All 52 guides
Every rule here is illustrated and traced back to a source. No card hands are reproduced — you'll buy your own card, and we'll teach you to read it.
Nothing matches that.
Start here8
The American Mahjong Cheat Sheet
One page of everything you forget mid-game. Print it straight from the browser.
The tilesAll 152 American Mahjong Tiles, Illustrated
Every tile drawn and named, including the ones beginners misread.
Start hereWhat Is American Mahjong?
The five-minute orientation. What it is and why it plays nothing like the original.
The whole gameHow to Play American Mahjong
From opening the box to saying the word, in the order it happens.
Learning pathYour First Game Night, in Order
What to learn, what to skip, and what you are allowed to be bad at.
ReassuranceWhy Is American Mahjong So Complicated?
It is not you. Here is which parts are genuinely hard, and which just look it.
ComparisonAmerican vs Chinese vs Japanese Mahjong
Same tiles, three different games. Exactly what changes.
The tilesYour Set Has More Than 152 Tiles. That Is Normal
What the spares are for, and how to spot a Chinese set in ten seconds.
The rules, properly26
The Charleston, Pass by Pass
All six passes, drawn. Plus blind passes and the courtesy pass.
The CharlestonThe Blind Pass, and When You May Use It
Legal on two passes only. Here is which two, and how to do it.
The CharlestonThe Courtesy Pass, and the Rule Tables Get Wrong
Zero to three tiles, across only, and the smaller number wins.
JokersAmerican Mahjong Joker Rules, Settled
Which groupings take a joker, the three prohibitions, and how the exchange works.
JokersThe Joker Exchange, Step by Step
How to take a joker off somebody else's rack — and what it costs you.
Coming from another mahjongThere Is No Chow in American Mahjong
Sequences do not exist here. What the card calls a consecutive run is something else.
SetupSetting Up the Table
Walls, dice and the deal. The three minutes before anybody plays.
At the tableNaming Your Discards, and "Down Is Down"
What to call every tile, and what happens when you get it wrong.
DisputesWhen Is a Discard Still Claimable?
The timing rule behind most table arguments, settled.
DisputesTwo People Called the Same Tile
A rule for most of it, and an honest gap where there is not one.
DisputesWhy Is This an Invalid Mahjong?
Twelve ways a hand gets rejected after you have already said the word.
DisputesDead Hands: Why You Say Nothing
Your hand can be dead and still in play. Here is why you keep quiet.
ScoringAmerican Mahjong Scoring, Without the Card
The multipliers never change, even though the numbers do.
The cardHow to Read the Card, Without Us Reproducing a Single Hand
The colours, the letters, and the one thing almost everyone gets backwards.
The cardMatching Dragons, Opposite Dragons
The one place a colour on the card points at a particular suit.
Setting upNobody Deals in American Mahjong
East is the dealer in name only. Each player takes their own tiles.
The cardWhat the Colours on the Card Actually Mean
How many suits, never which. The single most common first-card mistake.
ClaimingDo Not Put Tiles Down Until the Tile Is Yours
The violation that punishes eagerness, and nobody warns you about it.
Dead handsThe Five Ways a Hand Goes Dead
Wrong count, bad exposure, early exposure, broken concealment, and the hand that cannot finish.
The cardWhat X and C Mean, and Why It Changes Everything
Exposed or concealed — and the row about jokers surprises people.
The cardSoap: The Tile That Does Two Jobs
A dragon and a zero, and the card decides which.
The cardTiles Printed Together Are Still Separate Tiles
NEWS is four tiles, not a set. That distinction kills hands.
ClaimingWhat Counts as an Illegal Exposure
Five ways to get it wrong, and one moment they stop being fixable.
Setting upThe Pivot: How Seats Move Over an Evening
Two players change places. It is not a rotation.
SetupPlaying With Three — and With Two, Five or Six
Yes, and there is an official way. One rule almost every table ignores.
EtiquetteTable Manners: Which Bits Are Actually Rules
Half of it can kill your hand. The other half is preference.
Playing better8
The Tells You Give Away Without Saying Anything
How you sit, how fast you rack, and the call you took back.
Playing betterShould You Stop the Second Charleston? Four Teachers Disagree
Settled rule, unsettled tactic. Four positions, named.
Playing betterSpread Your Jokers, Don't Stack Them
One joker in each of two groups beats two in one.
Playing betterWhen to Give Up on Your Hand
Five signals the hand is finished, and what to do next.
Playing betterHow Many Hands Should You Chase?
Three teachers, three numbers, and what the trade-off actually is.
Playing betterWhen to Take a Joker — and the One Teacher Who Says Wait
Take it, say most. One teacher names the exception.
Playing betterHot Tiles and Safe Tiles — and Why Safe Ones Go Hot
Two categories, and the half of the hand where neither applies.
Playing betterWhat the Teachers Actually Disagree About
What is settled, what is not, and who says what.
Reference10
Can You Use a Joker for That?
Thirty-two joker situations, answered in one word each.
Straight answerHow Many Jokers Are in American Mahjong?
Eight — and why your set may have shipped with a different number.
The tilesWhy All Eight Flowers Are the Same Tile
Artwork and numbers mean nothing here — with one consequence worth knowing.
At the tableHouse Rules and Official Rules: How to Tell Them Apart
Hot walls, blank jokers, and other things that are not rules.
ReferenceThe Words You'll Hear at Your First Table
Twenty-six terms, defined plainly, in the order you will meet them.
The cardThe Card: What It Costs, When It Comes, How to Get One
A new one every spring. What it costs and where to get a real one.
ReferencePlaying Online: The Three Options, and What They Cost
Three services, three prices, and one question that decides between them.
ReferenceBuying a Set: What It Costs, and the One Expensive Mistake
You probably do not need one yet. If you do, one mistake makes a set useless.
The cardThe Words on the Card Nobody Explains
Two of these headings mean the opposite of what you would guess.
Straight answerHow Many Dragons Are in American Mahjong?
Twelve — and the reason a lot of sets look like they are missing four.