How To Play

Mahjong is an ancient Chinese tile game that was introduced in American in the 1920's. Since then, adaptations have been made to the game and later came to be known as American Mahjong. It is a game of luck and decision making, with each hand presents a new challenge. The objective of the game is to match your tiles to a specific line assigned in the card that is published each year by the National Mah Jongg League. We have outlined the general rules and guidelines, although many players choose to create their own exceptions when playing.

MAHJONG TERMS TO KNOW:

Dots, Cracks and Bams: These are the three suits in Mahjong. They are numbered 1-9 and each A.mahj set contains 4 of each, making for a total of 36 of each suit. To make things easier for the early Mahjong players, A.mahj sets are all labeled with the number and suit.

Pungs (3 identical tiles) 

Kongs (4 identical tiles)

Quints (5 identical tiles)

Sextets (6 identical tiles)

Winds: These tiles are the four cardinal directions; North, East, South and West. 

Dragons: There is a red dragon, a green dragon, and a white dragon (also known as the "Soap" tile which can also be used in place of a "0" on the NMJL Card. 

Flowers: There are 8 flower tiles in each A.mahj set

Jokers: There are 8 jokers in each A.mahj set that can be used in place of any tile in a set of 3 or more. Jokers cannot be used for singles or pairs. Quint hands always require a joker since there are only 4 of each tile in a set. **Some players choose to not play with jokers. We recommend that novice players use jokers until they are ready for a more challenging game.

Blanks: Blanks are optional in play. A blank can be exchanged for a discarded tile on the table at any time during the game. Blank tiles are "dead" tiles (just like jokers), and cannot be used again in the game. **Some players choose to not play with blanks. We recommend that novice players use blanks until they are ready for a more challenging game, then gradually eliminate the number of blanks played with.

Wall: Walls are built against the racks of each player in one row of two tiles stacked on top of eachother. These walls are what you deal from and what is drawn from once play begins.

Curtsy: A curtsy is the act of using your rack pusher to extend your wall into the center of the table, making it more accessible for other players and indicating that is the wall the players are choosing tiles from. 

The National Mahjj Jong League (NMJL) Card:

The NMJL publishes a card each year with nine categories of play. These categories have different "lines" that you can try to get. The categories are as follows:

The current year (ex: 2024)

2468

Any like number

Quints

Consecutive Run

13579

Winds- Dragons

369

Singles and Pairs

-The different colors on the card represent the different suits. This lets you know how many different suits are needed to complete a hand. Blue represents all the same suit. Blue and green would require 2 different suits. Blue, red and green require all 3 suits to be used. Flowers and winds do not have a suit so the color of these does not matter. 

-X or C is noted next to each hand. This stands for a exposed or concealed hand. "C" indicates that the hand cannot be exposed or presented until Mahjong is declared and the entire line is completed. X means that the player can expose as they complete different parts of the hand.

GAME SET UP:

Four players set up their racks in front of them. A dealer is designated by the group, or dice can be rolled to determine who deals. The dealer is referred to as "East".

The wall in front of the dealer is pushed out entirely (or past the last tile counted if playing with dice), angled towards the opposite player. The dealer begins dealing by taking the first two stacks (four tiles) and placing it in front of them in the center of the table. The dealer continues counterclockwise by taking two stacks and placing them in front of the player to their right. Continue this until each player has six stacks (twelve tiles total) in front of them. When the wall runs out, the next wall to the left (clockwise) is curtsied out and the dealing continues. 

Once each player has twelve tiles, the dealer takes the first and the third top tile from the wall and places those on their dealt stack. Then the dealer continues to deal one more tile to each player in a counterclockwise pattern. Each player should have 13 tiles, except for the dealer who has 14 tiles at the end of the deal (the dealer will be the first to discard the fourteenth tile at the beginning of play). 

After each player has their tiles in front of them, they may choose to arrange them by suit or by pungs or kongs. At this point, you are trying to get an idea of what section of the NMJL card you have the best chance at completing (It is rare to have a hand strong enough to determine a specific line at this point).

THE CHARLESTON:

The Charleston is done after each player has sorted their tiles and before play begins. It is done in the hopes that a player can pass unwanted tiles and receive new tiles to potentially improve their initial hand. 

The Charleston is done by passing 3 tiles you would like to get rid of to the other players, but in a certain order. "ROLLOR" is an acronym used to help remember the order: Right, Over, Left, ** The Charleston can be stopped after the first ROL if one player would like to stop. This cannot be disputed by other players ** Left, Over, Right. 

After each pass, a player should reevaluate their hand and ultimately decide what line they would like to go for. 

At the end of the Charleston, players sitting opposite from each other may do a courtesy pass of either one, two or three tiles. The same number of tiles must be passed and be mutually agreed on.

BEGINNING PLAY:

The game begins by the dealer discarding one of their 14 tiles (all other players should have 13 tiles). The tile is discared face up in the center of the table and the player discarding should announce what they are discarding. Play moves counterclockwise and the next player may draw from the wall and the either keep or discard that tile or another tile from their rack. Play continues on that wall until another curtsy is needed from the next wall.

No matter the order of play, if a tile is discarded that a player wants or needs in order to complete a Pung (3 identical tiles), Kongs (4 identical tiles), or Quints (5 identical tiles with use of a joker). A player can only "pause" if they are taking the tile and can lay down that part of the hand on their rack for all to see. Players cannot pick up a tile for a single or pair. The player then discards a tile and play resumes with the player counterclockwise to the player who paused the game. If "pause" is called but the player decides they do not need that tile, they may say "resume game" with no implications. 

Once a part of a hand is exposed, it cannot be touched or changed unless a joker used is being swapped out. During a players turn, if they have a tile that a joker is being used for in part of an exposed hand, they can ask the player whose line it is to swap the joker for the tile they are offering. Once a joker is discarded on the table, it is "dead" and cannot be picked up or played again. 

DECLARING MAHJONG: 

A player completes a hand and declares "Mahjong!" by either drawing the last needed tile from the wall, or from "pausing" game to pick up their final tile. After declaring "Mahjong!", the player exposes the winning hand and shares the line chosen from the NMJL card.

SCORING:

This is optional, as some players do not choose to keep score. Each line on the NMJL card has a specific value. The winner receives the value of the winning line.

OPTIONAL RULES:

- A pair of dice may be used to determine which player deals. Each player takes a turn rolling the dice. The player who rolls the highest combined number is the designated dealer and is referred to as "east" player. The player then uses the number they rolled to count down the stacked pair of tiles on their wall. Stopping at the number rolled, the wall is divided- reserving that stack for the end of the game. The wall is then curtsied out with the pusher after that stack is separated out.