American Mahjong
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How American Mahjong is played
American Mahjong is the four-player tile game of the National Mah Jongg League. Every hand opens with the Charleston, a series of tile swaps, and the only hands that win are the ones printed on that year's card. Eight jokers help you get there.
- Players
- 4
- Tiles
- 152 with 8 jokers
- Hand
- From the yearly card
- Match
- 4 hands
How to play
- 01 Everyone is dealt 13 tiles, and East, the dealer, starts with 14. Choose two or three hands on the card that your tiles lean toward.
- 02 Swap tiles in the Charleston: three to the right, across and left, then an optional second round the other way and a courtesy pass of up to three tiles across. Jokers can never be passed.
- 03 Draw and discard in turn. You can call a discard only to expose a pung, kong, quint or sextet, or to declare Mah Jongg. There are no runs to claim.
- 04 Win by matching one hand on the card exactly. A match lasts four hands, so every seat deals once.
Controls
Click or tap tiles to choose your Charleston passes and discards. Expose, joker exchange and Mah Jongg buttons appear when the move is available to you.
Jokers
A joker can stand in for any tile in a group of three or more, never in a single or a pair. On your turn you can swap the real tile for a joker in any exposed group, and a discarded joker can't be called.