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Meet the tiles

American mahjong, lesson 1. All 152 tiles, and how to tell them apart.

1. There are 152 tiles

They come in 7 kinds. You'll meet each one.

  • 5 Dot: Dots
  • 1 Bam: Bams
  • 5 Crak: Craks
  • East: Winds
  • Red Dragon: Dragons
  • Flower: Flowers
  • Joker: Jokers
Go to step 1

2. Dots (1 of 7)

Dots are one of 3 suits. Each suit goes from 1 to 9. Read the corner or count the circles.

  • 1 Dot
  • 2 Dot
  • 3 Dot
  • 4 Dot
  • 5 Dot
  • 6 Dot
  • 7 Dot
  • 8 Dot
  • 9 Dot
Go to step 2

3. Bams (2 of 7)

Short for bamboo. Count the sticks or read the corner. The 1 Bam is a bird.

  • 1 Bam
  • 2 Bam
  • 3 Bam
  • 4 Bam
  • 5 Bam
  • 6 Bam
  • 7 Bam
  • 8 Bam
  • 9 Bam
Go to step 3

4. Craks (3 of 7)

Read the number in the corner. You don't need to learn the Chinese characters.

  • 1 Crak
  • 2 Crak
  • 3 Crak
  • 4 Crak
  • 5 Crak
  • 6 Crak
  • 7 Crak
  • 8 Crak
  • 9 Crak
Go to step 4

5. Which suit is this?

  1. Question: What is this? [6 Dot]

    Answer: Dots

  2. Question: What is this? [4 Bam]

    Answer: Bams

  3. Question: What is this? [2 Crak]

    Answer: Craks

  4. Question: What is this? [1 Bam]

    Answer: Bams

  5. Question: What is this? [8 Crak]

    Answer: Craks

Go to step 5

6. Winds (4 of 7)

Four winds: North, East, West and South. Read the letter in the corner.

  • North
  • East
  • West
  • South
Go to step 6

7. Dragons (5 of 7)

Three dragons. Each one goes with a suit.

  • Red goes with Craks: Red Dragon, 1 Crak
  • Green goes with Bams: Green Dragon, 2 Bam
  • Soap goes with Dots: Soap, 1 Dot

Note: The white dragon is called Soap. Soap can also be a zero. Some hands spell out the year: [2 Dot, Soap, 2 Dot, 6 Dot] = 2026

Go to step 7

8. Flowers (6 of 7)

There are 8 flowers. The pictures can differ. They all count as the same tile.

  • Flower
  • Flower
  • Flower
  • Flower
Go to step 8

9. Jokers (7 of 7)

There are 8 jokers. A joker can stand in for any tile in a set of 3 or more.

  • Yes (Set of 3): 5 Dot, 5 Dot, Joker
  • No (Never in a pair): North, Joker
Go to step 9

10. Quiz: Name that tile

  1. Question: What is this? [5 Bam]

    Answer: 5 Bam

  2. Question: What is this? [East]

    Answer: East

  3. Question: What is this? [Green Dragon]

    Answer: Green Dragon

  4. Question: What is this? [7 Crak]

    Answer: 7 Crak

  5. Question: What is this? [Soap]

    Answer: Soap

  6. Question: What is this? [Joker]

    Answer: Joker

Go to step 10

What this lesson teaches

  • There are 152 tiles: Dots, Bams and Craks, numbered 1 to 9.
  • There are also winds, dragons, 8 flowers and 8 jokers.
  • Read the number in the corner of each tile.

Lesson 1: Meet the tiles

All 152 tiles, and how to tell them apart.

There are 152 tiles

They come in 7 kinds. You'll meet each one.

Dots
Bams
Craks
Winds
Dragons
Flowers
Jokers
Tap a tile to see its name

Turn your phone upright to see the whole lesson.