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You answered like an American mahjong table. Here is what that means when you go to buy.
The American game is played against a card of hands published once a year. Jokers act as wild cards inside groups of three or more, and play opens with the Charleston, a passing sequence that exists in no other variant. Those three things drive every equipment choice below.
You will see three numbers on American sets, and they are not competing claims, they are different products.
| 152 | The playing standard: 144 tiles plus eight jokers. Everything the game needs, nothing spare. |
|---|---|
| 160 | The most common retail set today, adds two extra jokers and six blanks to replace a lost tile. |
| 166 | A hybrid: the American set plus the seasons a Chinese game uses. One box, both games. |
Any of the three plays American mahjong. Choose 166 if a Chinese or riichi player also sits at your table.
| Jokers | Required. Chinese and Japanese sets do not include them. |
|---|---|
| Racks | One per player. Exposed sets sit on top of the rack where the table can see them. |
| Pushers | Attach to the racks and move the wall forward, worth having if anyone at the table has stiff hands. |
| The annual card | Sold separately by the League. Every player needs her own copy. |
| Tile size | Larger tiles read better across a full table. Check legibility before engraving or colour. |
Flowers and seasons come in most sets and are used in the American game, so a set sold as “Chinese” is not automatically wrong, but it will be missing jokers, and jokers cannot be improvised. Buying a set without them is the most common false economy for a new group.
American mahjong sets → Racks and pushers → Tiles →
The current year's card is sold by the National Mah Jongg League. We track its release on our 2027 card page.
← Retake the quiz · Read American vs Chinese Mahjong: What's the Difference
Independent, not affiliated with the National Mah Jongg League. The annual card is sold by the League; order it here.
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