Mahjong Lessons in St. Petersburg, FL: What a First Class Looks Like
What happens in a beginner mahjong class in St. Pete, from the first tile to your first real game
When women check in for Mahjong 101, a lot of them tell me they've wanted to learn for years and kept putting it off. Usually someone told them mahjong was hard, and they believed it.
So here's what actually happens in those 2.5 hours, and you can decide for yourself.
Who the class is for
Mahjong 101 is for complete beginners. If you've never touched a tile, you're in the right room, and you don't need a set, a card, or three friends lined up to come. Most women come on their own.
If you can count to 9, you can learn this game. You don't need to speak Chinese, and you don't need to be a math person.
Meeting the tiles
There are 152 tiles in an American Mahjong set, and at first glance they look like a crowd of strangers. I introduce them in families instead. Each suit has one more family member, and that's a dragon: Red goes with Craks, Green goes with Bams, and Soap goes with Dots.
Once you see it that way, the crowd turns into a few small families you can recognize across the table.
Reading the card
Every year the National Mah Jongg League publishes a new card with the hands you can win with, and the first look at it can feel like reading a tax form. I teach it with my KISS Method, which stands for Keep It Simple, Seriously.
Think of the card as a city. The sections are neighborhoods, and each Mahjong listed on it is a house.
As a beginner, you only visit four neighborhoods: 2468, 13579, 369, and Winds and Dragons. You start with two houses in each, so you're looking at eight hands instead of the whole card, and you stay there for two games, two weeks, or two months, whatever your brain needs.
Sorting your rack
Next you sort your tiles and pick a direction for your hand. I teach this with Green Zone, Red Zone. The left side of your rack holds what you keep, and the right side holds what you'll let go.
I call this the moment we Marie Kondo your rack. You thank the red zone tiles for their service and get ready to pass them along.
The Charleston
The Charleston is a choreographed exchange of tiles before play begins, and it has a reputation for tying beginners in knots. In my class, you have one job during the Charleston. Pass your red zone and collect tiles that make your green zone stronger.
Your first real game
Then we play a real game with real tiles and the real card. I stay at the table and help you read your hand whenever you get stuck.
By the time class ends, you've played a full game of mahjong, and most women are surprised by how quickly it came together.
What you take home
Everyone leaves with my free handout, Mahjong Made Simple with Gaia. It covers the tiles, reading the card, setting up, Green Zone and Red Zone with the Charleston, and what to do on your turn, so you can pick it back up at home without starting over.
After 101
If you want to keep going, Mahjong 102 is for returning beginners and is about playing well now that you can play. You can also come to my free open plays at Dillard's Tyrone Square and SkyBar and Grill, where there's a Starting Out table for newer players.
If 2.5 hours feels like a lot to commit before you know you like the game, try Taste of Mahjong first. It's a 90-minute introduction on Thursday mornings at Perry's Porch in downtown St. Pete.
The details
Length and price: 2.5 hours, $68
Where: Dillard's Tyrone Square, Paloma House, the St. Pete Beach Public Library, Pour & Décor, and AR Workshop St. Petersburg
What to bring: Just yourself. I bring the tiles.
Class size: Each class needs at least six students to run. If a date doesn't reach six, I move your seat to another date.
Book your seat
Every Mahjong 101 date is on my calendar. Pick one and book it before you talk yourself out of it for another year.
