Definition
Picking ahead is drawing your next tile from the wall before the player ahead of you has discarded, which speeds the game but removes the chance to call that discard.
Sanctioned tournament rules prohibit it outright, and a player who picks ahead is declared dead. A player who has already picked has also lost the right to call the tile just discarded. Ask before you do it at a new table.
At the table
Picking ahead is the habit that quietly costs you tiles. Draw before the player ahead of you has discarded and you have given up your right to call that discard, which is exactly the tile you notice you wanted a second later. It is also banned outright in tournament play, where it makes the hand dead, so at a new table it is worth asking rather than copying whoever moves fastest.
Read the full guide: American Mahjong Etiquette: The Unwritten Rules of the Table.
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: Racking, Table rules, Discard, Safe tile. All 52 terms.