Rule variations

Draw rules – Dead hand rules

Sometimes the rules specify certain conditions for a "dead hand". In these situations an abortive draw is declared, the current deal is abandoned and a new one is started. The deal never passes as a result of an abandoned deal (even if the rules specify that the deal passes after a draw).

To specify the Dead hand rules:

Choose Preferences on the File menu.
From the Rule Presets list, choose a customized rule preset.
Choose Winning & Draw under the Rules section of the category tree.
Click the Dead Hand button.
Choose the desired options using the controls of the Dead Hand dialog box:

Allow declaring of dead hand, if 9 or more different Terminals and Honors in the dealt hand. If enabled, allows a player who gets nine (out of thirteen) different Terminals and Honors in the dealt hand, including the first tile he draws from the Wall, to declare his hand dead and require a new deal.
The declaration must be done on the first turn before the player has made his first discard, and requires that none of the players has melded a Chow, Pung or Kong. The human player can make the declaration by choosing Declare Dead hand on the Game menu. The menu command is available only in the situation where the player has an opportunity to use it. Computer players nearly always use this opportunity, but notice that if the rules include the limit hand called Thirteen Orphans, it may be a good idea to try to collect this special hand.

Abandon deal if four same discards on the first turn. Specifies that if the first four discarded tiles are the same (and no one has melded a Chow, Pung or Kong), the deal is automatically abandoned. The rule can be modified by checking the Only if Wind tiles box, in which case the four first discards must be similar Wind tiles.

Abandon deal if four Kongs declared during the deal. Specifies that declaring of the fourth Kong during the deal causes the deal to be abandoned. The new deal starts right after the player declaring the fourth Kong has melded the set (without giving the supplement tile). There are two exceptions to this rule: if the limit hand Four Kongs is enabled, or either of the scoring patterns Four Concealed Kongs or Four Kongs on the Sets and Patterns option page has been assigned the amount of limit points, and all four Kongs have been declared by one player, the deal can continue. However, on the next declaration of Kong, the deal is abandoned. The second exception allows a player to rob the fourth Kong and use the robbed tile to complete his hand and go out. This is actually no exception, since the fourth Kong was never really completed.

Abandon deal if 4 players have declared Ready. Specifies that the deal is automatically abandoned, if all four players have declared Ready.

Abandon deal if three players claim a tile for 'Out'. Specifies that the deal is automatically abandoned, if three players claim the same tile in order to go Out. The rule can be modified by checking the Abandon deal with already two claimers box, in which case the deal will always be abandoned if more than one player claims the same winning tile.