LEARN

Your first table game

Let the group know you're new so they can help you get settled. Keep this checklist nearby, ask for help with setup, and take a moment when you need to check the card.

Before the first hand

• Say “I'm new” and ask which house rules the group uses. These may include extra tiles or special payments.
• Check that everyone has the same card and year. Different cards have different hands.
• Mix the tiles face down. Each player builds a wall 19 stacks long and 2 tiles high confirm.
• Ask someone to guide the dice and wall break. Take your own tiles: East finishes with 14, everyone else with 13 confirm.
• Remember that deal and play go right, and the next wall comes from the left confirm.
• Agree whether you are keeping score. Some groups play without a running total.

During play

• Keep your rack organised so you can spot matching tiles. There is no turn clock in the rules.
• Name each discard aloud, such as “7 Crak.” Say “same” for a repeat of the previous discard.
• Say “wait” to consider a discard before the next player racks, discards or starts an exchange confirm.
• Announce a joker exchange and hand over your matching tile. Let the owner give you the joker.
• Keep exposed groups separate, with jokers in the middle.
• If you make a mistake, let the table know so you can work through it together.
• Let the table check a dead-hand call against the visible tiles. The caller can be mistaken confirm.

When someone wins

• Say “Mah Jongg” and show all 14 tiles for everyone to check against the card.
• Find the row value. On a discard win, the discarder pays double and the other two players pay once.
• On a self-pick win, all three other players pay double. An eligible jokerless hand doubles payments again confirm.

With fewer players

With three players, the standard method skips the Charleston. Using a “ghost” fourth player is a house rule.

With two, you can play Siamese: two racks each, no Charleston and two hands to build. Count 27 tiles between turns before your first declaration, then 13 active tiles afterward. Standard Siamese play uses walls.

Taught in At a real table.

Print this page and take it to your first game.

Teaches on the Learner card · reviewed 2026-09-14