How to Play: American Mahjong (NMJL)

American mahjong is played by four players. The goal is to be the first to build a complete hand of 14 tiles that exactly matches one of the winning hands printed on the current National Mah Jongg League (NMJL) card. Declaring that complete hand is called "Mah Jongg".

Unlike many mahjong variants, you do not invent your own patterns — every legal hand comes straight from the card, and the card is reissued each year. The specific hands are on your own official NMJL card; they are not reproduced in this reference. This guide teaches the objective mechanics that are the same regardless of which year's card you hold.

American mahjong uses a 152-tile set:

• Three suits, each numbered 1–9 with four copies of each tile (108 tiles): Dots (also called Circles), Bams (Bamboo), and Craks (Characters).
• Winds — East, South, West, North, four of each (16 tiles).
• Dragons — Red, Green, and White (the White Dragon is called the "Soap"), four of each (12 tiles). Each dragon is associated with a suit for card purposes.
• Flowers — eight Flower tiles, treated as interchangeable.
• Jokers — eight Jokers (see the Jokers section).

See the Tile Set breakdown for the exact per-tile counts.

Tiles are shuffled face down and each player builds a wall in front of them. The four walls are pushed together into a square. After the dealer (East) is determined, tiles are dealt so each player holds 13 tiles, except the dealer, who starts with 14 and discards first.

Play proceeds counter-clockwise. On your turn you draw a tile from the wall (or claim a discard, see Calling & Exposures) and then discard one, keeping your hand at the correct size. When the wall runs out before anyone declares Mah Jongg, the hand is a draw (a "wall game").

The Charleston is a signature feature of American mahjong: before play begins, players pass unwanted tiles to improve their hands. Tiles are passed in sets of three.

First Charleston (required)

1. Pass three tiles to the player on your right.
2. Pass three tiles across the table.
3. Pass three tiles to the player on your left.

Second Charleston (optional)

If all four players agree, a second Charleston is done in the opposite order — left, across, right. Any player may stop the second Charleston. (On the first pass of the first Charleston you must pass three tiles; on later passes a "blind" pass of tiles you just received is allowed.)

Courtesy pass

After the Charleston, the two players sitting across from each other may make an optional courtesy pass of up to three tiles (they must pass an equal number, 0–3, by agreement).

Jokers may never be passed during the Charleston.

There are eight Jokers. A Joker is wild and can stand in for any tile within a group of three or more identical tiles (a pung, kong, quint, or sextet).

• Jokers cannot be used for a single tile or a pair.
• Jokers cannot be passed in the Charleston.
• A Joker may never be a discard target you claim for Mah Jongg as a single or pair.

Redeeming (swapping) a Joker

If another player has exposed a group containing a Joker, on your turn you may redeem that Joker by giving the real tile it represents (from your hand) and taking the Joker in exchange. You can redeem from your own or an opponent's exposure. This is a key tactical tool — a redeemed Joker becomes wild again for your own groups.

Instead of drawing from the wall, you may call (claim) the tile a player just discarded — but only to complete and expose a group that your card's hand needs:

• Pung — three identical tiles.
• Kong — four identical tiles.
• Quint — five identical tiles (only possible with Jokers, for hands that call for it).
• Sextet — six identical tiles (rare; card-specific).

To call, you say "Call" (or "Take"), take the discard, and lay the completed group face up on the table together with the matching tiles from your hand — this is an exposure. You then discard, and play continues to your right. You may not call a discard for a pair or a single (except the final tile to complete Mah Jongg, if your hand allows). Once exposed, a group is committed; its tiles are locked to that group (Jokers in it may still be redeemed).

Concealed hands: some card hands must be made without any exposures (fully concealed) — check your card.

A hand is declared dead when it can no longer legally achieve any hand on the card. Common causes:

• Holding the wrong number of tiles (too many or too few).
• Making an exposure that no card hand can use (e.g. exposing a group that no line supports), once challenged.
• Exposing tiles inconsistent with any remaining possible hand.

A dead hand cannot win or be paid, but the player continues to draw and discard so play is not disrupted (house rules vary on the exact handling). Because an exposure is public and committed, players should be sure a card hand supports a group before exposing it.

If every tile in the wall is drawn and no one has declared Mah Jongg, the hand ends as a draw — a wall game. No one wins or pays.

Many groups then replay the hand as a goulash (also called a "hot wall" or bonus hand): the same deal is reshuffled and a full Charleston is done again, sometimes with looser passing, to give everyone a fresh chance. Goulash conventions are a house/table agreement rather than a fixed NMJL rule.

Every winning hand on the NMJL card has a point value printed next to it (values are on your own card and are not reproduced here). When a player declares Mah Jongg:

• The three other players each pay the winner the hand's value.
• If the winning tile was discarded by one player, common table rules have that discarder pay double while the other two pay the base value.
• A hand won without any Jokers ("jokerless") is often paid double, by table agreement.
• A hand won by drawing the final tile yourself (self-pick / self-draw) is commonly paid double.

Exact payout conventions (doubling rules, use of betting/chip coins) vary by table; the base value always comes from the card.

A normal turn:

1. Draw the next tile from the wall (or call the previous discard to make an exposure).
2. Decide whether the tile helps your target hand.
3. Discard one tile face up, naming it aloud.

Between turns, any player may call the discard to complete an exposure (a call can jump the normal order). When your 14 tiles complete a line on the card, declare "Mah Jongg" and expose your full hand for the table to verify against the card. If it matches, you win and are paid; if it does not, penalties are by house rule.

Remember: the winning lines are on your own current NMJL card — this reference deliberately does not contain them.