How to play American mahjong
American mahjong is a four-player game of tiles, played like rummy: draw, discard, and race to build a winning hand. What makes it American is the yearly card of winning hands, the Charleston tile swap before each game, and the jokers. Here is the whole game in seven steps; a lesson is the fastest way to learn it at the table.
Bams
36
Craks
36
Dots
36
Winds
16
Dragons
12
Flowers
8
Jokers
8
1What you need
Four players, an American set of 152 tiles, a rack for each player, and the current year’s card from the National Mah Jongg League, one per player. The card lists every hand you may win with and changes each year. How to get the 2026 card.
2Know the tiles
| Bams (bamboo) | 1–9, four of each | 36 |
| Craks (characters) | 1–9, four of each | 36 |
| Dots (circles) | 1–9, four of each | 36 |
| Winds | North, East, West, South, four of each | 16 |
| Dragons | Red, Green and White (Soap), four of each | 12 |
| Flowers | eight, all interchangeable | 8 |
| Jokers | eight | 8 |
| Total | 152 |
Each suit has its own Dragon: Green goes with Bams, Red with Craks, and the White Dragon (called Soap) with Dots. The White Dragon also stands for zero in year hands like 2026.
3Build the wall and deal
Each player builds a wall of 19 stacks, two tiles high, in front of their rack: 38 tiles each. East, the dealer, rolls the dice to set where the wall is broken, and the tiles are dealt in turn. East ends with 14 tiles, everyone else with 13.
4Pass tiles in the Charleston
- First Charleston, pass 1: three tiles to the player on your right.
- First Charleston, pass 2: three tiles to the player across.
- First Charleston, pass 3: three tiles to the player on your left (may be a blind pass).
- Second Charleston, pass 1: three tiles to the player on your left (optional: any player can stop it).
- Second Charleston, pass 2: three tiles to the player across.
- Second Charleston, pass 3: three tiles to the player on your right (may be a blind pass).
After that, players facing each other may agree a courtesy pass of up to three tiles. Jokers are never passed. The aim is to shed the tiles that fit no hand on the card and pick up ones that do.
5Draw, discard and call
East discards first. Play then moves to the right: draw a tile from the wall, then discard one face up, naming it aloud. Any player may call a discard if it completes a group of three or more to expose on their rack (a pung, kong or quint), or if it gives them Mah Jongg. A discard can never be called for a single tile or a pair unless it wins the game.
6Use jokers
A joker can stand for any tile in a group of three or more, never in a single or a pair. On your turn, if someone has exposed a group with a joker in it and you hold the real tile, you may swap your tile for their joker.
7Declare Mah Jongg and pay
You win by completing one hand on the card exactly, tile for tile, and calling “Mah Jongg”. Hands marked X may include exposed groups; hands marked C must be fully concealed until you win. Each hand on the card shows its value. The player whose discard gave you the win pays double and the others pay single; if you drew the winning tile from the wall, everyone pays double. A hand made without jokers is worth double, except for hands of singles and pairs. If the wall runs out first, nobody wins that game.
Learn it at a table
Beginner lessons and open play, listed from each teacher’s and club’s own page:
Quick answers
- How many tiles are in an American mahjong set?
- 152: three suits of 36 (Bams, Craks and Dots), 16 Winds, 12 Dragons, 8 Flowers and 8 Jokers.
- How many tiles does each player start with?
- East, the dealer, starts with 14 tiles and discards first. Everyone else starts with 13.
- What is the Charleston in mahjong?
- A tile swap before play starts, unique to the American game. Everyone passes three tiles right, then across, then left. A second Charleston (left, across, right) follows unless any player stops it, then an optional courtesy pass across.
- Can you use a joker in a pair?
- No. Jokers only stand in for tiles in groups of three or more (pungs, kongs, quints and larger). They can never be used in a single tile or a pair.
- Can you pick up a discard to make a pair?
- Only if that tile completes your hand for Mah Jongg. Otherwise a discard can be called only to expose a group of three or more.
- Do I need the card to play American mahjong?
- Yes. Every winning hand must match one printed on the National Mah Jongg League’s card, which changes every year. The 2026 card costs $14 from the League.
More guides
From the National Mah Jongg League, checked 2026-11-03. House rules vary between tables. The League’s own rules are on the back of each year’s card and in its book “Mah Jongg Made Easy” ($15.95 from its store).