Definition
The pie is the fixed stake each player brings to the session, usually a small sum in coins or chips, and the most anyone can lose in an evening.
When your pie is gone you keep playing but stop paying, in groups that use one. The size of the pie is a table rule and it is the first thing to ask at a new game with money on it.
Read the full guide: American Mahjong Scoring: Who Pays What, and Why.
See it on real tiles: the coach reads any hand and names its direction, free, at the free read. Members get the coach on call for their own games.
More terms: Pung, Kong, Quint, Pair, Charleston, Blind pass, Courtesy pass, Joker.