Beginner friendly
Setup & Deal Tutorial

Before the Charleston

Roll, break the wall, deal

After building the walls, first determine East using your table procedure. This demo uses one common convention: South (you) rolls two dice, then the table counts counter-clockwise from the roller. Once East is set, East rolls to break the wall, then dealing begins. East gets 14 tiles; everyone else gets 13.

North
0
West
0
East
0
South
0
↑ YOU

Wall break

After East rolls, the dice tell the table where to break the wall.

Step 1: demo one common way to choose East

In this demo, South (you) is the roller. Count counter-clockwise: South=1, East=2, North=3, West=4. Note: this is a demo convention; real tables may choose East differently.

💡 Rules & Common Variants

Demo convention used here
Count counter-clockwise starting from the roller as position 1. The player at the dice-total position becomes East. Totals above 4 wrap around. This is not treated here as a confirmed hard NMJL rule.
Ties
If multiple players tie for the highest roll, only the tied players re-roll until one wins.
Another common convention: all four roll
Many games have all four players roll simultaneously; highest total becomes East. It is faster and common. Use whatever procedure your table agrees on.
How East decides where to break
After East is chosen, East rolls again. The official card-back baseline confirms that East rolls and the dice total designates where to break the wall. The exact wall/end convention should follow your table.
Who starts as East (new game)
Most games re-roll at the start of each game to determine a new East. Some groups let the previous winner or the player to the right of previous East go next. Follow your table's house rules.