To start off, what are Jokers and how are they used in American Mah Jongg? Jokers can be used as a “wild” tile in any grouping of three or more tiles. A Joker can stand in as any tile in your set, as long as it is in a grouping of three or more tiles (a pung(3), kong(4), or quint(5)). Jokers can NEVER be used in a single or a pair, ever--even if it's the last tile you need to Mahj. Additionally, Jokers CANNOT be used in the year grouping (2023) or in the NEWS groupings, as those are considered a group of singles.
You can use more than one joker in a grouping. You can even use ALL Jokers in a grouping (of 3 or more tiles!) For example, if you need 4 flowers for a grouping, you can win with 4 jokers for that grouping. You do not need to have a representative tile to win with that grouping.
When you expose a section of your hand with a Joker in it, that Joker can then be either recovered by you or taken by another player who has the tile the Joker is representing. Meaning if you or another player draw the tile the Joker is standing in for, that tile can be exchanged for the Joker and the Joker can be used elsewhere in your (or another player's) hand.
If you have exposed with a Joker and then draw the correct tile, you can, on your turn, exchange that Joker for the correct tile and then re-rack your Joker.
To exchange for a Joker:
- Start your turn by drawing a tile.
- Hand the correct tile to the player and ask for the Joker. (It’s bad manners to just grab it off their rack!)
- Rack your Joker and end your turn by discarding a tile.
You can exchange/replace more than one Joker in a single turn. Start your turn, exchange all your Jokers, rack your Jokers, and then end your turn by discarding.
A discarded Joker cannot be called or exchanged for a Blank. It is a permanent dead tile. If someone discards a tile that could have been used to exchange for a Joker, it cannot be called by anyone to exchange for the Joker, it is dead. These rules are true even if it is the last tile needed to Mahj.