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How many Jokers are in an American Mahjong set, and how many tiles in all?

An American Mahjong set has 152 tiles, and eight of them are Jokers. The rest are 108 suit tiles (Bams, Craks and Dots, one to nine, four of each), 16 Winds, 12 Dragons and 8 Flowers. There are exactly four of every numbered tile, Wind and Dragon, which is why five of anything but a Flower needs a Joker.

Answered by Prim. Last reviewed 2026-09-18.

The whole count, tile by tile

Three suits make up most of the set. Bams, Craks and Dots each run from one to nine, with four copies of every number, so each suit is 36 tiles and the three together are 108. Add four each of North, East, West and South for 16 Winds, and four each of Red, Green and Soap (White Dragon) for 12 Dragons. That is 136 tiles that carry a name.

Then come the specials. Eight Flowers and eight Jokers bring the total to 152. The count checks itself when the walls go up: four walls, each two tiles high and nineteen stacks long, is 38 tiles a wall and 152 in all. A wall that comes up short or long is a set worth counting before anyone deals.

Why four of each matters so much

Four is the number that runs the game. Because only four natural copies of any numbered tile, Wind or Dragon exist, a quint of five identical tiles cannot be made from naturals alone. It needs at least one Joker, and a sextet of six needs at least two. Flowers are the single exception: there are eight of them, so a quint or sextet of Flowers can be entirely natural.

Four is also what lets a careful player count a tile out. If three copies of a tile are already showing, in the discards or in exposures, only one is left anywhere in the game. Count the naturals you can see, not the Jokers, since a Joker standing in an exposure does not use up a real copy.

Eight Flowers, and all of them the same

Many sets print different pictures, seasons or numbers on their Flowers. None of that means anything on the card. All eight Flowers are interchangeable, any Flower matches any other, and Flowers belong to no suit. A Flower with a number painted in the corner is still just a Flower.

Older sets, and extra tiles

Some older or imported sets arrive with fewer Jokers, or none. The card assumes eight, so players complete the set with Joker stickers on spare tiles until the count is right. Play short and the hands that lean on Jokers become far harder than the card intends.

Blank tiles are a different matter. They are not part of the game, and a set that includes them still plays with 152 unless the table has agreed a house variant that uses blanks. If yours does, the walls simply run a stack or two longer, and everyone should know that before the first deal.

New to the words? Joker · Tile · Flower · Wall