When you're learning American Mah Jongg, you will be playing with a card from the National Mah Jongg League (NMJL). The NMJL is the governing body for American Mah Jongg / Mahjong. The NMJL has been standardizing rules and hands since 1937. New cards are released each April to the leagues 350,000+ members.
The first time you look at an NMJL Card, it can feel super overwhelming! Don't get discouraged, the card is easy enough to play with once you get oriented. First, learn the sections of the card.
Each section of the card has hands requiring similar tile groupings. The sections are:
- Year, using Soap (White Dragon/Dot Dragon) as a zero
- 2-4-6-8, even numbers
- Any like number
- Addition hands
- Quints – five of a kind; needs jokers
- Consecutive run
- 1-3-5-7-9, odd numbers
- Winds & Dragons
- 3-6-9
- Singles and Pairs – these are closed hands
Right after the deal, start looking for a card section, rather than a specific hand. Finding a section will help you know what to be looking for in the Charleston, before you’re quite ready to commit. Once you have 7 or more tiles towards a specific hand, that’s usually a good time to lock in on that hand.
Colors on the card are NOT tied to specific suits. The colors tell you how many suits are required.
- Navy = a single suit
- Red and Green = two suits
- Navy, Red, and Green = three suits
- Tiles without a suit (winds, flowers, sometimes dragons) are always navy on the card.
Changes in suits must match when the colors are changed on the card for that hand. Watch for hands requiring matching Dragons, as those need that suit’s Dragon.
Be sure to read the parentheses after each hand.
Some hands must be played exactly as shown with those numbers. Other hands can be played with different numbers in the same pattern. Examples:
- Any like number can be any number.
- Consecutive runs can often be any run.
To the right of each hand on the NMJL Card, you will see either an X or a C followed by a point value. The X stands for exposed, meaning these are the hands that you can call for tiles as other players discard them. If you're a beginner, we advise that you try to stick to these hands until you get a bit more seasoned as a player. The C stands for closed or concealed. When playing a closed or concealed hand, you cannot call for tiles and must draw all tiles needed, except for the final tile to mahj.