Parlor and Play · American Mahjong · Charleston Simulator
Trainer 2 · The Charleston
Practice the Charleston, pass by pass.
This free simulator deals you a 13 tile hand and walks you through the full Charleston against three computer players, in the real order and under the real rules.
New here?
The Charleston is the passing ritual that runs after the deal and before the first discard, and it only makes sense once you know what a hand is and what the tiles are for. Mahjong 101 teaches the whole game in about five minutes of tapping: the tiles, the shape of a hand, where the Charleston fits, and a first worked win. Start with Mahjong 101
Choose 3 tiles to pass at each step. Jokers can never be passed.
Dealing. Your hand: 13 tiles
Your hand
Your hand is dealt from a full 152 tile American set, the same set a real game uses. Tap 3 tiles to choose your first pass: three tiles to your right.
Pass by pass record
How the Charleston works
The Charleston is a passing ritual that happens after the deal and before the first discard. It is found only in the American game. Everyone passes at the same time, face down, and you pass your own three tiles before you look at the three arriving. That order is a rule, not a courtesy.
The first Charleston is required. Three passes: right, across, left. Teachers remember the full six pass order with the word ROLLOR: Right, Over, Left, Left, Over, Right.
The second Charleston is optional. Left, across, right. Any one player can stop it, for any reason or none, and one no stops it for the whole table. Declining is a normal choice, never rude.
The blind pass. On the last pass of each Charleston only, the left pass that ends the first and the right pass that ends the second, a player who cannot spare three tiles may take one, two, or three of the tiles just passed to them and send those on without looking at them. It is never allowed on any other pass, and never on the courtesy pass.
Never pass a joker. A joker may not be passed in the Charleston or the courtesy pass. If one slips through by mistake at a real table, it is handed back and the passer replaces it with another tile.
The courtesy pass. After the Charleston, the two players sitting across from each other may swap tiles. Each names a number from 0 to 3, and the pair exchanges the smaller of the two numbers. If either player names zero, no tiles cross between that pair.
What to pass. The deal alone rarely forms a hand. Most players pass tiles that fit no direction they are considering, and keep anything they hold two or more of. Choosing a general direction first, and a specific line on the card once enough tiles fit, is the method most teachers pass on.
Gear for the real table
The gear behind the passes
The Charleston you just practiced moves tiles hand to hand. At a real table it runs on racks and pushers: you line up three tiles, push them to your neighbor, and nobody sees a face. A set with pushers built into the racks makes the whole ritual smooth, which is why every set below includes them.
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.
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.
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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.