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Plain-English answers to every beginner question, free, no signup, written by the school.

How to Play American Mahjong: The Complete Beginner's GuideLearn American Mahjong step by step: the tiles, the deal, the Charleston, jokers, calling, and winning. A plain-English guide for total beginners.The Charleston in American Mahjong: Rules, Order & StrategyThe complete rules of the Charleston: pass order, the optional second Charleston, blind passes, the courtesy pass, and what you may never pass.American Mahjong Tiles, Explained: All 152, Suit by SuitEvery tile in an American Mahjong set: the three suits, winds, dragons (including the Soap), flowers, and jokers, what they look like and how they're used.Joker Rules in American Mahjong: What Jokers Can and Can't DoEvery joker rule in American Mahjong: where jokers work, why they can't fill pairs, the joker exchange, and when discarding a joker is actually right.American vs. Chinese Mahjong: What's Actually Different?Jokers, the Charleston, the yearly card, racks, the concrete differences between American Mah Jongg and Chinese or Riichi mahjong, explained.How to Find a Mahjong Club Near You (and Survive Your First Night)Where American Mahjong clubs hide, how to get invited, what to bring, and the etiquette that makes a beginner welcome back.Mahjong, Mah Jongg, or Mah-Jongg? The Spelling, SettledMahjong, mah jongg, mah-jongg, mahjongg, every spelling is 'right' somewhere. Here's where each comes from, what the League uses, and what to type when you search.How to Read the Mahjong Card: The Notation, DecodedThe National Mah Jongg League card looks like code until someone decodes it. Here is what the numbers, colors, letters, and spacing actually tell you.Calling and Exposing in American Mahjong: When, How, and When Not ToWhen you can call a discarded tile, how to expose it correctly, what calling costs you in information, and the moments experienced players stay quiet.American Mahjong Terms: A Plain-English GlossaryCharleston, kong, soap, courtesy pass, wall game, dead hand. Every piece of table vocabulary a new American Mahjong player hears, in plain English.How to Set Up an American Mahjong Game: Wall, Deal, and SeatsEverything before the first discard: seating, choosing East, building the wall, breaking it, and dealing thirteen tiles. The setup, step by step.American Mahjong Scoring: Who Pays What, and WhyHow American Mahjong hands are valued, who pays the winner, when payments double, and the house rules every group settles before the first hand.Buying Your First American Mahjong Set: What Actually MattersTile counts, racks and pushers, materials, cases, and what to check on an inherited set. A practical buying guide for American Mahjong.American Mahjong Etiquette: The Unwritten Rules of the TableNaming discards, pace, touching tiles, coaching, money, and phones. The table customs nobody writes down but everybody notices.The Seven Mistakes Every New American Mahjong Player MakesChasing two hands at once, hoarding jokers, passing the wrong tiles, exposing too early. The habits that cost beginners hands, and what to do instead.What Not to Discard: Defensive Play in American MahjongHow to read opponents' exposures, spot the tiles that win their hands, and play out a hand you cannot win without handing someone else the game.Joker Strategy in American Mahjong: Holding, Spending, and StealingJokers are the most powerful tiles in American Mahjong and the easiest to waste. When to spend one, when to hold, and how to protect them from redemption.The Blind Pass in the Charleston: What It Is and When to Use ItThe blind pass lets you send tiles you have not looked at. When it is legal, why it exists, and how experienced players use it without wrecking their hand.How to Host a Mahjong Game Night People Come Back ToTable setup, timing, food that does not touch the tiles, handling mixed skill levels, and the small hosting choices that turn one night into a standing game.Dead Hands and Wrong Mahjong Calls: What Happens NextWhat makes a hand dead, what happens when someone calls mahjong incorrectly, who pays, and how a wall game ends. The rules for when things go wrong.Playing American Mahjong With Three Players (or Five)Someone cancelled and you are three. What changes with three players, how the Charleston adapts, and how tables handle a fifth person waiting.The Mahjong Rules Arguments That Come Up Every Week, SettledCan you take back a discard? Who gets the tile when two people call? Can you pass a joker? The recurring table arguments, with what the rules say and where groups differ.American Mahjong Rules: The Complete Plain-English ReferenceEvery rule of American Mahjong in one place: players and tiles, the deal, the Charleston, drawing and discarding, calling, jokers, dead hands, winning, and scoring. Plain English, with links to the detailed guide for each.The Joker Exchange in American Mahjong: How Redeeming a Joker WorksWhen you can take a joker from someone's exposed set, exactly how the exchange works on your turn, what you can do with the joker afterward, and the mistakes that make an exchange illegal.Pung, Kong, Quint, and Pair: The Sets That Make Up Every HandThe four building blocks of every American Mahjong hand, how many tiles each takes, which ones jokers can fill, which can be called, and how to spot them on the card.Flowers in American Mahjong: What They Do and How to Use ThemWhat the eight flower tiles are for in the American game, how they appear on the card, whether they can be passed or called, and why a lone flower is rarely as useless as it looks.How to Choose a Hand in American Mahjong (After the Deal)Sort the deal, count which card category the most tiles already serve, find a pair prospect, and let the Charleston choose between your top two directions.How to Teach American Mahjong to a Beginner in One EveningTeach the tiles by touch, play one open-rack hand with no Charleston, add the Charleston on hand two, and save the card's fine print for another night.American Mahjong with Two Players: What Works and What ChangesThere is no official two-player game, but a full set, a normal deal, and an across-only Charleston make a workable one. Expect more wall games and a bigger role for the deal.An Opponent Has Two Exposures: How to Read Their Hand and Play SafeRead the two exposures for the card section they point to, count what the player still needs, name the hot tiles, and decide whether to keep attacking or throw safe.Stopping the Charleston: Who Can Say Stop, When, and Whether You ShouldThe first Charleston is mandatory. Any one player can stop the second before it starts. The courtesy pass is still available either way. Here is how and when to use it.