Crak
One of the three suits in Mahjong, featuring Chinese characters. Numbered 1 through 9 with 4 copies of each, totaling 36 Crak tiles in a set. Also known as Character or Wan.
What Are Crak Tiles?
Crak (short for Character) is one of the three suits in American Mahjong, alongside Bam and Dot. Like the other suits, Crak contains tiles numbered 1 through 9, with 4 copies of each number, for a total of 36 Crak tiles in a standard set.
Crak tiles display Chinese characters, which is where both the formal name "Character" and the Chinese name "Wan" (萬, meaning "ten thousand") originate. Each Crak tile shows two elements: a Chinese numeral on the top half indicating the tile's value (一 for 1, 二 for 2, 三 for 3, and so on), and the character 萬 on the bottom half. The combination reads as a number of ten-thousands, so a 3 Crak literally reads "three ten-thousands" or 30,000.
The American nickname "Crak" (sometimes spelled "Crack") likely derives from the word "Character," shortened and altered over decades of play in American Mahjong communities. On the NMJL card, Crak tiles are printed in red ink, making them easy to distinguish from Bam (blue/green) and Dot (black).
For Western players unfamiliar with Chinese characters, Crak tiles can initially be the most challenging suit to read. However, most modern American Mahjong sets include Arabic numerals printed on each tile, eliminating any reading barrier.
Crak Tiles on the NMJL Card
The NMJL card prints Crak tiles in red, which is the traditional color associated with this suit. Whenever you see a number in red on the card, it refers to a Crak tile of that value. This color-coding system, red for Crak, blue/green for Bam, black for Dot, is consistent across every year's card and is fundamental to reading hands correctly.
Crak tiles appear throughout the card in every hand category. In suit-flexible hands (where you can choose which suit to use), you might opt for Crak if you happen to draw several Crak tiles early. In suit-specific hands, the card explicitly assigns Crak to certain groupings, perhaps pairs of Crak numbers alongside Kongs of Bam numbers.
Strategically, Crak tiles behave identically to the other suits. Each number has 4 copies, so building Pungs and Kongs follows the same probability as with Bam or Dot. The real differentiation comes from the card itself, some years' cards may feature more Crak-heavy hands or interesting Crak combinations that make the suit more or less attractive.
During the Charleston, passing Crak tiles signals that you are moving away from Crak-based hands. Experienced players notice these patterns, if you pass several Craks to your neighbor, they may infer you are building in Bam or Dot.
Reading Chinese Characters on Crak Tiles
While modern sets include Arabic numerals, many players enjoy learning to read the Chinese characters on their Crak tiles. Here is a quick guide to the numerals:
- 1 = 一 (one horizontal stroke)
- 2 = 二 (two horizontal strokes)
- 3 = 三 (three horizontal strokes)
- 4 = 四 (a box-like character)
- 5 = 五 (looks like a figure with crossed strokes)
- 6 = 六 (a small character with a dot-like top)
- 7 = 七 (a crossed stroke character)
- 8 = 八 (two strokes spreading apart)
- 9 = 九 (a curved hook-like character)
The characters for 1, 2, and 3 are the easiest, they are simply one, two, and three horizontal lines. Characters 4 through 9 require a bit more memorization, but with regular play, most players learn to recognize them quickly.
Below each numeral sits the character 萬 (wan, meaning "ten thousand"), which is the same on every Crak tile. Once you learn to recognize 萬 at a glance, you know the tile is a Crak, and you only need to read the numeral on top to know which one.