How to Play American Mahjong
How American mahjong is played, from the 152-tile set and its eight jokers to the Charleston, exposures, joker swaps and paying out a win.
What is American mahjong?
American mahjong is a four-player tile game played across the United States. It grew out of Chinese mahjong in the 1920s and kept the draw-and-discard rhythm, then added three things you will not find in a Hong Kong or Taiwanese game. There are eight jokers in the set, every game opens with a tile swap called the Charleston, and the only hands that win are the ones printed on a card that changes every year.
That card is published by the National Mah Jongg League. Each player keeps a copy beside their rack and picks a hand from it to build toward. If you have played Chinese-style mahjong before, forget about runs and four-sets-and-a-pair. In American mahjong you win by matching one line on the card exactly.
The tiles and how many jokers there are
An American set has 152 tiles. That is the standard 144-tile set (three suits, winds, dragons and eight flowers) plus 8 jokers. There are four copies of every suit, wind and dragon tile.
The jokers are blank-faced tiles marked JOKER. They act as wild tiles inside groups, with limits covered further down.
Playing from the card
Every winning hand in American mahjong has 14 tiles and must appear on the current year's card. The card groups its hands into sections by theme, such as even numbers, odd numbers, winds and dragons, or the digits of the year. Each line shows the tiles you need, which suits they can be in, whether the hand must stay concealed, and how much it pays.
The League prints a new card every year and changes many of the hands, so last year's card no longer counts once the new one is in play. Our guide to the American mahjong card explains how to read the notation without spoiling any hands.
The Charleston
After the deal, East (the dealer) holds 14 tiles and everyone else holds 13. Before anyone discards, the table swaps tiles in a fixed series of passes called the Charleston. Everyone passes at the same time, face down, and nobody may pass a joker.
- First Charleston: right, across, left. Pass three tiles to the player on your right, then three to the player across, then three to the player on your left. The first Charleston is required.
- Second Charleston: left, across, right. If all four players agree, repeat the passes in the opposite order. Any one player can stop it, and the table moves straight on to the courtesy pass.
- Courtesy pass: across, 0 to 3 tiles. You and the player across from you may swap up to three tiles. If you want to pass different numbers, you both pass the smaller number.
- East discards first. With the Charleston over, East throws one tile from 14 and play begins.
How a turn works
- Draw a tile, then discard a tile. On your turn you take the next tile from the wall, so you hold 14, then throw one face up and name it out loud.
- Anyone can call a discard to finish a group. If a discard completes a group of three or more matching tiles for your hand, call it. You take the tile, place the group face up on your rack, discard, and play continues from you.
- Or call it to win. A discard can also be taken for Mah Jongg, even when it only completes a pair or a single tile in your hand.
- The hand ends with Mah Jongg or an empty wall. The first player to complete a hand from the card wins. If the wall runs out first, it is a wall game and nobody pays.
There are no runs to claim in American mahjong. You can only call a discard for a group of identical tiles or for Mah Jongg. Groups come in four sizes.
| Group | Tiles | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Pung | 3 | Three 7 dots |
| Kong | 4 | Four North winds |
| Quint | 5 | Five matching tiles, so it needs jokers unless it is made of flowers |
| Sextet | 6 | Six matching tiles, so it needs jokers unless it is made of flowers |
If two players want the same discard, a call for Mah Jongg beats a call for an exposure. Between two calls of the same kind, the player next in turn after the discarder gets the tile.
Joker rules
A joker can stand in for any tile inside a group of three or more, so a pung, kong, quint or sextet. A joker can never be used as a single tile or as part of a pair. An exposed group still needs at least one real tile so everyone can see what it is.
Jokers can also be won back. On your turn, if you hold the real tile that a joker is standing in for in any exposed group, yours or another player's, you can swap your tile in and take the joker into your hand.
Winning and paying
When your 14 tiles match a line on the card, call "Mah Jongg" and lay the hand face up. You can win on a tile you drew yourself or on another player's discard. The other players check the hand against the card before anyone pays.
Each hand on the card has a printed value. The usual payments in American mahjong work like this.
| How you win | Who pays | How much |
|---|---|---|
| On a discard | The discarder | Double the card value |
| On a discard | The other two players | The card value |
| Self-drawn | All three players | Double the card value |
| Jokerless hand | Every payer | Double again, on top of the above |
| Wall game | Nobody | Nothing |
The jokerless bonus only applies to hands where jokers would have been allowed. Some hands on the card never allow jokers, so they cannot earn it.
After each hand the deal passes to the next player, who becomes East for the following hand.
Questions new players ask
How many jokers are in American mahjong?
Eight. A standard American set has 152 tiles: the 144 tiles of a Chinese set with flowers, plus 8 jokers.
How many tiles does each player get?
Thirteen each, except East, the dealer, who starts with 14 and makes the first discard after the Charleston.
Can I use a joker in a pair?
No. Jokers only work in groups of three or more matching tiles. Singles and pairs must be real tiles.
Can I pick up a discard to make a run?
No. American mahjong has no runs to claim. You can call a discard only to expose a pung, kong, quint or sextet, or to declare Mah Jongg.
Do I have to do the second Charleston?
No. The first Charleston is required, but the second only happens if all four players agree. The courtesy pass that follows is optional too, since you can pass zero tiles.
Is American mahjong the same as Chinese mahjong?
They share most of the tiles and the draw-and-discard turn. The jokers, the Charleston and the yearly card make American mahjong play very differently. Our guide to Chinese-style mahjong covers the Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysian and Taiwanese rules.
Play American Mahjong online
The Charleston, eight jokers and the current card, in four-hand matches. Invite friends with one link, and AI fills any empty seat.
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