American Mahjong Quick Start Guide (Free Printable for Beginners)
New to American Mahjong? Start Here.
If you’re learning American Mahjong, the first few games can feel like organized chaos.
Tiles everywhere.
Someone yelling “Wash!”
And suddenly people are talking about Charlestons, walls, and East like you’re supposed to know what that means.
Don’t worry — every Mahjong player has been there.
So I made something I wish I had when I first started playing:
A simple one-page American Mahjong Quick Play Guide you can keep next to your rack.
It walks you through the beginning of the game step-by-step so you can follow along without feeling lost.
Download the Free Mahjong Printable
I created this quick reference guide so beginners can easily remember the order of play.
It covers:
• setting up the table
• washing the tiles
• building the walls
• the Charleston passes
• how tiles are dealt
You can keep it in your Mahjong bag or print a few copies for your table.
Get the Free Mahjong Quick Play Guide
Download you Quick Start Guide here!
Setting Up the Table
Before the game begins, you’ll want to get the table ready.
Start by placing your Mahjong mat on the table and setting racks and pushers in front of each player.
Next, place all of the tiles in the center of the table and flip them face down.
Now comes one of the most fun parts of the game…
The Wash!
All players mix the tiles together to shuffle them before building the walls.
Once mixed, each player builds a double wall of 19 tiles in front of them.
Dealing the Tiles
(here’s a quick video of what that looks like)
First, choose who will be East (the dealer).
East rolls the dice and uses the number to determine where the wall is cut. The wall is cut from the RIGHT, those tiles are moved back to the rack. The remaining tiles are used to deal.
Players then take tiles in groups of four until each player has 12 tiles, starting with East and moving to the RIGHT.
At the end of the deal:
• East has 14 tiles
• All other players have 13 tiles
Understanding the Charleston
Once the tiles have been dealt we go into the Charleston.
The Charleston is the tile passing portion of Mahjong that happens before play begins.
During the Charleston, players pass tiles around the table to improve their hand.
The first round of passes goes in this order:
1️⃣ Pass three tiles to the right
2️⃣ Pass three tiles across the table
3️⃣ Pass three tiles to the left
All tiles must be passed face down, and you cannot look at the tiles you receive until after you’ve passed yours.
In the third pass, players can choose to do a blind pass, meaning you can pass tiles you just received without looking at them.
After the first round, players may choose to do one optional pass across the table.
East begins play by discarding the first tile, and play continues to the right.
My Favorite Beginner Mahjong Supplies
These are the items I personally use when I play Mahjong.
You can find everything here:
Coming Next in My Mahjong Beginner Series
If you’re just starting out, the next big step is learning how to read the Mahjong card and recognize patterns.
That’s exactly what we’ll cover next.
Next post:
How to Read the Mahjong Card and Choose a Hand
Mahjong can feel overwhelming at first, but once you understand the flow of the game it becomes incredibly fun (and slightly addictive).
This printable guide is designed to help beginners feel confident at the table.
Print it, keep it nearby, and start playing.
Let’s Mahjong!
– Heidi
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