Quint
A set of five identical tiles, only possible with jokers. Unique to American Mahjong.
Definition
A quint is a group of five identical tiles. Since a standard mahjong set contains only four of each tile, at least one Joker is required to form a quint. Quints are unique to American Mahjong and do not exist in Chinese, Japanese, or other variants. They appear in the "Quints" section of the NMJL card and sometimes in other categories.
How It Works in Gameplay
Building a quint requires collecting all four natural copies of a tile plus at least one Joker — a tall order. Quint hands tend to have high point values because of the difficulty involved. When you expose a quint, you're showing the table a massive commitment, and opponents will know exactly which tiles are locked up. Joker management is critical — you need to acquire and protect your Jokers while building toward these large groups.
Example
You're pursuing a Quints hand that requires a quint of 3 Dots. You hold three natural 3 Dots and two Jokers. You call a discarded 3 Dot to expose all five tiles (four 3 Dots and one Joker) on your rack. Another player who holds the fourth natural 3 Dot can later swap it in to steal one of your Jokers.
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