ALLENTOWN, Pa. – It’s a game that’s been around for centuries, but is now getting a new generation of players picking up tiles.
69 News Reporter Sydney Kay was in Allentown with a breakdown of the game and its trend of growing popularity.
JCC of the Lehigh Valley is offering mahjong classes and tournaments. People at the center play American Mahjong, playing by the rules of the National Mahjong League.
Tracy Sussman, the center’s Marketing/Membership Services Director, said mahjong is a tile game rooted in Asian culture. It has three “suits”: craks, dots, and bams.
The whole idea is that players make a line of mahjong on the National Mahjong League card. She said there’s about 1,000 different options of lines or hands that you could win.
Mahjong started in China and made its way to America by way of Charles Babcock in New York, where immigrants began playing the game, she said.
Sussman said the National Mahjong League was formed in the late 1930’s. The game has experienced a boom across America in the last seven or eight years.
Sussman said mahjong is a ‘ton of fun.” She said she started teaching back in 2019. The center teaches learn to play classes.
It runs a “Mahjong Madness” tournament a few times a year.
69 News Reporter Sydney Kay asked Sussman how long it takes to get the hang of the game, and she said six hours.
For more information on classes, you can head to the JCC website.