Lessons | Missy Mahjong

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

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).

Red Dragon- crak

Green Dragon- bam

White dragon- dots

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! (For the proposed game change, read about the Black Dragon here.)

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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?

Look at the example here with the 9 dots. The joker completes the meld to create a kong, or 4 identical tiles of 9 dots.

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:

111 222 3333 4444 (any 1 suit, any 4 consecutive numbers)

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.

When the color changes, the suit changes.

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:

111 222 3333 4444 (any 2 suits, any 4 consecutive numbers)

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.

1 color= 1 suit

2 colors= 2 suits

3 colors= 3 suits

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

YEAR:

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:

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.”

CONSECUTIVE NUMBERS:

Again, parentheses are important. Does it tell you these nos only? Or any 4 consecutive nos? One OR TWO suits?

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.

Game set up: How to shuffle, build walls and deal

Use shufflers, your card or your hands to give all the tiles a good shuffle. When all players agree that the tiles have been adequately mixed, work together to turn the tiles over so they are all face down.

When all the tiles are face down, give them another little gentle mix.

All players will build their own walls against the pusher. Walls should be 19 tiles long, double stacked for a total of 38 tiles per player. If adding blanks or extra jokers, this can change the wall length. A standard game should have 38 tiles (19 stacks of 2) per player.

Each player will roll to establish East. The highest number will be East. From now on, the East position will move to the right for the remainder of the games session.

East will have one major advantage during the Charleston: They will have 14 tiles instead of 13. There is a benefit to the East player.

Just like in cards, we will break the wall like we cut the deck to randomize the game another time.

East will swing the wall out towards the center and roll the dice. East counts that many from the end of the extended wall. Using tension, bring the cut wall back to the right edge of the East's pusher. These will now be the last tiles used in the game. We will start using the tiles from the extended wall to begin the deal.

Each player will take their own tiles in sets of 4 to start. Each player receives 3 sets of 4 and 1 extra tile, with East receiving one extra.

My friend and fellow mahjong instructor Sam from Northshore Mahjong created an easy way to remember this: We are all going to eat at Sharon’s diner:

East will take the first set of 4 tiles as East. We will call this breakfast. Just like play, we will move to the right. The players will all take their breakfast in order of play.

Players will all take their own lunch. Each "meal" is 4 tiles at Sharon's Diner. These tiles are placed behind the racks. Next, players will take their own dinner, again 4 tiles per "meal."

East will get two slices of cake for dessert- and just because the NMJL says so, East picks the top first and third tile. Moving to the right, the players will take their 1 slice of cake for "dessert," always picking the next single tile in order.

When everyone is served, just like a restaurant, we will look at our tiles. Place them on the sloped portion of the rack.

There is no right or wrong way to place the tiles. I generally like to place flowers all the way to the left, followed by suits in numerical order with matching dragons and winds and jokers all the way to the right.

Pick a hand and begin the Charleston

Choosing a hand to play on the American mahjong playing card is the most difficult part of the game!

Look at the tiles and look to what you “see.” Do you have a lot of 7s? Maybe go for a hand that is any like numbers. A lot of consecutive craks? Choose Consectutive. Numbers make your head spin? Collect just winds and match letters.

Because this is designed for beginners and I want to teach the mechanics of the game rather than strategy, I encourage each player to select a hand to play and stick with it.

Find a hand that does not have any singles or pairs as a beginner, unless they are complete in the deal. Why? Remember that jokers are the wild tiles and are every beginners friend. Jokers may not be used with singles or pairs. Jokers can only be used with pungs and kongs. There are 8 jokers and they will move around during the game, so choosing a hand with sets of 3 or more tiles is suggested.

Just find a hand you like and commit early as a beginner.

Learn how to play the game before learning strategy.

To make it easy and assume you are using the NMJL 2026 playing card, choose the hand at the top of the winds section. You won't have to match numbers, just letters. You might not win, but you will understand how the game is played and just "match" tiles.

The tiles you are dealt are not the tiles you will begin play with. First, players must Charleston before play.

The basic purpose of the Charleston is to discard tiles you don’t want, and see if you can collect tiles that improve your hand.

Find three tiles that don’t work in the hand you are trying to match to the card. When choosing, consider these tips;

1. Players cannot pass a joker (not that beginners were going to anyway).

2. Avoid passing flowers. There are 8 of these tiles, so they can provide more help than any other tiles when using any American mahjong card.

Also, please note that there are opportunities for a blind pass and to stop the Charleston. As beginners, I am teaching the basic mechanics of the game and not strategy. Let these be strategy tips you can add to the game later.

The "dance" is R-O-L-L-O-R plus a courtesy.

Right: Place three tiles you don’t want to the right. It is good practice, especially for beginners, to wait until everyone is served to pick up the tiles. This is not a rule, but it’s etiquette and will keep everyone on the same pass at the same time.

Do these tiles improve your hand? Keep the tiles that improve your hand and pass the tiles in the next part of the dance.

The Charleston continues with a pass over, a pass to the left, a second pass to the left, a pass over and a pass to the right.

The courtesy pass is the final pass. This pass is 0-3 tiles with the player across from you. If one player wants to trade 3, but the other player wants to trade 1, trade the lower number to each other.

Now we are ready to play.

How to start actual play in American mahjong

East will start gameplay. East had the advantage with 14 tiles during the Charleston. The other players all had 13. To begin play, East will discard the 14th tile, face up and call it out.

Play continues to the right. Remember, walls will come out left, but play will move to the right.

The next player will start the “go-fish” part of the game. Pick up a tile, place it in the rack, see if it matches the hand you are trying to build, discard and name the tile fully.

The discarded tile is alive for any player to claim until it is called or the next player to the right racks their next picked tile.

When a player places a 14th tile in their rack, it is her turn and she can do all her business. When she discards and fully names the tile, her turn ends.

Play continues to the right always. If a player calls a tile from the center, exposes it and discards, the player to the right will resume play.

If a tile comes up that you think you want- call “pause” and stop the game play while you decide. You can either decide to pass on the tile, or call it.

Remember, this is essentially a game of matching tiles on the the hand.

As a beginner, you are learning the mechanics of the game. You should commit to a hand and work on completing that hand. Again, a good first hand is the letters in the winds instead of numbers and suits.

Strategy, defensive play and flexibility will come later as you develop your confidence and skills.

This is a very basic lesson. There will be more tips and trends that you will learn along the way.

During play, jokers will move around. We will call these joker exchanges.

When you want to exchange a tile for a joker, use your Southern etiquette. Hold the joker out and offer it to the player with the exposure.

“May I please have your joker?”

The player accepts your replacement tile, replaces the joker, and hands you the joker. You may then place the joker in the slanted portion of your rack.

This joker exchange may ONLY happen during your turn- when a 14th tile is in the sloped portion of your rack.

If a tile is down that can be exchanged for a joker, you may not call it and make an exchange. This will make sense when you learn the value of jokerless hands.