American mahjong is a four-player tile game played from a card of winning hands that changes every year. Your goal is to be the first to match one of the hands on the card exactly. It looks complicated for the first hour and then clicks.
What you need
- An American mahjong set: 152 tiles. That's 108 suit tiles, 16 winds, 12 dragons, 8 flowers and 8 jokers. Chinese sets don't include jokers (how the games differ), so make sure yours is an American set. See the tile chart.
- Four racks to hold your tiles, and two dice.
- The current National Mah Jongg League card, one per player (when the 2027 card comes out). It lists every legal winning hand for the year.
1. Build the wall and deal
Turn every tile face down and mix. Each player builds a wall 19 tiles long and two tiles high (38 tiles) in front of their rack, and the four walls are pushed together into a square. Roll dice to decide who's East (the dealer); highest roll wins. East rolls again to decide where to break the wall, and tiles are dealt until everyone has 13 and East has 14.
2. Pick a hand from the card
Look at your 13 tiles and the card. Find two or three hands your tiles are already leaning toward. Don't commit yet; the Charleston will change your tiles.
3. The Charleston
Before anyone plays, everyone trades unwanted tiles: 3 to the right, 3 across, 3 to the left. An optional second round goes the other way if all four players agree, and then there's an optional courtesy pass with the player across. Jokers can never be passed. It's easier to learn by doing; use the Charleston trainer.
4. Play
East discards first (East has the 14th tile). Then, going to the right, each player draws a tile from the wall and discards one, naming it out loud. You always end your turn with 13 tiles.
Calling a discard: when someone throws a tile you need, you can call it, but only to complete a pung, kong or quint (three, four or five of a kind), or to win. You can't call a tile for a pair or a single unless it's the last tile you need to win. Called tiles go face up on top of your rack, which is called an exposure. If two players call the same tile, a call for mahjong beats a call for an exposure.
5. Jokers
Jokers stand in for any tile, but only inside a group of three or more of the same tile. They can't be used in a pair or a single. On your turn, if a player has an exposure with a joker in it and you hold the real tile it stands for, you can swap your tile for the joker. Full rules: mahjong joker rules.
6. Winning
When your 14 tiles exactly match a hand on the card, call "Mahjong!" and lay your tiles out. Winning hands are worth at least 25 points; the value is printed on the card. If the wall runs out and nobody wins, the hand is a wall game: no one pays, reshuffle and deal again.
7. Paying the winner
At a penny a point, a 25-point hand pays 25¢. If you won on someone's discard, that player pays double and the other two pay single. If you drew your own winning tile, all three pay double. A hand with no jokers doubles again (with an exception for Singles & Pairs hands). Work it out instantly with the American mahjong payout calculator.
First-game tip: pick one simple hand and stick with it. Beginners lose by switching hands three times. Experienced players lose by never switching. Learn the first habit before the second.
Questions
How many players do you need for American mahjong?
Four is standard. Each player builds a wall, sits at a rack and plays every hand.
Do I need the National Mah Jongg League card to play?
Yes. American mahjong is played from the card the League publishes each year; every player needs the current one, and the winning hands change every year.
What's the difference between a pung, kong and quint?
Three, four and five of the same tile. Quints need jokers, since there are only four of most tiles.