After all players have finished organizing their tiles into potential hands, the game moves to the Charleston phase.

Purpose of the Charleston

• The Charleston allows players to strategically improve their hands by exchanging tiles they do not need.
• Players pass three unwanted tiles to another player each round, hoping to receive three tiles in return that better align with their intended hand groupingsA collection of tiles that consist of identical tiles in different quantities and/or tiles arranged in an aesthetic manner. A winning… More on the NMJL CardThe product published annually by the National Mah Jongg League which dictates the collection of groupings that will form the… More.

Important: Before the Charleston begins, players should identify potential hands according to the NMJL CardThe product published annually by the National Mah Jongg League which dictates the collection of groupings that will form the… More.

Charleston Exception – Heavenly Hand

• If EastThe player position that is referred to as Dealer, East, Pivot, or First Player. This player is responsible for breaking the… More already has a winning handWhen a player has 14 tiles arranged in groupings that match one of the hands displayed on the current National… More (Mah Jongg) before the Charleston begins, EastThe player position that is referred to as Dealer, East, Pivot, or First Player. This player is responsible for breaking the… More must declare this immediately.
• This is called a Heavenly HandWhen the Dealer (East), has Mah Jongg before the Charleston begins. The Dealer is the only player able to declare Mah… More.
• A Heavenly HandWhen the Dealer (East), has Mah Jongg before the Charleston begins. The Dealer is the only player able to declare Mah… More is considered self-pickedWhen a player obtains the final tile (14th tile) to make a winning hand (Mah Jongg) by either picking the… More, and EastThe player position that is referred to as Dealer, East, Pivot, or First Player. This player is responsible for breaking the… More receives double the hand’s value from all other players.
• Only EastThe player position that is referred to as Dealer, East, Pivot, or First Player. This player is responsible for breaking the… More can declare a Heavenly HandWhen the Dealer (East), has Mah Jongg before the Charleston begins. The Dealer is the only player able to declare Mah… More at this stage, as EastThe player position that is referred to as Dealer, East, Pivot, or First Player. This player is responsible for breaking the… More is the only player holding 14 tiles.
• If EastThe player position that is referred to as Dealer, East, Pivot, or First Player. This player is responsible for breaking the… More declares Mah Jongg with a Heavenly HandWhen the Dealer (East), has Mah Jongg before the Charleston begins. The Dealer is the only player able to declare Mah… More, the Charleston is not conducted.

The Charleston

The Charleston consists of two parts with three passes each:

⭐ First Charleston (Mandatory)

• Three rounds of passing exactly three tiles, face-down each round.

Exception: In the rare (🎉 highly celebrated 🎉) case of EastThe player position that is referred to as Dealer, East, Pivot, or First Player. This player is responsible for breaking the… More having a Heavenly HandWhen the Dealer (East), has Mah Jongg before the Charleston begins. The Dealer is the only player able to declare Mah… More, the first Charleston is not conducted since the game ended with EastThe player position that is referred to as Dealer, East, Pivot, or First Player. This player is responsible for breaking the… More declaring Mah Jongg.

🤞 Second Charleston (Optional)

• Three additional rounds of passing exactly three tiles, face-down each round.
• Occurs only if all players agree.
• If someone stops the Charleston, continue with the optional Courtesy Pass.

🤝 Optional “Courtesy Pass” (Optional)

• One round of passing tiles directly across (to the opposite player).
• Players individually choose to pass 0, 1, 2, or 3 tiles face-down.

Important: All tiles passed during any Charleston phase must remain face-down.

First Charleston – Mandatory Passes

During the first Charleston, each player performs three distinct passes:

👉 First Pass (First Right)

• Pass exactly 3 tiles face-down to the player on your right.
• Then pick up the 3 tiles received from the player on your left and place them in the sloping part of your rack.
• Recommended: Place passed tiles outside the main playing areaThe open area located within the center of the table that is naturally created by the racks of the four… More, near your right corner.

👆 Second Pass (First Across)

• Pass exactly 3 tiles face-down to the player directly across.
• After passing, pick up the 3 tiles passed to you from the player opposite and place them in the sloping part of your rack.
• Recommended: Place passed tiles near the center of the opposite player’s rack.

👈 Third Pass (First Left) with Blind Pass Option

• Pass exactly 3 tiles face-down to the player on your left.
• A player wishing to pass fewer than 3 tiles from their own hand may use a blind passAn action performed by a player when the player wants to pass fewer than three tiles from their hand in… More:
  • A blind passAn action performed by a player when the player wants to pass fewer than three tiles from their hand in… More involves passing 1, 2, or all 3 tiles received from the player to your right without looking at them (also referred to as “stealing”).
  • When performing a blind passAn action performed by a player when the player wants to pass fewer than three tiles from their hand in… More, players must not look at the blind passAn action performed by a player when the player wants to pass fewer than three tiles from their hand in… More tiles.
  • The third pass is complete when each player has passed 3 tiles in total (tiles from hand + tiles from blind passAn action performed by a player when the player wants to pass fewer than three tiles from their hand in… More).
• After passing, pick up any remaining tiles passed to you from the player on your right and place them in the sloping part of your rack.
• Recommended: Place passed tiles outside the main playing areaThe open area located within the center of the table that is naturally created by the racks of the four… More, near your left corner.

Special Scenario – All Players Blind Passing

• If all players wish to perform a blind passAn action performed by a player when the player wants to pass fewer than three tiles from their hand in… More (no player wants to pass 3 tiles from their hand):
  • The player with the greatest number of tiles to pass begins by passing 1 or 2 tiles, promising to pass the remaining tiles shortly.
  • Continue around the table in a counterclockwise direction until each player completes passing 3 tiles.

Second Charleston – Optional

The second Charleston requires unanimous agreement from all players:

• Any player may object to the second Charleston without explanation.
• Objections must be clearly verbalized before any player has looked at tiles passed during the First Pass of the second Charleston.
• If an objection occurs before viewing tiles, the second Charleston is skipped, and all players move immediately to the optional Courtesy Pass.
• If the objection occurs after tiles are viewed, the second Charleston becomes mandatory for all players.

During the second Charleston (if performed), each player performs three distinct passes:

👈 First Pass (Second Left)

• Pass exactly 3 tiles face-down to the player on your left.
• Then pick up the 3 tiles received from the player on your right and place them in the sloping part of your rack.
• Recommended: When passing tiles, arrange tiles into a small pyramid (2 tiles base, 1 atop) and place outside the main playing areaThe open area located within the center of the table that is naturally created by the racks of the four… More, near your left corner.

👆 Second Pass (Second Across)

• Pass exactly 3 tiles face-down to the player directly across..
• After passing, pick up the 3 tiles passed to you from the player opposite and place them in the sloping part of your rack.
• Recommended: Place passed tiles near the center of the opposite player’s rack.

👉 Third Pass (Second Right)

• Pass exactly 3 tiles face-down to the player on your right.
• A blind passAn action performed by a player when the player wants to pass fewer than three tiles from their hand in… More may be used if passing fewer than 3 tiles from your hand. Same blind passAn action performed by a player when the player wants to pass fewer than three tiles from their hand in… More rules as Phase 1 except this blind passAn action performed by a player when the player wants to pass fewer than three tiles from their hand in… More will use tiles received from the player to your left to pass in total 3 tiles to the player to your right.
• When performing a blind passAn action performed by a player when the player wants to pass fewer than three tiles from their hand in… More, players must not look at the blind passAn action performed by a player when the player wants to pass fewer than three tiles from their hand in… More tiles.
• After passing, pick up any remaining tiles passed to you from the player on your left and place them in the sloping part of your rack.
• Recommended: Place passed tiles outside the main playing areaThe open area located within the center of the table that is naturally created by the racks of the four… More, near your right corner.

Special Scenario – All Players Blind Passing

• Same procedure as described in the first Charleston.

Special Scenario – No Tiles to Pass During Third Pass (Second Right)

• In the rare event that no player has any tiles available to pass during the third pass of the second Charleston—also known as the second right—the Charleston immediately ends. When this happens, the Courtesy Pass is skipped entirely, and the game begins right away.

Optional Courtesy Pass

The Courtesy Pass provides one final tile exchange opportunity:

• Always the final pass of the Charleston, occurring even if the second Charleston was skipped.
• Each player may pass 0, 1, 2, or 3 tiles face-down to the opposite player.
• The number of tiles exchanged is determined by the player wanting to pass the fewest tiles.
• If one player does not want to pass any tiles, no exchange occurs between those two players.
• Each opposite pair of players decides independently whether to perform this pass.
• After passing, pick up the tiles passed to you from the player opposite and place them in the sloping part of your rack.
• Recommended: Place passed tiles near the center of the opposite player’s rack.

Special Charleston Rules and Exceptions

🌎 East Declaring Mah Jongg (“Earthly Hand”)

• If EastThe player position that is referred to as Dealer, East, Pivot, or First Player. This player is responsible for breaking the… More achieves a winning handWhen a player has 14 tiles arranged in groupings that match one of the hands displayed on the current National… More after the completion of any Charleston phase, EastThe player position that is referred to as Dealer, East, Pivot, or First Player. This player is responsible for breaking the… More may immediately declare Mah Jongg with an Earthly HandWhen the Dealer (East), has Mah Jongg at the end of any phase of the Charleston. The Dealer is the only… More.
• If EastThe player position that is referred to as Dealer, East, Pivot, or First Player. This player is responsible for breaking the… More achieves a winning handWhen a player has 14 tiles arranged in groupings that match one of the hands displayed on the current National… More during the first or second Charleston, the Charleston must continue until completion, with all players passing required tiles.
  • If EastThe player position that is referred to as Dealer, East, Pivot, or First Player. This player is responsible for breaking the… More still has a winning handWhen a player has 14 tiles arranged in groupings that match one of the hands displayed on the current National… More at the completion of the Charleston, EastThe player position that is referred to as Dealer, East, Pivot, or First Player. This player is responsible for breaking the… More may then declare Mah Jongg with an Earthly HandWhen the Dealer (East), has Mah Jongg at the end of any phase of the Charleston. The Dealer is the only… More.
• An Earthly HandWhen the Dealer (East), has Mah Jongg at the end of any phase of the Charleston. The Dealer is the only… More is considered self-pickedWhen a player obtains the final tile (14th tile) to make a winning hand (Mah Jongg) by either picking the… More, earning EastThe player position that is referred to as Dealer, East, Pivot, or First Player. This player is responsible for breaking the… More double the hand value from all players.
• Only EastThe player position that is referred to as Dealer, East, Pivot, or First Player. This player is responsible for breaking the… More can declare Mah Jongg at this stage since they are the only player with 14 tiles.

Stopping the Charleston

• The Charleston can only be stopped after the first Charleston is completed.
• A player must verbally announce their decision to stop the Charleston before any player views tiles passed during Phase 2’s first pass.
• If the Charleston is stopped, all players move directly to the optional Courtesy Pass.

Passing Tiles – Procedure and Timing

• Always pass tiles before picking up the tiles passed to you.
• Players may change their passed tiles only if the recipient hasn’t looked at any of the passed tiles and the passer hasn’t viewed any received tiles.

Dead Hand Challenges

• Players cannot declare another player’s hand dead during the Charleston, as the game has not officially begun.

After completion of the first Charleston, the second Charleston (if performed), and the optional Courtesy Pass, the Charleston concludes and the game officially begins when EastThe player position that is referred to as Dealer, East, Pivot, or First Player. This player is responsible for breaking the… More discards their first tile.