Quick answer: American mah jongg is a four-player tile game played with a 152-tile set (including 8 jokers), tile racks, and an official card of legal hands published each year by the National Mah Jongg League. Unlike Chinese mahjong, you can only win by exactly matching one of the hands printed on the current card. A game runs 60–90 minutes, and the yearly card is the single most important thing to buy first.
American mah jongg is the version filling living rooms, clubhouses and league tables across the United States — and it plays by its own distinct set of rules. If you learned mahjong somewhere else, or you are starting fresh with a group of friends and a brand-new card, this guide covers everything that makes the American game its own: the set, the jokers, the Charleston, and the card that runs the whole show. New to tiles entirely? Start with our complete beginner's guide to mahjong first, then come back here for the American specifics.
What Makes American Mah Jongg Different
Every style of mahjong shares the same bones — tiles, walls, drawing and discarding — but American mah jongg adds four features you will not find in the Chinese or Japanese games:
The card. Instead of any four-sets-plus-a-pair hand, American players must build one of roughly 50–70 specific hands printed on a physical card issued annually. The card is your rulebook and your menu of possible wins.
Jokers. Eight wild tiles that stand in for others inside most hands — a mechanic Chinese mahjong does not use at all.
The Charleston. A structured pre-game exchange where players pass unwanted tiles around the table, twice, before the hand begins.
Racks. The tile stands that hold each player's 13 tiles upright and give the American game its instantly recognizable look.
Put together, these turn mahjong from an open-ended set-building game into something closer to a puzzle race: everyone is working the same published list of hands, and skill lives in choosing the right one and adapting as the tiles fall.
The American Mah Jongg Set
An American set has 152 tiles — more than the 144 in a standard Chinese set. Here is the full breakdown:
Suits (108 tiles): three suits — Dots (also called Circles), Bams (Bamboo) and Craks (Characters) — numbered 1 through 9, four of each.
Winds (16 tiles): North, East, South and West, four of each.
Dragons (12 tiles): Red, Green and White (the "Soap" — often a framed blank), four of each. Each dragon is tied to a suit for scoring purposes.
Flowers (8 tiles): eight bonus tiles, used directly inside many card hands.
Jokers (8 tiles): the wild cards that push the total to 152.
Most sets also include a handful of blank tiles as spares. If you are buying, this is where quality matters most — the tiles are handled constantly, so weight and feel are worth paying for.
The Card: Your Rulebook for the Year
Nothing matters more in American mah jongg than the card. Every spring, the National Mah Jongg League publishes a new one, and it instantly becomes the law of every table in the country. A second organization, Mah Jongg Made Easy (the "Marvelous 22" card), serves a smaller following, but the NMJL card is the standard most groups use.
The card groups hands into sections — Consecutive Runs, 2468, Winds and Dragons, 369, Singles and Pairs, and more — each showing an exact tile pattern and its point value. Your job across a hand is to pick one you can realistically build from your tiles and chase it, adjusting as the Charleston and the draws reshape your rack.
Because the card changes every year, no one ever fully "masters" American mah jongg. Even players of forty years study the fresh card each April like beginners — which is exactly why the game stays interesting decade after decade. Practical advice for a new player: buy the current year's card before your first real game. It is inexpensive, and without it you literally cannot play.
Setup and the Charleston
The opening follows the familiar mahjong pattern, then adds the American twist.
Build and deal. Players wash the tiles, build walls 19 tiles long and two high, and deal until everyone holds 13 (the dealer, East, takes 14 to start). Racks come out; hands stand upright.
The Charleston begins. This is where American mah jongg announces itself. In the first Charleston, players pass three unwanted tiles to the right, then three across, then three to the left. A second Charleston (left, across, right) is optional and happens by table agreement. There is even an optional "courtesy pass" of up to three tiles with the player across from you afterward.
Why it matters. The Charleston lets you shed tiles that do not fit your target hand and gather ones that do — before a single tile is drawn. It is strategic, social, and unique to the American game. Read the table: what people pass tells you what they are not collecting, and blind passes (where you move tiles you have not even seen) add a gambler's thrill.
One practical note that every group discovers fast: all that passing, washing and rack-shuffling is loud on a bare table. A cushioned surface turns the clatter into a soft rustle and keeps tiles from sliding off the racks — which is why a proper mat is standard equipment at league tables. Our American mah jongg mats are sized with racks in mind: the larger 81 x 81 cm square holds four racks and the discard pile comfortably on a standard card table.
How Jokers Work
Jokers are the heart of the American game and its most common source of new-player questions. The rules:
There are eight jokers in a standard set.
Jokers substitute inside groups of three or more identical tiles (pungs, kongs, quints) in most card hands — but never in a pair, and never in Singles and Pairs hands.
You cannot discard a joker the way you discard a normal tile once the game is going, and you cannot use one to complete certain hands the card marks as joker-free.
You can "redeem" a joker: if another player has exposed a joker standing in for, say, a Red Dragon, and you hold the real Red Dragon, you may swap your tile for their joker on your turn. Jokers are that valuable — worth chasing, worth protecting.
The strategic upshot: guard your jokers, and think hard before exposing hands that reveal them, because a redeemable joker is a gift to the whole table.
Playing a Hand
Once the Charleston ends, play runs clockwise in the familiar draw-and-discard rhythm. On your turn you draw a tile (from the wall or by claiming the last discard) and then discard one, keeping your hand at 13 tiles. Discards are called out by name so everyone hears them.
When a discarded tile completes a group you need for your card hand, you call it and expose that group face-up on your rack — telling the table exactly which section of the card you are chasing. Exposing is a commitment: it speeds your hand but hands your opponents information. Good players time their exposures carefully, and strong defenders read those exposures to avoid throwing the winning tile.
The hand ends when someone completes their card hand exactly and calls "Mah Jongg!" — by drawing the final tile themselves or claiming a discard. Then scoring happens against the point value printed on the card, with the loser(s) paying the winner and, in many house rules, extra going to whoever discarded the winning tile.
American vs. Chinese Mah Jongg: The Key Differences
This is one of the most-searched questions from new players, so here is the honest comparison in one place:
| Feature | American Mah Jongg | Chinese (Hong Kong) |
|---|---|---|
| Tiles | 152 (with jokers, flowers) | 144 |
| Jokers | 8 wild tiles | None |
| Winning hands | Must match the yearly card | Any 4 sets + a pair |
| Chows (runs) | Only if the card hand allows | Freely allowed |
| Charleston | Yes — signature ritual | No |
| Racks | Standard | Rarely used |
| Scoring | Printed on the card | Rule-based, faster |
Neither is "better" — they are different games with the same tiles. American mah jongg is more structured and intensely social; Chinese play is faster and more improvisational. Many players eventually enjoy both. If you are unsure which your group plays, ask whether they use a card and racks — if yes, it is American.
Can You Play American Mah Jongg With 3 Players?
Yes, and it is a common question. Three-player American mah jongg works with a few adjustments: you remove one wind (usually North) from active play, the walls are shorter, and the Charleston is modified — the "across" pass does not apply cleanly with an empty seat, so many groups simplify to right-and-left passes only. The card and jokers stay exactly the same. It is a slightly faster game and a perfectly good way to play when your fourth cancels.
Beginner Tips for American Mah Jongg
1. Buy the current card and keep it in front of you. Do not try to memorize hands early — read the card constantly. Everyone does, forever.
2. Pick a card section that fits your deal. Look at your 13 tiles, scan the card for the hand you are closest to, and aim there. Stay flexible through the Charleston.
3. Protect your jokers. They are the most valuable tiles you can hold. Never waste one where a real tile still has a decent chance of arriving.
4. Watch exposures. When opponents expose tiles, you learn which card hands they are building — and which tiles are dangerous to discard.
5. Learn to fold. When your hand dies (too few jokers, wrong tiles), switch to defense and discard only safe tiles. Not losing big is how veterans win.
6. Set the table for comfort. A stable, quiet surface makes a two-hour session far more pleasant — tiles stay on racks, walls stay standing, and the shuffle stops drowning out conversation.
American Mah Jongg FAQ
How many jokers are in American mahjong?
Eight. Jokers are wild tiles that substitute inside groups of three or more identical tiles in most card hands, but never in pairs or in Singles and Pairs hands.
How many tiles are in an American mahjong set?
152 tiles: 108 suit tiles (Dots, Bams, Craks), 16 winds, 12 dragons, 8 flowers, and 8 jokers. Most sets also include a few blank spares.
How many flowers are in American mahjong?
Eight flower tiles. Unlike Chinese play where flowers are pure bonus tiles, American flowers are used directly inside many hands printed on the card.
What is the card in American mah jongg?
The card is the annually published list of legal winning hands from the National Mah Jongg League. Your tiles must exactly match one of its patterns to win. A new card is released every spring, so the game refreshes each year.
Can you play American mah jongg with 3 players?
Yes. Remove one wind from play, shorten the walls, and simplify the Charleston to right-and-left passes. The card and jokers are unchanged. It plays a little faster than the four-player game.
What is the difference between American and Chinese mahjong?
American mah jongg uses 152 tiles with 8 jokers, requires matching a yearly card, and includes the Charleston and racks. Chinese mahjong uses 144 tiles, no jokers, allows any four-sets-and-a-pair hand, and plays faster with rule-based scoring.
Ready to Deal
American mah jongg rewards the player who reads the card, guards the jokers and stays flexible through the Charleston — and it rewards the whole group with one of the most social hours of the week. Grab the current NMJL card, gather three friends, and give the first few games room to be messy. When your weekly game earns its own dedicated setup, our hand-drawn floral mah jongg mats quiet the shuffle, protect your tiles and make the table look as good as the game feels. The sparrows are twittering.