Definition
Soap is the white dragon tile, so called because its blank or framed face looks like a bar of soap, and it doubles as a zero on card lines that need one.
It is one of the three dragons, alongside red and green, each tied to a suit.
At the table
The soap causes more beginner mistakes than any other tile, because a blank-looking white tile reads as junk and gets thrown early. It is the white dragon, it pairs with dots wherever a hand wants a matching dragon, and it stands in as the zero in year hands. Look at what the card is asking for before discarding one.
Also called white dragon.
Read the full guide: American Mahjong Tiles, Explained: All 152, Suit by Suit.
Lesson 1, Meet the Tiles, teaches this in its step "Dragons, and the Soap". The lesson is free. Start Lesson 1, free.
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: Suit, Craks, Bams, Dots, Winds, Dragons. All 52 terms.