Before a single tile is drawn, American Mah Jongg makes every player hand tiles to the people beside them — three at a time, in a fixed order. It is called the Charleston, no other mahjong tradition has anything like it, and it is the reason a hopeless deal is rarely actually hopeless.
It is also the most social thing in the game. Nobody speaks, and everybody learns something.
The seven passes, in order
- Three to your right.
- Three across the table.
- Three to your left — blind. You may pass on tiles you have not looked at.
Then the table votes. If all four players want more, it runs again the other way round:
- Three to your left.
- Three across.
- Three to your right — blind.
And finally, always:
- The courtesy pass, across the table. Nought to three tiles, exchanged at the lower of the two players' offers.
The blind pass
On the third pass and the sixth, you can push tiles straight through without looking at them. Take the three arriving, and slide one, two or three of them onward face-down.
It sounds reckless and it is not. By the third pass a good hand already knows roughly what it wants, and looking at three more tiles you have no intention of keeping just slows everyone down. The risk is real but small: you might pass along exactly the tile you needed. Most players pass blind when their hand is close and look when it isn't.
Jokers never move in the Charleston, in either direction — which is what makes a blind pass survivable.
The vote
The second Charleston needs everyone. One player saying no ends it. So the vote itself is information: a table that unanimously wants more passing is a table where nobody has much, and a single refusal usually means somebody is already close.
What to pass
- Whatever your line cannot use. Obvious, and still the main thing — pick a section of the card early and pass against it.
- Not your flowers, at first. A lot of lines want them, and they are the easiest tiles to give away and then need.
- Odd or even, decisively. If your hand leans even, the 13579 section is dead to you and every odd tile is spare. Committing gets you three useful tiles instead of six mediocre ones.
- Never a joker. You cannot anyway, but it is the instinct to unlearn.
What to watch
Everything you receive is a fact about somebody. A tile handed to you twice is a tile two players don't want. A player who suddenly stops passing you dots has probably just committed to dots. None of this is hidden information — it was handed to you — and noticing it is most of what separates a good Charleston from a lucky one.
Common questions
Is the Charleston compulsory?
The first three passes are. The second three happen only if all four players agree, and the courtesy pass at the end can be zero tiles.
Can you pass a joker in the Charleston?
No. Jokers never move during the Charleston — you keep any you were dealt. That is also why a blind pass is safe to accept: nobody can hand you a joker, and nobody can take one off you.
What is a blind pass in mahjong?
The third and sixth passes let you push on tiles you have not looked at. You take the three coming towards you and, without turning them over, pass one, two or three of them straight along. It is how you get rid of tiles fast when your hand is already close.
What does the courtesy pass mean?
The last pass, across the table, of nought to three tiles — and it is exchanged at the lower of the two offers. If you want three and the player opposite offers one, you each pass one.
Getting the reps in
More Mahjong runs the full seven-pass Charleston — the blind passes, the vote and the courtesy exchange at the lower offer — against three opponents who pass like players rather than randomly. It is the fastest way to get the sequence into your hands before Tuesday. See also the full rules and the one rule about jokers.
