Charleston Overview

The Charleston is a tile-passing phase at the start of an American mahjong game.

Pass order (simplified)

1. First Charleston — pass 3 tiles to the right, then across, then left.
2. Optional second Charleston — same directions if all four players agree.
3. Courtesy pass — optional exchange with the player across.

See American Rules for the full article, or download a Cheat Sheet for NMJL patterns.