American Mahjong Charleston

The Charleston is the opening pass that gives American Mahjong its early strategy. You pass unwanted tiles and reshape your hand before normal play.

Practice while you read Open the American Mahjong trainer to try the Charleston, jokers and card-style hands.

The passing order

The common first Charleston passes three tiles right, three across and three left.

Some tables add a second Charleston, blind pass or courtesy pass, but beginners should master the first sequence first.

Pass isolated tiles, weak suit fragments and tiles that do not support your target hand.

Keep strong pairs, flowers, jokers and groups that clearly match your chosen practice card.

In standard American Mahjong teaching, jokers are not passed during the Charleston.

That restriction protects the value of jokers and makes your early tile choices more meaningful.

Three tiles per Charleston pass.

No. Standard American Mahjong rules do not allow passing jokers in the Charleston.