How to set up and deal American mahjong

Before you start

• Take out the 152 tiles you play with: 108 suit tiles, 16 winds, 12 dragons, 8 flowers and 8 jokers. Put spare flowers, jokers and blanks back in the case.
• Each player needs a rack, ideally with a pusher, and their own card.
• A mat is optional but keeps the noise down and the tiles from sliding.

Building the walls

1. Turn all the tiles face down and shuffle them around the middle of the table. Everyone helps.
2. Each player builds a row of 19 tiles, then stacks another 19 on top, making a wall two high (38 tiles).
3. Push your wall forward with your rack or pusher so the four walls form a square.

If someone's wall ends up a stack short or long, the sets usually just need a recount: 4 walls × 38 = 152.

Choosing East

1. Each player rolls the dice. The highest roller is East, the dealer for the first hand.
2. The other seats follow to East's right: South, West, North. Play always moves to the right.

Breaking the wall

1. East rolls the two dice and counts that many stacks from the right end of their own wall.
2. East separates the wall at that point. Dealing starts from the stacks just to the left of the break.

Dealing

1. East takes two stacks (four tiles). Then South, West and North each take four in turn.
2. Repeat until everyone has 12 tiles.
3. East then takes two more tiles and the others take one each, so East has 14 and everyone else 13.
4. Everyone stands their tiles up on their rack, facing themselves, and starts sorting.

Next comes the Charleston, then East discards to start play.

Tips for a faster setup

• Agree who builds which wall and push walls in together.
• Count stacks, not tiles: 19 stacks per wall.
• Sort your hand by suit first, then winds, dragons, flowers and jokers, before reading the card.

Common questions

How many tiles are in each wall?

Each player builds a wall 19 tiles long and two tiles high, so 38 tiles. Four walls hold all 152 tiles.

Who deals first in American mahjong?

Each player rolls the dice and the highest roller becomes East, the first dealer. After each hand, the deal passes to the right.

How many tiles does East get?

East gets 14 tiles and the other players get 13. East starts the game by discarding one tile, usually after the Charleston.

Which way does play go?

To the right, which is counter-clockwise around the table.

Sources: Wikipedia: American mahjong; The Mahjong Line, American Mahjong 101; Tom Sloper, FAQ 13A (dealing four at a time). Groups differ on small details like where to count from; follow your table.