The rules you forget, on one sheet of paper.

The 152 tiles

Suits	Craks, bams, dots. 1 to 9, four of each.	108
Winds	East, South, West, North. Four of each.	16
Dragons	Red, Green, White (the soap). Four of each.	12
Flowers	All eight count as the same tile.	8
Jokers	Wild, in groups of three or more.	8

Dragons and their suits

Red	goes with craks
Green	goes with bams
Soap	goes with dots, and is the zero in year hands

The groups

Identical means same number and same suit. A quint always needs at least one joker.

The deal

Each wall is 19 stacks, two tiles high. Everyone takes 13 tiles. East, the dealer, takes 14 and discards first.

The Charleston

First Charleston. Everyone plays it. Three tiles each pass.

Right→Across→Left

Then vote. A second Charleston happens only if all four players agree.

Left→Across→Right

Courtesy pass. You and the player across trade 0 to 3 tiles. The smaller number wins.

• Blind pass: on the last pass of each Charleston you may send on 1 to 3 of the tiles you just received, unseen.
• Never pass a joker.
• Pass face-down. Pass first, then pick up.

What to pass

• Keep pairs, pungs, and flowers.
• Choose a family your rack leans toward: evens, odds, one suit, winds.
• Pass the tiles that fit nothing: lone winds, lone dragons, stray numbers.
• Sort and look again after every pass.

A turn

Draw→Decide→Discard and name it

• Play moves to the right, counter-clockwise.
• You hold 13 tiles between turns, counting exposed groups.
• A discard can be claimed only until the next player racks their tile.
• No winner when the wall runs out is a wall game. Nobody pays.

Calling a discard

You may call to finish a pung, kong, or quint, or to win. Never for a pair, unless that pair wins the hand.

2 in your rack + the discard	Pung
3 in your rack + the discard	Kong
1 in your rack + the discard	A pair. Pass.

Jokers in your rack count toward the group.

1. Say the tile, then the call: "Five dot, pung." Some tables just say "call."
2. Take it and lay the whole group face-up.
3. Discard. Play continues from your right.

Two callers: mahjong wins. Otherwise the next player in turn.

The cost: an exposed group is public and permanent, and it closes every concealed (C) hand.

Jokers

• Yes in a pung, kong, or quint. Never in a pair or as a single.
• Never passed in the Charleston.
• A discarded joker is dead. Nobody may call it.
• Exchange: on your own turn, after you draw, trade the real tile for a joker in anyone's exposed group. Say "Exchanging for the joker."

Say it out loud

Discarding	Name the tile. "Three crak."
Calling	"Five dot, pung."
Winning	"Mahjong." Then show the hand.

Reading the card

222 · 4444	A pung of 2s. A kong of 4s.
F · N E W S · D	Flower. The winds. Dragon.
0	The soap, used as zero.
Colors	How many suits the hand uses. Never which ones.
X	Exposed. You may call discards for it.
C	Concealed. No calls except the winning tile.

The families

Year	The year's digits, soap for zero
2468	Even numbers
13579	Odd numbers
369	Threes, sixes, nines
Like numbers	One number in all three suits
Consecutive run	Numbers in a row
Addition	Small sums, like 3 + 6 = 9
Quints	Five of a kind, with jokers
Winds and dragons	Mostly tiles without numbers
Singles and pairs	No jokers. Always concealed.

Scoring

Won on a discard	The discarder pays double. The others pay the hand's value.
Self-picked	Everyone pays double.
No jokers	Double again. Not for singles and pairs hands.

Ask before you start

• Do we always play the second Charleston?
• How do we settle two calls on one tile?
• Money, points, or nothing?