How to Start a Mahjong Club

Mahjong clubs are popping up everywhere: university societies, Tuesday-night groups in a café, meetups that started as four friends and a borrowed set. Starting one is mostly about a few decisions made early and written down. This checklist covers choosing a variant, sets and space, a regular night, teaching beginners, house rules, keeping score and standings, growing the group, and running your first tournament.

Open a free club room →

No sign-up. One link for the whole club; anyone at any table logs the game.

1. Pick a variant

"Mahjong" covers several different games with the same tiles. A club needs one main variant so that everyone at a table is playing by the same rules.

Hong Kong (Cantonese) mahjong: fast, simple scoring in faan, 13-tile hands. Common in Hong Kong families and Cantonese-speaking communities. See how to play Hong Kong mahjong.
American Mah Jongg: hands are built to match the year's card, with jokers and the Charleston. Very popular with social clubs in the US.
Riichi (Japanese) mahjong: more rules and detailed scoring, with a strong online and competitive scene. Popular with university societies.
HK-Taiwanese (16-tile): longer hands and bigger swings, played widely in Hong Kong.

Most new groups pick the variant their teachers already know, and that is usually the right call. A beginner picks up the game in an evening when someone at the table can explain each call; learning from a rulebook alone takes weeks. If two people in the group know different variants, start with one and run the other as a separate night once the club is steady.

2. Sets and space

Want it all on one printable list? The mahjong club starter kit covers tables, sets, check-in and beginner support for your first night.

One set per table of four. Check that every set is complete before the first night; a missing tile is surprisingly common in second-hand sets. American sets need jokers and racks, and each American player needs the current year's card.
A table about 80 to 90 cm (around 32 to 36 inches) square fits four players and a wall comfortably. A card table works. A mat or tablecloth keeps the noise down and stops tiles sliding.
Space to grow. Pick a venue where a second and third table can go when numbers rise: a café's back room, a community centre, a library meeting room or a students' union room.
Ask about noise and rules. Shuffling tiles is loud. And if anyone plans to play for money, check what the venue and local law allow before you do.

3. Set a regular night

Clubs that last almost always meet at the same time every week or every fortnight. A fixed night means nobody has to organise each session from scratch, and people build it into their week.

Same day, same time, same place. "Tuesdays from 7pm" is easier to remember than a new poll every week.
Plan for about three hours. That gives time for a few games plus setting up, chatting and packing away.
Use a quick headcount in the group chat a day or two before, so you know how many tables to set up.
Have one person in charge of each night: unlocking, sets out, tables seated, scores logged. Rotate it once the group is bigger.

4. Teaching beginners

New players are how a club grows, so make the first night easy for them.

Seat one experienced player at each beginners' table, playing open-handed at first if the beginners want to see how hands are built.
Teach the shape before the scoring. Sets of three plus a pair is enough to start. Scoring can wait until the second or third night.
Hand out a one-page cheat sheet: tile names, the turn order, how to call a tile, what a winning hand looks like. Our Hong Kong mahjong cheat sheet prints in English and Chinese.
Share the table manners. Mahjong has its own etiquette and table words, a bit like poker. The mahjong etiquette guide is a good first-night handout.
Play for points only while people learn, even if the regular table plays for stakes. See how to run mahjong for points, not money.
Keep the glossary handy. For Hong Kong terms, the Cantonese mahjong glossary explains the words players will hear at the table.

5. Write your house rules

Every mahjong table plays slightly differently. Most arguments at club nights come from two people assuming different rules, so write yours down once and pin them in the group chat. A template:

Variant: which mahjong, and which edition or card for American.
Minimum to win: for example 3 faan for Hong Kong, or whatever your variant uses.
Stakes or points-only: and if stakes, the amounts and any cap.
Payment rules: who pays on a discard win and on a self-draw, and any extras you play.
Dead hands: what counts as one (a wrong number of tiles, a false win, an illegal call) and what happens: the player stops claiming, pays a penalty, or the hand is replayed.
How scores are recorded: hand by hand or final totals per game, who logs them, and where.

Add anything specific to your group, such as how many rounds make a game, or what happens when someone has to leave mid-game. For Hong Kong mahjong, the scoring table and payout table give you standard values to start from.

6. Keeping score and standings

A club needs one score record that everyone can see, not a different notebook at each table. Standings are a big part of why people keep coming back: knowing who is top this month gives every night a little edge.

With Mahjong Logbook the whole club shares one room link. Post it in the group chat once. Anyone at any table opens it on their phone and logs their game, hand by hand or as final totals. Each table's game is entered on its own, and the leaderboard covers everyone. Cantonese and HK-Taiwanese games must sum to zero before they save; American Mah Jongg scores are entered per player with no zero-sum check.

The leaderboard ranks players by net total, and you can sort it by games played, win rate or average per game. Filter it to a year or a quarter to see one season.
Players who stop coming can be set to "on a break". They drop off the leaderboard and new-game lists, and their history comes back if they return.
Size: a free room holds up to 10 active players. For a bigger club, Pro (per room, USD 12.99 a month or USD 7.99 a month billed yearly) removes the limit and adds head-to-head analysis.

The mahjong club score tracker page walks through a club night in more detail. If you prefer paper, see how to keep score in mahjong for a printable sheet.

7. Growing the group

Make it easy to come once. A clear "beginners welcome, sets provided" post brings in more people than anything else.
Post where people already look: local community groups, Meetup, the venue's noticeboard, university society fairs.
Run a monthly beginners' night so newcomers always have an obvious first date.
Give the regulars something to aim for: a season leaderboard, a ladder, or an end-of-term finals night. Our guide to running a mahjong ladder or season league covers the options.
Share small wins: a weekly "top of the table" post in the group chat keeps people talking between nights.

8. Running your first tournament

Once the club has a few regular tables, a one-day tournament is a great way to bring everyone together, including people who only come now and then.

Keep it small. Two to four tables and three or four rounds fit an afternoon.
Fix the format in advance: how many rounds, how long each lasts, how points are counted, and how ties are broken.
Reseat between rounds so players meet different opponents.
Show the standings on a screen between rounds. It is the part everyone gathers round.

Mahjong Logbook's tournament mode does the admin: pick a format (round-robin points, points plus a final table, or multi-stage knockouts), paste the roster, and it seats each round, takes per-table scores and shows live standings, including a projector view. It runs in English or Chinese and supports Cantonese, HK-Taiwanese, American Mah Jongg and Riichi. It is US$99 per event, self-serve, with a 3-day no-questions refund.

Starting a university mahjong society

University societies follow the same checklist, with a few extras.

Form a committee early. Most students' unions need a president, treasurer and secretary, a written constitution and a minimum number of members before you can book rooms or get funding. Check your union's rules for new societies.
Plan around freshers' fair. Bring a set and play live at the stall; people stop for the sound of tiles. Collect names for a beginners' night in the first two weeks.
Work in terms. Run a standings season per term, take a break over exams, and hold a finals night or tournament at the end of term. A season lines up neatly with the leaderboard's quarter filter.
Plan for handover. Committees change every year, so keep the society's records somewhere that does not belong to one person. A shared room link survives a committee change; a spreadsheet on last year's president's laptop does not.
Play for points only. Most unions do not allow gambling at society events, and points with a leaderboard keep it competitive anyway.

More on running a society's scores and standings on the university mahjong society page.

FAQ

How many people do you need to start a mahjong club?

Four is enough for one table, and that is how most clubs start. Aim for six to eight people on the list so a table still runs when someone cannot make it. Once you regularly have eight or more, you can run two tables.

Which kind of mahjong should a new club play?

Usually the one your teachers already know. Hong Kong (Cantonese), American Mah Jongg and Riichi are all good club games, but a beginner learns fastest from someone who can explain the rules at the table. You can add a second variant later as its own night.

Do mahjong clubs play for money?

Some do and many do not. Plenty of clubs, and almost every university society, play for points only and keep a leaderboard instead. Decide before the first night, write it into your house rules, and check what your venue allows.

What should a mahjong club's house rules cover?

At minimum: the variant, the minimum hand to win, stakes or points-only, how payments work, what counts as a dead hand and what happens to it, and how scores are recorded. Keep it to one page and pin it in the group chat.

How do we keep scores for the whole club?

Use one shared record, not one per table. In Mahjong Logbook that is one room: share its link once, anyone at any table logs their game, and the leaderboard covers everyone. A free room holds up to 10 active players; Pro removes the limit for that room.

How do we run our first mahjong tournament?

Keep it small: one afternoon, a fixed number of rounds, and seating decided in advance. Mahjong Logbook's tournament mode handles seating, per-table score entry and live standings for US$99 per event, with a 3-day no-questions refund.

More guides: how to keep score in mahjong, how to run a ladder or season league, and how to play Hong Kong mahjong.