The Charleston is the exchange that opens every American mahjong hand. It is not a shuffle, and it is not optional small talk. Everybody has 13 tiles. The first round always happens. Pass face down, three tiles at a time.
Right. Three tiles to the player on your right. You receive three from your left.
Right. Three craks that help neither teaching line.
Across. Three tiles to the player opposite. You receive three from that same player.
Across. Another three, face down, to the opposite seat.
Left. Three tiles to the player on your left. You receive three from your right.
Left. On this last pass, tiles that just arrived may go straight back out.
Players remember the whole six-pass dance with ROLLOR: Right, Over, Left, then Left, Over, Right. “Over” means across. Only the first three passes are required. The second three are a second Charleston.
Who can stop the second round
After the first left pass, anyone may stop the second Charleston. One no is enough. If the tiles of the second round have already been looked at, the table finishes it: left, across, right. Do not begin it and then wander off.
Blind pass, courtesy, and the joker rule
A blind pass is allowed only on the last pass of a Charleston: the first left, and the second right if you play that round. You still pass three tiles. If you do not want to give away three tiles from the rack you have already accepted, you may include tiles that just arrived and that you have not folded into the hand.
The courtesy pass comes after the Charleston stops, even when the second round was skipped. You and the player across each offer zero, one, two, or three tiles. The smaller offer is how many tiles move. The other pair across the table does the same, with their own number. No jokers.
A courtesy offer of three. If the other player offers one, only one tile moves.
If a joker is passed by mistake, it comes back.
For practice, keep two plausible lines in mind and pass tiles that help neither. The rack above is built that way. Two teaching lines want the flowers, the sixes in bam and dot, and East. The three craks help neither line. They are a clean first pass. Nothing on this rack is copied from an annual card.