What's inside
You're in the Circuit
The Circuit is a local Mahjong league played in person, in your city. You set up your own games, meet the players around you, and see where you stand as the season unfolds. It’s competitive enough to sharpen your game and friendly enough that you’ll want to come back next week.
What this handbook covers
Everything you need for one season, in the order you’ll need it: the terms we use, how a season works, how to propose a match or claim a seat, what happens at the table, how scores are submitted and confirmed, how the three leaderboards are calculated, and the policies that keep it all fair.
How it works
- In person, always. Real tables, real tiles, real people. Nothing in the Circuit is played on a screen.
- You make your own matches. One player proposes a game, and three others claim the open seats. No coordinator assigns you a table, and no one has to work through a phone tree.
- Play on your schedule. A season runs for several weeks. You play the weeks that work for you, submit your scores, and watch your standing move.
- One card, every table. All league play uses the current NMJL card, so the rules are the same wherever you sit down.
What it isn't
The Circuit isn’t a tournament, a class, or an app that plays Mahjong for you. It’s a league built around the game you already love, and it handles the scheduling, scoring, and standings so you can focus on playing.
The words we use
Six words carry most of the weight in this handbook. They are used precisely, and the same way every time.
- Chapter
- A local league — one city or metro, run by a Partner. You join a chapter, and it is your home for the season.
- Partner
- The person or studio running a chapter. A Partner sets the chapter’s season up and can act on any match in it. Never called a host.
- Match
- One sitting of four games at one table, with four players. A match is the unit everything else is counted in.
- Seat
- One of the four places at a match. You take a seat; you can also release one. A seat you release reopens for someone else — the match carries on.
- Proposer
- The player who created the match: the day, the place, the match type. The proposer submits the scores at the end.
- Joiner
- A player who takes one of the open seats at someone else’s match.
Putting a match on the board
Anyone in the chapter can propose a match. You pick the day, the place and the match type, and three seats open for the rest of the chapter to take.
What you choose
- When and where. A date, a time, and somewhere four people can sit down — a home, a studio, a café, a club.
- The match type. Table talk, Tile talk or Turbo.
- Your own seat. Proposing a match means you are playing in it.
What comes with proposing
The proposer submits the scores at the end of the match, one game at a time — see sheet 14. The proposer can also cancel the match, which calls it off for everyone rather than reopening a seat.
Taking a seat
Every match posted in your chapter shows its date, its place, its match type, and how many of its 4 seats are still open. Take one and you are playing.
What you are agreeing to
- Turning up, on the day, at the place the proposer named.
- Playing the match type as it was proposed — a Turbo table is a different evening from a Table talk one.
- Confirming the scores afterwards, which takes a moment and matters.
If you cannot make it
Release the seat as early as you can and it reopens for someone else. Releasing a seat does not call the match off — the other three keep their evening. “When plans change” (page 13) covers the timing and what happens if a seat reopens too late to fill.
What a match is
4 players. 4 games. Each player deals exactly once. One sitting.
The shape of a match
- 4 at the table. Four seats, or it is not a match. A short table is not a match — it cannot be played and it cannot be scored.
- 4 games. Each player deals exactly once., so the deal goes round exactly once and nobody sits out a turn.
- League play on the NMJL card. Whatever your table plays by, everyone at it plays by the same thing.
What you bring
A set and a card between the four of you, and whatever your venue does not already supply. Sort it out when the match is proposed rather than at the door.
What the app does
The app replaces the paper scorecard. It does not replace the person counting the hand.
One tap per game
Enter each game as it ends — nothing to remember, no scorecard to lose.
The app does the bookkeeping
Count your hand, enter the number. Running totals and Circuit bonuses are handled for you.
All four sign off
Nothing posts to the leaderboard until everyone confirms the same numbers.
Same rules, every city
League play on the NMJL card, with a few Circuit bonuses on top. Every table, every city, identical.
What it does not do
- It does not know the rules of Mahjong, and holds no copy of the card.
- It never assigns a value to a hand — you count yours and enter the number.
- It picks no winner and settles no dispute at the table.
- It computes the sum, and nothing else.
Circuit bonuses
3 adjustments on top of the hand you counted. You add them at the table and type the total — the app does not apply them for you.
- Self-picked +10
- Drew the winning tile from the wall with no call. A joker exchange still counts.
- Jokerless +25
- No jokers in the winning hand. Not awarded on Singles & Pairs hands.
- Wall game +10
- No winner — awarded to each of the four.
Where these numbers come from
They are settings on the season, not rules of the league — which means your Partner and the platform can tune them between seasons, and the values above are this season’s. The app shows you the current ones; this page tells you they exist.
Submitting the scores
The proposer enters each game as it ends — 4 numbers, 4 times. Nothing to remember at the end of the evening and no scorecard to lose.
One game at a time
As a game finishes, each player counts their own hand, adds any Circuit bonus that applied, and gives the proposer the number. The proposer enters the four numbers and moves on. The next game starts with the previous one already recorded.
Then the whole card, once
When the last game is in, the match shows as a single card — every game, every player, with the columns already added up. That is the moment to check it: the card is what the other three confirm.
Nobody went out
A game with no winner is entered like any other. The wall value goes to all four of you — “Circuit bonuses” (page 9) has this season’s figure.
Confirming the card
A submitted card is not a result yet. Nothing reaches a leaderboard until the table agrees it is right.
How it works
When the proposer submits the match, the other players see the completed card — every game, every number — and confirm it. Once the table has agreed, the match publishes and every board moves.
If a number is wrong
Say so before you confirm. A card that has not been agreed can be corrected and put back to the table, and everyone confirms the corrected version. This is a five-second conversation at the table and a much longer one a week later.
If you cannot agree
Your Partner can settle it. A Partner can correct a match in their chapter even after it has published — and when they do, the correction stands on its own: it is not sent back round for the four of you to confirm again. It is recorded as the Partner’s change, and it is the one thing in Circuit that can move a published standing without the table’s say-so.
The three boards
Every chapter runs 3 leaderboards a season, side by side — playing the most, playing the most consistently, and having one great night are three different achievements.
Circuit Score
Your top two matches each week, added up all season.
Rewards showing up and scoring big.
Rhythm
Your average score across every match — no drops, no do-overs.
A minimum number of matches qualifies you.
Peak
Your single highest match of the season.
One great night is all it takes.
Which boards you are on
All of them, always. Every match you play is recorded and feeds all three — there is nothing to opt into and no choice to make at the table.
Your chapter's boards are your chapter's players
A board lists the players whose home the chapter is — not the matches that happened there. If you sit at a table in another chapter, that score comes home with you.
When plans change
Three different things can happen to a match that does not go ahead, and they are not the same thing.
A joiner cancels a seat
You took a seat and cannot make it. Release it and it reopens — the match is still on, and someone else can take your place. Do it as early as you can: a seat that reopens the night before is a seat that probably will not fill.
A proposer cancels the match
The proposer is not releasing a seat; they are calling the whole match off. Everyone who had taken a seat is notified and the match is gone from the board. If you simply cannot play but the evening could go ahead without you, hand the match on rather than calling it off.
A match that nobody joins expires
A proposed match that never fills its seats is not cancelled — nobody called it off. It expires, quietly, and disappears from the board. That distinction matters to us: a chapter where matches expire has a different problem from one where they get called off.
When someone doesn't turn up
A match needs 4 players. If it is three, there is no match to score.
What happens
The proposer marks the match as unplayed and it leaves the scoring path entirely. It counts for nobody — not for the three who turned up, and not against them. Nothing reaches any board.
What to do instead
- If you know in advance, release your seat. It reopens and the match may still fill.
- If it is the same day, tell the proposer directly as well — the seat is unlikely to fill, but three people can decide what they want to do with the evening.
- If someone repeatedly leaves tables short, tell your Partner. That is a chapter problem and a Partner can act on it.
Etiquette and privacy
At the table
- Turn up when you said you would, at the place that was named.
- Play the match type that was proposed. A Turbo table where one player wants to chat is not a Turbo table.
- Count your own hand honestly, and check the card before you confirm it.
- Somebody is hosting the space. Leave it as you found it, and settle anything the venue charges between the four of you.
What other players can see
Your name as you chose to show it, your skill level, and your standings. Nothing else — not your contact details, not your address, not the matches you turned down.
What is public
- Standings are name and score. That is the entire content of a public board.
- Your full name is opt-in. You choose how you appear, and you can change it.
- There is no roster export. Not for Partners, not for players, not for anybody. A chapter’s player list is not a mailing list and there is no button that turns it into one.
Frequently asked
Do I have to play every week?
No. A season runs eight weeks, and there's no weekly commitment and no mandatory attendance — you play the weeks that work and skip the ones that don't. Your Circuit Score counts your best two matches each week, so a heavy week doesn't run away with the season and a quiet one doesn't sink it.
How good do I need to be?
Beginner through advanced. You pick your own skill level when you register, and it's a hint for people filling a table rather than a bracket — it doesn't restrict which matches you can join, and you can change it at any time.
Does the app know Mahjong rules?
No, and that is deliberate. You score off the card at the table exactly as you do now; the app is the scorecard, not the referee. It holds no rules, picks no winner, and never assigns a value to a hand — it takes the four numbers from each game and adds up the columns.
Who submits the scores?
Whoever proposed the match enters each game as it finishes — four numbers, four times. When the match is done, the other three see the completed card and confirm it. Nothing reaches the leaderboard until all four have signed off on the same numbers, and if anything is corrected afterwards, everyone confirms again.
Why are there three leaderboards?
Because playing the most, playing the most consistently, and having one great night are three different achievements. Circuit Score adds your best two matches each week across the season. Rhythm averages every match you play, with a minimum number of matches to qualify. Peak is your single highest match — one night is all it takes.
What if I take a seat and something comes up?
Release the seat and it reopens for someone else. If you were the one who proposed the match, cancelling calls off the whole match rather than leaving three people with an empty chair. A match needs all four seats filled to be played and scored — there is no three-player version.
Quick reference
The format
- Players per match
- 4 — Four seats, or it is not a match.
- Games per match
- 4 — Each player deals exactly once.
- Weeks in a ladder season
- 8 — Ladder seasons. An open season fills the gap between two ladder seasons and is not eight weeks.
- Ladder seasons per year
- 4 — Strictly sequential — one chapter runs one season at a time.
- Match types
- 3
- Season leaderboards
- 3
- Where matches are played
- In person only
- What the app computes
- The sum, and nothing else
This season's Circuit bonuses
- Self-picked
- +10 — Drew the winning tile from the wall with no call. A joker exchange still counts.
- Jokerless
- +25 — No jokers in the winning hand. Not awarded on Singles & Pairs hands.
- Wall game
- +10 — No winner — awarded to each of the four.
Still being decided
None of these has been ruled yet, and this page would rather name them than invent answers. Your Partner has the current position for your chapter.
- What a season costs
- Matches needed to qualify for the Rhythm board
- Whether proposing a match is rewarded
- What a no-show costs
- When an unfilled match expires
- How long a score can be corrected
- Who the waiver is with