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American Mah Jong Games

Some believe that Mah Jongg was developed in China by the famous philosopher Confucious in the year 500 BC while others believe it was created in the 1800̵7;s. In any case, the first mah jongg sets were sold in America by Abercrombie & Fitch in 1920 in New York. American mah jongg was standardized by the National Mah Jongg League, although there are many variations or ̶0;table rules̶1; played. Today, people play with friends, against the computer and in cyberspace competing with others around the world.

Official Standard Hands and Rules
- The National Mah Jongg League issues a yearly mah jongg card with standard hands and rules. The mah jongg set consists of tiles including the suits craks, bams and dots, matching red, green and white dragons, 8 flowers and 8 jokers. The object of the game is to match the tiles in your hand to a hand printed on the mah jongg card. These hands change from year to year. Players are not allowed to pick or look ahead, so they throw a tile and then pick a tile to replace it. If a player throws a needed tile, you can ̶0;call̶1; the tile and then discard a tile from your hand after ̶0;exposing̶1; (melding) tiles matching the called tile.
The Number of Tiles in a Hand
- Hands listed on the National Mah Jongg League official card consist of 14 tiles. Some players start with all 14 tiles, throwing and picking to produce a mah jongg hand. In another variation, players start with 13 tiles in their hand, and the 14 tile is called the ̶0;future̶1; tile. This future is kept up on the mah jongg rack. In this case, if a player calls another player̵7;s tile, the future must be passed along to the appropriate player, even if the tile is needed for the mah jongg hand.
Table Rules
- There is an endless variety of ̶0;table rules̶1; agreed upon by the members of each mah jongg game. For example, after the initial passing of the tiles to arrive at a starting hand, some players put up to three additional unwanted tiles in the center of the table and pick up three new tiles for a ̶0;mush.̶1; Other players expose one joker in the racked tiles during passing, adding to the anticipation of picking a good beginning hand. Some games play for money, and adhere to a ̶0;one hand̶1; rule. In this case, if a player exposes tiles that indicate he/she can only be playing one maj jongg hand, the player who throws a tile to that player resulting in mah jongg pays for everyone at the table. Most players adhere to the basics of the official rules, with some added components to make the game easier, harder or more interesting.

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