# Meet the tiles (American mahjong, lesson 1)

All 152 tiles, and how to tell them apart. Interactive version: https://learnmahjongquick.com/learn-american-mahjong/meet-the-tiles

### 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

### 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

### 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

### 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

### 5. Which suit is this?

- Q: What is this? [6 Dot] A: Dots
- Q: What is this? [4 Bam] A: Bams
- Q: What is this? [2 Crak] A: Craks
- Q: What is this? [1 Bam] A: Bams
- Q: What is this? [8 Crak] A: Craks

### 6. Winds (4 of 7)

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

- North
- East
- West
- South

### 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

### 8. Flowers (6 of 7)

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

- Flower
- Flower
- Flower
- Flower

### 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

### 10. Quiz: Name that tile

- Q: What is this? [5 Bam] A: 5 Bam
- Q: What is this? [East] A: East
- Q: What is this? [Green Dragon] A: Green Dragon
- Q: What is this? [7 Crak] A: 7 Crak
- Q: What is this? [Soap] A: Soap
- Q: What is this? [Joker] A: Joker

## 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.