How the Mahj Social Club Is Building Community Through Mahjong

In recent years, accounts dedicated to Mahjong sprang up across Instagram and TikTok, featuring flashy tiles and fashionable table set ups. Now, the clacking of colorful acrylic tiles can be heard all over the city as the Mahjong madness has touched down in Austin.

Emerging from 19th-century Southern China, Mahjong is a rummy-like game where four players compete to find a winning hand. Developed from Chinese card games like Maidao, Mahjong instead utilizes suited tiles originally hand-fashioned from bone or bamboo. The game of luck and strategy arrived in the US in the 1920s and soon became a cultural touchstone, particularly within Jewish and Chinese-American communities. 

In 2023, friends Laura LaChaussee and Brittany Ward launched the Mahj Social Club in Dripping Springs. LaChaussee and Ward were first introduced to American Mahjong in 2021 at a birthday party. After hosting a series of monthly game nights, the pair began teaching private Mahjong lessons and eventually organized open play events with the advent of the Mahj Social Club. As demand grew, the Mahj Social Club welcomed their third partner, Blair Nelson, marking expansion into Austin. 

“I think it’s hard for our demographic — typically women between 35 and 45 — to meet people outside of parents in your kid’s class or your immediate neighbors or your work colleagues,” LaChaussee says. “(Mahjong) is a little more lighthearted.”

Community and connection

Local restaurants, wineries and clothing boutiques partner with the Mahj Social Club to host events as a way to further engage with the Austin community. For Alex Madden, who relocated to Austin from Louisiana, open plays helped her meet people and explore her new home. She has even made connections for her consulting firm over the Mahjong table.

“To a degree, it can be like a golf course for men,” explains Madden. “You can meet people and get business deals.”

Over Mahjong’s long history, the game has expanded worldwide and evolved with its players, each region sporting their own variation. In 1937, the standard for American Mahjong game play was set by the National Mah Jongg League out of New York City. American Mahjong differentiates itself with the use of eight wildcard-like joker tiles, a tile passing system called a “Charleston,” and an official rule card listing winning hands.

A game of strategy and luck

As LaChaussee often reminds new players, American Mahjong is half strategy and half luck. Players must consider timely tile discards, monitor opponent plays and see through bluffs. Strategy adds to the appeal and community building.

All three Mahj Social Club partners juggle full-time jobs, young children and their shared business. But LaChaussee says the love for the game and watching people’s faces light up as they play keeps her driven.

After learning the ropes at an open play, some opt to create their own small groups or share the game with family and friends. Madden said it has even gotten her nieces and nephews to look up from their iPads.

“(Mahjong) is such a wonderful mix of being aggressive, but not too aggressive,” Madden adds. “You have to know when to pivot, and you have to make a decision and stick to it. It reflects life. You just make the best choice you can make, and you go forward.”

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