Suits are the numbered tiles in a mahjong set. Unlike a deck of cards, mahjong only has three suits: bamboos, characters, and dots and are numbered 1 through 9. There are four of each suit tile making a total of 108 tiles. Suit tiles have the most flexibility since they can be chowed, punged, konged, or paired.
Bamboos
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| Bamboo suit |
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These are the bamboo tiles, one through nine. In most sets, 1-bamboo looks like a bird, but some sets use a 1-bamboo that has just one green bamboo stick. May also be known as sticks or bams.
Characters
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| Character suit |
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The character tiles sport the character wan or ten thousand. May also be known as cracks.
Dots
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| Dot suit |
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The dots represents copper coins. May also be known as coins or balls.
Subset
A subset of the suits are simple and terminal tiles. Tiles numbered 1 or 9 are called terminal tiles, as they are at then end of the numbered spectrum. Tiles 2 through 8 are called simples.