How to Play American Mahjong with Three Players

The tiles are out, the snacks are on the table, and your fourth just texted that she can't make it. You can still play: American mahjong works with three players, and the League's rule is simple. Build all four walls, deal only to the three of you, skip the Charleston, and East throws the first discard.

After that first discard, it's the game you already know: the same 152 tiles, the same card, the same calls and jokers. The only real question for a table of three is the Charleston, and there are two answers to it, both below.

How to play mahjong with 3 players: the League's rule

The National Mah Jongg League's rule for three players changes only the start of the hand:

• Build four walls, as usual. All 152 tiles go into the game, so someone builds the wall in front of the empty seat too.
• Deal to the three players only. Nobody takes tiles for the empty seat.
• No Charleston, and no courtesy pass. Nobody trades tiles before play.
• East discards first. Then play goes to the right, as always, and the empty seat simply never takes a turn.

That's all. Calling a discard, redeeming jokers, declaring mahjong and the wall game when the tiles run out all work exactly as in the four-player game (a full hand, step by step).

How many tiles for 3 players?

You play with the whole set, all 152 tiles, eight jokers included (what's in a set). In hand, the counts don't change: East holds 14 tiles and the other two players hold 13 each.

East rolls the dice and breaks the wall as usual. Then each of you takes four tiles at a time, going to the right, until everyone holds 12. For the last tiles, the League's newest wording has East take the next two, then the other two players take one each. Other tables use the 2020 rulebook's way (everyone takes one, then East takes one more), or finish the deal the way four players do. You end up with the same counts either way, so pick one and stick to it for the evening.

Is there a Charleston with 3 players?

Not under the League's rules. With fewer than four players, the Charleston is skipped entirely, and so is the courtesy pass at the end of it. You play the 13 or 14 tiles you were dealt.

That changes how you open the game. Without a Charleston to clean up your hand, your first few discards do the job the passes would have done: throw away what fits nothing, one tile at a time, and settle on two or three lines on the card early.

The ghost player: keeping the Charleston with three

Plenty of groups miss the Charleston too much to skip it. Their fix is a ghost player: the empty seat plays a pretend fourth hand, used only for passing. This is a house rule, not the League's, so your table decides the details.

Here's one way to do it:

• Build the ghost's wall like the others, but don't give it a rack or a hand.
• After the deal, pull seven sets of three tiles from the ghost's wall and line them up face down beside it: one set for every pass the ghost might make (three in the first Charleston, three in the second, one for the courtesy pass).
• When it's your turn to pass to the ghost, set your three tiles face down at the end of the ghost's wall.
• When it's your turn to receive from the ghost, take the next untouched set of three.

Other tables skip the ready-made sets and simply draw three tiles from the ghost's wall whenever someone receives from it. Whichever you choose, settle one more detail first: jokers can never be passed in a Charleston, so agree on what happens when a ghost set holds one (many tables put it back and take another tile).

On every pass, one of you passes to the empty seat and one of you receives from it. Say the empty seat is North, with play going East, South, West:

1. 1Ghost passFirst rightWest passes to the ghost. East receives a set from the ghost.
2. 2Ghost passFirst acrossSouth passes to the ghost and receives a set from it. East and West swap as usual.
3. 3Ghost passFirst leftEast passes to the ghost. West receives a set from the ghost.

The second Charleston runs the same way, in the other direction, and if your table plays the courtesy pass, the player across from the empty seat (South here) swaps up to three tiles with the ghost's last set. If you need a reminder of the order of the passes, the Charleston, pass by pass has it all.

Which way should you play?

Honestly, I'd start with the League's rule. Without a Charleston, each hand is quicker, so the three of you get more hands in, and there's nothing to set up. Save the ghost for a group that really misses the passing, and agree on every detail before you roll the dice.

Can you play mahjong with fewer than four?

Yes, with three or with two. With three, use the rule on this page. With two, you can follow the same League rule (one hand each, no Charleston), or play Siamese mahjong, where each of you builds two hands on two racks (two-player mahjong, explained). Five or more? The usual way is for one player to sit out each hand, taking turns.

Your first game with three

Agree on two things before the first roll: the League's rule or a ghost, and how you'll deal the last tiles. Then play your first discards like a Charleston, throwing what fits nothing, and watch what the other two throw. With only two opponents, it's easier to follow what each one is collecting, which makes a table of three a good place to learn to read the discards.

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