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American Mahjong 101
1 - OBJECTIVE
Be the first player to match their tiles to a specific hand from The Big Card and declare “mahjong!”
2 - SETUP
Players build walls that are nineteen
tiles long and two tiles high. Each player rolls the dice, and the highest roll determines East for the first game. East rolls the dice again and breaks the wall, counting from right to left. Tiles to the left of the break are pushed out and the others remain.
Starting with East and moving counterclockwise, each player takes four tiles until everyone has twelve tiles. When a wall is exhausted, the player to the left pushes out their wall and the deal continues. Next, East takes the first and third tiles from the top tier of the wall. Then, moving counterclockwise, remaining players take one final tile. East ends the deal with fourteen tiles, and the other players with thirteen tiles.
3 - CHARLESTON
Players begin the Charleston - a series of three-tile exchanges with the other players. Jokers may not be passed.
The first Charleston (Right/Across/Left) is required. The second Charleston (Left/Across/Right) is optional, and any player may stop it before it begins, as long as no one has looked at the tiles passed to them. If no one stops, the second Charleston must be completed.
During the first left and last right passes, players may choose to blind pass by sending fewer than three tiles from their own rack. To complete a three-tile pass, they take one to three face-down tiles received from another player and pass them along sight unseen with the tiles from their own rack.
4 - OPTIONAL/COURTESY PASS
Players opposite each other can exchange zero, one, two or three tiles. The player wanting to pass the fewest tiles dictates the number of tiles exchanged.
5 - GAME PLAY
East begins by discarding a tile face-up and announcing it aloud. The next player (counterclockwise) draws a tile from the wall where dealing ended and places the tile on the sloped part of their rack. The player then discards an unwanted tile face up and names the tile. The same draw/discard process continues in a counterclockwise fashion.
6 - CALLING A TILE
Following any discard (except a joker), any player can pause the game by announcing “call,” “pause” or similar before the next player racks or discards. A discarded tile cannot be picked up for a single or a pair, unless it is the last tile required for mahjong.
Note: when more than one player calls a discard, the player nearest in turn is awarded the tile, unless another player can declare mahjong or has begun exposing tiles.
7 - MAKING THE EXPOSURE
To claim a discarded tile, a player must be able to expose three or more identical tiles, which may include jokers. Once a tile has been placed on top of their rack, the player is committed to making an exposure. This exposure can be amended until the player either initiates a joker exchange or discards a tile to end their turn. Play continues counterclockwise.
8 - GETTING YOUR MAHJONG
Players can either draw a tile or call a discarded tile (except a joker) for mahjong. This includes calling a tile for a single or a pair if it is the final tile needed. The first player to complete a hand on the card announces “mahjong.” The player exposes the hand, placing the tiles in the order shown on The Big Card, allowing other players to verify their win.
9 - JOKERS
Jokers can be used as any tile but cannot be used as a single, as a tile in a group of singles (like “2026” and “NEWS”) or in a pair. If a joker is used in an exposure, any player, during their turn, can exchange the appropriate tile for the joker.
10 - DIRECTION OF PLAY
Walls are pushed out clockwise. Game play is counterclockwise.