Guide
American mahjong for beginners
If the American game is new, start with the table, not with a list of hands copied off the internet. The official hands change every year. You bring the card. This page is the order to learn the rest.
1. Learn the tiles
Know cracks, dots, and bams, then the winds, dragons, flowers, and jokers. A joker is not a flower, and a flower is not a wild tile. Mahjong tiles explained.
2. Learn the Charleston
Before the wall is played, everyone passes three tiles. The first round is required: right, across, left. New players do well to follow that order exactly, and to keep jokers on their own rack. How the Charleston works.
3. Use the card you brought
A line on the card is one complete hand. Read the section names, then one line, then the next. Do not try to hold every section at once. How to read the yearly card. Buy or renew the card at nationalmahjonggleague.org.
4. Practice one decision
After the rules feel familiar, practice the calls: which three tiles to pass, and which tile to discard. NowMahj grades those calls Best, Good, OK, or Costly. The grades describe simulated games, not a promise about your next table. How to practice online.