Learn

How the Charleston Works, in Five Minutes

Every hand of American Mahjong starts before the first tile is drawn. It's called the Charleston — a short, choreographed exchange of tiles between the four players — and it takes about five minutes to learn and a lifetime to get good at. Here's the whole thing.

The shape of it

The Charleston is two rounds of three passes. In each pass, every player selects three tiles from their rack, places them face down, and passes them to a neighbor — all four players at once.

Round one:

1. Pass Right
2. Pass Across (to the player facing you)
3. Pass Left

Round two:

4. Pass Left
5. Pass Across
6. Pass Right

The memory line: Right, Across, Left — then Left, Across, Right. When the Charleston ends, there's also the courtesy pass: an optional swap of up to 3 tiles with the player across from you, before the first discard.

What you're actually doing

Eighteen tiles move through your rack during a full Charleston — more than the thirteen you were dealt. That's the point. The Charleston is your one chance to shape a dealt hand toward a hand on the card before play begins:

• Shed what doesn't fit. Tiles that don't belong to the family you're aiming at are your pass material.
• Protect pairs and beginnings. A pair is the seed of a pung. Don't pass away your only structure to chase a prettier idea.
• Watch what comes back. Tiles that return to you in later passes tell you something about what your neighbors are building — and what they're not.

A common beginner mistake is passing on instinct, three tiles at a time, without a hand in mind. Decide your direction first — even a rough one — and let the passes serve it.

Two honest notes

After the third pass, the table votes on whether to roll into the second Charleston: any "No" ends it there — continuing takes every player voting "Yes." And in Mahj & Friends, the Charleston is part of the full 4-Player game (including the courtesy exchange) — Quick Play and Double Mahj get you to the first draw faster, by design.

Practice the passes without a table

Reading about the Charleston is one thing; feeling the rhythm of the passes is another. In Mahj & Friends you can play a full 4-Player game — Charleston included — against bots in Practice Mode, at your own pace, with nothing counted toward your stats. Six practice problems and four short lessons are in there too.

Mahj & Friends is not affiliated with the National Mah Jongg League.