The Tile Teacher

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The Tile Teacher 🀄 Welcome to The Tile Teacher
Making mahjong easy, fun, and social. Lessons, tips, and “aha!” moments for new and curious players.

Pull up a chair and shuffle up! Private lessons and mahjong parties! Serving New York and New Jersey.

10/13/2026

Keep your opponents guessing! 🀄️ Here are two simple tips to give away less information at the table:
✨ Pick a tile you need? Rack it on the right end and wait until you’ve discarded and the next player’s turn has begun before moving it into place. Rearranging right away could give your opponents a clue!
✨ Mix your jokers into your hand. Some players keep them on the left, so moving a new tile straight to that spot might reveal what you picked. Rack your joker on the right, too, and move it after your turn.
Everyone organizes differently—these are just tips to help keep your hand a mystery! 😉
Tiles: Smith by Oh My Mahjong
Mat: Elysium by Oh My Mahjong

10/09/2026

Can you exchange a joker from a dead hand? **Sometimes!** 🃏 It depends on when the hand became dead and which exposures were valid before that happened.

Here are three examples:

🀄 **Wrong dragon in a quints hand:** My earlier soap-dragon exposure was valid, but exposing the nine dots revealed the wrong dragon for this hand. The nine-dot exposure goes back into my rack. The earlier soap exposure stays up, and its jokers are available for exchange.

🀄 **An impossible NEWS hand:** I still need a single East when the fourth East is discarded. I can’t call a single unless it completes mahjong, so my hand can no longer be completed. My valid six- and nine-bam exposures stay up, and their jokers remain available.

🀄 **Exposing a concealed hand:** My hand became dead with the first exposure. Both pungs of eights go back into my rack, and none of those jokers are available.

Remember: **don’t call your own hand dead.** Before exchanging a joker from another player’s dead hand, ask: **Was that exposure valid before the hand became dead?**

Save this for your next mahjong rules question! ✨

Tiles: Florielle by Virora Mahjong Official
Mat: Coralia by Virora Mahjong Official

🀄️🇵🇹 Mahjong is taking us to Portugal!Join me for Tiles by the Sea, a beautifully curated mahjong retreat on the Portugu...
10/08/2026

🀄️🇵🇹 Mahjong is taking us to Portugal!

Join me for Tiles by the Sea, a beautifully curated mahjong retreat on the Portuguese coast, March 1–7, 2027.

Imagine six nights filled with mahjong, strategy coaching, friendly tournament play, a special Chinese mahjong lesson, incredible food, w**e tasting, and unforgettable excursions to Sintra, Pena Palace, and Mafra Palace.

Whether you come with a friend or travel on your own, you’ll be welcomed into a wonderful community of players. All skill levels are invited, and everything you need to play will be provided!

Your stay, private-chef meals, scheduled excursions, local transportation, and round-trip airport transfers are all included. Payment plans are also available.

Space is limited. Comment PORTUGAL or Visit the link in my bio for the complete itinerary and booking details.

Who’s ready to join me in Portugal? 🇵🇹🀄️
MahjongCommunity PortugalRetreat EriceiraPortugal

10/07/2026

Sometimes the smartest move is letting go of your hand! 🀄️

“Dogging” your tiles in American mahjong is an advanced defensive strategy where you intentionally break up your own hand to discard safe tiles and try to prevent an opponent from winning.

Knowing WHEN to do this is one of the hardest things for beginners. You’ve spent the whole game working toward mahjong, and giving up that possibility is tough!

Here, I still needed three tiles with very little wall left. I started discarding jokers and breaking up my hand, hoping for a wall game where no one wins.

But needing three tiles doesn’t automatically mean it’s time to give up! 👀 Look at your opponents’ exposures, check the discards, and consider how many tiles are left to pick.

Mahjong is as much about defense as it is about offense!

Do you find it hard to let go of your hand? Tell me below! 👇

Tiles: Florielle by Virora Mahjong Official
Mat: Coralia by

10/05/2026

Back to basics: let’s deal! 🀄️

A student asked for a video showing how to deal in American mahjong that they could save and refer back to—so this one’s for anyone who needs a refresher!

Here’s your reminder: **deal to the right; walls move to the left!** ➡️⬅️

🎲 East rolls two dice, adds the numbers, and counts that many stacks from the right end of East’s wall. Break immediately after the last stack counted, then begin taking tiles from the left side of the break.

🀄️ Starting with East and moving to the right, each player takes four tiles at a time. Repeat three times so everyone has twelve. Keep your tiles stacked until the deal is complete!

🀄️ For the final tiles, East takes the top tiles from the first and third remaining stacks—“one and three.” Continuing to the right, the other players take the bottom tile of the first stack, then the top and bottom tiles of the second stack.

✅ East has fourteen tiles; everyone else has thirteen. Count, rack, and get ready for the Charleston!

Leave the tiles to the right of East’s original break where they are—you’ll get to them later!

For this demonstration, I’m dealing to everyone so you can follow along. During your game, each player should take their own tiles.

Save this video for your next mahjong night, and share it with a friend who’s learning! 💕

Tiles: Florielle by Virora Mahjong Official
Mat: Coralia by

10/02/2026

After East breaks the wall, where do the tiles left behind go? 🀄️

Right where they are—on the right side of East’s rack!

The dice determine where East breaks the wall. Everyone deals from the tiles to the left of the break, while the tiles to the right stay in place.

It might be tempting to slide that short section to the middle or far left to tidy up, but according to National Mah Jongg League rules, those tiles should stay on the right.

Why? Think of the walls as one continuous path. After the third wall, play continues with East’s remaining tiles. Moving them could cause players to overlook them and end the game too soon!

Your reminder: **Break the wall, deal the tiles, and leave East’s remaining tiles on the right!**

Save this for your next mahjong game! 🀄️

10/01/2026

Called “mahjong”… then realized you don’t have it? 😬

What happens next depends on what you’ve done with your tiles!

🀄 **No tiles exposed from your rack?** You can take back your declaration without a penalty.

🀄 **Claimed a discard or exposed only the tiles for your current exposure?** You can still retract your declaration, but you’re committed to that exposure. Play continues from there.

🀄 **Exposed more of your hand for mahjong in error?** You’re disqualified and do not discard. Return the newly exposed tiles to the sloped part of your rack. Any valid exposures made earlier stay up, and their jokers are still available for exchange. Play continues with the player to your right.

If multiple players declare mahjong in error, payment gets more complicated: the last player to declare in error may owe a player with an intact hand double the value of the hand they were attempting.

My advice to my students? **Pause, check your hand, THEN say “mahjong!”** A little excitement can lead to a big oops! 😂

Save this for your next “wait… do I actually have it?” moment!

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