Joker swap rules: when can you take a joker?
On your turn, after you draw from the wall or call a discard, you may give a natural tile from your rack for a joker in any exposure on the table, yours or another player's, as long as your tile is exactly the one the joker stands for. A discarded joker is dead, jokers in a player's concealed rack can't be taken, and you may swap more than one joker in a turn.
Updated · The Open Apps, Inc.
How to make a swap
- Wait for your turn and draw. Draw from the wall (or call a discard and lay out your exposure). Swaps happen after that, before you discard.
- Find an exposure with a joker. Any exposed group on the table counts: yours or another player's.
- See what the joker stands for. An exposure is one kind of tile, so its natural tiles say what each joker in it stands for: in 5 Dot, 5 Dot, joker, the joker is a 5 Dot.
- Give the exact tile. Put your natural 5 Dot in the exposure and take the joker into your rack. In a group of flowers, any flower will do.
- Discard as usual. Then discard to end your turn. If you have the tiles, you can swap for more than one joker first.
Can I take that joker?
The standard rules, situation by situation.
| Situation | Swap allowed? |
|---|---|
| Your turn, after you drew from the wall | Yes |
| Your turn, after you called a discard and exposed | Yes |
| Your turn, before you drew | Not yet: draw first |
| Someone else's turn | No |
| The joker was discarded | No: a discarded joker is dead |
| The joker is in a player's concealed rack | No: only exposed jokers |
| Your tile isn't the one the joker stands for | No |
| A joker among exposed flowers, and you give any flower | Yes |
| During the Charleston, or after someone declared Mahjong | No |
Use it in ChatGPT
Jokerly American Mahjong is a ChatGPT plugin. With your rack in front of you, try:
- “Here's my rack [photo]. Which hand on my card am I closest to?”
- “What should I pass right in the first Charleston?”
- “Can I swap my 5 Dot for the joker in their 5 Dot pung?”
Coming soon to ChatGPTHow it works in ChatGPT
Questions
- Can I take a joker from my own exposure?
- Yes. You can redeem a joker from your own exposure the same way as from anyone else's: on your turn, with the exact tile it stands for.
- Can I pick up a discarded joker?
- No. A joker that has been discarded is dead: nobody can call it or swap for it.
- Can I swap more than one joker in a turn?
- Yes, as long as you have the matching natural tile for each.
- Do house rules change this?
- Some tables play variations. Jokerly checks the standard rules and says which rule decided the answer, so you can compare with your table's.