A quick note before we start. The official card is published by the National Mah Jongg League, and its hands are copyrighted. We will never show them here. Every example on this page is one of our own practice hands, made up for learning. To actually play, buy the current card from the League at nationalmahjonggleague.org.
What the card is
In American mahjong, you can only win with a hand that appears on the card. Think of it as a menu of legal winning patterns. A new card comes out every spring, and the hands change each year, which keeps the game fresh even for people who've played for decades. Most groups switch to the new card as soon as it's released.
Each line on the card is one complete hand of 14 tiles. Your job during a game is to pick one line and collect exactly the tiles it describes.
Hand families
Hands are grouped into sections, or families, that share a theme. You'll see families built around things like even numbers, odd numbers, numbers in a row, the same number in every suit, winds and dragons, and pairs. Some sections use the digits of the current year. Learning the family names first makes the card much less overwhelming, because you can skip straight to the sections that fit your tiles.
Reading the symbols
Each hand is written as short groups of numbers and letters. Here is the key:
- 1 to 9: number tiles from a suit. "333" means three 3s, and "4444" means four 4s.
- F: Flower. "FF" means two flowers.
- N, E, W, S: the North, East, West, and South winds.
- D: a Dragon.
- 0: in year hands, the White Dragon (Soap) acts as a zero.
The number of characters is the number of tiles. A group of two is a pair, three is a pung, four is a kong, and five is a quint. Add them all up and every hand comes to 14.
Colors mean suits (but not which suit)
This is the big one. The groups on the card are printed in colors, and the colors tell you how many suits the hand uses:
- All one color: everything is in one suit.
- Two colors: two different suits.
- Three colors: all three suits appear in the hand.
The color never means a specific suit. Green does not mean Bams. It only means "these groups match each other." You get to choose which suit is which. Flowers and winds have no suit, so they don't follow the colors.
Here's a one-color practice hand. Every number is in the same suit, and you pick the suit:
Consecutive run
Stepping Stones
X25¢
11122223334444
Any four numbers in a row, all in one suit. 1-2-3-4 is just the pattern; 5-6-7-8 works too.
One way to complete it:
And a two-color hand. Two groups share one suit, and the other two share a different suit:
Even numbers
Even Steven
X25¢
FF224446668888
Two suits: the 2s and 4s share one suit, the 6s and 8s share a different suit.
One way to complete it:
Dragons and their suits
Each dragon belongs to a suit:
When a D is printed in the same color as some number groups, it means the dragon that matches that suit. When the D stands on its own, the hand's note tells you whether any dragon will do. In this practice hand, the kong can be any one dragon:
Winds & Dragons
Compass Rose
X30¢
NNEEEWWWSSDDDD
All four winds plus a kong (four) of any one dragon.
One way to complete it:
"Any like numbers" and "any consecutive"
Many hands are written with sample numbers, plus a small note that frees you to use others. Two phrases come up a lot:
- Any like numbers: the hand uses one number throughout, and you choose it. If the card shows 7s, you could build the same hand with 3s.
- Any consecutive: the numbers must be in a row, but you choose where the run starts. A run shown as 1-2-3-4 could also be 5-6-7-8.
Here's a like-numbers practice hand using three colors, so all three suits:
Like numbers
Three of a Kind
X30¢
FFF77777777777
Pick any one number and collect it in all three suits. Sevens are shown, but any number works.
One way to complete it:
Whatever the note allows, the shape stays fixed. If a group is printed as a pung, it must be a pung, never a kong.
X and C: exposed or concealed
Next to each hand is a letter. X means exposures are allowed: you can call discards to build groups and show them on your rack. C means concealed: you keep everything hidden on your rack and may only call a discard for the very last tile that gives you Mahjong.
Concealed hands are harder, so they're usually worth more. Hands made only of singles and pairs are a special case, because jokers can't be used in singles or pairs at all:
Singles & pairs
Pairs Party
C50¢
FF1122334455DD
Five pairs in a row in one suit, plus a pair of that suit's matching dragon. Concealed, and no Jokers (Jokers never go in pairs).
One way to complete it:
Point values
The number beside each hand, like 25¢ or 50¢, is what it's worth. Harder hands pay more. How that value turns into money at the end of a hand depends on who threw the winning tile and whether you used jokers. Our payout calculator works it out for you.
How to use the card during a game
- After the deal, look at what you have most of: pairs, a suit, flowers, winds.
- Scan the card for two or three hands that use those tiles.
- Use the Charleston to pass away tiles that fit none of them.
- Narrow down to one hand as the game goes on, but stay flexible as long as you can.
It's perfectly fine to keep your card face up on the table and study it during play. Everyone does, and nobody expects a beginner to have it memorized. Practice the passing part with our Charleston simulator, and see the full flow of a game in how to play American mahjong.
