FAQ #23. Mah-Jongg Demographics

I believe that there are approximately 400,000 to half a million players of NMJL (American) mah-jongg, of which the vast majority are female. Male players probably comprise less than 5% of that. The percentage of players who pirate the card (instead of paying for it) is unknown but not insubstantial.

In 2020, I first learned of this 2013 article about the demographics of online mah-jongg players in China: https://medium.com/the-physics-arxiv-blog/the-curious-link-between-online-gaming-and-chinese-regional-culture-f482a7946e50.

Image: medium.com

In the 2007 book WORLD MAHJONG: ESSENCE (published after much of the below was written), author Kingstone Kim discusses his method for estimating mahjong demographics. He figures there are 345,000,000 players of mahjong in Asia. He does not estimate players outside of Asia.

In late 2005 apparently a lot of people in the West were working on writing business plans for mah-jongg ventures of various sorts, and were asking me for demographic data (making this a Frequently Asked Question). The following are mostly from the Mah Jong Q&A Bulletin Board. In keeping with the format of the bulletin board, the posts are in reverse chronological order (most recent post at top, oldest at the bottom).

Name = Where The Winds Blow
Email = sales中WhereTheWindsBlow.com
Sent: Wed, October 20, 2010 6:12:36 AM
While you are here, read about the new demographics of Mah Jongg in this article in the WALL STREET JOURNAL: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703631704575552683266650568.html ?mod=WSJ_hpp_RIGHTTopCarousel_2.

There's a movie of the WSJ story too -- just click the Video tab on the above page, or go to http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703631704575552683266650568.html ?mod=WSJ_hpp_RIGHTTopCarousel_2#articleTabs%3Dvideo.

Press Release
Source: DYNASTY GAMING INC.; HO GROUP

Dynasty Gaming and Ho Group Announce Joint Venture for First-Ever World Cup of Mahjong
Monday April 17 (2006), 9:11 am ET

Excerpt:

The click, click of tiles is an integral sound of Mahjong, often referred to as the "game of the four winds" and long recognized as the world's most played game with an estimated player base in Asia, Europe and North America ten times bigger than that of poker.

Complete release may be read at http://biz.yahoo.com/cnw/060417/e_dynasty_ho_mahjong.html?.v=1

So, if you believe Dynasty Gaming Inc.'s estimate of "ten times poker," all you have to do, to find out how many people play mah-jongg in North America (this figure being what most who ask are trying to find out) is two things:

1. Find out how many people play poker;
2. Subtract from that how many people play mah-jongg in Asia and Europe.

At least, that would be one way to make an estimate. There are other estimation methods as well. (By the way, I don't know how many people play mah-jongg in Asia and Europe, and I don't know how many people play poker, so I can't help you there.) (Or then again... see next entry below the line...)

The online mahjong game site, Mahjong Mania, has a demographics study that might be of use or might not, depending on what kind of venture you have in mind. It's at ...

http://www.mahjongmania.com/en/demographics.html.

And, thanks to Cofa Tsui for this link: http://ssl.brookes.ac.uk/JIG/ejrc/docs/GamblingInJapan.pdf has much revealing information about mahjong demographics in Japan.

>From: "christine lew" {christineklew[at}hotmail;com>
>Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2005 7:34 AM
>Subject: Re: US mahjong players
> Wonderful - Thank you so much!

Hello Christine,
I suspect that the "half a million" estimate must be very low. I don't know why I don't hear from more players of "un-American" variants in the USA. Maybe because they don't have many questions about the game - perhaps because other variants are better documented than the American game, perhaps because there are lots more males among players of un-American variants (and males' reluctance to ask for directions is legendary), or perhaps because many players of those variants aren't comfortable enough with English to ask questions of me, or perhaps they just don't trust Mr. Whitey Mah-Jongg So-Called Expert to actually have authoritative answers. I don't know why for sure, but the vast majority of my inquiries are from players of the American variant. So my estimates on demographics of mah-jongg players in North America have to be based on what's known about the American game, then applying some rough guesstimated percentage to arrive at a figure. And half a million just seems low to me.
Anyway, hope this helps whatever research you're doing. Good luck with whatever venture you are contemplating.
Tom Sloper (湯姆スローパー)

Los Angeles, CA (USA)
December 21, 2005

>From: "christine lew" {christineklew[at}hotmail;com>
>Subject: US mahjong players
>Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2005 15:18:32 -0500
> Hi -
> I'm doing some research and was wondering if you
> knew a rough estimate of
> the number of US mahjong players? I would really
> appreciate your help.
> Thanks!
> christine :)

Hello Christine,
I just answered a similar question on December 6 on my bulletin board. Go to http://www.sloperama.com/majexchange/bulletinbd.htm and scroll down to Dec. 6...
This question and response will also be posted on that bulletin board later today.
Feel free to ask me more mah-jongg questions anytime. - Tom
Tom Sloper (湯姆スローパー)

Los Angeles, CA (USA)
December 20, 2005

From: Martin Rep
Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2005 10:06 AM
To: Gene
Subject: Re: club info
Hi Gene
I think you better ask Tom Sloper, he is the real American mahjong guru. E-mail: tomster[at]sloperama. website: www.sloperama.com
Regards

From: Gene
Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2005 7:21 AM
Subject: RE: club info
Tom,
Per the mail [above], I understand you are the man to talk with re my interest in understanding the Mahjongg market better.
Do you have data reference to the club sizes and general Mahjongg community in the States?

Hello Gene,
There is no hard data on "the Mahjongg market." There are only estimates. As far as I know, the NMJL membership is somewhere around 300,000. The queries I get on my website (sloperama.com) are mostly about American mah-jongg (and far and away mostly from Americans). So one could estimate that there are somewhere around 1/2 a million people, probably a little more, playing mah-jongg in North America.
Cofa Tsui has his own estimate on his website, I think - yes, here it is - http://www.imahjong.com/maiarchives206.html
If you have further questions, I give free answers only on my website - http://www.sloperama.com/majexchange/bulletinbd.htm
Good luck with your research - Tom
Tom Sloper - Game Designer, Producer - Consultant, Author, Speaker
- Sloperama Productions. Services for game developers and publishers; "Making Games Fun, And Getting Them Done." http://www.sloperama.com/business.html.
- Helpful information and answers for game industry aspirants; a new article every month. http://www.sloperama.com/advice.html.
- Information and bulletin boards about the game of mah-jongg. http://www.sloperama.com/mjfaq.html

--- Paul Samuel <paul_samuel|at|itactserver.com> wrote:
> Dear Sir,
> I am currently building a proposal for a new gaming
> site that is principally
> about poker but initially about Mah Jong.
> My problem is I am finding it very hard to find
> statistics about the number
> of players who might play and wager on an on-line
> Mah Jong site.
> Is there any direction in which you can point me to
> find out this
> information.
> Paul Samuel, Director, ITAct, 07831 192937
> Attachment: SalesSheet_1.1_exp.doc (100k)

Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2005 22:22:11 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: Mah Jong
To: "Paul Samuel" <paul_samuel|at|itactserver.com>
Hi Paul,
Sorry, but there are no hard statistics. It might be
that Cofa Tsui's "IMJ" (International Mahjong")
website might have some guesses on it somewhere.
Good luck with your business plan...
"Niihau" from Beijing,
Tom
Tom Sloper (湯姆スローパー)

Beijing, China