Definition
A jokerless hand is one completed with no jokers in it. Under League rules a jokerless win doubles every payment, except on a hand from the Singles and Pairs section, which can never hold a joker.
A joker can only stand in a group of three or more, so a line built from singles and pairs is jokerless by construction and earns no double for it. For any other hand, the winner has to announce it as jokerless when declaring, or the double does not apply. Sanctioned tournament scoring uses points instead, adding twenty for a hand with no jokers, again with none on Singles and Pairs.
At the table
Throwing back a joker that would complete your hand, to wait for the natural tile, gives up a win you already have for a bigger one you may not get. The double costs nothing when every tile you still need is for a pair or a single and you pick the natural tile for the group your only joker was filling, because the joker can then be discarded without costing the hand a way to win. Either way, say jokerless when you declare.
Read the full guide: Joker Rules in American Mahjong: What Jokers Can and Can't Do.
See it on real tiles. The AI coach reads a dealt hand, free, and names the direction it goes for, what to keep and what to pass, at the free read.
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Related: Joker, Calling, Joker exchange, Exposure. All 52 terms.