American Mahjong

Guides, culture, and gear for American Mahjong.

A card reading 'NMJL Rules' lies flat on a sunlit wooden table, with a wooden mahjong tile rack and tiles softly out of focus behind it.

How to Read the 2026 NMJL Card (Without Losing Your Mind)

The card comes in the mail sometime in April: a small, laminated, almost cheerful-looking sheet, covered edge to edge in colored text, letters, and numbers that mean nothing to you yet. You unfold it at the kitchen table, and for about thirty seconds you feel like you've forgotten how to read.

Boris Pan · July 3, 2026

Players exchanging tiles, performing the Charleston

Learn·American

The Charleston, Explained: Mahjong's Weirdest, Best Ritual

You've survived your first Charleston. You passed three tiles right because the woman next to you said "pass right" and you did it, three tiles across because someone said "across,"

Boris Pan · July 2, 2026

A rack of American mahjong tiles on a blue felt table, with two players' hands resting nearby and a lit fireplace blurred in the background.

Learn·American

How to Play American Mahjong: A Beginner's Guide

The first time you sit down, the rack defeats you before the tiles do. It is a narrow plastic ledge, and you are supposed to stand fourteen tiles up on it in a tidy row...

Boris Pan · June 30, 2026