1The three suits: Bams, Craks and Dots
Count the sticks for Bams, count the circles for Dots, and read the top character for Craks.
| Suit | How to spot it | Tiles 1 to 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Bams | Green bamboo sticks. The 1 Bam is a bird. | |
| Craks | A Chinese number on top, the red 萬 below. | |
| Dots | Round circles, also called coins or balls. |
2The four Winds
North 北, East 東, West 西, South 南. The corner letter always tells you which.
There are four of each Wind, 16 in all. Winds are not part of any suit. On most cards they appear as letters: N, E, W, S.
3The three Dragons
Each Dragon belongs to a suit: Green with Bams, Red with Craks, Soap with Dots.
| Dragon | Picture | Goes with | Also called |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Dragon | Bams | Green, 發 (fa) | |
| Red Dragon | Craks | Red, 中 (zhong) | |
| White Dragon | Dots | Soap. Also used as zero (0) on the card. |
4Flowers and Jokers
There are 8 Flowers and 8 Jokers. All Flowers count as the same tile.
- Flowers can show different pictures, but they all count as one kind of tile. A hand that asks for FF needs any two Flowers.
- Jokers stand in for any tile in a group of three or more. Read the full joker rules.
5How the Tile Trainer works
Fifteen short questions, easiest first. You see the right answer and the reason every time.
- Seven kinds of questions: tile names, suits, Crak numbers, Winds, which suit a Dragon goes with, group names (pair, pung, kong, quint) and joker rules.
- Points: 10 for each right answer, plus a bonus for answers in a row.
- Stars: 3 stars for 90% or better, 2 for 70%, 1 for 40%.
- Review: at the end you see every tile you missed, with its right answer.
- Your best score is saved on your own device. No account needed.
Questions people ask
How many different tiles are there in American mahjong?
There are 42 different tiles: 27 suit tiles (Bams, Craks and Dots, 1 to 9), 4 Winds, 3 Dragons, the Flower and the Joker. A full set has 152 tiles because most tiles come four times, and Flowers and Jokers come eight times.
What are the three suits in American mahjong?
Bams (bamboo sticks), Craks (Chinese characters) and Dots (circles). Each suit has tiles numbered 1 to 9.
Why is the 1 Bam a bird?
By tradition, the 1 Bam shows a bird, often a peacock or sparrow, instead of a single bamboo stick. It still counts as the number 1 in the Bam suit.
Why is the White Dragon called Soap?
The White Dragon is often a plain tile with a frame, which looks like a bar of soap. On the card it can also stand for zero, as in year hands.
Do I need to read Chinese to play American mahjong?
No. American sets print small numbers and letters in the corners, so you can read every tile in English.