Charleston strategy: what to pass and keep

In the Charleston, keep pairs and jokers, hold flowers early, and pass loners: single tiles that don't connect to anything. Stay flexible on the first Charleston with two or three hands in mind, watch what comes to you, use a blind pass when your hand is good, and stop the second Charleston if your hand is already strong.

Keep pairs

You can't call a discard to complete a pair during play (unless it's your winning tile), so every pair you hold before play starts is valuable.

Keep jokers and early flowers

You can't pass jokers anyway. Flowers appear in many hands, so don't dump them too early.

Pass loners

A lone wind, or a number far from the rest of its suit, rarely helps. Those are your first passes.

Read the table

If you keep receiving one suit, your neighbours probably aren't collecting it, which can point you toward a hand.

Blind pass and stopping

On the last pass of each Charleston you may pass on tiles you're receiving without looking. If your hand is strong after the first Charleston, you can stop the second.

How the Charleston works · Practice it free · 5 beginner mistakes