The Mah Jongg Table

I remember playing mah jongg  with a woman who claimed to be 90, but she could snag a dropped tile with her bare foot, transfer it to her hand, look at it (!), and return it to you in less time than it took to read this sentence *. Why did this have to happen? We were using the wrong table. I learned to play Mah Jongg on a 30" round cocktail table. Why is round so bad? No corners! We dropped so many tiles.   But we persevered and I lived to tell the tale.
So now you've got that picture in your mind, let's imagine the perfect table. A 34-38" width is just about right in my experience, and make that baby square! Rectangular has its own problems, as you might imagine.

Now let's move on to texture: smooth. I was recently teaching at a place with good sized tables. Each had a nice felt cover. The the actual tabletop was rustic, you know, with the planks kinda sticking up here and there. As a design feature, it was cool, but it caught the racks when pushing out the garden wall.
I also recommend a cloth cover: tables tend to "grab" the tiles while a cover, whether a simple piece of felt or a nice fitted corduroy  allow the tiles to move more freely. (Caution: vinyl will probably just stick.) I found this card table cover from one of our suppliers and liked it so much that I ordered extra for Game Empire. It's quilted, so the tiles just seem to float across the table. I kinda wish it wasn't white, but I could get creative with dyes.

So, to summarize:

• Size: 34-38"
• Shape: square
• Texture: smooth
• Cover: cloth, fluffy if possible

*  I later saw great-granny kicking up a storm on the dance floor. No wonder she was so nimble!