Getting Started with American Mahjong
Your tiles, racks, dice, and NMJL cards are ready. Follow this illustrated walkthrough to set up the table, deal, complete the Charleston, and play your first hand.
By Christine Pham
Before the first shuffle
This is a table-side walkthrough for four people playing American Mahjong with the National Mah Jongg League (NMJL) card. Have your 152 playing tiles, four racks, two dice, and a current-year card for each player ready. Keep spare tiles out of play, and use the same card year at the whole table.
You should already recognize the tiles. If you need a refresher, open Understanding Mahjong Tiles: Names, Suits & Symbols. Come back here when you can name the tiles in front of you.
Read one section, do that action together, and check the tile counts before continuing. The diagrams each explain one idea; their spacing and tile sizes are adjusted for clarity. Venezia supplies the example artwork. It is an imagined collection, and its physical tiles are not yet available for retail purchase.
Use your current NMJL card, its printed instructions, and Mah Jongg Made Easy for the complete rules. This guide teaches the regular four-player sequence; special formats and tournament procedures can differ.
Understand the goal before you deal
You win by collecting fourteen tiles that satisfy one complete hand printed on your card. Check its numbers, suits, group sizes, Flowers, winds, dragons, and any words in parentheses. Fourteen unrelated tiles do not make Mahjong.
A pair is two matching tiles, a pung is three, a kong is four, a quint is five, and a sextet is six. The card decides which groups you need. A printed group such as NEWS consists of different single tiles; it is not a kong simply because four letters appear together.
For suited groups, the card’s different colors represent different suits, rather than the paint colors on your tiles. Groups printed in the same color use the same suit, subject to the line’s instructions. Read the words beside the hand before assigning your suits.
An X marks a hand that permits exposures: groups you show after calling a discard. A C marks a concealed hand: keep its tiles hidden until Mahjong, and do not call a discard to make an earlier exposure. You do not announce your intended hand to the table.
Place the racks and choose East
Sit one player on each side of the table. Point the sloping part of each rack toward its owner, so their tile faces will be hidden from the other players. Put a card where each player can read it. Leave the center clear for the walls and, later, face-up discards.
Choose the first dealer, called East. One straightforward method is for each player to roll both dice; the highest total becomes East, and tied high rollers roll again. East is a playing role, so that person does not need to sit on the east side of the room.
In the diagrams, East sits at the bottom. “Right,” “left,” and “across” are always from the named player’s own seat. Each person uses their own right and left when passing tiles.
Shuffle and build four walls
Mix all the playing tiles face down
Turn all 152 tiles face down in the center. Mix them thoroughly with your hands, keeping their faces hidden. Include the Flowers and Jokers with the other playing tiles.
Quick checkDo not set aside Flowers or Jokers for replacement draws. They stay in play in American Mahjong.
Build one wall in front of each rack
Each player builds nineteen adjacent stacks, with two face-down tiles in every stack. That makes a wall nineteen stacks long, two tiles high, and thirty-eight tiles in total. Build it on the center-facing side of your rack.
One stack means two tiles, one on top of the other. Four walls of thirty-eight tiles account for the entire 152-tile playing set.View full-size image (opens in a new tab) Quick checkCount stacks rather than individual tiles along the wall: nineteen stacks per player.
Break East’s wall
The break chooses where the shared supply begins. For this American Mahjong procedure, East breaks their own wall.
Roll both dice and count stacks
East rolls the two dice. Add their numbers. From East’s own right end of East’s wall, count that many two-tile stacks toward the left. Count the rightmost stack as one. If a die is off the playing area or not lying flat, roll both again.
Make a gap after the counted stacks
Leave the counted stacks together on East’s right, and make a small gap immediately to their left. Dealing starts with the stack just to the left of that gap. For a roll of seven, seven stacks stay on the right and twelve stacks lie to the left.
Example: 3 + 4 = 7. East counts seven stacks from their right. Take tiles from the left side of the gap first; keep the seven-stack section for the end.View full-size image (opens in a new tab) Make the live end easy to reach
East can use a pusher or their rack to angle the section being used into the center. Keep the reserved right-hand section close to East’s rack. Set the dice beside East to mark who is dealing. Keep the tiles face down.
Quick checkThe reserved section will be used last. It is not an unused “dead wall.”
Keep one clear live end of the wall
Tiles are taken from the exposed end of the section currently in use. When a stack is taken one tile at a time, take its top tile before its bottom tile. Do not choose an attractive-looking position elsewhere in the wall.
When East’s first section runs out, the player on East’s left pushes out their wall. Then use the opposite player’s wall, then the wall on East’s right, then East’s reserved section. Follow this order during both dealing and ordinary play. Player turns, described below, move to the right around the table.
Deal twelve tiles to each player
East takes the next four tiles: two complete stacks from the live end. The player on East’s right takes the next four, the opposite player takes the next four, and the player on East’s left takes the next four.
Repeat that same order twice more. After three rounds of four tiles each, everyone has twelve. Each player takes their own tiles. Keep them in small face-down groups while counting so you can see which round you have finished.
Continue into the next wall section whenever necessary, without changing whose turn it is to take tiles. The deal order is East → player on East’s right → opposite player → player on East’s left. This goes counterclockwise.
Finish the deal: fourteen for East, thirteen for everyone else
At the current live end, think of the next three stacks as first, second, and third. East takes the top tile of the first stack and the top tile of the third stack. This familiar “jump” gives East two more tiles, for fourteen in total.
The player on East’s right takes the bottom tile of the first stack. The opposite player takes the top tile of the second stack. The player on East’s left takes the bottom tile of the second stack. Those players now have thirteen each.
Count before you move on: East has fourteen; each other player has thirteen. That is fifty-three tiles dealt, leaving ninety-nine in the walls. The bottom tile of the third stack is still in the wall; it is not an extra tile for East. If the next three stacks cross a wall boundary, continue numbering into the next wall section and serve it before taking the needed tile.
Rack your tiles and compare a few possible hands
Stand your tiles in the sloping part of your rack, facing only you. Bring matching tiles together and group the numbered suits so you can scan them easily. Keep all of these tiles private. Having three matching tiles in your rack does not by itself let you expose them.
Look for a few complete card hands that your tiles might support. For each possibility, identify what you already have and what is missing. Check pairs and singles carefully, since a Joker cannot replace either tile of a pair or a single tile. Jokers can represent tiles in groups of three or more identical tiles.
You can change your intended hand as you receive new tiles. For now, choose three tiles that contribute least to the possibilities you are considering. They must be eligible to pass: never select a Joker for the Charleston.
Follow the Charleston passing order
The Charleston is the exchange before drawing and discarding begins. Each ordinary pass sends three tiles face down and brings three tiles back. No one draws from the wall or discards into the center during this exchange.
Read every direction from your own chair. East keeps fourteen tiles through the exchanges; everyone else keeps thirteen. If East already has a complete winning hand before the Charleston, East may declare Mahjong and end the hand without passing.
Complete the first three passes
First right
Select three tiles from your rack, place them face down, and pass them to the player on your right. Once your outgoing tiles are released, pick up the three tiles coming from your left. Review the new tiles before choosing your next pass.
First across
Choose three tiles again and pass them face down to the player directly opposite you. Take the three tiles that player passes back. Reconsider your possible card hands.
First left
Pass three tiles face down to the player on your left, receiving from your right. This is the first pass where you may use the blind-pass procedure below. Keep any tiles you might pass blindly face down and unseen.
Quick checkFinish all three passes of the first Charleston. Do not stop after just the right or across pass.
Decide together about the second Charleston
After the first left is finished, pause and ask whether everyone wants a second Charleston. Any one player may stop it without giving a reason. If someone stops, skip all three passes of the second Charleston and move to the optional courtesy pass.
Make that decision before anyone looks at or picks up the second-left tiles. If the table continues, complete left, then across, then right. Once the second Charleston has begun by a player viewing or picking up those first tiles, it must be finished.
On the final right, receive from your left and pass to your right. You may use a blind pass there too. The other two passes of the second Charleston use three tiles selected from your hand.
Use a blind pass only on the two permitted passes
A blind pass lets you forward one, two, or three of the incoming tiles without looking at them. It is allowed on the first left and, if played, the final right. You still send three tiles in total.
For a first-left example, suppose you only want to release two tiles from your rack. Set those two face down for your left-hand neighbor. From the three face-down tiles arriving from your right, forward one without looking at it. Your outgoing pass now contains three tiles; take the other two incoming tiles into your rack.
Say how many unseen tiles you need before anyone turns the incoming packet over. If several players need blind tiles, relay the available face-down tiles and clearly track any tiles still owed until each required pass totals three. A player can start that relay with one or two tiles rather than waiting for a complete packet. Never inspect a tile and then treat it as blind. In the rare final-right case where no player has any tiles to release, the Charleston ends and the courtesy pass is skipped.
Agree on the courtesy pass with the player across from you
After the Charleston, each opposite pair may make one courtesy exchange of zero, one, two, or three tiles. You and the player across from you exchange the same number. Use the smaller number either person wants: if you want three and your partner wants one, each passes one; if either wants zero, neither passes.
The other opposite pair decides separately. This courtesy exchange is available even if someone stopped the second Charleston. Select the agreed number from your own rack, exclude Jokers, and exchange face down. There is no blind pass here.
Check the counts once more: fourteen for East, thirteen for each other player. The wall has not changed during the passing.
Begin with East’s first discard
If East has a complete card hand when the passing is finished, East may declare Mahjong. Otherwise, East begins ordinary play by discarding one tile from the fourteen already held. East does not draw first.
Place the chosen tile face up in the center and clearly say its full name, such as “7 Dot.” East now has thirteen tiles. Give the other players a chance to call that discard before the next player draws.
If nobody calls, the player on East’s right takes the next turn. Normal player turns proceed to the right around the table, counterclockwise. A valid call can interrupt that order, as described below.
Take a normal turn: draw, check, discard
Most turns follow this rhythm. Your total includes both private tiles in the sloping rack and any exposed tiles on top.
Draw one tile when it is your turn
After the previous discard has been named, and if nobody has called it, take one tile from the live end of the wall. Take the top tile of its stack first, then its bottom tile on the following draw. Add the drawn tile to your private hand. Your total is now fourteen. Do not draw ahead while someone else is playing.
Check your complete hand
Compare all fourteen tiles with your intended card hand. If the whole hand is complete and legal, declare “Mahjong” instead of discarding. Otherwise, decide which tile to release. You may keep the new tile or discard that same tile. A Joker exchange, explained below, is an optional action before you discard.
The ordinary count is thirteen while waiting, fourteen after drawing, then thirteen after discarding. An exposure remains part of that total.View full-size image (opens in a new tab) Discard one tile and name it
Put one unwanted tile face up in the center and say its complete name clearly. Once a discard touches the table or is fully named, you are committed to it. Leave it there; do not take it back because you spot a better choice. Your turn ends with thirteen tiles.
Quick checkKeep complete groups drawn from the wall private unless you are declaring Mahjong. An ordinary exposure is made by calling a discard.
Call a discard to complete an allowed exposure
Any player may call the latest discarded natural tile to complete an allowed group of three or more identical tiles for an exposed X hand. For example, if your card hand needs a pung of 2 Dots and you hold two, a discarded 2 Dot can complete that pung.
Say “Call,” take the discard, and display the entire completed group face up on top of your rack. Then discard one tile. Do not also draw from the wall. After your discard, play continues with the player on your right, so a call may skip other players’ turns.
Your exposure counts toward your hand total. After exposing a pung and discarding, for example, three exposed tiles plus ten private tiles make thirteen. An exposed kong does not earn a replacement draw. Once your turn ends, keep that exposure’s size and identity fixed; a later Joker exchange replaces a tile one for one.
Call promptly while the discard is still available
Only the latest discard is available. Make a clear spoken call before the next player racks their drawn tile, discards it, declares Mahjong, or begins a Joker exchange. Simply lifting the next wall tile does not yet close the opportunity. If a valid call arrives before it closes, the drawn tile goes back in its exact wall position.
Mahjong has priority over a call for an ordinary exposure. If two players want the discard for the same purpose, the one who would act first in normal play order after the discarder has priority. Announce your call and let the table resolve competing claims before anyone moves more tiles.
Exchange for an exposed Joker on your own turn
If a Joker is already in a valid exposure and you hold the natural tile it represents, you may exchange that tile for the Joker. The exposure can be yours or another player’s.
First draw, or complete your called exposure
An exchange takes place during your own turn, after you draw from the wall or after you call a discard and finish making its exposure. It does not replace the initial draw or call. Do not exchange before your turn or after discarding.
Replace the Joker with the matching natural tile
Say that you want to exchange. For another player’s exposure, give that player the matching tile and let them replace the Joker and hand it back to you. The exposure stays the same size. You receive the Joker into your private hand.
A one-for-one exchange in a 7 Dot pung. These are small groups illustrating the action, not a whole hand or a proposed winning card line.View full-size image (opens in a new tab) Finish your turn
Check whether the received Joker completes your card hand. If it does, declare Mahjong. If it does not, discard once to end your turn. You do not draw another tile because you made an exchange.
Declare Mahjong when all fourteen tiles fit
You can win with a tile you draw, a valid claim of the latest natural discard, or a Joker you obtain through an exchange. A discard can complete a single or pair when it gives you the entire winning hand.
Match one complete hand on the current card
Check every group, suit relationship, number, and parenthetical instruction. Similar-looking patterns are not enough.
Check the Joker placements and concealment requirement
Singles and pairs must be natural. If the card marks the hand C, you must not have made an earlier exposure.
Say “Mahjong” before discarding
If you are claiming the latest discard, make the call while its opportunity is still open. Do not wait for your normal turn.
Show the complete hand for verification
Arrange the tiles so everyone can compare them with the exact card hand. Leave the other players’ tiles and the wall in place until the win is checked.
Finish the hand and choose the next East
A verified Mahjong ends the hand. The card gives the hand’s value; use its scoring and payment instructions for any scoring your group has agreed to. For a first practice session, you can agree before starting to record verified wins without payments.
If the wall is exhausted, allow any legal calls on the latest discard to finish. When there is no next wall tile and no further valid call, the hand ends as a wall game, with no winner. Use East’s reserved section before declaring the wall empty.
For the next hand, East moves to the player immediately on the current East’s right, whether the previous hand ended in Mahjong or a wall game. Turn the tiles face down, mix all 152 again, rebuild the walls, and repeat the same sequence.