Mahjong Guide

Sooner or later somebody at the table says the word: dead. The room goes quiet for a second, one player sets her tiles down, and the game keeps rolling without her. If you’re new, it feels like a punishment. It isn’t. A dead hand is just the game’s way of saying that hand can no…

If you’ve watched a game of American mahjong for the first time, you’ve probably seen it: a player squinting at a small paper card like it holds the secrets of the universe. It kind of does. That card is the official annual rule sheet from the National Mah Jongg League, and in American mahjong it…