  Before speaking of "four of a kind," it is better to give the reason for exposing a set made up of a pair and a punged discard, and make clear at the same time, what is to be done when three of a kind are completed by draw. A set made up of a pair and a punged discard must be "exposed" by setting it out face up, on the table to the right of the players' tiles, first, to show to the other players that he had the required pair, which gave him the right to appropriate the discard, and secondly, to separate the set from those completed entirely by draw from the wall. Sets completed by help of an appropriated (punged) discard, have only one-half the scoring value of exactly the same sets, completed by draw from the wall and kept in the hand. Thus there are many advantages in drawing the third tile to complete a set of three of a kind when compared to "punging" the same, for in the former case, the set has twice as much scoring value, they are kept concealed in the hand and the opponents can only guess as to how nearly complete a concealed hand may be. A concealed set is counted as one of the four sets required to win, just as an exposed set would be, and a player having a set of three of a kind concealed has very good chances of filling it and thus forming four of a kind which counts a great deal higher. A player may complete a set of four of a kind either by draw from the wall or "punging" an opponent's discard, if he has three of a kind already in his hand. In either case he must place the completed set on the table to the right of his tiles; all four face up if he "punged" the fourth, the two end tiles face down if he has "drawn" the fourth. The player must immediately draw a "loose tile" (one of the two tiles on top of, and marking the end of the wall). Usually the one farthest from the end is taken, the one on the end moved up, and replaced by a tile from the end of the wall itself. The "loose tile" was drawn because every time a player completes a set of four of a kind, he causes the rest of his hand to be one tile short. This must be made up every time four of a kind is filled by an extra tile drawn from the "loose" tiles. Illustration No. 13. Illustration No. 13. In this illustration the player had three one dots in his hand when one of the opponents discarded the fourth one dot. This player "punged" it, matched the four of a kind, exposed them, drew a "loose tile" and discarded. Illustration No. 14. Illustration No. 14. In this illustration the player had three one dots in his hand and drew the fourth in his regular turn to draw. This set counts in scoring as much as it would in his hand but must be exposed in order to draw the "loose tile." Therefore the end tiles are turned down to show that in counting the score that the set is counted as if it were held in the hand. Illustration No. 15. In this illustration the player has one set of 3 one dots punged and completed, and is now trying to match up the rest of his hand. If another player discards a one dot he cannot touch it and must let it go by. However, if he draws the fourth one dot himself, he may add it on to his set of 3, draw a loose tile and discard as usual. As can be seen from the last three illustrations, the rule in the case of four of a kind is as follows: In any set which a player may have exposed on the table there must not be more than (1) punged tile. A player having three of a kind in his hand may pung the fourth when it is discarded or having three of a kind on the table and drawing the fourth may add it to his 3 exposed tiles. The rule, however, bars him from appropriating some one else's discard to make a fourth for an exposed set of three of a kind because in order to appropriate this discard he would have to pung it. This he has not the privilege of doing, because he already must have one "punged" tile in his exposed set or it wouldn't be exposed. |
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