Mastering American Mahjong: Understanding the Tiles

Welcome to Your Mahjong Journey

American Mahjong is a game of strategy, skill, and social interaction. While it may seem overwhelming at first, this lesson is designed to help you build a strong foundation and ensure that you enjoy and excel at this captivating pastime.

 

🎯 Learning Objective

By the end of this lesson, you will:

✔ Understand the types of Mahjong tiles and their functions

✔ Recognize how different tile groups contribute to winning hands

✔ Develop confidence in identifying and using tiles effectively during play

Whether you're a beginner or looking to refine your skills, this structured guide will set you on the right path. Let's dive in!

Understanding Mahjong Tiles

American Mahjong consists of 152 tiles, categorized into three main groups:

1. Suit Tiles

These are the primary tiles used to form winning hands and are divided into three suits:

• Dots (Circles) ›› Numbered 1 to 9, represented by circular symbols.
• Bamboo ›› Numbered 1 to 9, depicted as bamboo sticks (with the 1-Bamboo tile often featuring a bird).
• Characters ›› Numbered 1 to 9, marked with Chinese characters.

There are four (4) tiles of each number.

💡 Tip: During play, it is customary to refer to Bamboo tiles as Bams and Character tiles as Craks (cracks).

2. Honor Tiles

These tiles add strategic depth to the game and consist of:

• Dragon Tiles ›› Red, Green, and White.
  • Each dragon matches one suit:
    • Red Dragons match Craks
    • Green Dragons match Bams
    • White Dragons match Dots
  • There are four (4) tiles of each color Dragon.

💡 Tip: It helps to remember which dragon matches which suit

• Red Dragons match the red character printed on each Crak
• Green Dragons match the color of the leaves that grow on Bamboo sticks
• White Dragons often look like a bar of soap; if you lather up a bar of soap, you will get soap bubbles that look like Dots
  • During play, White Dragons can also be called "Soap," because of their resemblance
  • White Dragons/Soaps also represent the number zero (0) in Mahjong hands based on the current year
• During play, it is customary to refer to the Dragon just by the color; you can just say "Red," or "Soap," not "Red Dragon," or "White Dragon"

• Wind Tiles ›› East, South, West, and North. There are four (4) tiles of each Wind.

💡 Tip: During play, it is customary to refer to the Wind just by the direction; you can just say "South," not "South Wind"

3. Additional Tiles

American Mahjong includes some additional sets of tiles:

• Flowers ›› American Mahjong games are played with eight (8) Flower tiles.

💡 Tip: The symbols and/or numbers on the Flowers do not mean anything in American Mahjong; "flowers are flowers are flowers."

• Jokers ›› American Mahjong games are played with eight (8) joker tiles. Jokers can be used to replace another tile in specific situations only:
  • You can use a joker to take the place of a tile in a set of three or more IDENTICAL tiles.
  • You CANNOT use a joker to replace a single tile or a tile in a pair of tiles.

In other words, YOU CANNOT USE A JOKER AS A SINGLE OR IN A PAIR.

Notes about Flowers

Many American Mahjong sets come with two sets of flowers, but only one set is needed to play. The different sets may be labeled with the names of seasons and/or numbers; American Mahjong does not differentiate between them. Flowers are flowers are flowers.

It doesn't matter which set of flowers you choose to play with; keep the other set in a safe place.

💡 Tip: The 1-Bam tile is often confused with the Flower tiles. The key is to remember that the 1-Bam tile represents a bird. Many players will say, "1-Bam Bird" to help remember the difference.