My Mahj Lab · From the shuffle to the next deal
How a Game Goes
Every step of an American Mahjong game, in order. Keep it at your table while your group learns.
1. Set up
Before anyone gets tiles
Shuffle the tiles
Turn all 152 tiles face down in the middle of the table, and everyone mixes them together.
Build your wall
Each player builds a wall in front of their rack, 19 tiles long and 2 tiles high. Push the four walls out a little so they make a square.
Roll the dice for East
Each player rolls the dice. The highest roll is East, the dealer.
South sits to East's right, West sits across, and North sits to East's left. Everything in the game moves to the right, from East to South to West to North.
East breaks the wall
East rolls the dice again and counts that many stacks from the right end of East's own wall, then pulls the wall apart there. The deal starts at that break.
2. The deal
Everyone takes their tiles from the wall
Take 4 tiles at a time
East takes the first 2 stacks (4 tiles) to the left of the break. Then South, West, and North each take 4, going to the right. Go around three times, until everyone has 12.
The last few tiles
East takes 2 more tiles, and South, West, and North each take 1 more.
Set up your rack and find the hands on your card that your tiles fit best.
3. The Charleston
Trading tiles you don't want, 3 at a time
First Charleston
Everyone passes 3 tiles to the right, then 3 across, then 3 to the left. Jokers can never be passed.
On that first left, you can pass along some or all of the tiles coming to you without looking at them. That's a blind pass.
Second Charleston Optional
If everyone wants to keep going, pass again in the other order: left, across, then right. Any one player can stop it.
A blind pass is allowed on the last right, too.
Courtesy pass Optional
Trade 0 to 3 tiles with the player across from you. You each say a number, and you trade the smaller one.
4. Play
Draw, discard, and watch for tiles you need
East discards first
East already has 14 tiles, so East starts by discarding one. Say its name out loud as you set it face up in the middle.
Take turns to the right
On your turn, take the next tile from the wall, then discard one tile and say its name. You always end your turn with 13 tiles.
Calling a discard
Want the tile someone just threw? Say "call" before the next player takes a tile. You can call it to finish a pung, kong, or quint, and you show that whole group on top of your rack. Then you discard, and play goes on to your right.
You can't call a tile for a pair or a single unless it gives you Mahjong. If two players call the same tile, Mahjong wins. Otherwise, the player next in turn gets it.
Trade for a joker
On your turn, if you hold the real tile a joker is standing in for in anyone's exposed group, you can trade your tile for that joker.
5. Mahjong and the next deal
How a game ends
Mahjong!
When your 14 tiles make a hand on the card, from a tile you took from the wall or a discard you called, say "Mahjong!" and show your whole hand so everyone can check it against the card.
Who pays
Each hand's value is printed on the card.
Mahjong from a discard The player who threw it pays double. Everyone else pays the value. Mahjong from the wall Everyone pays double. No jokers in the hand Double it again (except Singles & Pairs hands). Or a wall game
If the wall runs out and the last tile is discarded with no Mahjong, it's a wall game. Nobody wins and nobody pays.
The next deal
Turn the tiles face down, shuffle, and build new walls. The player to East's right becomes the new East, and you start again at step 4.
Good to know
- Jokers can stand in for any tile in a pung, kong, quint, or bigger group, but never in a pair or a single.
- A discarded joker is dead. No one can call it, not even for Mahjong.
- Concealed hands (marked C on the card) can't call a discard, except for the last tile that gives you Mahjong.
- A dead hand is one that can't make any hand on the card anymore, like when your exposed groups don't fit one hand, or you have the wrong number of tiles. You stop playing that game but still pay.
- House rules vary. These steps follow the official rules. If your group does something differently, agree on it before you start.
Want to try it? Play a Full Game, or start with Learn to Play. Any word you don't know is in the Glossary.
My Mahj Lab · highlandmadecompany.com/game-flow