You’ve learned the rules, the tiles, and the strategies. Now let’s walk through an entire game turn-by-turn so you know exactly what to expect.

Pre-Game Setup

What You’ll Need

166-tile American Mahjong set
Four players (You’ll be North)
Four NMJL Cards (current year)
Four racks
Bettor chips (optional)

Seating

East: The dealer (rotates each round)
South: Right of East
West: Across from East
North: Left of East (that’s you!)

Building the Walls

Mix all 152 tiles face-down
Each player builds a wall: 19 tiles long, 2 tiles high (38 tiles total per side)
Position walls in a square

The Deal

East rolls the dice: 7

Starting from East’s wall, count 7 stacks in, break the wall there.

Distribution:

Each player receives 13 tiles
East gets 14 (one extra to start)

You organize your tiles and receive:

2B 3B 3B 4C 4D 5D 5D 6D FF FF D D G Joker

Initial Analysis

Looking at your tiles:

✅ Two 3 Bams
✅ Three tiles in the 4-5-6 Dot range
✅ Two Flowers
✅ Two White Dragons (D = soap/white)
✅ One Green Dragon
✅ One Joker

Potential hands (scanning the Card):

Consecutive Run with 3-4-5-6
Flowers + Dragons hand
Like Numbers (multiple 3s, 4s, 5s)

You’re keeping options open.

Charleston: First Pass

Right Pass (to West)

You decide to pass:

2B - Only one, doesn’t fit patterns
4C - Wrong suit for your Dots
G - Only one Green Dragon

You receive from East:

3B, FF, 6D

New hand: 3B 3B 3B 4D 5D 5D 6D 6D FF FF FF D D Joker

Much better! Now you have:

Three 3 Bams
Good Dots progression (4-5-5-6-6)
Three Flowers
Two White Dragons
One Joker

Across Pass (to South)

Pass:

3B (have three, only need two for most hands)
D (one White Dragon)
6D (have two but keeping 5s)

Receive from North:

5D, 6D, Joker

New hand: 3B 3B 4D 5D 5D 5D 6D 6D 6D FF FF FF D Joker Joker

Excellent! You now have:

Three 5 Dots
Three 6 Dots
Three Flowers
Two Jokers

Left Pass (to East)

Pass:

3B, 3B, 4D

Receive from West:

7D, 4D, D

Final hand after Charleston: 4D 5D 5D 5D 6D 6D 6D 7D FF FF FF D D Joker Joker

Choosing Your Hand

You scan the Card and find a perfect match:

Hand: FFFF 4444 5555 6666 (Flowers, four 4s, four 5s, four 6s — all same suit) Point value: 40¢ (concealed) / 25¢ (exposed)

You need:

✅ One more Flower (have 3, need 4)
✅ Three more 4 Dots (have 1, need 4)
✅ One more 5 Dot (have 3, need 4)
✅ One more 6 Dot (have 3, need 4)

With two Jokers, this is very achievable!

Game Play: Turn-by-Turn

Turn 1 (East starts)

East draws, discards 2C
South draws, discards N (North wind)
West draws, discards 9B
Your turn!

You draw: FF (Flower!)

Now you have four Flowers — that’s one complete part of your hand!

You discard: D (don’t need White Dragons)

Turn 2

East draws, discards 8B
South calls “Take!” and exposes NNNN (four North winds)
- Now you know South is building a Wind hand
- Don’t discard other Winds
West draws, discards 1C
Your turn!

You draw: 4D (another 4 Dot!)

Hand progress:

Flowers: ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ (Complete!)
4 Dots: ✅ ✅ (need 2 more, can use Jokers)
5 Dots: ✅ ✅ ✅ (need 1 more, can use Joker)
6 Dots: ✅ ✅ ✅ (need 1 more, can use Joker)

You discard: 7D (doesn’t fit your hand)

Turn 3-5 (Mid-Game)

Over the next few turns:

You draw 5D — now you have four 5 Dots!
You draw 6D — now you have four 6 Dots!
East exposes DDDD (four White Dragons)

Hand status:

Flowers: ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
4 Dots: ✅ ✅ (need 2 more)
5 Dots: ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
6 Dots: ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅

You still need two more 4 Dots. You have two Jokers ready!

Turn 6 (Decision Point)

You draw: 8C (doesn’t help)

You consider:

Use both Jokers for the 4 Dots and wait for any 4 Dot to finish?
Wait and hope to draw 4 Dots naturally?

Decision: You expose your hand partially:

You call out previous discard (can’t, missed opportunity), so you expose on your turn:

“Exposure!” and show: Joker Joker 4D 4D (four 4 Dots using both Jokers)

Your rack now shows:

Exposed: Joker Joker 4D 4D
Concealed: FFFF 5D 5D 5D 5D 6D 6D 6D 6D

You’ve committed to this hand. You need one more tile for Mah Jongg, but you’re now playing for 25¢ (exposed value, not 40¢).

You discard: 8C

Turn 7-10 (Late Game)

You’re waiting for one tile to complete your 14-tile hand. Any of:

Nothing! Wait, let me recount…

Actually, you have:

4 Flowers (4 tiles)
4 Dots (4 tiles, including Jokers)
4 5-Dots (4 tiles)
4 6-Dots (4 tiles)

Total = 16 tiles… that’s wrong.

Let me recount your actual hand:

After Charleston: 4D 5D 5D 5D 6D 6D 6D 7D FF FF FF D D Joker Joker = 15 tiles (too many!)

I made an error. Let me correct:

After Charleston you should have 13 tiles (East has 14).

Corrected hand: 5D 5D 5D 6D 6D 6D 7D FF FF FF D Joker Joker = 13 tiles

Much better.

Turn 6 (Corrected)

You draw: 4D

Perfect! Now your hand: 4D 5D 5D 5D 6D 6D 6D 7D FF FF FF D Joker Joker = 14 tiles

You scan the Card and commit to: FFFF 4444 5555 6666

You need:

1 more Flower (have 3)
3 more 4 Dots (have 1, can use Jokers)
1 more 5 Dot (have 3, can use Joker)
1 more 6 Dot (have 3, can use Joker)

But you only have 2 Jokers, and you need 4 tiles to fill gaps. This hand won’t work!

Better plan: Choose a different hand.

Looking at the Card, you find: FFFF 5555 6666 7777 (same suit)

You need:

1 more Flower (have 3)
1 more 5 Dot (have 3)
1 more 6 Dot (have 3)
3 more 7 Dots (have 1)

Still need 6 tiles. Tough.

Let’s pivot to: FF 5555 6666 7777 (only 2 Flowers)

You need:

1 more 5 Dot (can use Joker)
1 more 6 Dot (can use Joker)
3 more 7 Dots (have 1, need 2 more)

This works! With 2 Jokers, you can fill 5D and 6D, then hunt for 7 Dots.

You discard: FF (reducing to 2 Flowers) and D (don’t need)

Turns 7-12

Over several turns:

You draw 7D (now have two 7 Dots!)
You draw 3C (discard it)
West discards 7D!

You call: “Take!”

You expose: 7D 7D 7D (your two + West’s discard)

Now you have exposed tiles, so you’re locked into this hand structure.

Hand status:

Concealed: 5D 5D 5D 6D 6D 6D FF FF Joker Joker
Exposed: 7D 7D 7D

You need one more 7 Dot to complete FF 5555 6666 7777.

Use a Joker? No! Jokers work better for the 5s and 6s.

Turn 15 (The Winning Moment)

East discards: 7D

“MAH JONGG!” you shout.

You reveal your complete hand:

FF (two Flowers)
5D 5D 5D Joker (four 5 Dots)
6D 6D 6D Joker (four 6 Dots)
7D 7D 7D 7D (four 7 Dots, including East’s discard)

It matches the Card hand: FF 5555 6666 7777 (30¢, exposed)

East pays you: 60¢ (double the hand value since they discarded your winning tile)

Post-Game

Everyone compliments your hand. East becomes South, South becomes West, West becomes North, and you become the new East (dealer).

Reshuffle and play another round!

Key Takeaways from This Game

Charleston helped you shape your hand
Flexibility - you started with multiple options
Commitment - you chose a hand mid-game
Joker usage - saved for filling 5s and 6s
Won off a discard - earned double payment

Tips for Your Real First Game

Stay calm - It’s okay to ask questions
Check the Card often - Reference hands constantly
Announce clearly - “Take!”, “Mah Jongg!”, etc.
Take your time - Don’t rush
Have fun! - American Mahjong is social

What’s Next?

You’re ready to play! Find a local group, community center game, or start your own weekly Mah Jongg night.

Resources:

National Mah Jongg League: www.nationalmahjong league.org
Local clubs: Search “American Mahjong near me”
Facebook groups: “American Mah Jongg Players”

Congratulations!

You’ve completed the American Mahjong Beginner’s Guide. You now know:

✅ The 152 tiles and Jokers
✅ How to read the Card
✅ The Charleston
✅ Gameplay flow
✅ Hand building strategy
✅ Scoring and payments

Now go play, have fun, and welcome to the wonderful world of American Mahjong!

Want more? Check out our comparison guide or explore Riichi Mahjong for a different style of play.