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7Fouls and penalties

7.1Types of penalties

3.4.6-7-8Chombo, Dead hand, Minor irregularities

Not penalized — For trivial offences.
Repeated cases or refusal to follow requests may lead to obstruction penalty at the referee’s discretion.

Point penalty — For minor offences or particular cases.
The points are removed from the offending player's overall score. They are not added to the opponents' scores. It doesn't change the table's score.
(1 overall score point is equivalent to 1,000 points at the table.)

E.g. if a player ends the first hanchan with a table score of 40,000 points and is the best ranked at the table, his hanchan score will be 25.
Since it's the first hanchan, his overall score will also be 25 for now.
He will start the second with a table score of 30,000 points (new hanchan) and an overall score of 25.
If he's calling with a dead hand, he gets a 20 points penalty to his overall score. After the penalty he will still have a table score of 30,000 points, but an overall score of only 5.

3.4.8Minor irregularities
Minor irregularites are generally not penalized. Please refer to Section 5 on Etiquette and tournament rules.

Dead hand — When the offending player's hand cannot continue normally.
The offending player can no longer make a chow, pung, kong, declare riichi nor win during this hand. This includes the interdiction to declare a concealed kong. If the player has not declared riichi, he can still choose the tiles he discards. The hand is noten.

3.4.7Dead hand
Some irregularities that are not punished by chombo result instead in a dead hand. A player who has a dead hand is not allowed to declare a win, kong, pung or chow, and can never be considered tenpai.

The following irregularites result in a dead hand:
• Invalidly declaring a win without showing the tiles.
• Attempting to declare riichi on a open hand.
• Attempting to declare riichi, but failing to call “riichi” or failing to rotate the discard
• Too few or too many tiles on the hand.
• Making an invalid kong, pung or chow. The mistake can be corrected if it is realized or pointed out before the discard is made.
• Swap-calling.
• A referee call may result in a dead hand, e.g. for passing information.

In the case where a riichi hand is declared a dead hand after the riichi declaration, and the hand ends in an exhaustive draw, the noten penalty is paid, the case does not result in chombo.

Chonbo — When other players' hands cannot continue normally.
20 points penalty and the hand is re-dealt. The point penalty is handled as described in the point penalty section.
Riichi bets are returned to the players who declared riichi. No continuance counter is placed, and the dealer does not rotate. There is no "mangan payment".
• If a chonbo occurs simultaneously with a win, the chonbo is voided: the offending player is not penalized, the winning hand is scored, and the seat rotation is resolved normally.
• If a chonbo occurs simultaneously with an exhaustive draw, there is no noten payment and no continuance counters are added. The hand is re-dealt.

Disqualification — When the tournament cannot continue normally.
The offending player is not allowed to play anymore for the whole tournament.
He will not be listed in the ranking.
Relevant organizations, like the national federation he depends on, will be informed.
3.4.6Chombo
Severe offenses are punished by chombo, after which there is a re-deal of the current hand. If a win is declared at the same time as a chombo occurs, the chombo is voided.
In a tournament the chombo penalty is 20000 points which are deducted from the players overall tournament score after the game is finished and after the uma is added to the players‘ scores. Outside tournaments the chombo penalty is a reverse mangan payment: 4000 to East, 2000 to other players. If the offending player is East, 4000 is paid to each of the other players.

The following offences are subject to chombo penalty:
• Invalidly declaring a win and showing the tiles. The win can be invalid because the hand is not a valid winning hand or because the declaration was not valid.
• Declaring riichi on a hand that is not waiting. This is determined only in case of a drawn game. In the case where a riichi hand is only considered noten because it was declared a dead hand after the riichi declaration, it is not considered a chombo, and only the noten penalty is paid.
• Making an invalid concealed kong after declaring riichi (determined only if the offender declares a win or in case of a drawn game).
• Attempting to claim a tile after the hand has been declared a dead hand.
• Play cannot continue due to a mistake of a player. E.g. too many tiles were revealed for the game to continue fairly.

After a chombo riichi bets are returned to the players who declared riichi, and there is a re-deal. No counter is placed, and the dealer does not rotate.

7.2Fouls

5Etiquette and tournament rules

Empty call:
A player making a call, including riichi and concealed kong declarations, but being unable to perform the claimed action will be penalized for "empty call".
• Empty call for a chow, pung or kong:Not penalized
• Empty concealed kong declaration:Not penalized
• Empty riichi declaration:Not penalized
• Empty call for a win, if the hand is still concealed:Dead hand
• Empty call for a win, if the hand has been shown:Chonbo


Swap-calling:
Swap-calling is determined when the player discards, and results in a dead hand. The melded group and the discarded tile cannot be changed.

5.1.2Empty calls
Empty calls for kong, pung or chow (calling kong, pung or chow and regretting it immediately before revealing any tiles) are not penalized.
Empty calls for ron or tsumo (calling ron, tsumo or mahjong, but not showing the tiles before realising the mistake) results in a dead hand.
A player must use a valid term for calling a win. A player calling “Ippatsu” and revealing his tiles is subject to chombo penalty. A player immediately correcting an invalid term, e.g. “Hu – I mean tsumo” or “Ippatsu – I mean ron” have a valid hand. Players confusing the terms “ron” and “tsumo” have a valid hand, but it should be pointed out that a valid term should be used and repeated offenses of this type are subject to further penalty at the referee’s discretion.

Invalid group:
Melding a group that is neither a chow, pung nor kong, or declaring a false concealed kong, results in a dead hand. After discarding, the invalid group cannot be changed.
The player can correct his mistake as long as he hasn't discarded. If he makes the claimed group, he will not be penalized. If he retracts the call, it will be treated as an empty call.

5.1.4Claiming a false set
If a player claims a false sets, e.g.
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it can be corrected if it is discovered before the player discards a tile. After the discard, the mistake cannot be corrected, resulting in a dead hand.

Changing a call:
Calls cannot be changed. If the player is unable to perform the first call, he will be penalized for "empty call". He cannot do the second call.
However, a player can correct himself if he used an incorrect word. The correction must immediately follow the call.
For example:
- A player saying "chii, no! I mean pon" have successfully corrected himself: he can make the pung and won't be penalized.
- Saying "ron", taking time, then saying "pon" will be considered as changing a call: the player must do the ron, or be penalized for "empty call". If he melds the pung, he will have to take it back.

5.1.3Changing calls
Calls are not supposed to be changed. The first call should be the valid one. However, unless the call was for winning, a quick correction is allowed.
A player calling “pung, no ron” has made a valid correction of his call, and the ron call is valid.
A player calling “ron, no pung” has made a call for winning.The player can claim the tile for ron, but not for pung. If he doesn't have a winning hand, he has a dead hand if no tiles were revealed or if two tiles for the pung call was revealed. If the player has revealed all his tiles in this case, he receives a chombo penalty.

Wrong word:
The valid terms for calling a chow are:"chii".
The valid terms for calling a pung are:"pon".
The valid terms for calling or declaring a kong are:"kan".
The valid terms for declaring riichi are:"riichi", "reach".
The valid terms for winning on a claimed tile are:"ron".
The valid terms for winning on a self-drawn tile are:"tsumo".


Players are encouraged to use the valid terms.
Using alternative terms is not penalized, as long as the player makes clear what he is intending to do.

Calling with a dead hand (including concealed kong and riichi declaration):
• If the hand was not formally declared to be dead:Not penalized, the call is voided.
• If the hand was formally declared to be dead:20 points penalty, the game continues.


5.1Errors in claiming tiles
When claiming a tile for kong, pung or chow the player first calls “kong”, “pung” or “chow” clearly, The calls “kan”, “pon” or “chi” are equally valid. Secondly the player reveals the matching tiles from the hand and thirdly discards a tile from the hand and claim the tile called for. For the third step the order of the two actions is not important: the player can take the claimed tile first and then discard, or the other way round.
Errors in the order above when claiming tiles should be pointed out to the player, but there will be no penalty.

Wrong tile count:
• Not taking a claimed tile before the next two players have made a discard: Dead hand
• Having too many or too few tiles: Dead hand


5.1.1Failing to take the claimed tile
While a player who claims a tile can make a discard before placing the claimed tile with his revealed tiles, the player should take the tile before the next two players have made a discard. Failing to take the tile in a timely manner results in a dead hand, since the player will have a false set.

Wrongly revealing or picking tiles:
• Few tiles:Not penalized
• If the game cannot fairly continue:Chonbo
• During dealing, if it's a problem:re-deal, no penalty


Wrongly revealed or picked tiles are placed back where they came from.
The penalty for wrongly revealing tiles does not apply while building the walls, before the dice are thrown to break the wall.

5.2Exposing tiles
Exposing a few tiles is not penalized. Exposed tiles are placed back in the wall or in the hand where they came from.

Exposing tiles during the deal is not penalized. If the situation is judged problematic for the game play there is a re-deal, but no penalties.

If too many tiles are exposed during the game, play cannot continue. This is a judgment that depends on the circumstances and the progression of the game. As a rule of thumb, play cannot continue if a large fraction of the wall is destroyed or several tiles revealed from an opponent’s hand. If the game cannot continue, the offending player receives a chombo penalty. If the mistake happened due to no mistake on a player’s part, there is a re-deal (like chombo, but without any point penalty).

After the hand ends, players should not expose tiles from the wall or the dead wall.

Tiles exposed on purpose in severe or repeated cases is considered obstruction.

5.2.1Picking a tile from the wrong part of the wall.
If a player draws a tile from the wrong part of the wall, and the mistake is realised or pointed out before the discard, the mistake should be corrected. After the discard the error cannot be corrected. In either case there is no penalty.

Wrong riichi declaration:
• Not placing the 1,000 points bet:Not penalized, the mistake should be corrected.
• Not saying "riichi" or "reach":Not penalized.
• Not rotating the discard:Not penalized, the mistake should be corrected.
• Declaring riichi on an open hand:Not penalized, the riichi declaration is voided.
• Declaring riichi on a noten hand (noten riichi):Chonbo. ※
• Invalid concealed kong after having declared riichi:Chonbo.


In case a player forgets to rotate his discard and if the tile to rotate is unknown, the earliest discarded tile among the supposed ones is chosen regarding furiten.

When a riichi declaration is voided, the player takes back his riichi bet and will not get a noten riichi penalty.
Cases of noten riichi and invalid kong are only determined if the player wins or if there is an exhaustive draw.

※ The noten riichi penalty does not apply if the player's hand is noten solely due to a dead hand penalty occurring after the riichi declaration. To prove this, the player will have to show his hand, else he would be penalized normally for noten riichi. The player still pays for being noten, and if he's East the deal rotates.

5.3Errors in connection with riichi declaration
A valid riichi declaration should be announced in three steps: first the players clearly calls “riichi”, secondly the player discards a tile and rotates it sideways in the discard line, e.g.
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and thirdly the player places a 1000 point stick on the table close to his discards and close to the center of the table where it is clearly visible to all opponents. A player who completes the first two steps, but forgets to place the riichi bet of 1000 points still has a valid riichi, but should correct the mistake as soon as it is realised or pointed out. Opponents should point out the mistake. A player who fails to call “riichi” or fails to rotate the discard has not made a valid riichi declaration. The riichi bet is returned and the player has a dead hand.
If an opponent claims the rotated tile for a melded set, and the player forgets to rotate the next discarded tile, opponents should point out and the mistake. There is no penalty.
Attempting to declare riichi on a open hand results in a dead hand.

Passing information:
Penalty at the referee discretion. Minor cases would not be penalized.
It is permissible to correct a player who is about to commit a minor irregularity or etiquette error.
It is permissible to make it clear if a player has a dead hand.

5.4Passing information
Passing information or hints on opponents’ strategy in any way, e.g. on tenpai status, whether discards are dangerous or what yaku someone might be aiming for is bad behaviour and in serious or repeated cases the player is subject to dead hand or point penalties at the referee’s discretion. Normally the opponents should give the offending player a clear warning and in serious or repeated cases call a referee who can choose to penalize the player.
It is permissible to correct a player who is about to commit a minor irregularity or etiquette error, e.g. drawing a tile from the wrong place in the wall, claiming a false set or forgetting to take a replacement tile.
It is permissible to make it clear if a player has a dead hand, e.g. too many or too few tiles.

Cheating:
A player caught cheating will be disqualified immediately.

Obstruction:
Penalty at the referee discretion.
Repeated obstructive behaviour can result in disqualification.
Don't abuse the rules.
Don't exploit loop-holes in the rules.

Fault due to another player's fault:
In case a player commits a fault due to another player's fault, the suitable penalty is at the referee's discretion.

5.5Cheating and obstruction
Cheating and obstruction are disruptive disturbances of a tournament and deliberate disturbances should be punished hard. Players should enact fair play and not abuse the rules or exploit loop-holes.
A player caught cheating should be immediately disqualified; but it is a very serious accusation so the evidence must be clear.
Deliberate obstructive behaviour is penalized at the referee’s discretion with point penalties of 8000 or 12,000 points (chombo level), or in serious or repeated cases with point penalties between 12,000 and 48,000. These point penlties are deducted from the player’s score at the end of the game after uma is added, thus not affecting ranking at the table. The points are not added to the other players’s scores. Further repeated obstructive behaviour results in immediate disqualification.

Phone ringing:
Point penalty at the referee's discretion, depending on the level of disturbance.

Using an electronic device (walkman, ...):
Penalty at the referee's discretion.

5.6Telephones
Players and spectators should have their telephones in silent and non-vibrating mode during play sessions. Depending on the level of disturbance a player is subject to point penalties at the referee’s discretion for a telephone ringing or making other disturbing noises. A player with a specific and important reason for expecting a call should make an agreement with the referee before the session about how to handle the situation.

Being late for a hanchan:
• Being late by one to ten minutes:One (1) point penalty per minute.
• Being late by more than ten minutes:Replacement by a substitute player for the hanchan.


5.7Being late at a tournament
A player who is late by 10 minutes or less is subject to a point deduction of 1000 points per minute he is late. Thus a player who is 1 minute late has 1000 points deducted from his score, while a player who is 10 minutes late has 10,000 points deducted from his score. These point penlties are deducted from the player’s score at the end of the game after uma is added, thus not affecting ranking at the table. The points are not added to the other players’s scores.
A player who is late by more than 10 minutes is replaced by a substitute player.

Missing a hanchan and substitute players:
Substitute players are scored normally and then not included in the ranking.

The player missing the hanchan doesn't get any point and will have a 30 points penalty.
This penalty is not cumulative with the 10 points penalty for being late ten minutes. A player who is late by ten minutes and is substituted will only have a 30 points penalty for missing the hanchan.

At the head referee discretion, a player intentionally missing a hanchan without good reason can be disqualified for obstruction; especially if he leaves the table when his score is below the penalty, or if the penalty doesn't make a real difference regarding his current overall score.
5.8Substitute players
If it is clear to the organizers that a player won’t be able to play, e.g. due to illness, a substitute player will take his place.
Substitute players’ session results will always be entered in the tournament score keeping as -15,000 points and -15,000 uma, i.e. a total of -30,000.
However, at the table the substitute’s score will count for determining the opponents’s uma if the substitute played from the beginning of the session (also if the substitution was due to more than 10 minutes lateness). E.g. if the substitute wins the table, the other players will get umas of 5,000, -5,000 and -15,000. So when entering the results, two players will have uma of -15,000 and no one will have the winner uma of 15,000 in this case.
Substitute players who are substituted after the playing has begun at the table (e.g. if a player falls ill during the session, or in case a player is disqualified), will always receive the -15,000 uma, meaning that the other three players will get the 15,000, 5,000 and -5,000 uma even if the substitute scored the most point at the table. This is only the case in the session where the substitution occurs after play has begun. In later sessions, the substitute will play from the beginning of the sessions, and the substitutes result will count when determining the opponent’s umas.
A disqualified player will be ranked at the bottom of the result list and the result will count for the EMA ranking list.
A player who was substituted will receive -15,000 points plus an uma of -15,000 points for each session missed. In case of acceptable reasons like illness the head referee and the tournament organizers may decide to remove the player’s name from the final results, so that it will not count for the player’s EMA ranking.