A beginner’s guide to the piece of paper that runs American mahjong
Every April, the National Mah Jongg League drops a new card. And every April, thousands of players open the envelope, stare at the tiny print, and wonder if they forgot how to play over the winter.
You didn’t. The card is just a lot.
Here’s how to read it without spiraling.
First, what is the card?
The NMJL card is the official list of every winning hand for the year. It tells you what combinations of tiles you’re allowed to build, how much each one is worth, and whether it has to be hidden from the other players or can be built in the open.
The card changes every year. Some hands come back. Some get retired. Some brand new ones show up. That’s part of why American mahjong is so fun to keep playing. It never gets stale.
The card you bought in April is good through the next March. Then a new one comes out and the cycle starts over.
Start with the sections, not the hands
The card is divided into categories. Each category has its own theme or pattern. When you first pick up the card, don’t try to read every hand. Just notice the sections.
The categories on the 2026 card are:
- 2026
- 2468 (even number hands)
- Any Like Numbers
- Quints
- Consecutive Run
- 13579 (odd number hands)
- Winds and Dragons
- 369
- Singles and Pairs.
When a game starts, most players glance across the sections first. Not every hand. Just which section their starting tiles fit into best.
Learn the shorthand
The card uses a small set of symbols and letters. Once you know these, the tiny print stops looking like a foreign language.
Numbers are the dot, bam, or crak suits. They’re just written as numbers on the card.
F means Flower tile.
D means Dragon. The color of the D lets you know which suit in your hand the dragon should match. If the D is green then it needs to match the suit of the green numbers in your hand.
N, E, W, S mean North, East, West, South wind tiles.
0 means white dragon when it’s being used as a zero. This one trips new players up. On the card, 0 means soap.
X means parts of the hand can be exposed to call for a tile.
C means the hand must be concealed. You can’t expose any of it.
The colors matter
Each hand is printed in one, two, or three colors. The colors tell you how many suits you need.
One color means the whole hand is in a single suit. All cracks, all bams, or all dots. Your choice.
Two colors means two different suits. You pick which two.
Three colors means all three suits.
This is the single most common thing new players miss. If a hand is printed in two colors, you cannot build it in one suit. The color coding is not decoration. It’s part of the rules.
Read the score column last
Every hand has a value. Most are 25 points. Some go up to 75 points. Concealed hands are usually worth more because they’re harder to build.
When you’re new, don’t chase the big numbers. Chase the hands that match the tiles in your hand.
A 25 point win is still a win. The 75 point hands are there for when your tiles tell you to go for it, not because you picked them off the card first.
Pick a hand, then back up
This is the thing nobody tells you. You don’t build a hand by picking one off the card and committing. You build a hand by looking at your tiles, then finding the two or three hands on the card your tiles could become.
You stay flexible for the first few turns. You see what other people are throwing. And then, somewhere around the Charleston or right after, you pick a direction and commit.
The card is a menu. Not a recipe.
Things that will make your life easier
Keep the card close. Everyone does. Nobody memorizes it. Even veteran players check the card during the game.
Use a card holder or prop it up on your rack. You’ll thank yourself.
Highlight the hands you tend to play. A lot of us circle or star our favorites so we can find them faster.
Don’t be embarrassed to ask. If you’re sitting at a table and you can’t parse a hand, just ask. The people who play this game love teaching it. That’s how most of us got here.
The honest truth
The first few times you look at the card, it will feel impossible. The fourth or fifth time, something clicks. After a month of playing, you’ll glance at it and see patterns instead of noise.
Nobody was born reading this card. Everyone who plays mahjong was once the person at the table who had to ask what a line in three colors meant. You’re in good company.
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NEED HELP LEARNING?
We teach American mahjong classes in Waco, including the card itself. Beginners welcome. No crying required.
by Digital Media Butterfly