🇺🇸 American Mahjong
Also known as: American Mah-Jongg · NMJL rules · Mah-Jongg (American)
Jokers, the Charleston pass, and a fresh list of legal hands every April. American mahjong is a league game run by the National Mah Jongg League — learn the card and you have a community center full of potential opponents.
Overview
American mahjong evolved from the 1920s boom and is governed today by the National Mah Jongg League, which publishes a new card of legal winning hands every April. Players build one of the hands on the current card — there is no free-form winning shape like in Asian variants.
The 152-tile set adds 8 jokers (wild tiles that complete any pung/kong/quint/sextet) and 8 flower tiles that never count toward the hand. Before play, the Charleston passing ritual moves tiles around the table, adding a drafting layer no other variant has.
Hands feature pungs, kongs, quints and sextets but never chows, and many hands are 'concealed' (no exposures allowed). The result is a brisk, social league game — the dominant variant in American community centers.
Rules Highlights
- ✓152 tiles: 3 suits, honors, 8 flowers + 8 jokers
- ✓You win only with a hand listed on the current year's NMJL card
- ✓No chows — hands are built from pungs, kongs, quints and sextets
- ✓Jokers substitute any tile in an exposed or melded group (never in a single-tile slot)
- ✓The Charleston: pass 3 tiles right, 3 across, 3 left (with a optional second pass), before play starts
- ✓Flowers are collected for bonus payouts, not hand content
- ✓Calling mah jongg ends the hand instantly; wrong declarations incur penalties
Scoring at a Glance
Card values
Every hand on the NMJL card shows its fixed value (25–75 cents classically); no fan or fu arithmetic
Flower bonus
Each flower/season collected pays a small amount; a full 8-flower sweep (solo hands) scores on the card
No-finish penalty
A player who calls wrong or goes dead commonly owes the table a fixed penalty
Dealer edge
East starts and, on small-table house rules, may keep dealing while winning
American Mahjong FAQ
▸Do I need to buy the NMJL card every year?
Yes — the league publishes a new card each April and rules treat old cards as obsolete. The card itself is inexpensive (around $15), and league tournaments require the current year's edition.
▸What makes American mahjong 'advanced'?
Not complexity of arithmetic but memorization: legal hands change yearly, joker management is unforgiving, and a misread card makes your hand dead. It rewards experience and table repetition.
▸Can I play American mahjong online?
Yes — several apps simulate the NMJL card (e.g. dedicated American mahjong trainers), though the in-person league scene remains the heart of the variant.
Related Variants
American Mahjong in the Community
When you finish our guide, keep reading here — these are the places theAmerican Mahjong community actually hangs out:
- National Mah Jongg League ↗The official league — buy the current year's card and find tournament info.
- r/mahjong ↗The main English-language mahjong community — rules debates, set photos and beginner questions answered daily.
Next: learn the tiles
Every variant runs on the same tile set. Our illustrated tile guide covers every tile — suits, honors, flowers and jokers — with usage notes.
Open the Tile Guide →