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AMERICAN MAH JONGG · BEGINNER PRACTICE
A seat at the table. Learn the target, the Charleston, and the Joker.
✳ Original teaching targets. About ↗
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01 / 08 CARD LITERACY ✳
Read the whole target.
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A DIFFERENT WAY TO BUILD
Follow a line. In American Mahjong, your whole hand follows one target on the current card.
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These drills teach the foundations with original examples. Bring the current card to a real game.
Meet the tiles ↗
EIGHT SMALL STEPS, EXPLORED
Ready to keep learning. Read the whole line. Pass with a plan. Keep Jokers out of singles and pairs. For real play, use the current card and learn its notes and calling rules.
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Skip — go straight to practice THE BIG PICTURE
A card. A rack. A route. Read a complete target. Real American Mahjong uses the current card’s complete hands and notes. Colors usually describe suit relationships, not permanently fixed suits.Do the Charleston. First pass right, then across, then left. Keep your Jokers. A second round needs everyone’s agreement.Draw, decide, discard. Use your turn to work toward a valid card hand. Jokers may help identical groups of three or more, never singles or pairs.Our targets spell out fixed suits to keep these first drills simple. They are original examples, not lines from an NMJL annual card.
Let’s practice → MEET YOUR RACK
A few familiar faces.
A standard American set has 152 tiles: 108 suited tiles, 28 winds and dragons, 8 Flowers, and 8 Jokers. Bams means Bamboo; Craks means Characters. 1 Bam is often a bird. Any natural Flower can fill a Flower position; the pictures and numbers do not affect matching.
ABOUT THIS PRACTICE
Foundations, before a full game. This independent practice teaches basic American Mahjong decisions using original, fixed-suit teaching targets. It does not contain the 2026 NMJL card and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Mah Jongg League.
A completed teaching target is not a declaration of a legal NMJL hand. Real play must match a full line on the current card, including suit, number, exposure and other requirements.
The first Charleston order and the no-Joker rule are covered here. Blind passes, the optional second Charleston, courtesy passes, scoring, full calling rules, opponents and a complete game are not simulated.
Match counts compare only the two displayed teaching targets. They are not win probabilities or a recommendation for every real table.
All choices stay on your device. There are no accounts, payments, analytics or online opponents in this practice.
A FRESH START
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