Mahjong Guide

Most new players learn American mahjong by taking tiles from wherever they show up. That works, right up until a hand on the card asks for something stricter: everything in one suit. When that happens the game gets quieter and a little meaner, because you have to throw away a pile of perfectly good tiles…

The first thing most people notice about an American mahjong set is the noise of the tiles. The second thing, once they slow down, is a small group of tiles that don’t behave like the rest. No numbers, no suits you can line up in a run. These are the winds and the dragons, and…