Hot Wall

Definition

"Hot wall" (sometimes written "hotwall") is a table rule, or house rule, that some American Mahjong groups use for the last part of the wall. It is not part of the official National Mah Jongg League rules. Under the official rules the wall has no "temperature," and the rules do not change just because the wall is getting short.

Groups that play a hot wall rule define it differently. Versions players report include:

• In the final stretch of the wall, you may call a discard only to declare Mah Jongg, not to make an exposure.
• In the final stretch of the wall, nobody may call discards at all.
• A "hot" tile is one another player clearly needs, or one that is otherwise dangerous to discard. Some tables also treat every tile from the last short wall as hot. If you discard a hot tile and someone wins on it, you pay for the whole table.

Where the hot part of the wall begins also varies from table to table.

How It Works in Gameplay

If your group plays a hot wall rule, agree on exactly what it means before the first hand: where it starts, what may be called, and who pays when a hot tile is discarded. Without an agreed table rule, play by the official rules, where calling works the same all the way to the last tile.

House rule or not, the end of the wall is when careful players think hardest about their discards. If you're not close to winning, a Joker is the one discard nobody can use: once a Joker is discarded, it is dead, and no one may claim it.

Example

Your table agrees on a hot wall rule for the last row of the wall: from there on, a discard can be called only for Mah Jongg. With a few tiles left, the player across discards a 5 Dot that would make a pung for you. Under your table rule you can't call it for an exposure, so you let it go. At a table playing the official rules, you could have called it.

Ready to put your knowledge to the test? Track your games with Bam Good Time →