American Mahjong is a four-player tile game in which the goal is to complete a 14-tile hand that exactly matches one line on the current NMJL card. The 152-tile set, the Charleston exchange, jokers, and scoring stay the same every year — only the card changes. This guide covers the tiles, setup, gameplay, joker rules, and scoring under official National Mah Jongg League (NMJL) rules.
American Mah Jongg is played with four players and a 152-tile set (tile composition per Yellow Mountain Imports' guide):
| Group | What's in it | Count |
|---|---|---|
| Suits (Dots, Bams, Craks) | 1 through 9 of each suit | 108 tiles (36 × 3) |
| Winds | East, South, West, North | 16 tiles (4 each) |
| Dragons | Red, Green, and White Dragon ("Soap") | 12 tiles (4 each) |
| Flowers | 4 flowers + 4 seasons (used in specific card hands) | 8 tiles |
| Jokers | Wild tiles that stand in for other tiles | 8 tiles |
Hands are kept on racks in front of you. Many players use a pusher attached to the rack to move their section of the wall forward.
The Charleston is a mandatory tile-passing ritual found only in American Mah Jongg (American Mah Jongg Association rules). It lets players improve their starting hands before any drawing begins.
The goal is simple: be the first to make a 14-tile hand that exactly matches one line on the current NMJL card, then declare "Mahjong."
You may call the most recent discard if it completes:
You may not call a tile to complete a pair or a single — unless that tile is the final tile you need to declare Mahjong. Only the most recent discard can be called; earlier discards are dead. When you call, the completed group is exposed face-up on your rack and cannot be changed for the rest of the game.
If two players call at once: a player calling Mahjong wins the tile; otherwise the player closest in turn gets it.
If your chosen hand is marked C on the card, every tile must be drawn from the wall. You may not call any discard — except the final tile that completes Mahjong. Exposing tiles incorrectly makes your hand dead.
Jokers are wild cards unique to American Mah Jongg. A joker can stand in for any tile, but only inside a group of three or more identical tiles:
Exchanging for a joker: if an opponent has an exposed joker standing in for a tile you hold, on your own turn you may call a discard or draw from the wall, then swap your natural tile for that joker (you may swap multiple tiles for multiple jokers), then discard to keep your tile count correct.
Declare "Mahjong" when your 14th tile (drawn or called) makes your hand match a complete line on the card. Payouts depend on how you won and whether your hand contains jokers:
| How you won | Payout |
|---|---|
| Off a discard | Discarder pays 2× the hand value; everyone else pays 1× |
| Off a draw from the wall | Each player pays 2× the hand value |
| Off a discard, no jokers, not a Singles & Pairs hand | Discarder pays 4×; everyone else pays 2× |
| Off a draw, no jokers, not a Singles & Pairs hand | Each player pays 4× the hand value |
If the wall runs out before anyone declares Mahjong, the game is a draw — no payouts.
A hand becomes dead if you have too few or too many tiles, pick out of turn, no longer match any line on the card, expose a concealed hand, or wrongly declare Mahjong with an exposed hand. A dead hand stays at the table but may not call tiles or declare Mahjong — and still pays the winner like everyone else.
If you're coming from Chinese, Japanese, or other versions of Mahjong, three differences matter most:
New to the card itself? Next: how to read the NMJL card, or test your knowledge with the hand checker.
Rules summarized here are confirmed against these primary sources. Always check the official NMJL card at the table.