Mahjong rules

Seats, East, and the deal

Four seats. Two dice choose East: the highest total deals, and a tie is broken by another roll among the tied seats only. East rolls again to break the wall, counting that many stacks from the right end of East’s wall. The deal begins just past that break.

Players take tiles in threes of four. East then takes two tiles and the others take one each. East has fourteen and will discard to start play. The others have thirteen. A full account of that sequence is in how to play.

The Charleston and the courtesy pass

The first Charleston is three passes of three tiles: right, across, left. Right means the next player to act. Jokers cannot be passed. On the left pass, and only then in this round, you may blind-pass: some or all of the three tiles can be ones you just received, forwarded without entering your rack. You still pass three in total.

Everyone then votes on a second Charleston, which runs left, across, right. One player declining is enough to skip it. The blind pass returns on that round’s last pass, to the right. If every player blind-passes all three tiles on a pass where blind passing is legal, nothing is left to circulate. This table ends the Charleston there, and East discards, with no courtesy pass.

Otherwise the courtesy pass follows. Opposite players each offer zero, one, two, or three tiles. The smaller number is how many move. Both pairs of opposite seats exchange at the same time. Jokers stay put. After that, East discards.

A legal hand

You win by matching one complete line on the Air Mahjong House Card 2026. The hand is fourteen tiles, and exposed groups count toward those fourteen. Flowers stay in the hand too. They are not set aside and replaced.

Some lines are marked concealed. A concealed line allows no called groups before the winning tile. You may still win on a discard: taking the winning tile is the declaration, not an earlier exposure. An exposed pung earlier in the hand simply makes that concealed line impossible.

If the tiles you hold could be read as more than one line, the table pays the reading that pays the most. The arithmetic is on the scoring page.

Calls

After a discard, any of the other three players may claim it. A claim must complete a pung (three), kong (four), quint (five), or sextet (six) that the card still allows for your hand. A run such as 4-5-6 is never a claim. If the only button you see is Pass, the discard does not fit a legal group for you.

Mah Jongg outranks a call for a group. Among players who want the same discard for Mah Jongg, or among players who want it for a group when nobody is winning, the seat closest after the discarder in turn order gets it.

Calling does not draw a replacement tile. In Chinese mahjong a kong is extra and you draw again to stay at thirteen. Here the kong is part of the fourteen, so a replacement draw would make the hand illegal. After you call, you discard. Before that discard, you may rearrange the new exposure, as long as the claimed tile stays in it and the new grouping is still one the card allows.

You may discard a joker. Nobody can call a discarded joker. The tile guide explains where a joker is allowed to stand.

Jokers already on the table

On your turn you may exchange a matching natural tile from your rack for a joker in an exposed group. If that joker belongs to another player and the exchange completes your hand, the win pays as a self-pick. Trading a joker out of your own exposure does not. That hand was already complete when you called, and the player who discarded pays.

The wall game, and the other rule sets

When a player would draw and the wall is empty, the hand is over. There is no winner and no payment. Scores from earlier hands are left as they were.

There is no turn timer. At a table with friends, leaving the page lets the computer play your turns until you come back in the same tab. A group table or a tournament waits for you instead.

Hong Kong at this site needs at least three fan, uses flowers as bonuses rather than as rack tiles, and has no Charleston. Riichi needs a yaku, can declare riichi, and reads dora. Neither uses the American card, jokers, or these passing rules. Pick the game in the lobby before you deal. The rest of these guides stay with American play.

More guides

• Learn mahjongThe map of these guides, and which game they describe.
• How to play mahjongOne hand, from the dice and the deal through the Charleston to Mah Jongg.
• Mahjong tiles explainedCraks, bams, dots, winds, dragons, flowers, and jokers.
• Mahjong scoringThe printed value, discard and self-pick payments, and the jokerless double.
• Mahjong strategy tipsChoosing a line, passing with a purpose, and when to leave a discard.
• Play mahjong online freeOpen a free table in the browser with friends or with the computer.

One decision at a time

Get comfortable with the tricky parts.

• The mahjong Charleston, one pass at a timeLearn the Charleston passing order with an actual Air Mahjong rack, a keep-or-pass explanation, blind-pass rules and a worked example of why 14 tiles may not win.
• American mahjong joker rulesSee exactly how a joker exchange can complete Crosswind, where jokers are legal, why a natural pair still matters, and which tempting swaps are not allowed.
• How to read a mahjong cardRead a real American mahjong rack against Crosswind, identify missing and unused tiles, and check group sizes, suit relationships, joker limits and concealment.
• When can you call a mahjong discard?Follow a real Air Mahjong hand from a legal pung call through the next discard to a winning pair. Learn the decision order and the claims that fail.