Components

American Mahjong uses numbered suits, honor tiles, Flowers, Jokers, racks, dice, and a current American Mahjong card.

The three numbered suits

There are three numbered suits, each numbered 1 through 9.

Dots

Numbered 1 through 9.

Bams

Numbered 1 through 9.

The One Bam is traditionally represented by a bird.

Craks

Numbered 1 through 9.

There are four copies of every numbered tile in each suit.

Winds

There are four Winds:

• North
• East
• South
• West

There are four copies of each Wind.

Dragons

There are three Dragons:

• Green Dragon
• Red Dragon
• Soap, or White Dragon

There are four copies of each Dragon.

Flowers

Flowers are special tiles used by many hands on the card.

For American Mahjong play, the individual Flower artwork does not give each Flower a different gameplay identity. Treat them as Flowers when reading the card.

Jokers

Jokers are wild tiles, but they cannot replace every tile in every situation.

The most important rule to remember:

The rack

Your rack holds your private tiles. Completed exposed groups are placed visibly on top of the rack.

The wall

The wall is the stacked row of face-down tiles from which players draw.

The card

The American Mahjong card shows the valid winning hands for the game.

Keep the card visible throughout play. You will constantly refer to it while deciding what to keep, pass, discard, and pursue.