Think You Can Learn American Mah Jongg in One Quick, Easy Lesson? Think Again!
If anyone claims you can learn to play American Mah Jongg in one easy lesson, they are lying. This is a complicated version of the game. I have taught perhaps over 200 newbies how to play Modern American Mah Jongg over the past 10 years. I know what I am talking about. Do not believe everything you read on the internet.
I recently ran across an article online about playing American Mah Jongg. I am thinking it must have been written by an especially inept version of AI. There was so much wrong advice in this guide that by the time I finished reading, I was so upset I was literally shaking.
Here is the real scoop that perhaps not too many people will tell you. Learning American Mah Jongg is a challenge! It’s a bit like the card game, rummy in that you will be collecting certain combinations of tiles (rather than playing cards) that are called, “runs” and “sets.” But American Mah Jongg takes off in a different direction than the countless Asian versions of the game of Mahjong.
We don’t just put together “hands” willy-nilly with various sets and runs. If you are looking for an easy version of Mah Jongg like that, you can learn Taiwanese Mahjong, for instance. For the American version, we use a “Card” (typically the one produced by the National Mah Jongg League, NMJL for short) that guides us while we play.
This Card has 60+ hands printed on it, and when you play American Mah Jongg, you find some hands on the Card that your tiles might eventually match. If you are the first player at your table to put together a hand that matches one on the Card, then you win by proudly declaring, “Mah Jongg!”
Simple? Ha! When you first see the Card, you will think you need an interpreter. It will look overwhelming to you. It’s so full of information, numbers, letters, and different colored type, some in navy blue, some in red, some in green. What do the colors mean? What is an “F”? What is a “D”? Why so much information in parentheses? What’s the difference between a hand that has a “C” by it and all those that have an “X” by them?
All in good time, my student. Your first goal is to learn the tiles. How many are there in an American Mah Jongg set? What are the different tiles called? You see numbers, but is there a tile that can be used as a “zero”? Do I need to be good at math to play American Mah Jongg? All good questions.
Is this game anything like the solitaire matching game so many people play on their phones? Let’s get that out of the way first. The answer is, No. Not really. Okay, the tiles are similar. But that’s about it.
For a person first coming to the game, these are just a few of the questions you might ask. I can answer each one and many American Mah Jongg teachers across the country can help a new player get up to speed. But if anyone promises to teach you the game in one easy, quick lesson, beware. In my experience, it is simply untrue.
Oh, I have met several people over the years who have caught on very quickly. These people were not your typical woman or man who is interested in learning how to play American Mah Jongg. They were either very experienced at card games in general, or serious table-game players, so they already had the mindset required when thinking about the game. They were used to mentally assessing the odds of increasing their chances of winning, depending on which decisions they made on the fly in the heat of a game.
If this doesn’t sound like you, don’t fret. As long as you have some idea of how gin rummy is played, or have played “Rummy Cube” or other games based on making sets and runs, you will most likely do fine.
But if you have a hard time distinguishing odd numbers from even numbers, or if you don’t know what the word consecutive means, umm, you may have a more difficult time learning American Mah Jongg. There are a few more prerequisites that I would say are important to have under your belt before tackling this fun, if confusing American version of the ancient game of Mahjongg.
Did you notice I sometimes spell it differently? In my popular guide book, “Let’s Play Modern American Mah Jongg, A Flipbook Reference Guide,” I spell it this way: two words, “Mah” then “Jongg.” But you will often see it spelled as one word, “Mahjong” – and with only one “g” at the end. The Asian versions of the game are usually spelled this one-word way. I use the spelling that the NMJL does. But does it really matter? Maybe not. Seems like this game has spread across the country like wildfire, and I now see people refer to the American version using the Asian spelling. I think the different spellings are becoming interchangeable.
On to what I think you will need to know in coming to the table for your first lesson in American Mah Jongg. Here’s a handy list:
Expect to feel overwhelmed at the beginning.
You will be given so much information that your brain will only be able to absorb some of it.
Your teacher will have to tell you many times certain rules that seem arbitrary (and maybe unfair, even) because you will not remember them all.
The Card will drive you crazy at first.
Be patient with yourself.
If you must win every game you play in order to have “fun” – then American Mahj is not for you.
If you don’t like making mistakes as you learn something new, good luck.
Yes, I said “Mahj” up there. We experienced players sometimes call it that. Or MJ. Some people pronounce it differently too. I say, MAH-jonnggg. Some say, mah-JONGG. Whatever. Get over it.
Plan to take several 2-hour lessons before you can play with any confidence.
Learn with friends! Gather 2 or 3 other people in your life who are curious about the game and learn together. It will be a lot more fun. You can progress together. You can laugh with each other when one of you makes a mistake. You can celebrate your wins together.
Find a good teacher! Learn in person. Get the feel of the tiles. Listen to the click-clack when the tiles are being “shuffled.” Enjoy the sensory experience of playing Mah Jongg.
Most of all, come to the table with realistic expectations. If you’ve read somewhere on the internet that you can learn how to play American Mah Jong in one quick, easy, 10-minute lesson, HA! Not going to happen, my friend. It’s a challenge. But that’s what makes learning how to play the game so satisfying.
Do you remember when you first learned to drive a car? I do. (Well, not when YOU first learned how to drive a car, Silly. You know what I mean.) I remember as an 8th or 9th grader watching my friend’s mom drive us to school or watching my mom or dad with the stick shift I was thinking, that looks hard. Then when I took driver’s ed and driver’s training, there was so much to pay attention to. I remember asking myself, how does anyone do it? You have to be looking in the rearview mirror, and the sideview mirrors constantly, and you have to pay attention to the road out in front of you, your feet have to control the pedals, you have to steer, and brake, and use turn signals. Oh, my. All this simultaneously. But little by little, I learned how to drive. Did I learn in a quick, easy, 10-minute lesson? Same with American Mah Jongg.
It takes time to get the hang of the game. Your brain is making new connections. The more often you play, the stronger the connections become. After a while, certain aspects of the game become automatic. Like driving. You won’t have to consciously remind yourself of every little aspect of the game once you’ve played it on a regular basis for a while. How long will it take? For some, not long, perhaps a few weeks. For others, maybe a few months. But if you know the difference between odd and even numbers, you enjoy playing card games like rummy, and you are not intimidated by having to estimate the odds of increasing your chances of winning by making one decision instead of another in an instant. . . and you enjoy the challenge of learning something new and want to make some new life-long friends, then what are you waiting for?
