Definition
A suit is one of the three families of numbered tiles in a mahjong set, Craks, Bams and Dots, each running from one to nine with four copies of every number.
That makes 108 suited tiles, 36 in each suit. Winds, dragons, flowers and jokers belong to no suit, although each dragon is tied to one, red to Craks, green to Bams and the soap to Dots.
At the table
On the card, colour marks a suit without naming it. Numbers printed in one colour on a line are all one suit, two colours mean two different suits and three colours mean all three, and you choose which suit plays which colour. The mistake is reading the colours literally, taking green to mean Bams, and passing away a hand that would have worked in another suit.
Read the full guide: American Mahjong Tiles, Explained: All 152, Suit by Suit.
See it on real tiles. The AI coach reads any 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: Craks, Bams, Dots, Dragons, Soap, Like Numbers. All 52 terms.