Guide
Mahjong tiles explained
This is the American set used with the National Mah Jongg League card. It is not a Chinese set and not a Riichi set. There are 152 tiles.
The three suits
Cracks, dots, and bams. Each suit is numbered 1 through 9, with four copies of each number. That is 108 suit tiles. Players also call cracks characters, dots circles, and bams bamboo. On an American table they are the same three suits.
Winds and dragons
Four winds: East, South, West, and North, four of each. Three dragons: red, green, and white, four of each. White is sometimes called soap. Together those honors are 28 tiles. They are not wild.
Flowers
Eight flower tiles. A flower is a flower. It does not stand in for a suit tile or a dragon. When a line on your card asks for flowers, these are the tiles it means. The card says how many. NowMahj does not reprint those lines.
Jokers
Eight jokers. A joker substitutes in a group of three or more. It never fills a pair, and it never fills a single. You do not pass a joker in the Charleston. More on calling and redemption is in joker basics.
The official card, and which of these tiles it asks for this year, is at nationalmahjonggleague.org.