Beginner walkthrough · Step 1 of 8

1. Setting up the table

Not a real card. Fictional practice card — NOT the official NMJL card. Its hands are made up for learning. To play real games, buy the current NMJL card from the League and study it. Real hands, sections and points will be different.

What am I trying to do?

Official Rule

Build a 14-tile hand that matches one line on the card exactly. During play, you normally hold 13 tiles; East starts with 14 and discards first.

222 · 4444 · 666 · 8888 — Bams

Fictional example · NOT the official NMJL card. Real games use the same year's official card for every player.

After the deal: pairs suggest a direction, not a promise.

“Start with what you've got. These pairs of 2 and 4 Bams suggest looking at even-number hands. Keep a second possibility in mind rather than choosing one line too soon.”
Lin · Table leadStrategy Tip

1 / 4

Practice card line (fictional) · Bams

11222333344455

One color = one suit. On the card, two or three colors mean the line needs two or three different suits.

Any one suit · exposed (X) allowed · 14 tiles

Your rack (13 tiles)

Meet your table

You're sitting at South. Around the table are Ruth, Lin, Mae and Dorothy — four friends who've played for years. Lin has played the longest and taught the others, and she'll guide you too. They'll chime in with a tip now and then. Take your time; nobody is rushing you.

Ruth · Table captain
Sets up the table, knows the deal by heart and keeps the game moving kindly.
Lin · Table lead
Has played the longest, taught the others to play, and always keeps two hands in mind.
Mae · Friendly neighbor
Remembers her first game and reminds you everyone starts out confused.
Dorothy · The veteran
Has played for years and watches the discards closely.

You can choose who sits with you in Settings. The four roles stay the same, so the lessons work the same.

Four players sit at a square table. Before anyone plays, the tiles are mixed face down, built into four walls, and dealt. You are South. Here are the 13 tiles you were dealt.

“Take your time building the wall — nobody minds. A neat, straight wall makes the deal easier for everyone.”
Ruth · Table captainEtiquette

North

East

dealer · 14

East breaks here ←

West

You — South

▣ = 1 stack (2 tiles, one on top of the other) · each wall = 19 stacks = 38 tiles.

Four walls, 19 stacks long and 2 tiles high, form a square. East (on your left) rolls the dice, counts stacks from the end nearest you, breaks the wall there (red line) and deals. For the purposes of these instructions, you are always South at the bottom.

Watch it happen: building, breaking and dealing the wall

1/22 The wash: all 152 tiles face down, mixed in the middle.

Takes about 29 seconds. You can pause any time and pick up where you left off.

▣ = 1 stack (2 tiles, one on top of the other) · each wall = 19 stacks = 38 tiles.

Seen from above. You are always South at the bottom; East is on your left, North across, West on your right. Red outline: the stacks East counts. Red line: the break. Filled tiles: the stacks taken next.

Show details: how it happens, League rules and tips

How it happens at the table

1.
Four players sit at a square table. Each has a rack (with a pusher arm) in front of them. Etiquette
2.
Turn all 152 tiles face down and mix them around the middle of the table — this is called "the wash." Etiquette
3.
Each player builds a wall in front of their rack: 19 stacks long and 2 tiles high (38 tiles). Four walls × 38 = 152. Official Rule
4.
Push your wall forward with your rack so the four walls form a square in the middle. Etiquette
5.
Roll the dice. The highest roll is East, the dealer for this game. Official Rule
6.
East rolls the dice again and counts that many stacks along East's own wall, starting from East's right-hand end (the end nearest South). (Common method — check how your table does it.) Official Rule
7.
East breaks the wall right after the last counted stack: slide the counted stacks a little to the right so there is a clear gap. Official Rule
8.
The deal starts with the stacks just to the left of the gap and keeps moving around the square in that direction as the wall is used up. Official Rule
9.
The deal goes counter-clockwise, to the right. Each player in turn takes 2 stacks (4 tiles), for three rounds — 12 tiles each. Official Rule
10.
Then East takes 2 more tiles and everyone else takes 1. East has 14; everyone else has 13. Official Rule
11.
In this game you are South. Here are the 13 tiles you were dealt. Etiquette

What the League requires

Official Rule A standard American set has 152 tiles: 108 suit tiles, 12 Dragons, 16 Winds, 8 Flowers and 8 Jokers. Set aside blanks and spares before play.
Official Rule Dice decide who is East (the dealer). East breaks the wall and the deal goes 4 tiles at a time, three rounds, then East takes 2 more and everyone else 1 — East has 14, everyone else 13.

Good advice — not a League rule

Etiquette Push your wall forward with your rack as tiles are drawn so the next wall is easy to reach.

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