Playing a Hand
Racks, walls and the deal
How the table is set up before anyone plays.
Beginner · lesson 19 of 25
All 152 tiles are turned face down and mixed, then built into four walls, one in front of each player. The walls are where every tile you draw comes from.
Tiles are dealt around until everyone holds thirteen. The dealer, called East, takes a fourteenth, which is why East is the only player who begins by discarding rather than drawing.
Tip
Thirteen in your rack is the number to remember. From the first discard onward you draw one and discard one, so you are back to thirteen at the end of every turn.
Your rack faces you and nobody else. Everything anyone learns about your hand, they learn from what you pass, what you discard, and what you expose.
Reading ahead is fine. The path takes lessons in order, so this one ticks off once you get here.
See where you are