Definition
A hot tile is a discard likely to complete an opponent's hand, judged from their exposures and from which tiles have not yet appeared on the table.
Three exposed sets narrow a player's possible hands to a handful, and the tiles those hands still need are hot. Late in a hand, a tile nobody has discarded is hotter than one that has already gone round twice.
Read the full guide: What Not to Discard: Defensive Play in American Mahjong.
See it on real tiles: the coach reads any hand and names its direction, free, at the free read. Members get the coach on call for their own games.
More terms: Pung, Kong, Quint, Pair, Charleston, Blind pass, Courtesy pass, Joker.