Editorial Policy
Rulenook exists to settle rules questions accurately. This page sets out the standards every page is held to. The step-by-step checking process, including the scripts and source snapshots, is on our methodology page.
Sources come first
- Every rules page names the rule book or published source it follows, in a sources line at the end of the page.
- Where a game has a governing body, its rule book wins. Cribbage pages follow the American Cribbage Congress rules. American mahjong pages follow the National Mah Jongg League.
- Where there's no governing body, as with spades, euchre and most rummy games, we follow one named published source per game and say which.
- Pages that rest on secondary summaries of a rule book stay out of search results until an editor confirms them against the book itself.
Official rules and house rules
When tables commonly play a rule differently, the page labels both: Official rule means the cited rule book says it; House rule means a common table practice the book doesn't require. When two sources disagree on something that changes a score, both versions are shown with their sources. We don't tell your table which one to play.
How pages are written
- Pen name. Rules pages are published under the house pen name Edwina Larkspur, shared by our editors. She isn't a real person, and the site says so.
- AI assistance. Pages are drafted with AI assistance. An editor checks each rule against the cited rule book before publication.
- Numbers are rechecked. Every score, count and probability in a worked example is recomputed by a script, and a mismatch blocks publication.
- No invented experience. We don't write stories about games we played, and we don't claim tournament or teaching credentials.
- Diagrams are generated from the same data as the text. At launch there are no photos and no AI-generated images.
Player questions
Questions in our "Common Rules Questions" sections and the mahjong FAQ come from what players ask in search results and public forums. We reword every question in our own words, and our editors write the answers. We don't copy other people's answers.
What we don't publish
- The National Mah Jongg League's annual card or any hand from it.
- Betting or gambling strategy.
- Electrical repair or modification of automatic mahjong tables.
- Prices, star ratings or "best" product rankings.
Affiliate links and independence
Some pages carry Amazon affiliate links, always marked "(paid link)". Products never shape what a rule page says, and no manufacturer or seller pays for placement. See the affiliate disclosure. Rulenook isn't affiliated with any rule-making body or game publisher.
Corrections and updates
- Report an error to [email protected].
- Any change to a rule, score, count or diagram is logged with its date in the corrections log. Typos and wording fixes aren't logged.
- Every page shows when it was last updated. When a rule book publishes a new edition, the affected pages and diagrams are rechecked.