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MAHJ — Lesson 4

Setup & Dealing

From a pile of tiles to "Charleston, ready?"

Goal: Confidently set up a fresh game from scratch — mix the tiles, build the wall, roll for East, break the wall, and deal

Estimated time: 8–11 minutes

Prerequisite: Lesson 3

Unlocks: Lesson 5

Why it matters: Setup is where new players feel the most lost. After this lesson you'll be able to set up the table — something even some intermediate players get wrong.

Step 1 of 17

🪑 Where We're Going

Before you can play a hand, four things have to happen:

  1. Mix — shuffle all 152 tiles face-down
  2. Build — arrange them into 4 walls
  3. Pick East — roll dice for who starts as East (some groups just make the host East)
  4. Break & Draw — East breaks the wall, then everyone takes their tiles (13 each, 14 for East)

Sounds like a lot, but each step takes seconds once you've done it. We'll walk through them one at a time.

Want the official source? The NMJL® publishes Mah Jongg Made Easy, the League's own rulebook. It is the book to read if you want the rules straight from the source — these lessons follow it.