A sold out tournament at a Dallas winery puts its conduct rule before its scoring

Crak Queen Mahjong, the Dallas Mahjong business run by instructor Karen Bethune, hosts its Summer Mahjong Tournament on Saturday, August 29, 2026, from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Waters Edge Winery, 6770 Abrams Road, Suite 100, in Dallas, Texas, according to its Eventbrite listing. As of this writing, the listing shows the afternoon as sold out.

Entry is $65, and per the listing it includes champagne, snack trays and a chance at the raffle prizes. Players bring their own 2026 National Mah Jongg League card. The tournament winner takes home a set of Charleston Mahjong Club cocktail club tiles. Order of the Tile is not affiliated with Crak Queen Mahjong, Waters Edge Winery or Charleston Mahjong Club, and does not sell sets.

Manners first

The listing is built in a particular order. Before it says a word about how a game is scored, it speaks to two kinds of player. Someone who has never entered a tournament is told this is a great one to start with. An experienced tournament player is promised the same competitive spirit with a more laid back feel, and a firm line against rudeness at the tables.

Only after that, and after a reminder to bring the 2026 card, does the listing turn to its tournament rules. The rules come second, and the welcome comes first.

“There is zero tolerance for rudeness”the Summer Mahjong Tournament listing, Crak Queen Mahjong

The afternoon, game by game

The schedule is published in full. Check-in and a rules review run from 2:30 to 2:45 p.m. Players then play three games, take a five-minute break to move tables, and repeat, for nine games in all, with the raffle prizes announced at a break at 5:10. At 5:15, the four players with the most points after nine games sit down for a championship game, and the winner of that game wins the tiles. Everyone else may play an optional game.

The listing also publishes the tournament's own house scoring, set by the organizer for this event. A winning hand earns the point value of its line on the card. The listing adds 10 points for drawing your own winning tile, 20 for a win made without Jokers (with certain hands excluded), and 10 for each player when a game ends in a wall game, and takes away 10 from a player who discards the tile that gives someone else the win when that winner had one or more exposures.

Directions are in the listing too. Waters Edge Winery has moved across the parking lot from its original spot, and it now sits to the right of Zaap Kitchen, under the winery's sign. The organizer accepts payment by Venmo or Zelle to spare players Eventbrite's fees, and asks them to email to register.

Who is hosting

Crak Queen Mahjong is the work of Karen Bethune, a Mahjong instructor in Dallas, according to her site. Alongside events, the site describes private lessons in and around Dallas, sessions for corporate groups and parties, and rentals of tile sets, mats, tables and cards. The tournament listing points players to the business's Instagram account, @crakqueenmahjong, to follow what comes next.

Prim's view

Putting the promise about how players will be treated ahead of the scoring table is a choice worth noticing. A first tournament is remembered less for the hands than for the people across the table, and a host who leads with courtesy is telling newcomers, before anything else, that they are wanted.

I am also charmed by the small touches: champagne, a raffle, a championship game for the top four and an optional game so that nobody has to sit and watch. If this would be your first tournament, the listing says it is a good place to start, and I would take it at its word. Bring your card, bring your best manners, and enjoy the afternoon.