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Mahjong variant · United States

American Mahjong

· also called American Mah Jongg, NMJL Mahjong Not in Mahjiku yet

American mahjong (NMJL rules) is a four-player game where legal hands are defined entirely by an officially published card that changes every year, played with 152 tiles including 8 wildcard jokers and preceded by the Charleston tile-passing ritual.

Players
4
Tiles
152
Hand size
13 + winning tile
Scored in
points (card-assigned)
Played in
United States
Learning curve
advanced

The tiles

Total152
SuitsCraks, Bams, Dots — 1–9, four of each
HonoursWinds (E/S/W/N) and Dragons (Red/Green/White) — cannot substitute for suited tiles
Flowers8 flowers — a distinct honor category; how many a hand needs is set by that year's card
Jokers8 jokers — wild only in groups of three or more (pungs/kongs/quints), never singly or in a pair

152 total = 108 suited + 16 winds + 12 dragons + 8 flowers + 8 jokers.

How you win & score

A winning hand: A hand must exactly match one of the patterns printed on that year's official NMJL card — not a generic four-sets-plus-pair shape.

Scoring: Each pattern on the annually-published card carries a preset point value (commonly 25–75); self-draw and jokerless wins double the score.

Unitpoints (card-assigned)
Systemfixed point value per card pattern
Minimum to win25 points is the lowest-value hand on the card
Limitno universal cap; the highest patterns (Singles & Pairs) reach ~75 points

Who pays: Commonly: on a discard win the discarder pays double the hand's points and the other two pay the base amount; on a self-draw all three pay double.

What makes American mahjong distinct

In Mahjiku. American mahjong is defined by the annual NMJL card and jokers — a different game from faan scoring, not supported in Mahjiku.

Compare American with other variants

American vs Hong KongAmerican vs RiichiAmerican vs Chinese OfficialAmerican vs TaiwaneseAmerican vs Singaporean

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · nationalmahjonggleague.org

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