Four Winds Rule Collection – European Classical

4. Miscellaneous rules

The following rules can be considered optional.

4.1 Obligatory Ready declaration

Sometimes the rules require that a player must declare ready (say "ready", "calling", or "fishing") before being able to declare out. A player cannot declare ready and out on the same turn (except on the very first turn if he goes out before making his first discard).

The declaration informs other players that a player needs only one tile complete his hand, and thus warns them to be careful with discards. This rule is typical in British and some Scandinavian/Nordic versions of Mah Jong.

There are usually no special requirements for a hand that is declared ready. E.g., the rules normally allow changing (improving) the hand after the declaration, though if this is allowed, it is not possible to control whether a declaration is used for bluffing.

4.2 Voluntary Ready declaration

Voluntary Ready declaration is typically used in Japanese Mah Jong (where the declaration is called rii chi, which means "ready"), but appears occasionally in Western versions, too. The following describes the way this rule is applied in some French and Italian versions of Mah Jong. A comprehensive description of the original rule can be found in the section that describes variations in the modern Japanese Mah Jong.

4.2.1 French version

• No prerequisites: any calling hand can be declared ready (e.g., the hand does not need to be concealed).
• A hand that is declared ready cannot be altered, but non-changing Kongs are allowed (e.g., a player can declare a concealed Kong after the declaration, or promote his melded Pung into a melded Kong, or claim a Kong, if the calling shape of the hand remains the same.
• If a player who has declared ready wins the deal, he is rewarded with 1 extra double.
• If a player fails to win, he gets scores only for Flowers and Seasons and nothing for the hand. 

4.2.2 Italian version

• Prerequisites: any calling hand that can go out on only one kind of a tile can be declared ready, but the declaration must be made while there are at least 8 tiles left in the Wall. 
• The tiles are turned face down after the declaration and the hand cannot be altered in any way. The Flowers and Seasons that are picked after the declaration must be discarded.
• If a player who has declared ready wins the deal, he is rewarded with 1 extra double.
• No penalties for failing to win, but if a player makes a faulty declaration (e.g., if it appears after a deal is over that his hand was not legally ready), 1,000 points are reduced from his total points. 

4.3 Penalties

The etiquette for correct drawing and claiming of tiles may vary, as may the consequences for violating the etiquette. Basically the irregularities which have no effect on other players should have no consequences in friendly games. To avoid confusion, the players should agree on the etiquette and penalties before beginning the game.

In the following some common practices are listed:

• If a player notices that he has too many tiles in hand, and has already seen the face of the superfluous tile, he must continue playing with a long hand to the end of the deal (thus being deprived of the chance to go out). Also, his hand is considered scoreless. On the other hand, if he has not seen the face of the tile, he can put the tile back in the Wall.
• If a player notices that he has too few tiles in hand, he must continue playing with a short hand to the end of the deal (thus being deprived of the chance to go out). But he receives points for his completed sets as normally.
• If a player mistakenly draws an incorrect tile, he can replace it and draw the correct tile, provided that he has not yet discarded. If he has already discarded, he may not replace the tile, but can continue without penalties.
• A player is allowed to change his discard as long as another player has not claimed the tile, and as long as the next player in turn has not drawn from the Wall.
• If a player claims a tile, but cancels his claim before his next discard is claimed (or another player has drawn from the Wall), there is no need to penalize him for his mistake. A common option is to not allow this but instead apply a penalty of 100 points for each false claim (the penalties are collected by the winner and forfeited if a deal ends in a draw).
• Also, if a player claims a tile for Chow, Pung or Kong, but notices that he does not have right tiles in hand, he is allowed to cancel his claim without consequences, provided that he does that before his next discard is claimed (or another player has drawn from the Wall). A common option is to not allow this but instead apply a penalty of 100 points for each false claim (the penalties are collected by the winner and forfeited if a deal ends in a draw).
• If a player makes a faulty declaration of out, but notices his error before the other players expose their hands, there is no need to penalize him for his error. On the other hand, if one or more players have already exposed their hands, the deal is abandoned and the offender shall pay each of the other players 50% of the Limit (East pays/receives double). If the offender was East the deal passes, otherwise it normally stays.

4.4 Insurance penalties

Insurance penalties are normally not used. If they are used, they are applied as in Chinese Classical rules.

Related topics:
Introduction
Tiles
Preliminaries
Playing
Scoring
Payments