How do you build the wall and deal the tiles in American Mahjong?
Each player builds a wall two tiles high and nineteen stacks long against the back of their own rack, four walls making all 152 tiles. East rolls two dice, counts that many stacks from the right end of East's wall, and breaks it there. The deal goes four tiles at a time until everyone holds twelve, then one last round leaves East with fourteen and everyone else with thirteen.
Answered by Prim. Last reviewed 2026-10-04.
Wash first, then build against your rack
Every tile goes face down in the middle of the table and everyone mixes them together. This is the wash, and it is not a formality. A lazy wash leaves tiles from the last hand sitting together, and the table deserves better.
Then each player builds a wall in front of their own rack: two tiles high, nineteen stacks long, thirty eight tiles in all. Four walls of thirty eight make 152, the whole set. The American wall is pushed up against each rack, not left as a square floating in the center of the table. A set that includes blank tiles makes some walls a stack or two longer; a table that does not play with blanks leaves them in the box.
East breaks the wall
East rolls two dice and counts that many stacks along East's own wall, starting from the right end. Those counted stacks are pushed back against East's rack, to the right. They are the last tiles anyone will draw that hand. The deal begins with the first stack to the left of the break.
This is why the dice matter after East has been chosen. The roll decides where the live wall begins, so nobody, East included, can know in advance which tiles will be dealt.
The deal, four at a time and then the last pass
East takes the first four tiles, two stacks. Then the player to East's right takes four, then the player across, then the player to East's left. Three rounds of that and everyone holds twelve.
The last pass is its own ceremony. East takes the first and third tiles from the top row of the next stacks. The player to East's right takes the first tile from the bottom row, the player across takes the next top tile, and the player to East's left takes the next bottom tile. East now holds fourteen and everyone else thirteen. East's extra tile is why East discards first, without drawing, once the Charleston is done.
Whether each player reaches in for their own four, or one person deals them out, is a table convention and not a rule. Either is correct. Agree on it before you start.
Count, and keep the wall tidy
Count your tiles before the Charleston and again after it. Thirteen must be on or in the rack at all times during play, fourteen for East before the first discard and for anyone between drawing and discarding. A wrong count caught before or during the Charleston means the hands are thrown in and dealt again, so counting early is a kindness to everyone.
A tile knocked over in the wall goes back face down in exactly the place it came from, never anywhere else. And when a wall runs out during play, the player to the left pushes out the next one, so the walls are used in the opposite direction from the turns.
Prim's Own
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