Two players.
Two racks each.
Siamese Mah Jongg® is a two-player version of American mahjong created by Gladys Grad. You each play two hands at once, off a shared wall, and race to finish both. Here's how it works and where to get the official rules.
What Siamese actually is
It isn't a house rule and it isn't a novelty. Siamese Mah Jongg® is its own game with its own published rules, created by Gladys Grad. Two players sit across from each other, each with two racks, and each builds two hands at the same time out of one set of tiles.
It's the answer to the problem most of us have, which is that you can't always get four people to the table. Two people and one set is a real game, not a compromise.
How it works, at a high level
This is the shape of the game, not the full rulebook. For the actual rules, go to Gladys Grad's site below.
Two racks each
You play both of your racks at once and you can move tiles between them any time, even if one of them is dead.
You build walls
Each player builds two walls, two tiles high and 19 stacks long. East throws one die and cuts the wall, the way you'd cut a deck of cards.
27 tiles each
Both players deal to 27. East doesn't get an extra tile, which is different from the four-player game. East picks their 28th tile and the game begins.
No Charleston
There isn't one. With two racks you're already seeing far more tiles and far more combinations than you would with one.
Two hands to win
You're working toward mahjong on both racks. Declaring and winning on your second mahjong is worth double, and a double mahjong beats a first or second every time.
Either card works
You can play Siamese with the National Mah Jongg League card, or with the Siamese Mah Jongg® card, which has its own hands.
Three things I see people get wrong
1. Playing without walls
Siamese is meant to be played with walls, and there's a particular way to build and cut them. Scooping tiles off the table instead is a different game, and you lose the structure the rules are built on.
2. Giving East an extra tile
Habit from the four-player game. In Siamese both players deal to 27 and East picks the 28th tile to start. That's deliberate, it takes the built-in advantage away from East.
3. Ignoring the scoring
Siamese has its own scoring, and it changes how you play. Sometimes declaring just one of your two mahjongs is the better points decision. If you're not keeping score, you're missing half the strategy.
Get the official rules
Siamese Mah Jongg® is Gladys Grad's game. The rules, the rulebook and the card all come from her, and that's where you should get them.
Go straight to the source
Gladys Grad's site is where the Siamese rules, the official rulebook and the Siamese Mah Jongg® card all live.
Royale Siamese is the three and four player version, and Imperial Siamese plays two to four. Same family, different table.
Thank you to Gladys Grad for creating this game. If you've been stuck because you can't get four players together, this is the one to learn.
