What to Pass in the Charleston: American Mahjong Strategy

When we asked mahjong instructors where newer players need the most help, "deciding what to pass in the Charleston" came up again and again. And when we asked our community what they wish they could practice between games, one player put it perfectly: the feedback she hears most from people learning mahjong is "what to pass during the Charleston. Making the decision on which section to choose."

That second sentence is the whole secret. The Charleston isn't really a question about tiles. It's a question about where you're going. Once you know that, the tiles almost pick themselves.

So what should I pass in the Charleston?

Here's the short answer:

• Pick two or three sections of the card your rack is leaning toward. Think of them as your neighborhoods.
• Pass the tiles that don't live in any of them.
• Keep the tiles that work in more than one. Those are your best friends right now.

That's it. Everything below is how to do those three things quickly, with 12 other tiles staring back at you.

How do I choose which section of the card to go with?

This is the part that freezes people, so let's make it smaller.

You don't need to find your hand in the Charleston. You just need to find your neighborhood. Lay your card next to your rack and look for clumps:

• Lots of even numbers? Look at 2468.
• 3s, 6s and 9s? Look at 369.
• Odd numbers? 13579.
• Numbers that sit next to each other in one suit (like 4, 5, 6)? Consecutive Run.
• A few winds or dragons? Winds & Dragons.
• The same number in two or three suits? Any Like Numbers.

Count how many of your tiles each neighborhood could use. The two or three with the biggest counts are your shortlist. You're not marrying any of them yet. You're just deciding which doors to keep open.

Keep your card out where you can see it during the Charleston. Reading it is the skill. Nobody expects you to have it memorized. (New to how the card is laid out? Start with What Is the NMJL Card, and Why Does It Change Every Year?)

Which tiles should I pass first?

Start with the tiles that fit none of your neighborhoods. On the 2026 card, a few kinds usually land here:

• Lone winds, unless you're leaning toward Winds & Dragons. Outside that section, only five lines on the 2026 card use winds at all.
• 1s. They show up in fewer hands on the 2026 card than any other number.
• Singles in a suit your rack isn't building. One stray Crak in a rack full of Bams and Dots is usually just visiting.

A tile that fits nowhere you're going is the easiest pass you'll make all game. Pass those first, without guilt.

What should I never pass?

"Never" is strong, but these deserve a long, hard look before they leave your rack:

• Pairs that fit one of your neighborhoods. Pairs are hard to finish later, because you can't use a joker in a pair and you can only call a discard for a pair if it wins you the game.
• 6s and Flowers. 6s are the most valuable tile on the 2026 card, and Flowers aren't far behind: they show up in more hands than anything else. (Flowers alone appear in 22 of the card's 55 lines.) We dug into why in The 2026 NMJL Card Is Here: What Changed and What to Know.
• Any tile that serves two of your neighborhoods. It's doing double duty, so it's worth more than a tile that only helps one.
• Jokers. This one's easy: you can't pass them in the Charleston, so they stay put.

Let's pass a real rack together

Here's a 13-tile rack, the kind that makes people stare at the card for a long time:

Two Flowers. A 3 Bam, two 6 Bams and a 9 Bam. A 2, 4, 6 and 8 Dot. A North. A Red Dragon. A 1 Crak.

Step 1: find the neighborhoods. The 2, 4, 6, 8 Dot is shouting 2468. The 3, 6, 6, 9 Bam is whispering 369. Those are your two neighborhoods. On the 2026 card, this rack is six tiles from 2468, line 7, and seven tiles from two different 369 lines (lines 3 and 5).

Step 2: find the tiles that fit nowhere. The North and the 1 Crak don't help any of the five closest lines on the card. They're your first two passes. Easy.

Step 3: make the one real decision. You need a third tile, and now it gets interesting. The Red Dragon, the 3 Bam and the 9 Bam each help a line or two, and each one closes a door if it goes. This is exactly the "which section do I choose?" moment.

Here's how to think about it: 2468 is your closest neighborhood, and the 3 Bam and 9 Bam only help the 369 lines. So if you're leaning 2468, one of them goes. What stays, no matter what? The two 6 Bams. They work in all five of the closest lines on the card. Those are the last tiles you'd ever pass from this rack.

Step 4: watch what comes back. If the next pass brings you a 3 Bam and a 6 Crak, 369 just got more interesting. That's fine. Your first pass didn't lock you in. It just cleared out the tiles that were never going to help.

What if I don't have three tiles I'm willing to pass?

Then you might not have to. On certain passes you can do a blind pass: send along tiles you just received, without looking at them, instead of breaking up your rack. We wrote a whole piece on it: Why Would Anyone Do a Blind Pass?

Should I aim for Singles & Pairs or a concealed hand during the Charleston?

Usually not this early. Singles & Pairs hands can't use jokers at all, and concealed hands (marked C on the card) let you call a discard only to win. That makes both much harder to finish than the tile count suggests.

If your rack is full of pairs, keep Singles & Pairs in the back of your mind, but keep a joker-friendly neighborhood open too. Teachers we've talked to teach it this way: don't let the Charleston lock you into a hand that can't use help.

What should I pass on the second Charleston and the courtesy pass?

By now, your neighborhoods should be narrowing from three to one or two. Your passes get pickier:

• On the second Charleston, pass the tiles that only fit the neighborhood you're letting go of.
• On the courtesy pass, you don't have to pass anything at all. If your rack is finally coming together, it's fine to pass fewer tiles, or none.

Then the game starts, and your first discard is the next big decision. Here's why it matters so much: The First Discard: Why It's the Most Important Decision You'll Make All Game.

Your Charleston checklist

Before every pass, ask yourself:

1. What are my two or three neighborhoods?
2. Which tiles live in none of them? Pass those first.
3. Which tiles live in more than one? Protect those.
4. Am I about to pass a pair, a 6 or a Flower? Look twice.

It feels slow at first. Then one night you'll realize you made all three passes before anyone else at the table, and you'll wonder when that happened.

Now tell us: what's the hardest tile for you to let go of in the Charleston? Drop your answer on Instagram at @cheersbirdbam.

Practice what you just learned. In The Charleston, you work through pass after pass on the 2026 card, with Bammie talking you through what to keep and what to let go. Bird Bam Mahjong is now on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. Download Bird Bam Mahjong and practice before your next game.

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