An American Mah Jongg game uses 152 tiles. Here is every one of them, why a new set usually has a few more, and what to do if yours has fewer.
The 152, counted
| Tiles | How many | Count |
|---|---|---|
| Bams, craks and dots, 1 to 9 | four of each | 108 |
| Winds: north, east, west, south | four of each | 16 |
| Dragons: green, red, white | four of each | 12 |
| Flowers | eight, all the same tile | 8 |
| Jokers | eight | 8 |
| Total | 152 |
Four of each: all four 7 Bams, all four East winds and all four Red Dragons. Every suit tile, wind and dragon comes four times.
A sample of each kind: bams, craks and dots, the four winds, the green, red and white dragons, a flower and a joker.
Each dragon belongs to a suit: green to bams, red to craks, white to dots. The white dragon is called soap, and in the hands that spell the year it stands for a zero. All eight flowers count as the same tile, unlike Chinese mahjong where each flower is different.
How many jokers are in American Mah Jongg?
Eight. A joker can stand in for a tile in a group of three or more of the same tile (a pung, kong, quint or sextet), never in a single or a pair. On your turn you may take a joker from any player's exposure by handing over the real tile it stands for. Jokers, and the edges of the rules goes through every case.
How many flowers are in American Mah Jongg?
Eight, and they are interchangeable: a hand that asks for flowers takes any of them. Many sets print four of them as seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter); in American Mah Jongg those count as flowers too, and any numbers printed on them mean nothing. Flowers appear mostly in the year hands and a few others on the card.
Why most sets have more than 152 tiles
A new set usually comes with somewhere between 160 and 166 tiles. The extras are blank tiles, and sometimes two spare jokers. The number of blanks varies by maker.
Blanks are spares. Officially they are there to replace a tile that gets lost: mark a blank to match the missing tile and play on. In a few old sets the blanks are the white dragons.
Playing blanks as wild tiles is a house rule. Some groups let a player trade a blank for a tile already thrown. It is not part of the National Mah Jongg League's rules, so agree on it before the game starts, and leave the blanks out when you play by the card's rules.
Why older sets have fewer jokers
Jokers came late to American Mah Jongg. Before 1961 there were none, and the flowers did the joker's job. The count settled at eight flowers and eight jokers around the 1971 and 1972 cards. A set from before then may have too few jokers, or none: players add joker stickers to spare tiles to bring an old set up to eight.
Practise with the tiles drawn
The lesson The tiles shows every tile up close, and Jokers teaches where they can go. At the table, the school draws all 152 for you, keeps count of what has been thrown, and will tell you when the tiles you need are all gone.
Questions
How many tiles are in an American Mah Jongg set?
152 tiles are used in play: 108 suit tiles, 16 winds, 12 dragons, 8 flowers and 8 jokers. Many sets come with 160 to 166 tiles, the extras being blank spares and sometimes two extra jokers.
How many jokers do you play with in American Mah Jongg?
Eight. Sets that include ten jokers carry two spares; play with eight.
What are the blank tiles in a mah jongg set for?
Replacing lost tiles. Using blanks as wild tiles is a house rule some groups play, not one of the League's rules.
Sources
The tile counts follow the school's rules page. Blanks and set sizes: Sloperama, Mah-Jongg FAQ 19 and Mahjician. The history of jokers: Sloperama FAQ 19.