Stage 1 — Get started
If you have never held a tile, begin here. These seven steps take you from the pieces to your first legal hand — and teach you how not to accidentally kill it.
- 1
Know all your tiles
The 152-tile set — dots, bams, craks, winds, dragons, flowers and eight jokers.
Read - 2
Learn the Charleston passing routine
The compulsory opening exchange — three passes of three tiles, then the optional second round.
Read - 3
Learn how to read the NMJL card
The card lists every legal hand for the year. Learn what a line asks for, and what the colours mean.
Read - 4
See how a turn works
Draw, decide, discard, (maybe) claim — and how the wall, the dead wall and the joker row fit in.
Read - 5
Master Joker wild-card rules
Jokers fill a group but never a pair or a single — and you can exchange a tile to win one back.
Read - 6
Tell closed (C) hands from open (X) hands
An (X) hand may be built by calling discards for exposures. A (C) hand must stay in your rack — the only discard you may claim is the winning tile.
Read - 7
Avoid the eight ways to kill a hand
The dead-hand rules are the number-one source of table arguments. Learn them before your first real game.
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Stage 2 — Play to win
Now you can assemble a legal hand. These six steps turn "I got a hand" into "I got the right hand, at the right time, against the right table."
- 8
Understand the point system
Why a 50-point line is not twice as good as a 25-point line, and how self-draw and exposure change the score.
Read - 9
Build a winning strategy
Study the card, not the hands. Spend jokers where they score most. Keep your options open until the wall is short.
Read - 10
Learn defensive play
American mahjong rewards speed, but reading exposed tiles, counting the eight jokers and knowing when to fold still wins games.
Read - 11
Use kongs and quint tiles well
Concealed, exposed and added kongs; and why a spare joker is often better saved for a quint than spent early.
Read - 12
Know the rule variants
NMJL is the standard this site teaches, but Wright-Patterson and AMJA tables exist. Recognise them so you are never caught out.
Read - 13
Find where to play
Clubs, community centres, home games, online tables and tournaments — and how to walk into your first one without stress.
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Stage 3 — Think like a champion
The players who win titles are not luckier — they study, they review, and they understand the table. These six steps are the difference between a good player and a dangerous one.
- 14
Play in tournaments
How organised events run, what to expect at your first one, and how the national and world events are structured.
Read - 15
Adopt a champion mindset
Eight lessons from real title-holders — why small hands win, why variance is yours to own, and why rule mastery is the floor.
Read - 16
Know the rulings
The situations that actually cause arguments at the table — joker exchanges, exposures, concealed hands, kongs — and how each is settled.
Read - 17
Keep the cheat sheets handy
One-page references for the 152 tiles, the Charleston, jokers, concealed hands, scoring and dead-hand checks.
Read - 18
Play the room right
What to bring, how to behave, and the small courtesies that make people want you back at the table.
Read - 19
Use the card library
The current year's nine sections, point ranges and official sources — searchable, so you can check a line before you commit to it.
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The short version
Learn the pieces and the card (Stage 1). Learn to build the right hand fast (Stage 2). Then study the table the way title-holders do (Stage 3). You do not need all 19 steps on day one — but following them in order means you will never wonder what to read next.