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In Siamese mahjong, each player builds two hands at once, one on each of two racks, and you win only when both are complete. There's no Charleston: East starts with 28 tiles, the other player with 27, and East throws the first discard.
That's the whole idea. Everything else plays like the four-player American game you already know: the same 152 tiles, the same jokers, the same calls. If you'd rather keep a single hand each, the League has a simpler two-player rule too, further down.
What is Siamese mahjong?
Siamese Mah Jongg is a two-player version of American mahjong created by Gladys Grad in 2015. It's built on the National Mah Jongg League rules, but it isn't a League game: it has its own rulebook, written by its creator, and its own yearly card.
The twist is the second rack. With only two players, a single hand each goes quickly and leaves most of the tiles untouched. Playing two hands at once keeps both of you busy, and every tile you draw can help one hand or the other.
What you need
- One standard American set. The usual 152 tiles, eight jokers included (what's in a set, and which set to buy).
- Four racks, two per player. Each player sets one rack behind the other. Double-decker racks made for Siamese exist, but two ordinary racks do the same job.
- A card. You can play with this year's National Mah Jongg League card, or with the annual Siamese card designed by Gladys Grad, which has hands made for the two-rack game. Agree on one before you start.
How to set up Siamese mahjong
Sit across from each other, two racks in front of each of you. Roll the dice to choose East.
In the official setup, you build walls and each player deals herself tiles from East's broken wall, four at a time, the way the four-player deal works. When the deal is done, East holds 28 tiles and the other player holds 27. There is no Charleston: East goes straight to the first discard.
Spread your tiles across your two racks however you like. After East's first discard, both of you hold 27 tiles, split however suits your hands: for example, 14 on one rack and 13 on the other.
How a turn works
East discards first. The other player then either calls that discard or draws a tile, and finishes her turn by discarding one tile and naming it out loud. Then it's East's turn to draw or call, and so on, back and forth.
Calling works as in the four-player game (calling a discard, step by step): you can call a discard for a pung, a kong or more, lay the group face up, then discard. A tile you draw can go to either rack.
Can you switch tiles between racks?
Yes, as long as they're still hidden. Your concealed tiles belong to both hands at once, and you can move them back and forth whenever you like. That's the best part of Siamese: if one hand stalls, you can pivot and feed the other.
Exposures don't move. Once you've laid a group face up, it stays on the rack of the hand it belongs to, and the next groups for that hand go on the same rack. Never put groups for two different hands on one rack.
These tiles sit on a rack going for Bams, and your other rack is going for Dots. Tap the three tiles you would move across.
Calling mahjong on one rack, then the other
You win when both of your hands are complete. You can finish them together, or declare one first and keep playing for the second.
Once you declare a hand, it's laid out and it's done: nothing in it moves, and its jokers can no longer be redeemed by your opponent. That's the first reason to declare a rack early. If your exposures on that rack hold jokers, declaring the hand protects them.
The second reason is the last tile. As in the regular game, you can't call a discard for a single tile or a pair, unless it's the tile that completes your hand. Declaring one rack is how you get to call that last single or pair for it.
Then you finish your turn by discarding, and the game goes on until your other rack is complete too.
Jokers in Siamese
Jokers follow the usual rules: they stand in for any tile in a group of three or more of the same tile, never in a single or a pair (every joker rule, pictured). You can move a hidden joker between your racks like any concealed tile.
Redeeming works too. On your turn, you can take a joker from an exposure on either side of the table by giving the real tile in exchange, as long as that hand hasn't been declared yet.
When the game ends
The game ends as soon as one player has completed both hands. If the tiles run out first, nobody wins: it's a wall game, just as with four players.
Siamese has its own way of keeping score, set out in its rulebook, and it isn't the four-player payout. If you play for points, agree on the scoring before the first deal.
Two players without Siamese: the League's rule
If you'd rather keep one hand each, the League's rules for two players are simple. Sit across from each other, build the four walls as usual, and deal to the two of you only: East takes 14 tiles, the other player 13. Skip the Charleston and start with East's first discard. The rest is the regular game. (Three players follow the same idea: how to play mahjong with three.)
Honestly, I'd pick Siamese for two. With two hands each, almost every draw helps one rack or the other, and you get twice the practice reading the card. The League's version wins only on speed: there's nothing new to explain to someone who already plays.
Can four people play Siamese?
Yes. Gladys Grad also made a four-player version, Royal Siamese, played with two sets of tiles and two racks per player. It has its own rules in the same official rulebook.
Before you play
Ask your partner three things before the first deal: walls or the face-down pile, the League card or the Siamese card, and how you'll keep score if you keep score at all. Once those are settled, the rest is the game you already play, with a second rack.
