How Many Tiles are in American Mahjong

There are 152 tiles in American Mahjong. Some sets include extra tiles or jokers; however, the standard American mahjong set is made up of 152 tiles. American mahjong plays hands determined by a card from the National Mah Jongg League.

Here is the breakdown:

·         Suits - made up of a total of 108 tiles: 36 Bamboo or Bams, 36 Characters or Craks, 36 Dots numbers 1 – 9, four of each

·         Winds – made up of 16 tiles: 4 North, 4 East, 4 West, 4 South 

·         Dragons – made up of 12 tiles: 4 Green, 4 Red, 4 White

·         Flowers – made up of 8 tiles: 8 Flower tiles

·         Jokers – made up of 8 tiles: 8 Jokers

The goal of the game is to create a specific hand that is published by the National Mah Jongg League. The game includes moves called Pung, which is a hand of 3 identical tiles, Kong, which is a hand made up of 4 identical tiles, and Quints, which is a hand of  5 identical tiles.   Jokers are used as wild cards, allowing for Quint, a 5-tile hand. The tiles are arranged in a wall that is typically made of 19 stacks in front of each player's racks.

Mahjong isn’t difficult to learn, but it does take patience and lots of practice.  Some easy hands are consecutive runs like 1-2-3-4 or 3-4-5-6 or 2-4-6-8 and 1-3-5-7-9. Also, any like numbers hand like all 7s. It’s best to look for patterns when you are just starting to learn the game. Don’t try to memorize all hands, focus on one or two sections, like consecutive runs at first, and then expand as you get the hang of the game.  The hardest part of the game is learning the game is learning the scoring card and understanding the card rules.

You can find the latest rules and the annual NMJL card here: National Mah Jongg League