Written by: Connor Davis
Posted on: August 16, 2026
Tile Counts, Racks & Table Setup for American Mahjong
Before you can play American Mahjong, it helps to actually know what’s in the box and how the table gets set up. The equipment is more specific than it looks, and getting the setup right makes the rest of the game much easier to follow….
Written by: Connor Davis
Posted on: August 16, 2026
American Mahjong Terminology: Jokers, Exposures & Key Terms Explained
American Mahjong has its own vocabulary, and a lot of it doesn’t map directly onto other Mahjong variants. Here are the terms you’ll hear most often at the table, explained in plain language. Core terms Joker A wild tile that can substitute for almost any…
Written by: Connor Davis
Posted on: August 16, 2026
Turn Order in American Mahjong: How Play Works
Once the Charleston ends, American Mahjong settles into a clear turn structure. Understanding it makes the difference between feeling lost and actually following the game in your first few sessions. Direction of play Play moves counterclockwise around the table, starting with East, who deals and…
Written by: Connor Davis
Posted on: August 16, 2026
How a Hand Ends in American Mahjong: Going Out, Walls & Dead Hands
Every American Mahjong hand ends one of two ways: someone completes a valid hand and declares Mahjong, or the wall runs out first and the round ends with no winner. Here’s what each actually looks like at the table. Going Mahjong To win, you need…
Written by: Connor Davis
Posted on: August 16, 2026
The Charleston in American Mahjong: What It Is and Why It Exists
Before a single tile gets discarded, every American Mahjong hand starts with the Charleston — a structured round of tile passing that doesn’t exist in most other Mahjong traditions. It’s one of the things that makes American Mahjong distinctly American, dating back to the 1930s,…
Written by: Connor Davis
Posted on: August 16, 2026
Charleston Passing Strategy: What to Keep and What to Pass
Knowing the mechanics of the Charleston — three tiles, fixed rotation, mandatory first round — only gets you halfway there. What actually separates a strong Charleston from a weak one is what you choose to pass and what you choose to hold onto, six times…
Written by: Connor Davis
Posted on: August 16, 2026
The Courtesy Pass and Blind Pass in American Mahjong, Explained
Of everything in the Charleston, the blind pass and courtesy pass cause the most confusion for new players — partly because they’re genuinely a little more complex than the standard three-tile passes, and partly because a lot of what gets said about them at the…
Written by: Connor Davis
Posted on: August 16, 2026
Common Charleston Mistakes Beginners Make
The Charleston is simple in structure — three tiles, fixed rotation — but it’s where most beginners make their first real mistakes in a game of American Mahjong. Here are the ones that come up most often, and how to avoid them. Passing a joker…
Written by: Connor Davis
Posted on: August 16, 2026
What Is the NMJL Card? A Complete Guide to American Mahjong’s Annual Rulebook
If American Mahjong has a rulebook, this is it. The NMJL Card is a small, densely packed card published every year by the National Mah Jongg League, and it’s the single source of truth for what counts as a winning hand. This guide covers what…
Written by: Connor Davis
Posted on: August 16, 2026
How to Read NMJL Card Notation: Colors, Letters & Symbols Explained
The first time most players open the NMJL Card, it looks like a wall of colored numbers and letters. It isn’t random — it’s a compressed notation system, and once you understand the handful of symbols it uses, every line reads like a short sentence…