Quick answer
Yes, American Mahjong works with three players and the same set. Under League rules you build all four walls, deal only to the three seats, and East starts with fourteen tiles while the other two start with thirteen. There is no Charleston and no courtesy pass at three. With five, one player sits out each hand, and after each hand the player who was East steps away and the waiting player takes the seat.
American Mahjong is built for four players. Here is how the League's rules handle three and two, and how five people share four seats.
Three players: what actually changes
The game works with three, and the set does not change. Under League rules you build all four walls as usual and deal only to the three seats, four tiles at a time until everyone has twelve. Then East takes two more and the other two players take one each, so East starts with fourteen and the others with thirteen.
After the deal there is no Charleston. East opens with the first discard and play goes on as normal, with three players drawing from a wall built for four, so each of you draws more often than at a full table.
The Charleston with three
Under League rules there is none. The Charleston passes right, across and left, it is built for four seats, and the League's three-player game skips it along with the courtesy pass. Sanctioned tournaments skip it at a three-player table too.
A Charleston at three is a table rule. A group that wants one has to settle every detail itself, such as which way each pass goes with no one across and whether the empty seat takes part, because there is no official version to settle an argument. Agree it before the deal.
What three-handed play feels like
With one fewer player discarding, you see fewer tiles per round, so information about what others hold builds up more slowly, and there are fewer discards to call from.
Without a Charleston, nothing improves the deal except draws, calls and joker exchanges, so the direction you start with comes straight from the tiles you were dealt.
Three at a tournament table
When a sanctioned tournament puts three players at a table, the standardised rules used for Mah Jongg Master Points events cover it. There is no Charleston, as in the League's three-player game. A round is four games and the East seat rotates after each one, so by the end of the third game each player has been East once. Before the fourth and last game of the round, all three roll the dice again to decide who is East for that game.
The rules give the reason. East starts with the fourteenth tile, which is an advantage, and rolling again gives all three the same chance at it in the last game, where plain rotation would give the player who started the round a second turn as East.
Three of you, online
On our site, yes, with a bot in the fourth seat. A Club member opens a table, sends its link to the other two, and deals a game for the three of you, each on your own phone. With the fourth seat filled, the game keeps the Charleston and the courtesy pass that the League's three-player game skips.
Every game there is played on the School Card, our own practice card, not the League's card. When the game ends, Mei, our AI coach, goes over each player's own moves. The friends you invite join with a name and an email and play free.
Two players
The League's rules cover two players as well. Sit across from each other, build all four walls, deal fourteen to East and thirteen to the other player, skip the Charleston, and East opens with the first discard. With one opponent there is very little to read, so it works best as a way to practise recognising hands, not as a substitute for a real session.
If you are two and want to practise reading deals, a drill deals a fresh hand in seconds with no walls to build, so you see more deals in an hour than you would playing each other.
Five people, four seats
With five, one player sits out each hand. To start, everyone rolls the dice and the lowest roll sits out first. After each hand the player who was East steps away and the waiting player takes the seat. Once the Charleston is done, the player sitting out may bet on which player will declare mah jongg or on a wall game, so they have a stake in every hand.
The sit-out is also a good teaching seat. A beginner can watch an experienced player's rack and see each play without having to make it, as long as they stay silent.
Put it into practice
New to the game? Start the course at Lesson 1, Meet the Tiles. The first three lessons are free and need no account.
Already play? Have the coach read a real dealt hand for you, free. It names the direction the hand goes for, what to keep, what to pass, and the reasoning behind each call.
Short a player, or practising alone? Our AI coach deals you a real hand and reads it tile by tile, explaining which direction it points and why. Free, no account, and better practice than a two-handed game.