American mahjong is drawing new players to tables across Cleveland

CLEVELAND, Ohio — America is no stranger to game fads — from the bridge craze in the 1930s to bunco in the mid-2000s, people always seem to find a way to gather over a little friendly competition.Even in an era when nearly every game can be played online, American mahjong is drawing players to tables across the country, including in Cleveland. Local organizers say many of the people showing up to learn are women, often arriving on their own and eager to connect with others.It makes sense in 2026, when so-called grandma hobbies are having a moment. Junk journaling (a modern-day mashup of scrapbooking and collaging), knitting, gardening and crafting offer something tangible to do away from a screen. Mahjong adds four seats around a table, a challenge to work through together and, for some players, a reason to meet someone new.Erini Heffernan learned American mahjong in 2025 through a Junior League of Cleveland women’s leadership training session. She did not finish a game that day, but she went home wanting more.“But I left in a panic of like, how can I play again?” she said. “I was immediately hooked and I hadn’t even finished a game, let alone not even won mahjong yet.”Heffernan bought a set and recruited her husband and in-laws to learn with her. Aside from a deep need to play mahjong, she discovered that she also loved teaching others how to play. In March 2026, she began teaching through her Mahjong IRL brand through local events, and since then, she has taught more than 400 people.Her classes typically have 10 to 12 students, taking around three hours to give folks enough time to learn the rules and play a guided game. She has taught at local businesses including Le Burger, Blair Richie, Flight Cleveland and Shore Society. At her biweekly classes at Flight, two tables are also available for experienced players to play on their own.“I really want it to be intimate. I really want to teach you as if I’m teaching a friend, so I keep the class sizes small,” Heffernan said. “I want everyone to leave that class excited about the game.”Mahjong boards from The Mahjong Line, which Mahjong IRL's Erini Heffernan is an ambassador of.Courtesy of Erini HeffernanMahjong originated in China, though its precise origins are uncertain, according to the National Mah Jongg League. Joseph Babcock helped popularize the tile game in the United States in the early 20th century. In 1937, mahjong players in New York, many of them Jewish women, founded the league to standardize the hands and rules used in the American game.Today, American mahjong uses jokers and a card of possible hands that changes each year. Players arrange their tiles on racks, similarly to those used in a Scrabble game, which keep their hands hidden from the other people at the table. They choose a pattern on the card and try to build it with their tiles. For someone seeing that card for the first time, though, it can be a lot to take in.“In my classes, I assume no one knows a single thing about what American mahjong is,” Heffernan said. “I go over the basics in baby steps.” Before even introducing the card to students, Heffernan starts by teaching the history, each tile and the possible suits. She then walks them through how to build a hand, piece by piece, and leaves time at the end of class for a guided game.“That way, people aren’t so intimidated by what’s on the card and I can help them understand what it is,” she said.And winning mahjong comes with time and practice. “Your goal is to learn how to play and winning is secondary,” she said.The Cleveland Mahjong Collective gathers regularly at various local venues to play mahjong.Courtesy of Wendy LeeFor Wendy Lee, founder of the Cleveland Mahjong Collective, the game offered a way to connect with her late mother.Lee’s mother was born in China in the 1930s, later moving to Taiwan in her teens. There, she later met Lee’s father, a Berea native serving in the U.S. Air Force.Her mother also played mahjong, something she never did after moving to America.Lee knew that part of her mother’s life mostly through stories. Her father once told her he had to pull her mother away from mahjong games in Taiwan because she was so invested. After her mother died, Lee found an unopened mahjong set while cleaning out her closet.Their relationship had been difficult, and Lee had begun researching her mother’s life, looking for ways to understand her better. The set gave her somewhere to start.“And I said, you know what? I’m going to pull it out and learn how to play,” Lee said.Lee learned American mahjong from a group in Medina, then taught herself Hong Kong-style mahjong through online tutorials. She describes the Hong Kong game as faster paced, with players building hands such as three of a kind or pairs from memory. American mahjong, with its annually changing card of possible hands, gives players more to consider on each turn.“The card, the American version, you think a lot more. It’s slower paced. Chinese is kind of fast paced,” Lee said. The difference shows up in the crowds she can gather, too. “Sometimes I can’t get four people to play Chinese. Now, I can get 16, 20, 24 people to play American a night.”She held her first event at Rozi’s in Lakewood in the beginning of 2026. The Cleveland Mahjong Collective now meets regularly at local businesses including Ninja City, High & Low Winery and Red Lantern, Lee said.The Cleveland Mahjong Collective gathers regularly at various local venues to play mahjong.Courtesy of Wendy LeeWhat began as Lee’s search for a group closer to home has become a community she can count on. She said she sometimes meets up to play with people she has known only a few months yet feels a closeness that extends beyond the game.“People I’ve met through my group now, we’ll play at different places, and I don’t know them that well. I’ve only known them a couple months,” she said. “But I know that if something happened, they would help me out or be there.”“You kind of find your little bit of a tribe. We don’t get that online.”Her daughter now plays, too, and helps her run the Cleveland Mahjong Collective, showing a continuation of the mother-daughter connection through the game that first led Lee to learn more about her own mother.At Flight wine bar, owner Lindsay Smith said the business began hosting Mahjong IRL events in May and has since settled into two a month. Every event with Heffernan has sold out, Smith said, and she has noticed familiar faces returning.“We kind of figured out that there were a lot of people interested,” Smith said. “I was just seeing it kind of everywhere.” Flight has hosted wine and community events before, but Smith said mahjong brings a different kind of gathering to the space. People can have wine, nonalcoholic drinks and snacks while they learn, though the game gives them something to share beyond what is in their glasses.Erini Heffernan, owner and instructor at Mahjong IRL in Cleveland.Courtesy of Erini Heffernan“It’s not trivia, it’s not bingo,” Smith said. “They’re learning a skill that they can go and play anywhere.”Heffernan often sees people come to class alone. By the end, she said, some are laughing and exchanging phone numbers. Lee has felt a similar connection in her group, even with people she has known only a few months.And while players may discover a group online, the game itself asks them to put their phones down. The tiles, the conversation and the decisions at the table demand their attention.“Mahjong is for everyone. I think it’s really resonated with women because it’s an opportunity to socialize and connect,” Heffernan said. “My husband goes golfing every Sunday, and he’s gone for four hours. I have my own reason to gather with my friends and play.”