American mahjong terms

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Last checked: 14 November 2026. Sources: public pages on the League rules. See how American Mahjong Coach is made.

Bam

One of the three suits. The tiles show bamboo sticks. The 1 Bam shows a bird on most sets.

Blank

A spare tile with nothing on it. It replaces a lost tile. It is not one of the 152 tiles. Some groups use blanks in a table rule.

Blind pass

A pass in the Charleston of tiles that you did not look at. It is allowed on the first Left and on the last Right. See The Charleston.

Call

To say that you want the tile that a player just discarded. You can call for an exposure or for mah jongg.

Card

The printed list of the hands that win in a year. The National Mah Jongg League prints a new card each year. Each player needs one.

Charleston

The exchange of tiles between the players before the first discard: right, across, left, then left, across, right.

Claim

To take a called tile: you put it on top of your rack, or you expose tiles from your hand for it.

Concealed (C)

A hand that the card marks with C. You may not call a discard for an exposure. You may call only the last tile, for mah jongg.

Courtesy pass

The last, optional exchange after the Charleston. You and the player across exchange 0 to 3 tiles.

Crak

One of the three suits. The tiles show a Chinese number and a red Chinese character. Also written Crack.

Dead hand

A hand that cannot win by the rules, for example because of a wrong number of tiles. The player stops play and still pays the winner.

Discard

The tile that a player puts face up on the table at the end of a turn. Also: to do this.

Dot

One of the three suits. The tiles show circles.

Dragon

Red, Green or White. The set has four of each. Red goes with Craks, Green with Bams, White with Dots.

East

The player who starts the game. East gets 14 tiles and makes the first discard. After each game the next player to the right becomes East.

Exposed (X)

A hand that the card marks with X. You may call discards for groups of three or more and show them.

Exposure

A pung, kong, quint or sextet that lies face up on top of a rack after a call.

Flower

One of 8 tiles with different pictures. All 8 count as the same tile. The card shows a flower as F.

Hot wall, cold wall

Table rules for the last tiles of the wall. They are not League rules.

Joker

One of 8 tiles that can replace any tile in a group of three or more identical tiles. Never in a pair or for a single tile.

Joker exchange

In your turn, you give the real tile for a joker in an exposure and you take the joker. Players also say "redeem a joker".

Jokerless

A winning hand with no joker. It pays double, except in the Singles and Pairs section.

Kong

A group of four identical tiles.

Like numbers

The same number. "Any like numbers" on the card means that the groups have the same number, and you choose it.

Mah jongg

The word that a player says to declare a complete hand. Also the name of the game. Also written mahjong and mah-jongg.

Matching dragon

The dragon that goes with the suit that you use.

NEWS

North, East, West and South as four single tiles, as some lines of the card print them.

Opposite dragon

A dragon that does not go with the suit that you use.

Pair

A group of two identical tiles. No joker can be in a pair.

Pung

A group of three identical tiles.

Pusher

The arm on a rack that pushes a wall of tiles to the middle of the table.

Quint

A group of five identical tiles. A quint of a number tile always needs a joker.

Rack

The holder for your tiles. Your hand stands on the sloped front. Exposures lie on the flat top.

ROLLOR

A memory word for the Charleston: Right, Over, Left, Left, Over, Right.

Section

A group of lines on the card with a common idea, such as 2468 or Consecutive Run.

Self-picked

A win with a tile that the winner picked from the wall. Each player pays double.

Sextet

A group of six identical tiles.

Single

One tile that stands alone in a hand, such as each tile of N E W S. No joker can stand for it.

Soap

The usual name for the White Dragon. It is also the zero on the card.

Suit

Dots, Bams or Craks. Each suit has the numbers 1 to 9.

Table rule

A rule that a group agrees on and that is not in the League rules. Also "house rule".

Wall

The row of face-down tiles in front of each rack: 19 stacks of 2 tiles.

Wall game

A game that ends with no winner because the wall is empty. Nobody pays.

Wind

North, East, West or South. The set has four of each.

Zero

The White Dragon used as the digit 0, for example in a year. As a zero it has no suit.

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Related guides

• American mahjong rulesThe full game in plain words, from the deal to the payment.
• American mahjong cheat sheetThe facts that a new player looks up most, on one page. Free to print.
• How many tiles are in American mahjong?152. The count of each kind, the names, and the tiles that new players mix up.
• The Charleston in American mahjongThe six passes in order, the blind pass, the courtesy pass, and what teachers advise.

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