Yalla Mahjong launches in Dubai with a mahjong set designed for the way the city plays

For immediate release ~ 29 September 2026

The Dubai Pearl Opus holds 160 tiles, so one set suits every table in the UAE. The brand opens with The First Play, a public morning of coffee and pastries on Tuesday 6 October 2026.

DUBAI, 29 September 2026 ~ Yalla Mahjong, a homegrown Dubai mahjong brand founded by Caresha Boll, launches on Tuesday 6 October 2026 with its first set, the Dubai Pearl Opus, together with a range of mats, racks and velvet bags. The launch opens with The First Play, a drop-in morning of coffee and pastries at The Strand on Palm Jumeirah from 10:00 to 13:00, where guests can handle the tiles, sit in on a game and meet the founder.

The Dubai Pearl Opus was designed in Dubai. Its tile backs carry a pearlised finish, a nod to the Gulf's pearl-diving history. The flower tiles, which have long been the part of a set where a place leaves its own mark, show plants that grow here: Tribulus, the UAE's national flower, alongside bougainvillea, marigold, date palm, hibiscus, yellow trumpet bush, frangipani and petunia. The heritage tiles carry the falcon, the camel and Dubai landmarks. The three suits and the honour tiles keep their traditional form.

Mahjong is played in several forms across the UAE, and many players move between them. A large share of the city's players learnt Western, Goulash or ATF rules in India, others play Hong Kong, Taiwanese or American mahjong, and Riichi, the Japanese form, has its own following. Most sets are made for one of these. Each Yalla Mahjong set holds 160 tiles: the 144 standard tiles, 10 heritage tiles and 6 blanks. Players take tiles out or put them in to suit the game, so the same set plays Hong Kong, Taiwanese, British, Western and ATF rules at 144 tiles, American rules at 152, with the heritage tiles serving as jokers, and Riichi at 136.

"My journey with mahjong began when I lived in Singapore and China from 2007, and I have spent many years since teaching it to friends and family around tables in Dubai," said Caresha Boll, founder of Yalla Mahjong. "Nobody remembers the score at the end of an evening. They remember who they sat with. I wanted a set that looked as though it belonged in this city, and one that any table here could play on, whatever rules they grew up with. That, to me, is what it means to Dubai-it."

Mahjong took shape in China in the second half of the nineteenth century and has travelled widely since, settling into new rules and new tile designs wherever it has been played. In the UAE it has become a regular fixture in homes, cafés and clubs, with organised groups and teachers now running weekly sessions across Dubai.

"Mahjong is a Chinese game, and that is where our story starts," said Boll. "Each place it has travelled to has added something small of its own, usually on the flowers. Ours are the flowers of Dubai. The rest of the set is exactly as it should be."

Alongside the Dubai Pearl Opus, Yalla Mahjong launches with playing mats, tile racks in clear, mother of pearl and tortoiseshell finishes, and velvet tile, mat and rack bags. The collection is designed in Dubai and made by specialist manufacturers overseas. It will be available at yallamahjong.com.

The First Play is open to the public on a drop-in basis. Guests are asked to RSVP at yallamahjong.com/pages/launch so that numbers can be planned. No knowledge of mahjong is needed: sets will be open to play throughout the morning, and newcomers can sit in on a short introductory game. Everyone who buys on the day will receive a gift with their purchase.

ENDS