How to Set Up Mah Jongg: Step-by-Step Table Setup
Setting up the table is the first thing every new player learns. Here is the standard mah jongg set up for a four-player American game.
What you need
- A complete set of 152 tiles, see how many tiles are in a mahjong set
- Four racks, ideally racks with pushers
- Two dice
- A mahjong mat to protect the table and quiet the tiles
- This year's card of hands for each player
Step 1: Seat the players
Four players sit on the four sides of a square table, each with a rack in front of them. Roll the dice to choose East, the dealer. The other seats follow counter-clockwise: South, West and North.
Step 2: Shuffle
Turn all tiles face down in the middle of the table and mix them with both hands. Everyone helps.
Step 3: Build the wall
Each player builds a wall 19 tiles long and two tiles high (38 tiles) and lines it up against the front of their rack. With a pusher, you can slide the whole wall forward in one move.
Step 4: Break the wall
East rolls the dice and counts that many stacks from the right end of their own wall, then separates the wall at that point. Dealing starts from there.
Step 5: Deal
Going around the table, each player takes two stacks (four tiles) at a time until everyone has 12 tiles. East then takes two more tiles and everyone else takes one, so East has 14 tiles and the others have 13. Stand your tiles on your rack facing you.
Next: the Charleston
With the table set up, players pass tiles in the Charleston and the game begins. Read the full rules in how to play mahjong.
Setting up your first table? Browse American mahjong sets with everything you need to start.