Quick answers to the most common questions about mahjong dealer rules and about the app. Looking for app troubleshooting instead? See Support.
For the full step-by-step walkthroughs, see the complete dealing guide.
The dealer, also called East, is the player currently dealing the tiles. East receives 14 tiles instead of 13, discards first, and typically has doubled scoring on wins and losses.
The first dealer of a session is usually picked by a preliminary dice roll and count. After that, East stays dealer after a win or a drawn wall game, or the deal passes to the next seat if anyone else wins. Details: how is the mahjong dealer chosen.
East is whichever seat currently holds the deal — it's fixed by the previous hand's outcome, not chosen freely each round.
In American mahjong, East rolls two dice once to find the wall break. In Chinese mahjong, the dealer rolls to select which seat's wall breaks, then that seat rolls again and the totals are added.
Count stacks from the counterclockwise (right-hand) end of the relevant wall, using the dice total, and break the wall immediately after that stack. Full guide: how to break the wall in mahjong.
At the wall-break tile, proceeding counterclockwise around the table, 4 tiles at a time.
Chinese: 34 tiles (17 stacks) per wall. American: 38 tiles (19 stacks) per wall, or 40 (20 stacks) with the optional Blanks house rule.
13 each, except the dealer, who receives 14 — the extra tile comes on the final round of dealing.
East rolls once, the break is always on East's own wall. Full guide: American mahjong dealer & dealing guide.
The dealer rolls to select a seat, that seat rolls again, and the totals find the break. Full guide: Chinese mahjong dealer & dealing guide.
Dealing itself (4 at a time, dealer gets 14) is the same. The wall-break procedure is not — American uses one roll on the dealer's own wall; Chinese uses two rolls and can break any wall.
East stays dealer for the next hand — happens after East wins, or after a drawn wall game.
The deal passes counterclockwise to the next seat — happens whenever anyone other than East wins.
Yes — the app runs entirely on your device with no network calls, and works the same in airplane mode.
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Mahjong Dealer rolls the dice, picks the dealer, and lights the exact wall-break tile for you — Chinese and American rules built in.
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