You’ve got 13 tiles sitting on your rack—and right now, they look like they have absolutely nothing to do with each other.
Good. This is the part that makes that random rack start to make sense.
If you’ve ever sat at a mahjong table holding three tiles and thought, “Wait, which way am I passing?” this one’s for you.
What is the Charleston in American Mahjong?
The Charleston is a series of tile exchanges that happens after the deal and before East makes the first discard. It gives everyone a chance to trade some tiles and see what new possibilities show up on their rack.
Think of it as a traffic pattern. Everyone follows the same directions at the same time. The easiest way to remember those directions is ROLLOR.
Remember the Charleston order with ROLLOR
| Round | Passing order |
|---|---|
| First Charleston | Right → Over → Left |
| Second Charleston, if everyone continues | Left → Over → Right |
Over means straight across the table to the player opposite you. The spot that trips people up is the middle. You pass leftto finish the first Charleston, then left again to start the second. Those are two separate passes.
For a regular pass, choose three tiles, send them face down, and wait until you’ve made your pass before looking at the tiles coming to you. Jokers stay on your rack throughout the Charleston and the courtesy pass.
The first Charleston is required. After Right, Over, Left, any one player can stop the second Charleston. If everyone continues, complete all three passes of the second round.
What is a blind pass?
Say you’re on the first Left and you only have one tile on your rack you’re willing to give up. You can pass that tile along with two of the incoming tiles, keeping those two face down and passing them along without looking.
That’s a blind pass, sometimes called stealing. You can pass along up to three unseen incoming tiles, and you have this option on only two passes in ROLLOR:
-
The first Left, at the end of the first Charleston.
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The last Right, at the end of the second Charleston.
How does the courtesy pass work?
After the Charleston ends, you and the player across from you can make one final exchange. Each of you says how many tiles you’re willing to pass, from zero to three, and you both exchange the lower number.
If you offer three and the player across from you offers one, you each pass one tile. If either of you says zero, there’s no exchange for your pair. You can still do a courtesy pass if the table stopped after the first Charleston.
The next time you sit down to play, say it to yourself: Right, Over, Left. Left, Over, Right. Once the directions feel familiar, you can spend more time looking at what’s on your rack.
Watch the reel here: The traffic pattern of the Charleston