Best first set
Yellow Mountain Imports American Mahjong set
Tiles, 4 racks with pushers, dice and a case in one box
Check priceBeginner tutorial · NMJL rules
How to play American Mahjong
American Mahjong is a four-player tile game: you pass tiles in the Charleston, then draw and discard until your 14 tiles match a hand on this year’s National Mah Jongg League card.
Learn it in about 10 minutes, with pictures and animations you can step through.
4 players152 tilesUses this year’s card
Rules summarized in our own words. Checked against the 2026 card, Oct 2026.
What you need to play
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An American set (sold as 166 tiles, with spare jokers and blanks; you play with 152), four racks, and this year’s card from the National Mah Jongg League. A Chinese 144-tile set won’t work: it has no jokers.
Designer pick
Oh My Mahjong starter kit
The colorful designer set, with racks and a mat
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Old set? Add these
Yellow Mountain Imports wooden racks with pushers
Natural wood racks with pusher arms, for an older set without them
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This year’s National Mah Jongg League card, set of 4
You need the current card to play, and it changes every April. One card for each player at the table.
Check price1
Meet the tiles
An American Mahjong set has 152 tiles in seven kinds. Dots, Bams and Craks are the three suits: families of tiles numbered 1 to 9, like hearts and spades in a deck of cards. Winds, dragons, flowers and jokers aren’t suits.
Dots · 36 tiles
A suit of circles, numbered 1 to 9. There are four of each number.
Partner dragon: the White Dragon, called Soap.
Bams · 36 tiles
A suit of bamboo sticks, numbered 1 to 9, four of each. In many sets the 1 Bam is drawn as a bird.
Partner dragon: the Green Dragon.
Craks · 36 tiles
A suit of characters (also spelled Cracks), numbered 1 to 9, four of each. Each one carries the Chinese character for ten thousand.
Partner dragon: the Red Dragon.
Winds · 16 tiles
North, East, West and South. Four of each.
On the card, winds are written as N, E, W and S.
Dragons · 12 tiles
Red, Green and White, four of each. Each dragon belongs with one suit.
The White Dragon (Soap) also stands for zero, like the 0 in 2026, and can go with any suit.
Flowers · 8 tiles
Eight flower tiles. In American Mahjong, any flower counts the same as any other.
On the card, flowers are written as F.
Jokers · 8 tiles
Eight jokers. A joker can stand in for any tile in a group of three or more.
Never in a pair or a single. More in step 6.
2
Set up the table
- 1
Build the wall
Shuffle the tiles face down. Each player builds a wall 19 tiles long and 2 high, right up against the pusher on their rack.
- 2
Pick East
East is the dealer and plays first. Roll the dice to choose who starts as East.
- 3
Break the wall
Like cutting a deck of cards. East rolls the dice, counts that many stacks in from the right end of their wall, and splits the wall there. Those counted stacks stay against the rack. East uses the rack’s hinged pusher to swing the long part of the wall out at an angle toward the middle, where everyone can reach it. The deal starts at the gap.
- 4
Deal
Always in order, never from anywhere you like. Starting at the gap and moving left along the wall, each player in turn takes the next 2 stacks (4 tiles), three times around. Then East takes 2 more and everyone else 1, so East has 14 tiles and everyone else has 13. When East’s wall runs out, the player on East’s left pushes their wall out and the deal carries on from it. Draws during the game continue from the same spot.
3
The Charleston
Before the first turn, everyone passes unwanted tiles around the table. It’s the part of American Mahjong that confuses new players most, so step through it here.
First Charleston (everyone does it)Pass 3 tiles right, then over, then left.
Second Charleston (optional)Left, over, right. Any player can stop the Charleston after the first left pass.
Courtesy pass (optional)Swap 0 to 3 tiles with the player across.
Jokers can never be passed.
Getting ready
Pick 3 tiles to pass
Everyone chooses 3 tiles they don’t want and sets them face down. You can never pass a joker.
First Charleston
Pass right
Give 3 tiles to the player on your right, and take the 3 coming from your left.
First Charleston
Pass over
Choose 3 more and swap them with the player across the table.
First Charleston
Pass left
Pass 3 to your left. On this last pass you may pass on 1, 2 or 3 tiles you just received without looking at them (a blind pass).
Second Charleston (optional)
Pass left
Go around again in reverse. Any player can stop the Charleston after the first left pass, so this round only happens if everyone agrees.
Second Charleston (optional)
Pass over
Swap 3 tiles with the player across.
Second Charleston (optional)
Pass right
The last pass of the second Charleston. A blind pass is allowed here too.
Courtesy pass (optional)
Swap with the player across
You and the player across may trade 0, 1, 2 or 3 tiles. It’s optional, even if you skipped the second Charleston.
Ready to play
East discards first
The Charleston is over. East starts the game by discarding a tile, and play moves to the right.
Step 1 of 9
4
Read the card
To win, your 14 tiles must match one hand on this year’s card exactly. The League prints a new card every April, so the winning hands change each year.
Example cardMade-up hands, not from the League’s card
11122223334444
Two suits: the green groups in one suit, the red groups in another. For example, 111 and 333 in Bams, 2222 and 4444 in Dots.
FFDDDDNEWSDDDD
Flowers, two kinds of dragons, and one of each wind.
1133557799FFDD
All pairs, so it must stay concealed, and jokers can’t help.
- Colors are suitsA suit is Dots, Bams or Craks. Same color means same suit, different colors mean different suits. The color doesn’t pick the suit for you: green can be any suit you like.
- X or CX: you may expose groups as you go. C: the whole hand stays concealed until you win.
- The number is the valueIt’s how many points the hand is worth. Many groups play for small change, so a 25 hand is 25 cents. Others use chips or just keep score on paper.
- Get this year’s card from the League
5
Play a turn
East already holds 14 tiles, so on the very first turn East only discards. After that, everyone, East included, draws one tile and then discards one, so you always end your turn with 13. Play moves to the right (counterclockwise).
Step 1
Draw
Take the next tile from the wall.
Step 2
Discard
Put one tile face up in the middle and say its name out loud.
Anyone, any time
Call a discard
Say “call” to take the last discard if it finishes a group of three or more, or wins you the game. You can’t call for a pair or a single unless it wins. Show the group on your rack, then discard.
6
Exposures and jokers
What’s an exposure?
When you call someone’s discard, you have to prove what it’s for. Take the tile, add the matching tiles from your hand, and set the whole group face up on top of your rack. That group is an exposure.
- Groups you build from tiles you drew yourself stay hidden until you win.
- Everyone can now see part of your hand, so they can guess what you need.
- You can only expose in hands marked X on the card. In a C hand, you can only call the tile that wins.
- Once you discard, an exposure is locked in. You can’t change it.
The called discard (dashed) plus two tiles from your hand: an exposed pung.
The rest of your hand: hidden, facing you
A joker can stand in for any tile in a pung, kong, quint or sextet, but never in a pair or a single. A discarded joker is dead: nobody can pick it up.
Jokers can go in
A pung (3 of a kind)
A kong (4 of a kind)
Jokers can’t go in
A pair
A single tile
Swap for a joker
On your turn, if another player has exposed a joker and you hold the tile it stands for, you can trade your tile for the joker.
Their exposure, and the 8 Dot from your hand.
7
Win the game
“Mah Jongg!”
You hold 13 tiles, so the 14th tile that completes your hand comes one of two ways:
- You draw it from the wall on your turn. Don’t discard; call Mah Jongg instead.
- Someone discards it. Call it right away, even if it only finishes a pair. A Mah Jongg call beats any other call for that tile.
Then lay your whole hand face up so everyone can check it against the card.
Who pays the winner (in points, chips or small change)
- Player who threw the winning tile
- 2 × value
- Every other player
- 1 × value
- You drew it yourself: everyone pays
- 2 × value
- No jokers in your hand (most hands)
- Doubled
If the wall runs out before anyone wins, it’s a wall game: no one pays, and you deal again.
Common American Mahjong rules questions
Can you pass a joker in the Charleston?
NeverNo. Jokers can never be passed, in any part of the Charleston or the courtesy pass.
Can you call a discard to make a pair?
Only to winOnly if that tile gives you Mah Jongg. Otherwise you can call a discard only to finish a pung, kong, quint or sextet that you then expose.
Can you swap for a joker on someone else’s turn?
NoNo. You can trade a matching tile for a joker in any player’s exposure, but only on your own turn.
Who can stop the second Charleston?
AnyoneAny player. The Charleston can be stopped after the first left pass, so the second Charleston only happens if everyone agrees to it.
Two players call the same discard. Who gets it?
Mah Jongg firstA player calling Mah Jongg always gets it. If both players want it for an exposure, the player next in turn after the discarder gets it.
Can you pick up a discarded joker?
NeverNo. A discarded joker is dead and nobody can call it. The player who throws it can name it as “joker,” “same,” or the name of the previous discard.
What happens if you call Mah Jongg by mistake?
DependsIf you haven’t shown your hand and everyone else’s hand is intact, play continues with no penalty. If you exposed all or part of your hand, your hand is dead: you stop playing but still pay the winner.
Does a jokerless hand pay double?
Yes, mostlyYes. When you win without any jokers, everyone pays double. Singles and Pairs hands are the exception, since they never use jokers anyway.
Ready for your first game?
Keep this page open at the table. Every section works on a phone.
RuleRef explains rules in its own words. The hands on the official card belong to the National Mah Jongg League; buy the current card from the League.