Printable
American mahjong cheat sheet
One page to keep beside your rack. It covers the general rules. Your hands come from this year's card.
The Charleston
| First (required) | Right → Across → Left |
|---|---|
| Second (optional) | Left → Across → Right |
| Courtesy (optional) | 0–3 tiles with the player across. Both pass the lower number. |
- Always 3 tiles per regular pass.
- Blind pass allowed on the first Left and the second Right.
- Any player can stop the second Charleston before it starts.
- Never pass a joker.
Jokers
- Only in groups of 3 or more: pung, kong, quint, sextet.
- Never as a single or in a pair.
- On your turn, swap a matching real tile for a joker in any exposed group.
- No swaps from concealed hands.
- A discarded joker is dead. No one can call it.
Turns and calling
- East has 14 tiles and discards first. Play moves to the right.
- Draw, then discard and say the tile's name.
- Call a discard only to complete a group of 3+ (and expose it) or to win.
- No calling for a pair or single, unless it gives you mahjong.
- Concealed hands (C): call only the last tile for mahjong.
- Mahjong call beats an exposure call. Otherwise, next in turn wins the tile.
Payments
| Won on a discard | Discarder pays 2×. Others pay 1×. |
|---|---|
| Self-pick from wall | Everyone pays 2×. |
| Jokerless | Double again (not Singles and Pairs hands). |
| Wall game | No one pays. |
The set: 152 tiles
Bams, Craks, Dots 1–9 (×4) · Winds N E W S (×4) · Dragons (×4) · Flowers (×8) · Jokers (×8)
Red Dragon goes with Craks, Green with Bams, Soap (White) with Dots. Soap = 0 in year hands.
Words to know
| Pung | 3 of a kind |
|---|---|
| Kong | 4 of a kind |
| Quint | 5 of a kind (needs jokers, except flowers) |
| Exposure | A group placed face up after calling a tile |
| Dead hand | A hand that can no longer win. The player stops drawing and discarding but still pays the winner. |
thecrakroom.com · General rules only. Not affiliated with the National Mah Jongg League.