How to play American mahjong
First a word from Missy: "This is the VERY basic quick start introduction to play American mahjong with the NMJL card or an alternative card. This is not designed to make you a tournament player or give you strategies, this is ONLY a quick start guide. Learn the tiles, the basic mechanics of the game and have fun!" xoMissy
Learn the tiles of American Mahjong
152 tiles are needed to play a game of American mahjong.
The Suits of American mahjong: Craks, Bams, Dots
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Just like cards have suits, there are suits in American mahjong. In this game, there are three suits: craks, dots and bams.
Craks (short for Chinese characters)
Bams (short for bamboo)
Dots (not short for anything… just dots!)
Each suit has 4 identical tiles numbered 1 thru 9
Dragons in American mahjong
Each suit also has a dragon. These dragons are suit specific but not numbered. Like a jack or queen in cards, mahjong dragons are suit specific, but do not have a number. If a hand on the mahjong card says FFFF 1111 22 DDDD, the Ds stand for dragons (more on this in the hands and cards section).
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Red Dragon- crak
Green Dragon- bam
White dragon- dots
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This white dragon usually does not look like a dragon at all- it is usually a rectangle. I know, it doesn’t make sense. The white dragon rectangle is not going to be even referred to as a white dragon- we are going to call it soap. What is the easiest way to remember that this is a soap and that it is a dot dragon? Suds go with soap. The dots look like bubbles, the soap looks like a bar of soap... suds and soap!​
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There are neutral tiles in American mahjong that do not go with a specific suit. These neutral tiles are flowers, winds and jokers.
There are 8 flowers in American mahjong. They may look different, be different colors and some may even have numbers and seasons on them. In American Mahjong, any flower is the same. A flower is a flower. The flower does not hold any special power or value in American mahjong, but it is the only tile that there are 8 identical tiles. I know what you are thinking… a yellow daffodil tile is NOT identical to a red rose tile visually. There are a lot of things that just “are” in American Mahjong. Any flower is an identical flower tile. When a meld or hand calls for FFFF, the F stands for flower (more on this in the hands and cards section). The hand will be asking you match four flowers.
There are 4 winds in American mahjong. Each wind has four tiles each.
N- North
E- East
W- West
S- South
It is always written NEWS. Chicago is the Windy City where there is always a lot of NEWS. Think of the Windy City when you see the winds, and think NEWS.
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There is no special function for these tiles. When a sequence or hand calls for NNNN, you just will match 4 N tiles (more on this in the hands and card sections). If a sequence calls for NEWS, organize four tiles with these letters to match.
There are 8 jokers in American Mahjong. Jokers are the “wild tiles. If you don’t remember anything else, remember to collect jokers. Jokers are great for beginners!
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Soap as a neutral 0 tile. This is tricky, but to complete the year section of the hands, a zero is needed until the year 2111. If the hand you need to complete requires a zero, use the soap. This tile is considered a neutral tile when used as a zero and not a dragon.​ I know, I know... this is another confusing nuance of American mahjong, but it is important especially when playing on the NMJL cards.
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Melds and groupings of tiles in American mahjong
To win a game of American mahjong, a player must complete a hand of 14 tiles matching a sequence (or hand) on the playing card. Each winning hand includes melds or groupings of tiles.
These groupings or melds can be made of singles, pairs, pungs, kongs and quints. You must pay close attention to the colors, count, parentheses and other instructions when making the melds.
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Single: 1 single tile
Pair: 2 identical tiles
Pung: 3 identical tiles
Kong: 4 identical tiles
Quint: 5 identical tiles
Sextet: 6 identical tiles.
Chow: grouping of consecutive singles
Year or NEWS- grouping of singles
A little more about jokers and tile groupings:
A joker may never be used in a single or a pair.
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These jokers can be used in any meld of 3+ tiles and represent the tile needed.
For example, if a sequence calls for a 777 bam meld in one suit, you can have two identical 7 bams and one joker to make the meld complete of 777 bams.
Jokers may never be used in a sequence in place of a single tile or a pair of tiles. EVER. You will try, and you will be wrong. Don’t worry, every player tried to do this at some point. This is why so many pieces of mahjong merch say “no jokers with a single or a pair.” ​​
How can you use a joker in American mahjong?
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Look the example here with the 9 dots. The joker completes the meld to create a kong, or 4 identical tiles of 9 dots.
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Winning hands in American mahjong
The card has specific sequences of 14 tiles to win. We call these hands.
Reading the card is important. The card will give you all the instructions you need to complete a winning hand.
The card is broken into sections like this example from the NMJL Card:
Year
Evens
Like Numbers
Consecutive Run
Winds and Dragons
These hands are made up of 14 tiles broken into melds or groupings of tiles. These can include singles, pairs, pungs, kongs and quints.
This is an example of what a winning hand might be on an American Mahjong card:
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111 222 3333 4444 (any 1 suit, any 4 consecutive numbers)
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Color matters on the American Mahjong card. The colors do NOT coordinate with a specific suit. The color is very important. When the color changes, the suit changes. If a mahjong sequence has one color, the suit will all be the same.
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When the color changes, the suit changes.
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Neutral tiles do not coordinate with a suit, so winds and flowers will never have a color.
Let’s talk about colors again. If the card is written with two or three colors, remember that the color does not match a suit. Color does matter. When the color changes, the suit changes.
This is an example of a winning American mahjong hand with two suits:
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111 222 3333 4444 (any 2 suits, any 4 consecutive numbers)
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American mahjong cards
The details on how to win a game of American mahjong is printed on the card.
There are instructions on the back. Alternative cards have keys.
The color matters on the American mahjong card. The colors do not mean a specific suit, but whenever the color changes, the suit changes.
Read the parentheses fully. You may find words “like kongs” and “any dragons” that have clues on ways to be flexible with the hand. Sometimes, the parentheses will say “these nos only.” Pay attention.
The card is broken into sections.
Notice three important sections on the NMJL cards to pay special attention to: YEAR, ANY LIKE NUMBERS & CONSECUTIVE
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YEAR:
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The soap (the dragon for the dots) can also be used in the year section as a zero. If you need to make the year 2032 for example (I’m thinking ahead!) This is how you would complete the hand. In the first section, this is important. You will need this tile until 2111
FF 2032 3333 2222 (any 3 suits, these nos only)
ANY LIKE NUMBERS:
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In American Mahjong, like means alike. If the heading or parentheses say any like numbers, the 1s can be replaced with another number.
Reading the parentheses on the card are essential. The parentheses can give you more instructions on the hand. Whenever we see the work “like” think “alike.”
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CONSECUTIVE NUMBERS:
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Again, parentheses are important. Does it tell you these nos only? Or any 4 consecutive nos? One OR TWO suits?
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111 2222 333 DDDD (any 1 suit, any 3 consecutive nos)
The value of the hands and the C or X. I do not teach gambling, whether it is points or pennies. This is what the value is for. Also, Concealed hands (C) have different rules. As a beginner, avoid C or concealed hands.