National Mah Jongg League<\/a>, the organization that standardized the American version of the game in the 1930s.<\/p>\nThe card changes every year, which Trapnell said keeps longtime players from ever feeling too comfortable.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust when you\u2019re confident and you feel like you really know what you\u2019re doing, the card changes,\u201d Trapnell said.<\/p>\n
The mother-daughter duo came to the idea through their own introduction to the game. Penny started playing in a weekly group more than 20 years ago, formed to support a family friend going through an illness. The group of six still meets, rotating through one another\u2019s homes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The weekly ritual was simply part of growing up for Trapnell.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI always knew Mom\u2019s at mahj on Wednesdays,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Trapnell picked up the game less than a year ago. Her mother taught her, and Trapnell almost immediately fell down a rabbit hole \u2014 watching YouTube and TikTok videos, scouring Instagram, and acquiring tile sets at a self-described excessive pace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI have probably 20 sets now,\u201d Trapnell said.<\/p>\n
The two formalized the idea for a lounge after a three-generation Christmas party where grandmothers, their daughters and college-age granddaughters all played together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The younger women took to it fast, Trapnell recalled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey find it very trendy to do things that they call granny hobbies,\u201d Penny said. \u201cThey are playing mahjong in college now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The game traces its origins to China, where it began as a card game before converting to tiles. An Abercrombie & Fitch buyer later brought mahjong sets back to the United States in the 1920s. The store became the first American retailer for the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The stateside version used today was standardized in the 1930s by a group of Jewish women, largely in New York, who formalized the rules and created the National Mah Jongg League card.<\/p>\n
The Bamboo Room\u2019s retail section will carry tile sets from boutique manufacturers, alongside racks, mats, jewelry, pajamas and handbags. The lounge will offer beginner classes, twice-a-day open play sessions, a competitive league, and private event reservations like birthday parties and bridal showers.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/942A6660-1024x739.jpg\")
Carolyn Penny holds mahjong tiles during a demonstration at the future site of the Bamboo Room. (Nicole Williams Quezada | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want people to feel welcome here,\u201d Trapnell said. \u201cYou can make a mistake, and we don\u2019t care. We just want you to come and make friends, enjoy the game that we love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Penny said her vision for the space, after a year of operation, is simple: she wants to recognize faces.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope we have a regular group who keep coming back,\u201d she said. \u201cJust full of people who are really happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Open play will be $30 per session drop-in. A $99 annual membership allows unlimited open play drop-in. Competitive league play runs in six-week sessions with prizes.<\/p>\n
Nicole Williams Quezada is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at nicole.williams@fortworthreport.org.<\/p>\n
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\nThis <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/06\/03\/click-clack-fort-worths-newest-mahjong-lounge-is-coming-to-camp-bowie\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org”>Fort Worth Report<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n
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