Definition
The Charleston is the passing ritual before play in which each player passes three tiles right, across, and left, with an optional second round and a courtesy pass.
It exists to give every player a chance at a workable hand, and because a passed tile is gone, it shapes the hand each of them ends up playing. The first Charleston is mandatory. The second only happens if all four players agree.
At the table
The passing shapes the hand you play, and the mistake is passing on instinct instead of counting. Sort the rack, name the best two directions it could serve, and pass what serves neither. Beginners keep three or four directions alive and end up passing tiles they needed two minutes later. Stronger players commit to two early and pass from the one they have already decided against.
Read the full guide: The Charleston in American Mahjong: Rules, Order & Strategy.
Lesson 4, The Charleston I: Mechanics, is the lesson on this. It comes with the Club. See what Lesson 4 covers.
See it on real tiles. The AI coach reads a dealt hand, free, and names the direction it goes for, what to keep and what to pass, at the free read.
Want the coach on call? The Club adds the coach for your own tiles and for each morning’s hand, all 10 lessons, and every new NMJL card taught the week it lands, for $14.99 a month, cancel anytime. See what the Club includes.
Related: Courtesy pass, Blind pass, Pair, Quint. All 52 terms.