The Charleston is the tile-passing phase before play begins. The first Charleston is required: pass three tiles right, then across, then left. A second Charleston (left, across, right) is optional, plus an optional Courtesy Pass with the player across from you. You may never pass a joker.
You sit down. The tiles are dealt. Before you have a single turn, before you've even read your full rack, someone says "first right" and slides three tiles toward you. Now you have to slide three of your own to the player on your left. You haven't even figured out what hand you're going for yet.
That's the Charleston. Three required passes, three optional ones, one optional Courtesy at the end, and exactly one rule you cannot break. It's the most strategic part of American mahjong and the part that confuses new players the most. This is the full picture: what it is, the order of every pass, the rule almost everyone forgets, and the mistakes that cost you the hand before play even starts.
(Brand new to the game? Read the complete beginner's guide to American mahjong first, then come back for the Charleston.)
TL;DR: The Charleston in 5 lines
- The Charleston is a tile-passing ritual that happens BEFORE the first turn of every American mahjong game.
- You must complete three required passes: First Right, First Across, First Left. Three tiles per pass.
- The Second Charleston (Second Left, Second Across, Second Right) is optional. Any player at the table can stop it after the First Left.
- After the Charleston, you may do an optional Courtesy Pass with the player across from you (0 to 3 tiles, both must agree on the number).
- Jokers can NEVER be passed during the Charleston. Ever. This is the rule players forget most.
| Pass | Required? | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| First Right | Yes | Right |
| First Across | Yes | Across |
| First Left | Yes | Left |
| Second Left | Optional (any player may stop it) | Left |
| Second Across | Optional (any player may stop it) | Across |
| Second Right | Optional (any player may stop it) | Right |
| Courtesy Pass | Optional (0 to 3 tiles, both agree on the number) | Across |
One rule covers every row: jokers can never be passed during the Charleston.
What is the Charleston?
The Charleston is the structured tile-passing phase at the start of every American mahjong game, where players pass three tiles at a time in a set order (right, across, left) to improve their hand before play begins.
The Charleston is a tile-exchange phase that takes place before the first turn of an American mahjong game. After you've been dealt your tiles but before anyone picks from the wall, you pass tiles around the table in a specific sequence. The goal is to swap away tiles you don't want and pick up tiles that fit the hand you're trying to build.
It's not a throwaway phase. It's the most important set of decisions you'll make in the hand. Every Charleston pass shapes your final rack, and the players who treat it like a strategic move (instead of a chore to get through) consistently build stronger hands.
The Charleston is unique to American mahjong. Other styles of the game don't use it. The National Mah Jongg League codifies the rules around it. For a full plain-English breakdown, see the complete American mahjong rules reference.
The First Charleston: three required passes, in order
The First Charleston is the compulsory part of the Charleston. It is always three passes, always in this order, always three tiles at a time: First Right, First Across, First Left. You cannot stop, skip, or reorder any of the three. Here is each one on its own.
First Right: the opening pass
First Right is the first required pass: you slide three tiles face-down to the player on your right, while the player on your left slides three tiles to you at the same time. Every player at the table passes and receives simultaneously, so nobody sees what's coming before they've committed their own three tiles.
Pick the three tiles you most want out of your hand. Don't overthink the first pass. The tiles you pass first are usually the ones that don't fit anywhere on the card or don't match anything you're holding: a lone tile in a suit you're not building, a wind that doesn't match any Winds-Dragons hand you'd consider, a flower when you're not chasing a Flowers hand.
This is also the pass where new players most often freeze. You haven't had a single turn yet and you already have to make three decisions. Give yourself permission to pass "obviously useless" tiles here and save the harder calls for First Across and First Left, once you've seen more of the table.
First Across: the trickiest pass
First Across is the second required pass: you pass three tiles to the player directly opposite you, and they pass three tiles to you at the same time. This is the pass most players find hardest to read, because the player across the table is the one most likely to end up chasing the same hand family as you.
Be more careful here than you were on First Right. If you're holding two or three tiles that only fit one narrow hand, think twice before passing them across. You could be handing your most direct competitor exactly what she needs. When in doubt, send tiles across that are flexible enough to fit several hands rather than tiles that are only useful for the one hand you suspect she's building.
Watch what comes back to you on this pass too. If the tiles you receive from across don't match anything in the hand you were leaning toward, that's useful information: it may mean she's not on the same page as you, which frees you up to hold onto more of your narrow tiles on the next pass.
First Left: the last required pass
First Left is the third and final required pass: you pass three tiles to the player on your left, and they pass three tiles to you at the same time. By now you've made two passes and seen two passes come back, so you should have a real sense of which two or three hand families are still realistic.
This is where you start trimming toward your target hand instead of just clearing out junk. If a tile doesn't fit any of the two or three hands you're seriously considering, this is the pass to let it go. Three tiles per pass, always face-down, always exactly three, with one exception below.
The blind pass (the one exception to "always three tiles")
A blind pass lets you make up your three tiles using tiles from the incoming pass instead of your own rack, without looking at them first. It is allowed only on two passes in the whole Charleston: First Left (the pass you're on right now) and Last Right, which is the third and final pass of the Second Charleston (also called Second Right).
If you genuinely cannot spare three tiles from your own rack on First Left, you may "steal" one, two, or all three of the tiles being passed to you and slide them straight along to the next player, face-down, without looking. You are not allowed to peek at a blind tile before passing it on. Saying "passing blind" out loud is considered courteous, but Mah Jongg Made Easy does not require you to announce it.
Second Charleston (Optional): three more passes, only if the whole table agrees
The Second Charleston is an optional set of three additional passes, Second Left, Second Across, Second Right, that only happens if every player at the table wants to continue after First Left. Any single player can stop it. No vote, no majority, no reason required: one player says stop, and the Second Charleston does not happen.
To be clear on timing: the First Right, First Across, and First Left are required and cannot be stopped early. Only after all three are complete can anyone call to stop, and that call decides whether the Second Charleston happens at all. If nobody stops it, the table continues with three more passes, this time in reverse order:
- Second Left (three tiles to your left, received from your right)
- Second Across (three tiles across, received from across)
- Second Right, also called Last Right (three tiles to your right, received from your left)
The blind pass rule applies again here, on Second Right/Last Right only, the same way it applied on First Left: if you can't spare three tiles from your rack, you may pass along tiles from your incoming pass without looking at them.
The Second Charleston is where you really refine the hand. By now you've seen six passes worth of tiles flow past you and you have a much better read on what the table is and isn't building. If you're still working toward a hand and want more passes, doing the Second Charleston is worth it. If your hand is already strong and you don't want to risk giving away tiles you've built up, call to stop. You don't need anyone's permission or agreement to do it, one player calling stop is enough to end it for the whole table.
Courtesy: the optional pass after the Charleston ends
The Courtesy Pass, sometimes called "the mush," is a widely-practiced table custom rather than an official NMJL rule. Most groups cap it at 0 to 3 tiles between you and the player directly across from you, though some tables mush up to five, and both of you must agree on the number before you pass. It happens after the Charleston ends, whether that was after just the First Charleston or after both rounds, and before the first turn begins.
You and your partner negotiate the count out loud. If you want to pass three tiles and she only wants to pass one, you both pass one, the lower number wins. You cannot pass more than your table's agreed cap, and you cannot pass unless you both agree to do it at all.
The courtesy is exactly that, a courtesy. Nobody is required to do it. But if you've been watching the passes flow and you each have a tile or two you suspect the other wants, the Courtesy Pass is a quiet way to finish shaping both hands before play starts. Once the first tile is picked from the wall, the window closes. There's no going back for that hand.
One important note: jokers still cannot be passed in the Courtesy Pass. The no-jokers-in-the-Charleston rule extends all the way through the Courtesy.
What to pass and what to keep
The mechanics of the Charleston are simple. The strategy is where it gets interesting. Here's the framework I teach my students:
Look at the card first, not your tiles
Before you decide what to pass, look at the 2026 NMJL card and identify two or three hand families that could realistically work with what you've been dealt. Don't lock in on one hand. The Charleston exists because most starting racks aren't anywhere near a complete hand yet, and the tiles you pick up over the next six passes will reshape your options.
Pass the truly useless first
Your First Right pass is for the tiles that don't fit anywhere. The lonely 7 Bam when you have nothing else in Bams. The single flower when you're not building a Flowers hand. The wind that doesn't match any wind hand you'd consider. Those go first.
Watch what comes back to you
The tiles you receive in the Charleston tell you what your opponents are passing away. If everyone is passing you 5s, the table probably isn't building a hand that needs 5s. Pay attention to the patterns.
Don't pass tiles that could become flexible
Tiles that could fit multiple hands are worth holding. A pair of 2s might fit a 2026 hand, a Like Numbers hand, or a Consecutive Run. Don't pass flexibility just because you don't have a use for it yet.
Never pass a joker
This is the hard rule. We'll get to why in the next section.
Common Charleston mistakes (and the fix for each)
Mistake 1: Passing tiles before looking at the card
What goes wrong: You start passing the tiles that "look useless" without checking what hands they might fit. Then on your fourth pass you realize you needed those 4 Dots for a hand you didn't see at first.
The fix: Spend the first 30 seconds reading the card. Identify two or three plausible hands BEFORE you pass anything. Your starting rack is rarely close to a complete hand, but it's almost always closer to two or three hands than you'd think.
Mistake 2: Locking in on one hand too early
What goes wrong: You see a hand you like, decide "that's my hand," and start passing every tile that doesn't fit it. Then the tiles you need don't come. Now you're stuck.
The fix: Keep two or three hand options open through the First Charleston. Commit to one hand only after you've seen what tiles the table is feeding you.
Mistake 3: Passing jokers
What goes wrong: You have a joker but the hand you're building doesn't need it (yet), so you pass it. Now your opponent has a free joker for their hand.
The fix: You cannot pass jokers in the Charleston. Not in any pass, not in the Courtesy. If you receive a joker in a pass, your opponent has made a mistake. We cover this in detail in the full joker rules guide.
Mistake 4: Passing your pairs
What goes wrong: You have a pair of 6 Crak and you don't see a hand that uses it, so you pass both. Then on your next pass you pick up a hand option that needed exactly that pair.
The fix: Pairs are valuable. Hold pairs through the First Charleston unless you're 100% sure they don't fit any hand you're considering. The same goes for matched flowers, matched winds, and dragons.
Mistake 5: Treating the Second Charleston as automatic
What goes wrong: You blindly do the Second Charleston because that's what the table did last time. But your hand is already strong and three more passes risk losing the tiles you've built up.
The fix: Check your rack after the First Charleston. If you're already close to a complete hand, talk to your partner about stopping. Doing the Second Charleston when you don't need it is one of the most common ways players hand away the hand they were building.
Mistake 6: Forgetting the Courtesy Pass
What goes wrong: You and your partner skip the Courtesy out of habit, even though one of you has a tile the other clearly needs.
The fix: Before you start the first turn, ask your partner if they want to do a Courtesy. Even one tile traded can be the difference between a winning hand and a hand that dies on the wall.
Mistake 7: Passing without watching the discards
What goes wrong: You're so focused on your own rack during the Charleston that you don't notice what tiles your opponents are passing along. You miss patterns that would tell you what hands the table is building.
The fix: Every Charleston pass is also a defensive read. The tiles flowing around the table tell you what your opponents don't want. That same information tells you what they probably do want.
When you can NOT pass jokers (this is the hard rule)
You cannot pass a joker in the Charleston, on any pass, ever. This includes the right pass, the across pass, the left pass, the blind pass, and the Courtesy. Jokers stay on your rack for the entire Charleston, no exceptions.
You can NEVER pass a joker in the Charleston. Not in any of the three required passes. Not in the Second Charleston. Not in the Courtesy Pass. Not blind. Not on purpose. Not by accident.
If you mistakenly pass a joker, the receiving player gives it back and a symbol tile is swapped in. NMJL does not declare the hand dead, because the game has not officially begun until East discards the first tile. Tournament tables can enforce stricter etiquette around this, but the official ruling is "give it back and continue."
This is the rule new players forget most often, usually because the joker doesn't seem useful for the hand they're starting to build. Pass it now, problem solved, right? Wrong. Your hand is in flux through the entire Charleston. The hand you're considering on the First Right is rarely the hand you end up playing. A joker held through the Charleston is a joker you can use later, in any pung, kong, quint, or sextet.
The Charleston summary you can put on a sticky note
- First Charleston (required): First Right, First Across, First Left. 3 tiles per pass.
- Second Charleston (optional, table must agree): Second Left, Second Across, Second Right. 3 tiles per pass.
- Courtesy Pass (optional, partners agree on number): 0 to 3 tiles between you and the player across.
- Blind pass allowed on the First Left and the Last Right only. You can pass 1, 2, or all 3 tiles blind.
- NEVER pass jokers. Not in any pass. If one slips through, it's given back and a symbol tile is swapped in (no dead hand, but don't make a habit of it).
That's the full Charleston. Three required passes, three optional ones, one Courtesy, and one rule about jokers that you do not break. Memorize this and you'll be ahead of most of the players at your first table.
The Charleston is where the hand actually starts
Most beginners think the game starts when the first tile gets picked from the wall. It doesn't. The game starts the moment you slide the first three tiles to your right. Every pass after that is shaping the hand you'll play.
Your Charleston shouldn't be "pass fast and hope." It should be "read the card and decide." This is the part of the game that takes the longest to feel intuitive, and it's the part that separates someone who knows the rules from someone who actually plays well. Slow down on your next Charleston. Read the card before you decide what's "useless." Watch what flows past you. Ask for the Courtesy out loud, every hand, until it becomes a habit.
And if you've been nodding along to this and want to actually drill the Charleston with real hands and real feedback, that's exactly what the Charleston Confidence Mahjong Skill Builder is for. It's a Confidence Challenge month focused on Charleston decisions, with practice hands, prompts, and the chance to see how other players are passing through the same tiles. The Charleston is the highest-leverage practice you can do, and it's the fastest way to feel like a stronger player at the table.
Charleston reps stick fastest with real people across the table, and you can practice reading a live Charleston inside The Confidence Club every week.
It also helps to know exactly what you are passing: American mahjong tiles explained covers all 152 tiles in the set. And because every pass is in service of a payout, how American mahjong scoring works shows what the hand you are shaping is worth.
If you're a brand-new player and the rest of the game is still a question mark, start here. If you want the one-page summary you can bring to your next game, grab the free cheat sheet. And if you want to look up any term in this post that didn't quite land, the mahjong glossary has every definition in one place.
The Charleston moves fast, and having this next to you the first few times makes it click a lot sooner. Grab the guide and bring it to your next game.
Download the Charleston Guide (PDF)See you at the table.
Lara
