American Mahjong Rules: 2026 Guide

American mahjong rules center on one document: the current annual card. Players use racks, jokers, a Charleston tile exchange, and card-defined 14-tile hands. A line from an older card is not a legal hand for the current year, and Chinese or riichi rules do not fill gaps in American play.

American mahjong rules in brief

1. Every player uses the same current card.
2. East receives 14 tiles; the other players receive 13.
3. Players complete the Charleston according to the standard procedure.
4. East discards, then play continues with draws, calls, and discards.
5. A discard may be called for an eligible exposure or for Mah Jongg.
6. Jokers may be used only in eligible sets.
7. A win must match one full card line exactly.

The card is not merely a score chart. It defines the winning patterns for that year.

Equipment and American tile names

An American set includes racks, dice, suited tiles, winds, dragons, flowers, and jokers. The three suits are usually called Dots, Bams, and Craks. Flowers are suitless. Winds and dragons are separate groups, although dragons have suit relationships when a card line requires them.

Card shorthand matters:

American Mahjong Rules: 2026 Guide: Term, Meaning

Term	Meaning
Single	One tile
Pair	Two identical tiles
Pung	Three identical tiles
Kong	Four identical tiles
Quint	Five identical tiles, normally requiring at least one joker
C	The line must remain concealed
X	The line may be exposed

Use the American mahjong card guide to learn colors, brackets, and repeated-number notation without reproducing the copyrighted card.

Build, deal, and organize the rack

Players shuffle the tiles face down and build walls in front of their racks. After the deal, East has 14 tiles and the other players have 13. Everyone sorts privately while comparing possible directions on the current card.

Do not lock onto one line too early. Look for related lines that share numbers, suits, winds, or dragons. A flexible starting group gives you somewhere to move if the Charleston changes the rack.

Complete the Charleston

The Charleston is a structured exchange before normal play. Players pass groups of three tiles in prescribed directions. Follow the current standard instructions used by your group; do not improvise direction or optional-pass rules halfway through the exchange.

Three safeguards prevent common errors:

• Never pass a joker.
• Keep every pass face down until all players are ready.
• Do not take back tiles after releasing a pass.

The dedicated Charleston guide explains the sequence and strategy in more detail.

Draw, call, expose, and discard

East discards first. After that, a player normally draws a tile, racks it, evaluates the hand, and discards one tile face up while naming it clearly.

A player may call the most recent discard to complete a pung, kong, or quint in a non-concealed hand. The claimed tile and matching tiles are exposed on the rack. Singles and pairs cannot normally be completed by a call unless the discard completes Mah Jongg.

For a card line marked concealed, do not expose a set. You may call the final winning tile, then reveal the complete hand.

Use jokers legally

Jokers may substitute in pungs, kongs, and quints. They may not substitute for a single or a pair. This rule applies even when a pair is the last part of the hand you need.

When a natural matching tile becomes available, a player may exchange it for a joker in an eligible exposure. Complete the exchange according to turn and table procedure; do not silently take a joker. See the mahjong joker guide for examples.

Declare and verify Mah Jongg

To win, reveal 14 tiles that match one complete card line. Check all five details:

1. The correct year and line.
2. Exact numbers and group sizes.
3. Suit and dragon relationships.
4. Concealed or exposed status.
5. Legal joker placement.

Do not combine the first half of one line with the second half of another. Card colors describe suit relationships; they do not prescribe literal red, green, or blue tiles.

Dead hands and table corrections

A hand may be declared dead when its exposures cannot match any current-card line, a concealed hand is exposed, or the player holds the wrong tile count. Social tables often help beginners spot an error before it becomes irreversible, but tournament procedures are stricter.

Agree before play whether the group is teaching, playing socially, or enforcing tournament penalties. The underlying legality of the hand should remain consistent.

Two-player American mahjong

Standard American mahjong is built for four seats. For two players, use a published format such as Siamese Mah Jongg rather than removing two players without replacing their walls, turns, and hand-management rules.

Authoritative references

• Order the current card directly from the National Mah Jongg League; MahjongWiki does not reproduce its hand lines.
• The American Mah Jongg Association FAQ provides NMJL-aligned explanations of the annual card, calls, concealed hands, and joker limits.
• The Association’s set reference defines singles, pairs, pungs, kongs, and quints and explains where jokers are allowed.

Card rule: a hand that looks close is not a winning hand. Every tile must satisfy one current-card line.