The Table, the Set, and Your Rack

A mahjong set comes with more than tiles. You’ll also find racks (one per player), often with pushers attached, a pair of dice. Four players sit around a square table, one on each side.

Your rack keeps your secrets

Each player’s tiles live on a sloped rack that faces you and hides your hand from everyone else. You’ll sort your tiles here, plan your hand, and only reveal a group when you claim a tile or win. Keeping your tiles up on the rack — and out of sight — is both good manners and good defense.

Your Rack — Tiles Face You, Hidden From Others

Original illustration. You sort your 13 tiles on the sloped rack so only you can see them; exposed groups get placed face-up on the flat top later.

What you need to start

To play in person you need three things: a set (with the racks and dice), the current card, and three other players. Learning online is even simpler. An app supplies all you need except the NMJL card. Either way, you’ll want your own copy of the card in front of you, which is the very next thing we’ll learn to read.