How to Read an American Mahjong Card: A Complete Beginner's Guide

What Is an American Mahjong Card?

The American Mahjong card is the single sheet, published each year by the National Mah Jongg League (NMJL), that lists every valid winning hand for that year's play. Where many Mahjong variants use a fixed set of standard hands, American Mahjong refreshes its list annually — which is both what makes the game endlessly interesting and what makes the card feel intimidating at first.

Think of the card as the game's answer key. Every legal winning hand is a specific arrangement of 14 tiles, and the card tells you exactly which arrangements count. Your job during a game is to draw, discard, and trade until your rack holds one complete pattern from the card — then declare Mahjong.

Because the card changes every year, you always need the current edition. A hand that was valid last year may not appear on this year's card, and a few details — categories, colors, notation — can shift between editions. For the full game context, see our complete beginner's guide.

How the Card Is Organized

The card groups its winning hands into categories. A category collects related patterns — for example, hands built around the same group size, the same suit, or a particular theme. Each category contains several hands, and each hand is a single line showing the exact tiles you need.

Category names and the exact hands within them vary from year to year, so rather than memorize a list, learn the format every entry shares: a category label, a printed value, one or more tile groups, and an exposure designation. Once you can read one entry, you can read them all.

Reading a card entry, then, means answering four questions: Which category is this? What suits do the colours call for? What groups make up the hand? and Must it be concealed? The rest of this guide takes those questions one at a time.

Understanding the Colors

Colours on the card are a shorthand for suits. The common convention is: blue for Dots, green for Bams, and red for Craks. The important distinction is that the printed colour encodes a suit — it does not describe the physical tile. A Dot tile is usually green and gold in real life, but on the card it is shown in blue.

A line drawn in a single colour uses just one suit. A two-colour line mixes two suits, and a three-colour line mixes all three. Winds, Dragons, Flowers, and Jokers have their own markings, which the card explains in its legend. Always check that legend: it is the authoritative source, and small details can change between editions.

Understanding Numbers and Letters

Inside a hand line, numbers and symbols identify the tiles. A number paired with a colour means a specific suited tile — for example, a blue 5 means the 5 Dot. Honor tiles use their own notation: Winds and Dragons are shown by name or symbol, Flowers by a flower marker, and Jokers by a Joker marker.

The card prints its own legend, and that legend is the authority whenever a symbol is unclear. If you are unsure how a tile is shown, look it up there before you commit to a hand. For help identifying the tiles themselves, see our tile identification guide.

Singles, Pairs, Pungs, Kongs, and Quints

Every hand on the card is built from groups of matching tiles, and the group sizes have fixed names. A single is one tile, a pair is two matching tiles, a Pung is three, a Kong is four, and a Quint is five. Most winning hands add up to 14 tiles using some combination of these groups.

Exposed vs. Concealed Hands

Some hands on the card are marked as concealed. That changes what you can do during play: a concealed hand must be assembled from your own draws and the tiles you receive in the Charleston — you may not call a discard to expose a group partway through.

Hands that are not marked concealed may be exposed: you can call an opponent's discard to complete a Pung or Kong and place it face-up on your rack. The card's own exposure designation is authoritative — confirm the exact notation on your current card. Declaring Mahjong on a discarded tile that completes the hand is allowed either way; the distinction is about building groups mid-hand by calling.

Understanding Hand Values

Each hand on the card carries a printed value — usually shown in cents — that feeds into scoring and payment when that hand wins. Harder or rarer hands tend to carry higher values. The value tells you how much a win with that hand is worth under the card's own scoring.

The printed value is only part of the picture. Individual tables and clubs often add their own payment arrangements on top — doubles for certain situations, agreed minimums or maximums, or special payouts. Those are house rules, not part of the card itself, so confirm them with your table before you play for stakes.

Reading a Sample Pattern Step by Step

Let's walk through a single invented entry the way you would read a real one. This pattern is illustrative only — it is not an official NMJL winning hand, and the tiles are chosen to show the format, not to be played.

1. 1

   Find the category. The card sorts hands by type; knowing the category narrows your reading.

2. 2

   Read the colours. Each colour maps to a suit, telling you which suits the hand uses.

3. 3

   Identify the suits. Combine colour and symbol to pick the exact tiles (e.g. a green 5 means 5 Bam).

4. 4

   Interpret the groups. Note each group's size — single, pair, pung, kong, or quint.

5. 5

   Count the tiles. Add the groups; a standard hand totals 14.

6. 6

   Check exposure. A concealed marker means no calling discards to build groups.

7. 7

   Check Joker eligibility. Jokers may fill pungs, kongs, and quints — never singles or pairs.

8. 8

   Compare to your rack. Decide whether your tiles can realistically reach this hand.

This example totals 14 tiles (3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 2), the standard size of an American Mahjong winning hand. Real entries use the same format; only the specific tiles, colours, and values differ — and those come from the current card, not from memory.

How to Choose a Hand as a Beginner

Choosing a hand is a practical skill, not a formula. You look at what your rack gives you, find the patterns on the card that could use those tiles, and keep your options open for as long as you can. Here is a simple process beginners can follow.

• Examine your rack. After the deal, sort your tiles by suit and look at which suits and numbers appear most.
• Look for suit and number relationships. Pairs, triplets seeds, and suited runs all suggest categories worth checking on the card.
• Identify natural pairs and groups. Tiles you already have two or three of point toward pungs and kongs you might complete.
• Compare several possibilities. Don't pick one line immediately; hold two or three candidate hands until the picture clarifies.
• Avoid committing too early. The Charleston and the first several draws can change everything; flexibility beats a rigid plan.
• Reevaluate after the Charleston. Once passes are done, look again with your new tiles and commit only when a hand is genuinely reachable.

There is no guaranteed-correct hand — the deal and your opponents' discards always matter. Aim for informed, flexible choices rather than a single locked plan.

Common Card-Reading Mistakes

Quick Reference Cheat Sheet

A compact summary you can glance at while you learn. Colours, group sizes, Joker limits, and exposure all in one place.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources & Further Reading

These references were used to check the general American Mahjong rules and card conventions. We paraphrase rather than copy, and we do not reproduce the National Mah Jongg League's copyrighted annual card.

• National Mah Jongg League — official annual card and rules (publisher)
• American Mahjong Association — American Mah-Jongg Rules
• American Mahjong Association — Beginner's Guide to American Mah-Jongg
• The Mahjong Press — American Mahjong Rules FAQ
• Mahjong Kit — How to Play American Mahjong