With 160 tiles in a Mahjong set, it can be hard to remember what everything means. Here is an easy guide to the tiles and how to use them when playing Mahjong.
MAHJONG SUITS:
BAM - Short for Bamboo. Numbers 1-9 with a matching Dragon. The 1 Bam is called "Bird Bam;" some groups like to cheers drinks when a Bird Bam is played. The Bam Dragon is called "Green Dragon" or simply "Green." 4 of each tile in set.
CRAK (or CRACK) - Short for Character. Numbers 1-9 with a matching Dragon. The Crak Dragon is called "Red Dragon" or simply "Red." 4 of each tile in set.
DOT - Numbers 1-9 with a matching Dragon. The Dot Dragon is called "White Dragon" or "Soap" and can be used as a zero--when used as a zero, the Soap has no suit. 4 of each tile in set.
NON-SUIT TILES:
WINDS - North, South, East, and West. Represented as NEWS on National Mah Jongg League card. 4 of each tile in set.
FLOWERS - Shown as F on NMJL card. Flowers are interchangeable. 8 total flowers in set.
JOKERS - Can be used to complete groups of Three or more tiles for an exposure. 10 total in set.
BLANKS - Can be used to swap for a dead discarded tile at any time during the game. Not officially part of NMJL play, so used only as a house rule and not for tournament play.
TILE GROUPINGS:
SINGLE - One tile. No Jokers can be used for a Single. A tile cannot be called for a Single, unless it is the final tile needed to Mahj.
PAIR - Two matching tiles. No Jokers can be used in a Pair. A tile cannot be called to complete a Pair, unless it is the final tile needed to Mahj.
PUNG - Three matching tiles. Jokers can be used for Pungs. Tiles can be called to complete Pungs.
KONG - Four matching tiles. Jokers can be used for Kongs. Tiles can be called to complete Kongs.
QUINT - Five matching tiles. Jokers MUST be used to complete Quints. Tiles can be called to complete Quints.
GROUP OF SINGLES - NEWS and YEAR groupings are considered a group of singles, meaning NO Jokers and NO calling to complete. Same applies for other groups of singles.
