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American Mahjong

Western Mahjong Set - Poppy

The western form of the game, 166 tiles with 4 colour racks and pushers, packed in a black bag that keeps the table together.

4 rack colours, so everyone keeps her seat all evening
Tiles and racks in one bag, never split across two drawers
166 tiles with jokers, the western game rather than the traditional 144
Pushers included, so the wall moves in one piece

$324.99

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Flat $9.95 shipping · 30-day returns from delivery

Western, American, mah jongg

The same game goes by several names, and the naming causes real confusion at the point of purchase. Western mahjong, American mahjong and mah jongg all describe the 166 tile game played from a National Mah Jongg League card, with jokers. Chinese mahjong is the 144 tile game, has no jokers, and is scored differently.

They do not share equipment. If someone has asked you for a mahjong set and plays in an American league, this is the count they need.

4 colours, 4 seats

The racks come in 4 colours. In a group that plays weekly, this quietly solves a recurring problem: a hand left on a rack while somebody takes a phone call is identifiable, and nobody rebuilds at the wrong seat after a break.

The pushers do the mechanical work. On a 166 tile game the wall is long, and moving it by hand is how tiles get knocked flat.

The bag

Not glamorous and the most useful thing here after the tiles. Mahjong sets fail by dispersal rather than by breakage: the tiles are in one place, the racks in another, the dice went missing years ago. A bag that holds all of it keeps the set a set.

Care

Damp cloth for the tiles. Do not store the bag in a hot car boot through a summer, which is what warps racks and yellows tiles.

Who it suits

A first complete set for someone joining an American or western game, or a replacement for a set that has lost its racks.

166 tiles
4 racks with pushers in 4 colours
1 black carrying bag
The annual National Mah Jongg League card is not included

Tiles: 166
Set weight: 0.0 lb (0.01 kg)

Tiles	166
Material	Plastic
Racks	4, with pushers, four colours
Bag	Black
Age	14 and over

Three things tell you more about a set than its price.

Weight. A full-size set runs around 2 to 3 kg; a travel set can be under 1 kg. That difference is what you feel when you shuffle, and it is listed in the specifications on every page here.

Material. Melamine and acrylic give a bright click. Stone, bone and denser composites are duller and heavier in the hand. Neither is better: they suit different tables.

Tile size. From 30 mm upward reads comfortably from the seat opposite. Between 24 and 29 mm suits two players better than four. Below 24 mm is made to pack, not to read at a distance.

You do not need an expensive set to play well. You need one your table can read and you are happy to handle.

Orders are processed within 1 to 2 business days, with tracking on every parcel. Delivery across the United States takes 10 to 25 days and costs $9.95, one flat rate charged once per order whatever the number of items.

Changed your mind? You have 30 days from delivery to request a return, unused and in its original packaging. Approved refunds go back to your original payment method within 3 business days.

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Play tonight

Tiles, and everything the case holds, in one box. Unwrap it, deal a hand, and your table is running.

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The sound alone

Shuffling a real set is half the pleasure. Weight in your hand, that clack across the table: you can hear it before you see it.

history

Yours for twenty years

A set outlasts the group it started with. Choose one you'll still want on the table when someone else is dealing.

Frequently asked questions

Different counts and different equipment. Chinese mahjong is 144 tiles with no jokers, scored on its own rules. Western mahjong, also called American, is the 166 tile game played from a card published each spring by the National Mah Jongg League, and the jokers are what the hands on that card are built from. The two do not share sets. This one is the western count, with racks and pushers for 4 seats.

The part most first buyers underrate is what holds the game together between sessions. Sets are lost by dispersal rather than by breakage: tiles in one drawer, racks in another, the dice gone years ago. This one packs 166 tiles and 4 racks with pushers into a single black bag. The 4 rack colours also keep seats straight in a weekly group, so nobody rebuilds a hand at the wrong wall after a break.

You are buying a table, not a box of tiles. Past the 166 tiles there are 4 moulded racks, 4 pushers and a bag built to carry all of it, and each of those is a separate tool with its own moulding cost. On a 166 tile game the wall is long, which is why the pushers exist at all. A cheaper set usually drops the racks, and racks are the piece people end up buying a second time.

Western mahjong is not an equivalent of the game, it is a form of it. Mahjong reached the United States in the 1920s, and the American version settled around a 166 tile set with jokers, played from a card of standing hands the National Mah Jongg League has published every year since 1937. Same suits, same wall building, different count and different scoring from the Chinese game.

Play in Style with The Mahjong Section

A mahjong set is handled more than almost anything else in the house: every tile passes through four pairs of hands, several times a game.

That is what we select for. Tiles that read clearly from the far side of the table, edges that stay clean, and a case that still closes after a few seasons of being carried around.

A Set Worth Collecting

Sets differ in ways that only show at the table: the weight of a tile in the hand, how a crak reads from three seats away, whether the case survives the trip to a friend’s house.

When we have the figures, we publish them: tile count, tile size, weight and material. When we do not have one, we leave it out rather than guess.