles, it is called a long hand. The player's hand is dead (cannot win), and also he may not claim any discard or declare a kong.
5. Once a player is discovered to have a long hand or a short hand, his hand is dead. Even if the hand later reverts to the correct number somehow, it remains dead.
6. The above rules apply to an incorrect hand as a result of an inadvertent mistake. The judge has the right to correct any irregularity or to impose additional penalties against deliberate violations (such as deliberately drawing more tiles, refusing to discard, or discarding multiple tiles at once).

Wrong Claims

This section covers the handling of wrong claims. These rules apply to wrong claims which are inadvertent mistakes. The judge has the right to correct any irregularity or impose additional penalties against deliberate violations.

1. Wrong display corrected immediately: If a player displays an exposed sequence, an exposed triplet or a kong, but it is immediately discovered that the claim is incorrect (the exposed set is incorrect, or trying to "chi" a tile discarded by the lower seat or the opposite seat, etc.), he may correct it immediately. Afterwards, any illegally exposed tiles become penalty tiles.
   Example: A player claims "chi" on a "2 Dot" tile discarded by his upper seat, but he mistakenly displays his "4 Dot" and "5 Dot" tiles. An opponent points out the mistake immediately. The player displays his "3 Dot" to compose the "2 3 4 Dot" exposed sequence. The illegally exposed "5 Dot" becomes a live penalty tile, which he may either discard immediately, or retain as a dead penalty tile.
2. Change of Claim: If a player, after announcing a claim for "chi", "pong" or "kong", changes his mind and wishes to change his claim into one of another type (or to "win"), this is usually allowed without penalty. (Unless the player has already exposed his set, in which case any illegally exposed tiles become penalty tiles). The player should not do this too frequently, otherwise the judge may impose a penalty.
3. Cancelled Claim: If a player, after announcing a claim for a discarded tile for "chi", "pong", or (big exposed) kong, but before revealing any tiles, changes his mind or realizes that he does not have the correct tiles to complete the claim, then he may cancel his claim, but he must reveal two tiles to become penalty tiles. The judge may designate which tiles should become penalty tiles.
4. Cancelled Kong: If a player, after drawing a tile on his turn, announces a kong, but before revealing any tiles, changes his mind or realizes that he does not have the correct tiles to complete the kong, then he may usually cancel the kong without penalty. The player should not do this too frequently, otherwise the judge may impose a penalty.
5. Improperly displayed set: If a player claims (chi, pong, kong) and displays a set, but later (after his discard is claimed, or the lower seat has drawn a tile, or he has taken a supplement tile) discovers that the displayed set is incorrect and does not conform to the specification of a set, this cannot be corrected, and the player's hand is rendered dead (cannot win). If a kong is discovered to be incorrect after taking a supplement tile, then the player is further prohibited from claiming discards or declaring a kong (in addition to the hand being dead, just like a "long hand").
   If a player discards before displaying his set, and the discarded tile is claimed or the lower seat has already drawn a tile, then the player must display a set, and may not apply the "cancelled claim" rule above to cancel the claim. For this reason, it is not encouraged to discard before displaying a set.
6. False Win: If a player declares a win (self-draw or win on discard) and reveals his entire hand, but then discovers that he does not have a correct winning hand, this is called a "false win", and is handled just like a case of "wrong display corrected immediately": the play of the hand continues, and all illegally exposed tiles become penalty tiles.
7. Cancelled Win: If a player declares a win, but before revealing his tiles, changes his mind or realizes that he does not have a correct winning hand, then he may cancel his claim, but he must reveal three tiles to become penalty tiles. (If his hand has fewer than three tiles left, they all become penalty tiles.) The judge may designate which tiles should become penalty tiles.
8. It is the responsibility of the three opponents to verify that the winning player has a correct winning hand. The three opponents, before verifying that the winning hand is correct, should not reveal their hands or disturb any tiles on the table. In case of a false win, the play of the hand continues; any illegally exposed tiles will become penalty tiles, and anyone who disturbed the tiles on the table will be penalized.

Play Time Limits

1. In a hand, each player has 3 minutes total for all his plays. The penalty for exceeding the time limit is 5 points per 15 seconds (or part thereof).
2. For each turn, a player has 15 seconds to make his play. The penalty for exceeding the time limit is 5 points per 15 seconds (or part thereof, per occasion).
3. For the purpose of these rules, a player's turn starts when one's upper seat discards (if one draws from the wall) or when the claimed tile is discarded (if one claims a discard), and ends when one discards (and completes displaying any exposed set). When one makes a kong, a new turn is started when one draws the supplement tile.
4. For the above time limits, the timing clock starts 15 seconds after the dealing of the tiles has been complete. The first 15 seconds in a hand is free time, for the players to organize their hands and consider their initial plans. Within this 15 seconds, if East has discarded, West or North may request South to wait before drawing a tile, so as to give oneself enough time to prepare; similarly, after South discards, North may request West to wait.
5. The above penalties are cumulative: a player who spends more than 3 minutes in a hand because one takes longer than 15 seconds to play some of one's turns will be penalized for both violations.
6. Which players should be timed is at the judges' discretion. Players who feel that an opponent is taking too long to play, should call the attention of a judge.
7. A player who is penalized for over 80 points in a hand for play time limit violations will be considered as having resigned for not completing the required playing, unless he has a reasonable explanation.
8. See the "Session Time Limits" section under "Tournament Format" for the time limit over a session (half or quarter).