What to pass in the Charleston
Pass the tiles that none of your two or three closest hands use, and never a joker: jokers can't be passed in the Charleston. If every tile is helping some hand, give up a tile from the hand you're furthest from, and on the last pass of each Charleston (the first left and the second right) you may pass tiles blind instead of breaking up a hand.
Updated · The Open Apps, Inc.
How to choose
- Find your closest hands. Count how many tiles each hand on your card still needs. Early on, keep two or three hands in mind; the Charleston decides between them.
- Pass what none of them use. Tiles that fit none of those hands go first: a lone wind, a dragon you have no use for, numbers in a suit you aren't collecting.
- Keep jokers, and value natural pairs. Jokers can never be passed. Natural pairs matter more than they look, because a joker can't complete a pair or a single.
- Break up the weakest hand. When you must pass a useful tile, take it from the hand you're furthest from, not the one you're building.
- Use the blind pass. On the first left and the second right you may pass on 1, 2 or 3 of the tiles passed to you without looking at them, and keep tiles you need.
The order of passes
Every pass is three tiles, passed face down. The first Charleston always happens; the second only if nobody stops it.
| Pass | Direction | Blind pass allowed? |
|---|---|---|
| First Charleston, 1st | Right | No |
| First Charleston, 2nd | Across | No |
| First Charleston, 3rd | Left | Yes |
| Second Charleston, 1st (optional) | Left | No |
| Second Charleston, 2nd | Across | No |
| Second Charleston, 3rd | Right | Yes |
| Courtesy pass (optional) | Across, 0 to 3 tiles by agreement | No |
Any player may stop the second Charleston before it starts. Tables sometimes add house rules; agree on them before you play.
Use it in ChatGPT
Jokerly American Mahjong is a ChatGPT plugin. With your rack in front of you, try:
- “Here's my rack [photo]. Which hand on my card am I closest to?”
- “What should I pass right in the first Charleston?”
- “Can I swap my 5 Dot for the joker in their 5 Dot pung?”
Coming soon to ChatGPTHow it works in ChatGPT
Questions
- Can you pass a joker in the Charleston?
- No. Jokers may never be passed during the Charleston, in either Charleston or the courtesy pass.
- What is a blind pass?
- On the last pass of a Charleston (the first left, or the second right), you may pass on 1, 2 or 3 of the tiles passed to you without looking at them, adding tiles from your rack to make three.
- Who can stop the second Charleston?
- Any player can stop it before it begins. The courtesy pass with the player across can still follow.
- How does Jokerly pick the three tiles?
- It tries every set of three tiles in your rack (at most 286 sets) against every hand on your card, and keeps the set that leaves your rack closest to your best hands. It never offers a joker.