American Mahjong or Mah Jongg is a tile game that is similar to the card game rummy. American Mahjong is different from its Chinese counterpart in several ways (see our blog post on those differences). In American Mahjong, players use the National Mah Jongg League card to play specific hands of 14 tiles. The first player to match all 14 tiles to a hand on the NMJL card is the winner.
To play American Mah Jongg, you will need the following:
- 4 players (the game is meant for four players, but can be played with 3 or even with just 2--see our blog posts about those ways to play!)
- 4 racks/pushers
- 2 dice
- 1 set of Mahjong Tiles (our set includes 160 tiles, including 10 jokers and 6 blanks)
- 4 NMJL cards
GAME SETUP:
Place a rack in front of each player. Shuffle the tiles and place them all face down. Build a wall of tiles in front of each rack that is 2-tiles tall. The walls will be the communal draw pile for the game.
If playing with blanks and all 10 jokers, each wall will be 20-stacks-long. If playing Tournament-Style, you will remove all 6 blanks and 2 jokers from the set before playing and each wall will be 19-stacks-long.
In Mahjong, the use of blank tiles can be a bit of a controversial topic. We like to play with them in social games, but they are NOT part of National Mah Jongg League tournament play.
DEALING:
Dice are rolled to determine who will deal first. The person who rolls the highest number is the first dealer.
The dealer rolls the dice and counts over that number of stacks from the right of their wall. The dealer pushes out the wall from there to begin the deal. (For example, if the dealer rolls an 8, the dealer counts eight tile-stacks over from the right side of the wall and pushes the wall out starting with the 9th tile-stack.) The deal begins from the end of the pushed-out section.
The remaining section of the dealer’s wall that was not pushed out becomes the final wall players will draw from at the end of the game.
Dealer gives 4 tiles (2 stacks) at a time to each player, starting with themselves. The deal moves around the table counterclockwise until all players have 12 tiles. Then, the dealer takes the 1st and 3rd top tiles and gives all other players a single final tile. Players will have 13 tiles and the dealer will have 14 tiles.
During the deal, and throughout the game, when all tiles in a wall have been dealt or drawn, the next wall to the left is pushed out and dealing/drawing begins from the end of that new wall.
CHOOSING A HAND/LINE:
After the deal, players should look at the NMJL Card to identify hands that include many of their tiles. Usually, at this stage in the game, choosing a section of the card (ie. Quints or Consecutive Run) is easier than selecting a single line. Choosing a section can help players know which tiles to keep and which to eliminate during the Charleston.
THE CHARLESTON:
During the Charleston, players exchange tiles around the table. In this way, players can eliminate tiles they do not need for their hand and, hopefully, collect tiles that will help complete the hand they have selected.
Tiles are passed three at a time following this pattern: Right, Over, Left. Left, Over, Right. Use the acronym R.O.L.L.O.R. to remember this pattern.
The first three passes (Right, Over, Left) are mandatory. After the first Left, any player can stop the Charleston. If the table decides to continue, all three passes of the second Charleston are required (Left, Over, Right).
After the Charleston, players should work to choose a single line on the NMJL Card to play. Strategic players will try to also select a “backup” line in case they need to change hands during the game.
COURTESY PASS:
After the Charleston, players have one last chance to exchange tiles with the player across from them. Each pair decides how many tiles to swap, between zero and three. After the Courtesy Pass, gameplay begins.
GAMEPLAY:
The dealer takes the first turn by discarding a tile face up in the center of the table.
The player seated to the right of the dealer goes next, and gameplay goes around the table counterclockwise.
Each player begins a turn by drawing a tile from the wall and placing it in the rack and ends their turn by discarding a tile face up in the center of the table. When a tile is discarded, the player says the name of the discarded tile.
The most recently discarded tile is “Live” until the next player racks the tile they drew at the start of their turn. Any player can claim the Live tile by saying “Call,” or “Pause,”
CALLING:
A player may only call a tile when:
- The tile is “Live,” meaning it has been discarded during the most recent turn and the next player has not yet racked their drawn tile.
- The called tile completes a section of 3 or more tiles. A player cannot call for a tile to complete a single or pair, unless it is the last tile needed to win.
- The player has the required tiles to complete the full section of the hand that uses the called tile. (ie. the hand requires 2222; the player can only call for a discarded 2 if they have the other 3 tiles as 2s or jokers.)
When a tile is called, the player calling it must expose that section of their hand on the top of the rack, showing that they have all tiles required for that section: 3, 4, or 5 tiles. The exposed section (exposure) is now locked in and must be part of that player’s hand to win.
USING JOKERS:
A joker can be used for an exposure, to represent one or more tiles required to complete that section of the hand. Jokers can only be used in groups of 3 or more tiles. Exposed jokers can be exchanged for the representative tile by any player on their turn, including the person who exposed it.
USING BLANKS:
While using blank tiles is not part of traditional Tournament-Style Mahjong, it can be fun to play with blanks during social games. It is considered a “House Rule” to be decided by the group before the game.
If playing with blanks, a blank tile can be used to recover a “Dead” discarded tile. A “Dead” tile is one that was discarded on a previous turn that was not called before the next player racked their drawn tile. A blank can be used at any time by any player, even when it is not that player’s turn.
A player will place the blank tile face up in the center of the table, pick up the Dead tile, and place it in the rack. Most players try to do this exchange sneakily, so that other players cannot tell what hand they are trying to complete.
WINNING:
To win, a player must be the first to match all 14 tiles to a specific hand on the National Mah Jongg League card. When a player has won, they exclaim “Mahj!” or “Mahjong!” and then display the full hand on top of the rack.
The player who has declared “Mahj” will then tell the other players which hand was completed and all players will check the hand against the NMJL Card.
