Lesson 3 - Setting the Table, Dealing, and the Charleston

Setting the Table & Dealing

1 - Sit at a square table with a Mahjong Mat, 4 racks/pushers, a pair of dice and 152 Mahjong Tiles:

• 36 Craks + 4 Red Dragons
• 36 Bams + 4 Green Dragons
• 36 Dots + 4 White Dragons/Soap
• 16 Winds (North, East, West, South)
• 8 Flowers
• 8 Jokers

2 - Determine Who’s East

• It’s the Hostess, if you’re playing at someone’s house
• Otherwise, roll the pair of dice and the highest number starts as East
• For the next game, East moves to the person to the right.

2 - Build the Wall

• Turn all the tiles face down and mix them up (everyone can participate in this!)
• Everyone builds a two-tile stack of 19 in front of their rack (for a total of 38 tiles)
• These tiles don’t belong to the person whose rack they’re in front of (a common question we get from beginners)

3 - Cut the Wall

• East rolls the dice to determine where to cut the wall
• The tiles to the right of the cut are moved off to the side (but kept in the same order)
• The rest of the wall is angled away from the wall using the dealer’s pusher
• The tiles to the right of the cut are moved flush against the dealer’s rack
• These will be the last tiles played in the game

4 - Dealing the First 12 Tiles

Note: Some players learned that the player who is East should deal the tiles. The official NMJL rules indicate players should take their own tiles. If at a friend's house, it's not a hill to die on, but when playing in tournaments there are usually strict rules against touching any tiles that aren't your own. 

• East starts by taking the first 4 tiles, then each player takes 4, going to the right until everyone has 12
• Tiles go in front of the rack, not on the rack
• When the tiles East pushed out after "cutting the deck" are depleted, the player to the LEFT of the dealer pushes their (entire) rack out.
• Play goes to the right, but walls are played to the left
• When questioning which end of the pushed out wall to pick from, it may help to know that the intention is to draw the tiles in order going clockwise. 
• Some beginners like to put a "tail" on the end of the pushed out rack (so players don't accidentally take from the wrong end). While this is helpful for beginners, you wouldn't want to help your competition in a tournament. 

5 - The Final Tiles

• East will then take the first and third tile from the top tier (total of 14 tiles)
• Right of East takes the first tile on the bottom row (total of 13 tiles)
• Across from East takes the next top tile
• Left from East takes the next bottom tile

6 -Organizing Your Tiles

• Once all players have the correct number of tiles, players may place the tiles on the sloped part of the rack facing them.
• The dice can be passed to Right of East, who will be the dealer for the next game.
• Organize the tiles by suit, in numeric order.
• Place Flowers on the left side of your rack and Dragons on the right side (this is how they appear on the card).
• What patterns do you see?
  • Do you have more of one suit than the others?
  • Do you have more odds, evens, or winds?
  • Do you have any jokers?
  • Do you have multiples of certain numbers across all suits?
• The answers to these questions will help you select 1-2 categories on the card to play. Don’t worry if you don’t see any patterns yet. You may have a completely different hand by the end of the next step – The Charleston.

The Charleston

The Charleston is a tile-swapping process that can greatly improve your hand. There are two parts (one required, one optional) and a final courtesy pass. 

As a beginner, for each pass, gather 3 tiles you don't want, put them in front of your rack (closer to you) face down, and wait for the other players to do the same. Then everyone can pass their tiles in the correct direction at the same time. It's very easy to get confused if some people are rushing to pass their tiles and others are taking a longer time. ("Did I pass these tiles or were these tiles passed to me?")

First Charleston (Required)

Right – Across – Left

1^st Pass (First Right): Pass 3 unwanted tiles to the player on your right

2^nd Pass (First Across): Pass 3 unwanted tiles to the person across from you

3^rd Pass (First Left): Pass 3 unwanted tiles to the person on your left; use a “blind pass” if you don’t have 3 tiles from your own rack to spare. For example, if I only have 1 tile I want to get rid of, I can put that tile face down on the mat, and when the player to my right hands me the 3 tiles they are passing, I take 2 of those tiles without looking at them (thus, the blind pass) and add them to the 1 tile I'm passing so the player to my left gets 3 tiles. I then put the 3rd tile passed from the player on my right on my rack. So essentially I passed one tile from my rack and received one tile to replace it. 

Second Charleston (Optional)

The second round of the Charleston is optional, and any player can veto it without providing a reason. Don't veto the Charleston, though, just because you have decision fatigue from the first round. Unless you are 2-3 tiles away from Mahjong, you should continue with the Charleston. 

Left – Across – Right

1^st Pass (Second Left): Pass 3 unwanted tiles to the player on your left

2^nd Pass (Second Across): Pass 3 unwanted tiles to the person across from you

3^rd Pass (Last Right): Pass 3 unwanted tiles to the player on your right; use a “blind pass” if you don’t have 3 tiles from your own rack to spare

After the Charleston (whether the table completed one round or two), there is an optional Courtesy Exchange.

Courtesy Exchange (Optional): One final swap is allowed with the person across from you: up to 3 tiles. The number of tiles exchanged is dictated by the player wanting the fewest number of tiles. 

If the person across from you vetoed the Second Charleston, you may want decline the Courtesy Exchange with them. They already have a good enough hand to veto the Charleston, no need to get them a step further towards Mahjong!

Time to Play!

        For the next lesson, click here: Lesson 4 - Playing Basics – Mahjong for Makindu