Yes, you can play American mahjong with 3 players or with 2. The rules of the National Mah Jongg League cover both: build the four walls as usual, deal only to the seats that have a player, skip the Charleston and start with East's first discard. Many 3 player tables keep the Charleston anyway by passing to a ghost player in the empty chair, often called Bob. That is a house rule, not a League rule. Below are both ways to play with three, the two-player game, the two-rack game and the pieces a smaller table needs.
Can you play American mahjong with 3 or 2 players?
Most groups learn with four, and the League treats four as the standard game. Its rule book also allows three or two, and very little changes. The tiles, the yearly card, the turn order, calling discards, exposures and jokers all work the same way. Two things are different: nobody is dealt in at an empty seat, and there is no Charleston.
If you are still learning turns and calls, read how to play American mahjong first. Everything there holds at a smaller table, apart from the points below.
How to set up a 3 player game
Whether you call it 3 player or 3 person mahjong, the setup starts exactly like a four-player game.
Walls and the deal
Turn all 152 tiles face down, mix them and build four walls, each 19 stacks long and two tiles high. The empty seat still gets a wall, so one of the three players builds it. Roll the dice to choose East, and East breaks the wall as usual.
Deal four tiles at a time to the three players only, moving to the right and passing over the empty chair, until each player holds 12. East then finishes with 14 tiles and the other two with 13. Written versions of the League's rules have described the order of those last few tiles in slightly different ways over the years, so agree on one method and use it for the whole session.
What happens to the empty seat
Under the League's rules the empty seat is dealt nothing and never takes a turn. Its wall is simply part of the wall. When the draw reaches it, play keeps drawing from it in order, and any tiles still standing at the end of a hand stay where they are.
With no Charleston, East discards first and play moves to the right, past the empty chair. Your turn now comes after two other players instead of three, so you draw more often. That quicker pace helps make up for the passes you skip.
The 3 player Charleston with a ghost player
Plenty of groups miss the Charleston when they drop to three, so they keep it with a ghost player at the empty seat. Many tables call the ghost Bob, which is why you hear about "3 person mahjong with Bob". Treat it as a table rule and agree on it before the deal, since the League plays three without any passing.
How the ghost player's passes work
After the deal, East takes tiles from the wall and lays out six rows of three, face down, in front of the empty seat. That is one row for each step of a full Charleston. Then everyone passes as usual: right, across and left, then left, across and right unless a player stops the second round.
- When Bob is the one you pass to, set your three tiles face down in front of the empty seat.
- When Bob is the one passing to you, take one of Bob's rows of three.
- Blind passes still work on the first left and the last right.
- On the courtesy pass, some tables let the player across from Bob trade with tiles that were passed to Bob.
When the passing is done, the tiles left at the empty seat go back into the wall there, face down, so no tile drops out of the game. Then East discards. For the passes themselves, including blind passes and who may stop the second round, see our guide to the Charleston.
Jokers and the ghost player
Under League rules a joker is never passed in the Charleston, but Bob's rows are laid out blind, so a joker can turn up in one. Tables settle this in one of two ways. Some let you keep a joker that comes from Bob, as a bit of luck. Others do not accept jokers from Bob, and the player who receives one trades it for a tile from the wall. Pick one before the first pass, not when the joker appears.
How to play American mahjong with 2 players
The two-player game with all four walls
The League's version for two is the four-wall game with two empty chairs. Sit across from each other and build all four walls. East takes 14 tiles and the other player 13, and nothing is dealt to the empty seats. There is no Charleston, so East discards and you take turns from there, drawing from the wall in order. Calling, exposures and jokers follow the usual rules, and every discard can be called by the one other player at the table.
The two-rack (Siamese) game
The other way to play with two is the two-rack game, often called Siamese mahjong. It is a house variant, not a League rule. Each player sits behind two racks and plays two hands at once, one on each rack. Most written versions need a complete hand from the card on both racks to win. Some tables let one rack win.
Written versions of the two-rack game differ in the details, from the deal to the scoring, so settle them before the first hand. It is also the one way to play that puts all four racks on the table with only two people.
Charleston or no Charleston for two
The League's rules have no Charleston for two players. Two-rack guides differ: some skip it, and some keep one between the two players, still with no jokers passed. A full Charleston needs a player to the right, across and left, and two players only have each other. If your pair wants a trade anyway, make it a house rule before the deal, for example one across pass of three tiles with no jokers, and keep it the same every hand.
What a table for two or three needs
A short-handed game uses the same set, card and dice as a full table. A few pieces make it easier.
Racks. Each of our rack sets has four racks, so a two-rack game uses the whole set. The acrylic mahjong racks have a scalloped edge and come in 10 colors. Each one is about 19.9 in long, with room for a wall of 19 stacks of our 24 mm Mini or 30 mm Classic tiles. At a table of three, the fourth rack can stay at the empty seat to square up that wall.
The wooden racks with hinged pushers keep the pusher arm pinned at one end: lift it by the knob, push the wall out, then lay it back down. The rattan look racks are clear acrylic with a woven cane pattern, in a scalloped or a straight edge.
Line finders. In the two-rack game you read the card for two hands at once, and it is easy to lose your place. Our line finders are tinted acrylic strips with an open window, made for reading the card one line at a time. They come four to a set, in pink or blue, so each player can keep one on each hand.
A smaller mat. Three people at a card table need less cloth than four at a full mahjong table. The Tennis mahjong mat comes in 21 x 21 in for travel or a small table and 26 x 26 in for a card table, as well as 32 and 33.5 in for larger tables. It has a non-slip rubber back, and five of its six styles print rule reminders around the play area. Other themes are in our mahjong mats collection.
Dice and a tray. You still roll two dice for East and for the break in the wall. Our Christmas mahjong dice are a pair of resin dice, numbered 1 to 6 in place of pips, with a black velvet pouch. A folding dice tray snaps together at the corners and keeps the dice off the tiles, which helps on a small mat. It measures 10.6 x 8.3 in laid flat and stores flat when you unsnap it.
Chips or a score sheet. A game for two or three moves quickly, so it is easy to play a long run of hands and keep a running total. Our scoring chips are 68 plastic chips in a clear tube: 40 green, 16 yellow and 12 red. Your group decides what each color is worth. If you would rather write it down, print the free score sheet from our host kit.
For the small pieces that sit on or beside a rack, our guide to rack accessories explains what each one does.
House rules to agree on before the first hand
Settle these before anyone builds a wall.
- The card year. Everyone plays from this year's League card. Mixing years breaks the game at any table size.
- Charleston or none. The League plays three and two without one. If you add a ghost player, decide whether the second Charleston and the courtesy pass are part of it.
- Jokers from the ghost player. Keep them, or trade each one for a tile from the wall.
- The last tiles of the deal. Agree on how East ends up with 14 tiles.
- Two-rack details. The deal, the scoring and whether one rack can win.
- Scoring. Card values only, or chips or a written sheet for a running total.
- Spare jokers and blanks. Set them aside unless the group has a house rule for them.
Questions about 3 and 2 player mahjong
Is the Charleston played with 3 players?
Not under the League's rules. With three players you skip it and East discards first. Many tables add it back with a ghost player at the empty seat, and that is a house rule.
How many tiles does each player get?
East gets 14 tiles and every other player gets 13, the same as at a full table. Nothing is dealt to an empty seat. In the two-rack game, each player is dealt a hand for each rack.
Can you play American mahjong with 2 players?
Yes. The League's version builds four walls, deals 14 tiles to East and 13 to the other player, skips the Charleston and plays as usual. The two-rack game, where each player plays two hands, is a house variant.
Do you need a different set?
No. You play with the same 152 tiles as a table of four. Our Tennis American mahjong set, for example, has 160 tiles: 36 Dots, 36 Bams, 36 Craks, 16 Winds, 12 Dragons, 8 Flowers, 10 Jokers and 6 Blanks. Set the 2 spare jokers and the blanks aside unless your group has a rule for them.