Curated Edits
ceMAHJONG EDITS

Crak, Bam, Dot — welcome to my obsession.

American Mahjong found me, and I haven't been the same since. It's strategy, it's ritual, it's the best excuse for weekly friendship I've ever encountered. This is where I share everything: how to learn, what to buy, and where we play next. See you at the table.

Learn to Play Shop My Picks

My story

I came to mahjong backwards

Most people learn this game from someone they love — a grandmother, a mother, a friend who finally drags them to the table. I didn't inherit mahjong from anyone. I didn't know a single American Mahjong player.

What I did inherit from my mother was a lifelong love of interior design. So when the modern sets started turning up everywhere, I never stood a chance: the tiles, the acrylic racks, the dice dishes, the mats — a whole world of objects made to be arranged beautifully on a table. I bought in. Literally. One set, then another, collected long before I could play a single hand. I fell for the aesthetic first and the game second, which is a backwards way to fall in love — but it stuck.

I dove in and found my own way to learn — one mahjong tutorial video and practice hand at a time. After a few months I was ready for a real table, and I found a gloriously casual local group who let me test everything I'd learned (house rules and all).

I hear the tiles in my sleep.

See you at the table.

4,467%

surge in Yelp searches for mahjong clubs

2,300+

active U.S. clubs and counting

152

tiles in a set — every one matters

New to the table?

How to fall in love with American Mahjong

American Mahjong (also called Mah Jongg) is played with 152 tiles and an annual scorecard from the National Mah Jongg League. Here's the path I recommend — it's the one I took.

  1. Get the card — and the book — everything starts with the annual National Mah Jongg League card, the official list of winning hands, refreshed every year. A few dollars, and it's the heartbeat of the game. While you're there, pick up the League's book, Mah Jongg Made Easy — a must-read.
  2. Learn the bones online — start with video. I learned an enormous amount from the Mahj 101 series by Jessica of Southern Sparrow — nine episodes, in order, that build the whole game from the ground up — and from Kim's videos at Ladies That Mahj. Then put it to work against gentle computer opponents at I Love Mahj — tile names, the Charleston, and card-reading without any pressure. More of the teachers and podcasts I lean on are in Table Notes.
  3. Find (or start) a table — clubs are multiplying fast, or gather three friends and learn together. The game is at its best with laughter around it. Nothing speeds you up like a real teacher, though — look for a Mahjong instructor in your area, or a local shop or club that hosts beginner lessons.
  4. Play weekly — make it a standing date. Three sessions and you're hooked; three months and you're teaching others.

Shop the Edit

My curated Mahjong gear

The picks below are the pieces I use, covet, or gift. Links will be added as I finalize partnerships — and a full Curated Edits storefront is on its way.

Start here

The Annual NMJL Card

The official scorecard from the National Mah Jongg League. Standard or large print — get large print, thank me later.

Order from the League →
The set

A Beautiful Starter Set

166 tiles, racks and pushers included. Modern makers like Oh My Mahjong and The Mahjong Line have turned sets into decor-worthy art.

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Table essential

Racks & Pushers

Combination rack-and-pusher sets keep the Charleston moving and your hand a secret. A gift-worthy upgrade for any player.

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Game night

The Mahjong Mat

A slip-free surface that quiets the clatter and saves your dining table. The unsung hero of a proper game night.

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Carry

Totes & Travel Cases

Because your set deserves better than the box it came in — and mahjong is a traveling sport.

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Coming soon

The Curated Edits Shop

Mahjong game-night kits, printable score sheets, hostess bundles, and my own curated collections — launching soon, right here.

Get notified →

Table Notes

Fresh from the table

Dated notes as the collection grows — gear I'm testing, game-night recaps, and unboxings once the shop picks start arriving.

July 17, 2026

Tablescape of the Day · No. 003

Bright and preppy. This is Oh My Mahjong's "Nantucket" set — cherry-red and green striped tiles with the prettiest chinoiserie art: a Staffordshire spaniel, blue-and-white ginger jars, trellised bamboo, and a little hummingbird one-bam that keeps turning up across my collection. It packs away in that sweet pink Oh My Mahjong pouch, styled here on a pink-and-red scalloped mat with clear lucite racks and pushers I found on Amazon. Crisp, coastal, and impossible to walk past — Nantucket, by way of the mahjong table.

Tap any photo to view it full-size.

See you at the table.

July 16, 2026

Where I learned

Nobody learns this game alone. These are the teachers who got me to the table — all of them worth your time, and most of them free.

The two that taught me. Mahj 101 — Jessica of Southern Sparrow's nine-part series — is the one I'd hand any beginner. It's meant to be watched in order, and each episode builds on the last, so the game assembles itself in your head instead of landing all at once. Kim at Ladies That Mahj was the other half of my education — she teaches in Bucks County and online, and her videos fill in what the card can't tell you.

The icons worth following. Michele Frizzell (#MahjLife) is a third-generation player whose Facebook group runs tens of thousands strong — her annual card breakouts are an event unto themselves. Dara Collins and Donna Miller Kassman of Modern Mahjong teach on demand, wrote the Visual Companion Guide for American Mah Jongg, and keep one of the warmest groups online going. Both are generous with what they know, which is the whole spirit of this game.

In my ears. Tile Talk is my favorite podcast in this space — insightful on rules and etiquette, and their recent run of guests has been terrific. Perfect for the drive to game night.

Books are next: I have a stack going, and reviews will land here as I finish them.

See you at the table.

July 15, 2026

Tablescape of the Day · No. 002

Gone coastal. This one's all seafoam, aqua, olive, and white — a beach set I found on Amazon that I couldn't scroll past, styled here on a blue-coral mat with an oyster-shell dish for the dice. The details are the whole story: a little one-bam bird mid-flight, seahorses standing in for the dragons, and seashells where the dots usually go. Some sets you play; some you just want to sit and look at. This one's both. Crak, Bam, Dot — but make it summer. More on @mahjongedits.

Tap any photo to view it full-size.

See you at the table.

July 14, 2026

Tablescape of the Day · No. 001

The inaugural tablescape — and the start of a series, both here and on @mahjongedits. On the table: blush tiles from The Chinoiserie Set × Southern Sparrow (the koi, feathers, and ginger jars won me over instantly), a hot-pink and citron mat, clear acrylic racks so nothing competes with the tiles, golden dice in a striped trinket dish, and a little cordless lamp for glow when the afternoon light fades.

Tap any photo to view it full-size.

See you at the table.

July 12, 2026

The table is set

Welcome to Table Notes — the living part of Mahjong Edits. This is where new gear gets its honest write-up after real games, where game-night photos and recaps will land, and where the unboxing videos will live once the first shop picks arrive. Join the list below and you'll hear the tiles clack before anyone else.

See you at the table.