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Can I pass a Joker in the Charleston?

No. A Joker may never be passed in the Charleston, on any pass, the courtesy pass included. If one is passed by mistake, it is handed back to the player who sent it, and that player sends another tile in its place, because three tiles are still owed.

Answered by Prim. Last reviewed 2026-09-27.

The rule, plainly

The Charleston moves a great many tiles around the table: three right, three across, three left, perhaps a second round, perhaps a courtesy exchange with the player opposite. Every one of those tiles may be a number, a Wind, a Dragon or a Flower. Not one of them may be a Joker.

There is no pass on which the rule relaxes. Not the first Charleston, not the second, not the courtesy pass at the very end. Whatever Jokers you were dealt stay on your rack until play begins.

When one slips across anyway

It happens. Tiles are passed face down, in a hurry, sometimes by a player who is still learning the faces. If a Joker arrives in the tiles passed to you, hand it straight back to the player who sent it. No drama is required. Sending it back is the whole of the League's remedy.

The passer is not let off the pass, though. Three tiles are owed on every required pass, so the passer chooses another tile and sends it over in the Joker's place. The count stays right, the Joker stays home, and the Charleston goes on.

Why the League is so strict about it

A set holds 152 tiles and only eight of them are Jokers. A Joker can fill any spot in a pung, a kong, a quint or a sextet, which makes it the most useful tile in the box. Passing one would hand a neighbor a free piece of their hand before the game has even started.

The rule also keeps the Charleston honest. It is meant to be an exchange of the tiles you can spare, chosen by you, for tiles you cannot see. A Joker is never a tile anyone can fairly call spare, so the rule simply takes it off the table.

The Joker you do not want

Now and then a hand has no use for a Joker at all. A line built only of singles and pairs cannot take one anywhere. You still may not pass it. Keep it on the rack and let it wait.

Once play begins, that unwanted Joker becomes the safest discard you own. A discarded Joker is dead the moment it lands, and nobody at the table can call it, trade for it or take it for any purpose. The tile you could not give away in the Charleston becomes a perfectly polite way to give nothing away later.

New to the words? Joker · Charleston · Courtesy pass · First Charleston