Free large-print mahjong cheat sheet
One page, big type, made to sit beside your rack. Use your browser's Print button (or press Ctrl+P, or Command+P on a Mac). The site menus will not print. If you have set your house rules, this sheet follows them.
The Charleston
First Charleston (required): right, across, left, three tiles each pass. Second Charleston (optional): left, across, right.
No. The second Charleston happens only if all four players agree, so any one player can stop it.
Yes, on the last pass of each Charleston: the first left, and the last right of the second Charleston. You may pass on some or all of the tiles you just received without looking at them.
After the Charleston, players across from each other may trade 0 to 3 tiles. If you ask for different numbers, both pass the lower number.
No. Jokers may never be passed in the Charleston, including in a blind pass.
Jokers
A joker can stand in for any tile, but only in a group of three or more matching tiles: a pung, kong or quint, including groups of flowers, winds or dragons.
No. Never in a pair and never as a single tile. Every single and pair must be real tiles.
Yes, on your turn, after you have picked or called and before you discard. If you hold the real tile a joker stands for in any exposed group, including your own, trade your tile for the joker. You may make as many swaps as you have matching tiles for.
No. Nobody can call a discarded joker.
Calling a discard
You may call a discard to complete an exposed pung, kong or quint (a group of 3, 4 or 5), or to win.
Only if it gives you Mah Jongg. Otherwise a discard can be called only for a group of three or more.
X means exposed: you may call discards and set groups face up. C means concealed: you may call a discard only for the tile that wins.
Paying
The player who threw the winning tile pays double the hand's value. The other two pay the value.
House rule at your table (paying for the party): the player who threw the winning tile pays everyone's share, and the other players pay nothing.
All three other players pay double the hand's value.
Yes, under League scoring. A hand won with no jokers at all pays double, on top of any other doubling. Announce "jokerless" when you declare, or the bonus is lost. Hands that cannot use jokers at all, such as singles and pairs, do not get the bonus.
Dragons and suits
Green dragon goes with bams, red dragon with craks, and white dragon (Soap) with dots. When the card prints a dragon in the same color as some numbers, use the matching dragon.
Yes. In hands that spell out a year, the white dragon (Soap) is used as the zero. It is still a dragon everywhere else.