Ultimate American Mah Jongg FAQs

General Mahjong Questions

• What is Mah Jongg?

• Why are there different spellings for Mah Jongg?

• How many versions of Mahjong are there?

• What is American Mah Jongg?

• What is the National Mah Jongg League?

• When does a game of Mah Jongg end?

• How did American Mah Jongg come about?

• Should I purchase an American Mah Jongg set?

• What is Mahjong Solitaire?

• What is 'Mah Jongg Made Easy'?

• What is the object of the game of American Mah Jongg?

• What's the difference between American Mah Jongg in Chinese Mah Jongg?

• What style of mahjong is the most difficult to learn?

• How long does a game of mahjong take?

• Can you play mahjong if you don't know Chinese?

• Is Mah Jongg a game of luck or skill?

• Can I play American Mah Jongg online?

Learning Mah Jongg

• Is mah jongg hard to learn to play?

• What version of Mahjong should I learn?

• Who plays mahjong?

• How do I play Mah Jongg with three players?

• Is there a Mah Jongg cheat sheet?

• Where can I find mahjong book recommendations?

• How can I learn Mahjong?

• Is there an online game that helps teach you American Mah Jongg?

• How to improve as a Mahjong player when you're a beginner?

• Can I learn American Mah Jongg on YouTube?

• How to teach American Mah Jongg?

• How long does it take to learn Mah Jongg?

The Tiles

• What is a pung in American Mah Jongg?

• What is a kong in American Mah Jongg?

• What is a quint in American Mah Jongg?

• How many jokers are there in an American Mah Jongg set?

• How many flowers are there in an American Mah Jongg set?

• How many tiles in a quint?

• How many tiles in a kong?

• How many tiles in a pung?

• How many joker tiles in an American Mah Jongg set?

• Why do the flower tiles have numbers on them?

• How many tiles in an American Mah Jongg set?

• How many tiles are in a mahjong set?

• What tiles are used in American Mah Jongg (and how many of each are there)?

• Which dragon goes with which suit?

• What do the seasons marked on flower tiles mean?

• What are the blank tiles in a Mah Jongg set used for?

The Card

• Can a consecutive run hand in Mah Jongg start with a zero (Soap)?

• Hands are shown in up to three colors on the National Mah Jongg League card. What do these colors mean?

• Do the colors on an American Mah Jongg card correspond to particular suits?

• When a soap (white dragon) is used as a zero, do other parts of the hand depicted in the same color need to match with the dot suit?

• What does 'opposite dragons' mean?

• What does 'matching dragons' mean?

• What does the 'C' mean on the National Mah Jongg League card?

• Does the color of zeros on the card mean anything?

• What does the note 'any one suit' mean on the National Mah Jongg League card?

• What does 'any two suits' mean on the National Mah Jongg League card?

• When can I order the 2023 National Mah Jongg League card?

• When can I order the next year's National Mah Jongg League card?

• How many Mah Jongg hands are there?

• What is a concealed hand in Mah Jongg?

Setting up the Game

• Can you play Mahjong with two players?

• How many players are needed for a game of American Mah Jongg?

• How are the walls built for American Mah Jongg?

• How many tiles does a player have at the start of a game of American Mah Jongg?

The Charleston

• When can you stop passing during the Charleston in Mah Jongg?

• Can a flower be passed in the Charleston?

• How do you know which wall is next to go out in Mah Jongg?

• Can a player who stops the Charleston still offer tiles in the optional pass?

• Can a player stop the Charleston after the first left, even if they have 3 tiles to pass?

• What is a blind pass and when can I use it?

• Is there a penalty for looking at a blind pass?

• Can a player pass a joker in the Charleston?

• If, on the last pass right of the second Charleston, all four players want to blind pass one tile, can everyone just pass 2 tiles and eliminate the blind tile? Otherwise, no one has a third tile to pass.

• What is the Courtesy Pass (aka Optional Pass)?

• What is the order of the Charleston?

Playing the Game

• How much does an I Love Mahj subscription cost?

• Can you pick up a discard for mahjong on a closed hand?

• If I need a kong of a particular tile (4 of a kind) and they are out already, can I use 4 jokers?

• Can I use a Joker as part of my pair?

• Can I call a tile for Mah Jongg if I am waiting for a single tile or the second half of a pair?

• A player called a Flower for an exposure but picked up a 1 Bam by mistake. Nobody else at the table noticed the error and the game continued. This player later declared Mah Jongg and the error was noticed. Is this player's hand 'dead'?

• A tile is called for Mah Jongg and the hand is exposed and discovered to be Mah Jongg in error. Is the called tile 'dead' or can another player call it?

• Can I call a tile to complete a pair for Mah Jongg?

• Can I call a single tile for Mah Jongg?

• How many joker exchanges are possible during my turn?

• A player just threw a joker and named it 'flower', which is the same as the previously discarded tile. Another player called the 'flower'. What happens now?

• How many jokers can I use in a grouping? For example, can a pung be composed of all jokers with no natural tile present?

• When calling for a discarded tile, can I use only jokers from my hand to complete the grouping?

• Can a joker be used for a single tile or as part of a pair?

• When can I do a joker exchange?

• How do I exchange my tile for a joker?

• Can a person pick up a discarded tile and use it to replace an exposed joker on their rack and then use that joker to mah jongg?

• When discarding a Joker, what should I name it?

• I called a tile and exposed a kong with 2 Jokers. I then realized that I'd made a mistake and only needed a pung. I haven't discarded yet, can I amend my exposure?

• Are jokers in a “dead” hand available to exchange?

• When a player displays several exposures, are there any rules as to how these should be set out on their rack?

• A player has exposures that could only be part of one hand on the card. That hand requires a pair and three of that particular tile have been discarded. Should I call that player's hand 'dead'?

• Can a discarded tile be picked up from the table to used to redeem a joker?

• When is it too late to change my mind about discarding a tile?

• A tile was misnamed by the discarder, what happens now?

• A player misnames their discarded tile. If they have the named tile in their hand, should they pick up the discarded tile and replace it with the one they named?

• I picked and racked a tile from the wrong end of the pushed-out wall. What happens now?

• A player has picked a tile but has not yet racked it. Can I call the previous discard?

• When is a player committed to taking a discard from the table?

• When is a player committed to taking a tile from the wall?

• When is a tile considered “racked”?

• When playing a concealed hand, can a player exchange a tile in their hand for an exposed joker?

• When can I exchange a tile in my hand for an exposed joker?

• A player has discarded a joker, can I pick it up?

• I'm playing a concealed hand, can I call a discard for Mah Jongg?

• I was playing a concealed hand, but mistakenly called a discard to make an exposure. What can I do?

• I've made a mistake and exposed a grouping of tiles that doesn't exist on the card. What should I do?

• Who gets the Mah Jongg when two players declare Mah Jongg at once?

• If I called a discard, can I change my mind and put the tile back?

• Can I use a joker for a pair or single tile?

• Can I call a discard for a pair or single tile?

• What if the player who took the tile for Mah Jongg made a mistake, and now the hand is dead. Does the other claimant get to take the tile now?

• Can a pung, kong or quint be made of only jokers?

• Can I call a discard if I don't already have a matching tile in my hand?

• Can I swap a joker in my own exposure?

• Does swapping a joker require me to expose?

• Is the play order clockwise or counter-clockwise?

• Do exposures need to be displayed in the order listed on the card?

• What is a 'wall game'?

• Can I use jokers in a concealed hand?

• Can I swap jokers if I'm playing a concealed hand?

• How much time do I have to call a discard?

• What does 'like' mean on the National Mah Jongg League card?

• Do I need to leave a space between my exposures?

• When playing a concealed hand, can I call a discard if it's for Mah Jongg?

• Do I have to put the tile I just picked up on my rack before discarding?

• If a player calls a tile, then swaps a joker and calls Mah Jongg, is the win considered self-picked?

• When calling a discard, do I need to do so verbally?

• What happens if a player picks a tile out of turn?

• Can I take a discarded tile back?

• When can I swap a joker?

• Where should jokers be placed in an exposure?

• If a hand is called 'dead', are the jokers still available?

Strategy

• Can I call someone's hand dead if I have tiles I know they need for a pair? Their exposures only work for one particular hand.

• It's getting close to the end of the game and I'm definitely not going to win. Should I break up my hand?

• Is there a strategy to playing Mah Jongg?

• If I know my hand is dead, should I call myself dead?

• When should I stop the Charleston?

2022 Card

• Can I use jokers in the 2022 section of the card?

• On the 2022 card, 2468 line 2, do the kongs need to be 2s?

• On the 2022 card, when there are 2 pungs of flowers, do I need all 6 flowers to expose?

• On the 2022 card, the first hand in the Quint section, do the numbers have to be in the same suit as the dragons?

• Where can I find an analysis of the 2022 National Mah Jongg League card?

• On the 2022 card, first hand in the 2022 section, does the 2022 part need to use dots?

• Is there a bonus for a jokerless hand on the 2022 line 5 hand?

• On the 2022 card, line 6 in the 369 section, does the kong have to be 3s?

Miscellaneous

• Where can I buy Mah Jongg cards?

• When is the new Mah Jongg card published?

• What is it called when you have Mah Jongg before the Charleston begins?

• What is it called when you have Mah Jongg after the Charleston?

• Is Mah Jongg played for money?

• Can I play American Mah Jongg in the UK?

• What are Mah Jongg House Rules?

• Is Mah Jongg good for the brain?

• What does 'Atomic' (or 'Nuclear') Mah Jongg hand mean?

• How can I contact the National Mah Jongg League in New York City?

• When analyzing the card, why is it more accurate to use total playable hands rather than hands printed on the card?