Definition
Craks are the suit of tiles numbered one to nine that show a Chinese character for the number.
One of the three suits with bams and dots. On the card each suit is shown by colour, and the colours are relative, not fixed.
At the table
Craks carry their number as a Chinese character, so there is nothing to count. If your set prints small Arabic numerals in the corner, use them without embarrassment, because that is what they are printed for. The mistake is avoiding crak hands early on because the tiles feel harder to read, which closes off one of the three suits for no reason.
Also called characters, wan.
Read the full guide: American Mahjong Tiles, Explained: All 152, Suit by Suit.
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: Soap, Suit, Bams, Dots, Winds, Dragons. All 52 terms.