MAHJ Tool

Game Night Cheat Sheet

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Game Setup

  1. Pick East: everyone rolls dice, highest roll is East (Dealer)
  2. Mix: all 152 tiles face-down, everyone mixes them around
  3. Build walls: each player makes a wall 19 tiles long, 2 tiles high
  4. Roll & break: East rolls dice, counts that many from the right along East's wall, keeps counted tiles and pushes the rest out
  5. Deal: each player takes 4 tiles (2 top + 2 bottom) starting with East, going right. 3 rounds, then East takes the 1st and 3rd top tiles, others take 1 each

TIP: East starts with 14 tiles, everyone else has 13. Dealer rotates to the right (counter-clockwise) every hand.

The Charleston

1ST CHARLESTON (mandatory):
  1. Right → pass 3 face-down
  2. Across ↑ pass 3 face-down
  3. Left ← pass 3 face-down (blind pass OK)
2ND CHARLESTON (optional — any player can stop):
  1. Left ← pass 3 (stack the tiles in a small pyramid to mark the 2nd Charleston)
  2. Across ↑ pass 3
  3. Last Right → pass 3 (blind pass OK)
Courtesy pass — trade 0–3 tiles across (always available, even if Charleston was stopped)

! Never pass a Joker. Avoid passing Flowers.

Your Turn (every turn)

  1. Draw one tile from the wall
  2. Decide — does this help your hand?
  3. Discard one tile face-up, name it out loud
  4. Pause 2–3 seconds so others can call

Calling

  • Say "Call!" (or "Wait!") to grab a discard for a group of 3+
  • Say "Mahjong!" if it completes your hand (this is the only way to call for the final pair)
  • Expose the group face-up, then discard one tile
  • Mahjong beats all other calls

! Concealed (C) hands: ONLY call for Mahjong.

Reading the Card

F = Flower (any of 8)
D = Dragon (Red, Green, Soap)
N E S W = Wind tiles
O = Soap (zero)
Same color = same suit
C = Concealed (call only for Mahjong) / X = Exposed (calling allowed)
Pair = 2  |  Pung = 3  |  Kong = 4  |  Quint = 5  |  Sextet = 6

TIP: The 1 Bam (bird tile) looks like a Flower — if it has a bird, it's a 1 Bam.

Joker Rules

  • Substitute in groups of 3+ only — NEVER in pairs
  • Cannot be passed in the Charleston
  • A discarded Joker is dead — it cannot be called
  • Exchange: on your turn, give a player a tile that matches what one of their exposed Jokers stands for — they swap you the Joker

Hand Strategy

  • After the deal: pick 2–3 candidate hands from the card
  • After the Charleston: narrow to 2
  • After 5–6 draws: commit to 1
  • Save Jokers for the hardest-to-find tiles
  • When in doubt, don't call — stay flexible

TIP: Look for tiles you already have pairs/triples of, then find hands on the card that use them.

What to Discard (safest first)

  1. Tiles in none of your candidate hands
  2. Tiles whose duplicate is already in the discard pile (can't be called — only the most recent discard can be claimed)
  3. Isolated winds and dragons you don't need
  4. Tiles from your weaker backup hand
  5. Last resort: tiles that might help opponents

! Avoid discarding a Joker — unless you're folding and have no safe tiles (nobody can call a Joker). Hold Flowers by default — many hands use them. Once your hand clearly doesn't, discard them early before opponents need them.

Defense — Read the Table

  • 3 copies visible of a tile → 4th is usually safe (unless an opponent has a Joker)
  • Watch exposures:
0 exposures → normal play
1 exposure → note their suit
2 exposures → play carefully
3+ exposures → FULL DEFENSE
Hot suit = the suit nobody is discarding. Be very careful discarding it.

Scoring & Payouts

Win typeDiscarder paysOthers pay
Discard win2x hand value1x
Self-draw winAll pay 2x
Jokerless bonusDouble everything above

S&P hands: higher base value already built in — no separate jokerless bonus.

Table Etiquette

  • Name every discard ("Four Bam", "Red", "Soap")
  • Pause before racking — give others time to call
  • Don't touch other players' racks
  • Joker exchange: give them a matching tile, let them swap (don't reach for their rack)
  • No comments about others' hands during play

TIP: Say "I'm learning" at the start. Everyone will help you.

Top 5 Beginner Mistakes

  1. Passing a Joker in the Charleston
  2. Calling a tile you can't actually complete the group with → dead hand (don't announce it yourself — let another player notice)
  3. Using a Joker in a pair (illegal)
  4. Misnaming a discard → you may pay for everyone
  5. Committing to one hand too early
Made a procedural mistake? (Drew a tile out of turn, misnamed a discard, etc.) Speak up immediately and describe what happened — self-reported mistakes are almost always forgiven. Realized your hand is dead?Don't announce it. Keep playing defensively until another player calls it.
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