Table reference
American Mah Jongg rules on one page
The rules of American Mah Jongg in the order a game goes: the tiles, the card, setting up, the Charleston, turns, calls, Jokers, declaring Mah Jongg and scoring. Each part is a short summary; follow its link to the lesson that teaches it with pictures and practice.
This reference supports the teaching exercises. Use your agreed current card for actual winning patterns; the course’s custom patterns do not replace it.
or use your browser’s Print command. It fits on 2 pages of paper.
The tiles
The game is played with 152 tiles: 108 suit tiles (Bams, Craks and Dots, numbers 1 to 9, 4 of each), 12 Dragons, 16 Winds (North, East, West and South), 8 Flowers and 8 Jokers. Each numbered tile, and each particular Wind or Dragon, has only 4 natural copies. The 8 Flowers all count as the same tile, whatever their pictures. Extra tiles in a box, such as blanks, stay out of the playing set.
Learn it: Chapter 2: Meet the tiles
The card
The card lists the 14-tile patterns that can win, sorted into categories. One line is one complete hand of 14 tiles. Notes in parentheses say how you may choose suits and numbers. X means the hand may be played exposed: you may call a discard to finish an allowed group of 3 or more identical tiles. C means concealed: no calls except for Mah Jongg. The number beside the X or C is the hand’s value, for scoring. If you play by National Mah Jongg League rules, the League issues a new card every year.
Learn it: Chapter 3: Reading the card and whole card lines
Setting up and dealing
Each player builds a wall of 19 stacks, two tiles high, in front of their rack: 4 walls of 38 tiles. East starts the game: East rolls the dice to break the wall, takes tiles first and starts with 14 tiles. Everyone else starts with 13. Players take 4 tiles at a time for 3 rounds, then East takes 2 more and every other player 1. Turns go to the right; taking tiles from the walls goes to the left. American Mah Jongg has no dead wall: every one of the 152 tiles can be used.
Learn it: Chapter 4: Setting up & dealing
The Charleston
Before play, players trade tiles in a set routine called the Charleston. On every normal pass you send 3 tiles face-down and receive 3. The first Charleston is required: First Right, First Across, First Left. A second Charleston happens only if every player agrees, in the reverse order: Second Left, Second Across, Last Right. Any player can stop it before anyone looks at the tiles from its first pass; after that, complete it. Then the 2 players across from each other may make a courtesy pass of 0 to 3 tiles: both pass the smaller number offered. A blind pass, sending on incoming tiles without looking at them, is allowed only on the First Left and the Last Right. Never pass a Joker, in either Charleston or the courtesy pass.
Learn it: Chapter 5: The Charleston · Strategy: what to pass
Taking a turn
East first discards from 14 tiles, without drawing. Ordinary turns then go to each player’s right. On a turn you draw the next tile from the wall (13 becomes 14), check whether it wins or lets you exchange for an exposed Joker, then discard 1 tile face up in the middle and say its name (back to 13). Count 13 tiles between turns and 14 after the draw, including exposures. A valid win ends the hand without a discard.
Learn it: Chapter 7, Section 1: the ordinary turn
Calling a discard
Only the newest natural discard can be called, and only while its claim window is open; once it closes, the tile is an old discard and nobody can call it. An ordinary call must finish a group of at least 3 identical tiles that your X line needs, and you must already hold the rest of that group. Say “Call”, expose the full group face up and discard; don’t also draw. The next ordinary turn is then on the caller’s right. A claim to win comes before an ordinary call. A single or a pair can be claimed only when that tile completes your whole winning hand.
Learn it: Chapter 7, Section 2: Calling & Jokers and called turns
Jokers
A Joker can take the place of any tile in a group of 3 or more matching tiles: a pung, kong, quint or sextet. It can never fill a single or a pair, so a pair, a NEWS group or a year always needs natural tiles. Nobody may call a discarded Joker, even to win. On your turn, after you draw or show a called group and before you discard, you may exchange a matching natural tile from your hand for a Joker in any player’s exposure.
Learn it: Where a Joker can go and exchanging for a Joker
Declaring Mah Jongg
A game ends in one of 2 ways. Mah Jongg: a player completes a winning hand with a tile from the wall, a claimed discard or a Joker exchange, declares it and shows all 14 tiles. Everyone checks each group against the chosen line: group sizes, suits, numbers, Flowers or Dragons, X or C, notes and where the Jokers are. Until the result is settled, everyone else leaves their own tiles and the wall alone. Or a wall game: the wall runs out and nobody has won. If a declaration is wrong, say so at once. Apart from the cases Chapter 7 explains, a hand shown for a wrong Mah Jongg is dead: you can’t draw, discard, call or win, but you still pay whoever wins.
Learn it: Chapter 7, Section 3: how a game ends · Mistakes: Chapter 10, Section 2: Common Mistakes & Recovery
Scoring
Every payment starts from the value printed beside the winning line. Discard win: the discarder pays 2 times the printed value, and the other 2 each pay it once. Self-draw, or a win by Joker exchange: each of the 3 other players pays 2 times. No Jokers in the final 14 tiles doubles every payment, except in Singles & Pairs. C alone adds no double. A wall game has no win payment. Special penalties are separate.
Learn it: Chapter 8: Scoring & Payouts
Deciding what to play
Compare useful tiles, required natural tiles, overlap, public exposures and remaining opportunities. Old discards stay unavailable. Unseen tiles may be in other hands. Feasibility first, value second; no fixed turn number forces a switch.
Learn it: choosing a hand · hand strategy · when to switch hands · defense and wall awareness · reading opponents
Return to the guided game · The final check · Practice a whole hand with real tiles
Rule references are listed on the Where our rules come from page.