Parlor and Play · American Mahjong
American mahjong for beginners
Learn American mahjong by practicing the parts.
Most people learn this game at a friend's table, mid game, while three experienced players wait. These free trainers split the game into its moving parts so you can practice each one at your own pace, as many times as you like, before your first real game. Then the solo practice game puts the whole game back together.
New to the game entirely? Start with Mahjong 101 below. It teaches the whole game in about five minutes, and the trainers after it practice each piece.
Start here: the beginner path
Never played? This is the order, and it is the order a first evening actually happens. Each step is free, and each one assumes only the steps before it.
- 1
Mahjong 101. The whole game in about five minutes of tapping: what the tiles are, what a hand is, why players pass tiles before the game starts, and a worked win with scoring.
- 2
Tile Trainer. Drill the seven tile families until they read at a glance.
- 3
Charleston Simulator. The full passing ritual against three computer players, with coaching.
- 4
Call or Pass Drills. Table situations: when a discard is worth taking, and when it is a trap.
- 5
Scoring Trainer. Settle finished hands until the doubling rules are reflexes.
- 6
Solo Practice Game. The whole game at your own pace, against three computer players.
When the path feels solid, the Beginner Companion is the printable guide that ties it together: the full rules in plain words, twelve practice hands, and a first game checklist, $14.99.
The four trainers, and a full practice game
1. Tile Trainer
Drills that teach you to read all 152 tiles on sight: the three suits, the winds, the dragons, Flowers, and jokers.
2. Charleston Simulator
A full practice Charleston against three computer players: both Charlestons, the blind pass, and the courtesy pass, in the real order.
3. Call or Pass Drills
Short table situations. A tile is discarded, and you decide: call it, or let it go. Every answer explains the rule behind it.
4. Scoring Trainer
Settling up, rehearsed. Work out who pays what on practice hands until the doubles stop being a surprise.
5. Solo Practice Game
The whole game in one sitting: deal, Charleston, draws, calls, joker exchanges, and settling up, against three computer players, played against our own practice patterns.
Then find a real table
Find a Mahjong Teacher or Club
Practice gets you ready. A teacher and three other people make it a game. Our directory lists American mahjong instructors, studios, and clubs that welcome new players, each compiled from the teacher or club's own public page, organized by city and state.
Gear for the real table
What you need to play with real tiles
Practice here is free, and the trainers deal from the real 152 tile set. A game at a real table needs gear of your own: a complete set, racks with pushers, dice, and the current official card. Before you shop, three things worth knowing:
- Count the tiles. A set for the American game ships 166 tiles: the 152 you play with, plus spare jokers, flowers, and blanks. A 144 tile set with no jokers is made for the Chinese game and cannot run an American hand.
- Racks with pushers belong in the box. Buying them separately later costs more than choosing a set that includes them now.
- Standard tiles are about 1.2 inches tall, big enough to read across a table. Oversized tiles look cheerful in photos and crowd a rack in real life.
First set
Linda Li Blue Paisley Soft Bag Mahjong Set
The gentlest way into a complete kit, and the set GammonVillage calls its bestseller several years running: 166 tiles, four racks with the pushers built in, dice, betting chips, and a beginner rules booklet, carried in a quilted soft bag that travels well to lessons and club nights.
$127.46 at GammonVillage
Price checked Oct 19, 2026. Prices change; the store page shows the current one.
Wooden racks
Yellow Mountain Imports American Mahjong Set, Sakura Pink
The name clubs reach for first. The tiles are melamine with a satisfying weight, the four racks are wood with magnetic pushers, and the kit adds scoring coins, three dice, and a wind indicator in a pink and cream soft case. Built for a group that plays every week.
$156.99 at Yellow Mountain Imports
Price checked Oct 19, 2026. Prices change; the store page shows the current one.
The keepsake
Linda Li Black Poppy Mahjong Set, Artisan Collection
For the player who has caught the bug, or the gift that has to land. The tiles are laser cut and hand painted, the racks and pushers are solid beechwood, the money chips are metal, and the bettor is beechwood too. It plays the same game as the sets above; it just feels like an heirloom doing it.
$395.00 at GammonVillage
Price checked Oct 19, 2026. Prices change; the store page shows the current one.
One more thing every player needs: the current year's card from the National Mah Jongg League, about $15. No set includes it, and the League is the only place that sells the genuine card, so order it from the League directly, and be suspicious of any bundle that promises one free.
How a game flows, in one breath
Four players sit at the seats East, South, West, and North. Tiles are washed, built into walls, and dealt: East holds 14 tiles, everyone else 13. Then comes the Charleston, a set pattern of passes that lets everyone trade away tiles they do not want. After the Charleston, players take turns drawing a tile and discarding one, calling discards to build exposed groups, until someone's 14 tiles match a line on the official card, or the wall runs out and nobody pays. The trainers above cover each stage in that order.
One thing the trainers cannot give you: the official card itself. Winning hands are printed on the current card from the National Mah Jongg League, and every player at a real table needs one. What practice gives you is everything around the card, so the card is the only new thing in front of you on game night.
Take it to the table
The trainers are free. When you sit down to a real game, these are the two printables readers keep within reach.
Get the free One Page Score Sheet The Beginner Companion, $14.99
The score sheet costs nothing and tracks a full session, hand by hand. The Beginner Companion is the complete beginner guide: how to play American mahjong from the first deal to settling up, in plain words, with a first month practice plan.
Hosting a group? The Club Night Kit, $14.99 runs a full club night: a teach a friend night script, rotations, and a season standings workbook. The Table Bundle, $24.99 combines the Companion and the Club Night Kit in one package.
Also around the table
Mahjong is not the only game night on this shelf. Our other Parlor and Play section covers Mexican Train dominoes and Chickenfoot nights: a free score keeper, the rules in plain words, and printable score sheets.
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About the rules here
These trainers teach American mahjong in our own words. The rules are summarized from public sources, including published rule guides and instructor materials, and they reflect standard National Mah Jongg League play as we understand it in October 2026.
This section is not published by, endorsed by, or affiliated with the National Mah Jongg League. Nothing here reproduces the League's card, and nothing here replaces it. To play a real game, every player needs the current official card from the National Mah Jongg League. Check any hand, hand value, or rule against the card at your table. The card is the final word, and house rules are whatever your table agrees before the first deal.
If you find an error, or your group plays a point differently, write to us at hello@oasisinvestingllc.com. We check reader corrections against published sources and fold confirmed fixes into updates.
This section is published by Oasis Investing LLC, as part of Parlor and Play.