Playing with Blanks in American Mahjong

Mahjong tile sets come with 6 Blank tiles called "Blanks." Historically, Blanks were included in a set of mahjong tiles in case a tile got lost. A Blank tile could be either sent into the manufacturer to be engraved with the lost tile design or (in more recent times) folks could just use a sharpie to write the name of the lost tile on their Blank. 

At Southern Sparrow, we will replace lost tiles for free, so the Blank tiles are no longer needed to represent a lost tile. Some folks have since chosen to play using those Blank tiles as a way to recover Dead discarded tiles.

Playing with Blanks in American Mahjong is a rather controversial topic, since Blanks are not used in NMJL rules. In our opinion, a player should know how to play following the NMJL rules, without Blanks. But, we also acknowledge that many of us play mahjong for fun and social time, so we love playing with Blanks! Be sure to check with your group before the game starts to ensure that everyone at your table is on the same page on whether or not you will be playing with Blanks. 

If your group chooses to play with Blanks, a Blank can be used to recover a Dead discarded tile at any time during the game. Remember, a Dead tile is a tile that was previously discarded and not called for an exposure. Since players are unable to call for a discarded tile unless they can complete an exposure or if the tile is needed for a single/pair/group of singles, sometimes a tile needed to win cannot be called. This is when playing with Blanks comes in handy and opens up more ways to win.

A player can use a Blank at any time during gameplay, not just on that player's turn. The trick to using Blanks strategically is to be sneaky when exchanging for a Dead tile. The player simply swaps the Blank tile for the Dead tile they want to recover and then adds the recovered tile to their rack. The player using a Blank does not need to tell anyone what she is doing, nor does she need to show what tile she recovered.

Another strategic tip when using Blanks is to wait until the game has progressed enough to be sure what tile is best to recover with the Blank. It can be so disappointing to use a Blank to recover a Dead tile only to draw that tile on the next turn. Our advice is to wait until the first two walls have been consumed before starting to use your Blanks, unless you notice another player who seems interested in the same tile.