Mahjong Hands

Get familiar with the patterns that make up a winning hand.

Learning to read the card is the central skill in American Mahjong.

Each line on the card represents a complete winning hand.

Your job is to reproduce one of those patterns with your tiles.

Read the whole line

Do not look only at the numbers.

A hand can specify:

  • particular numbers
  • repeated numbers
  • Winds
  • Dragons
  • Flowers
  • groups of different sizes
  • relationships between suits
  • whether the hand is concealed

The entire line matters.

Understand the group sizes

A pattern may contain:

Single: 1 tile

Pair: 2 identical tiles

Pung: 3 identical tiles

Kong: 4 identical tiles

Quint: 5 identical tiles

The spacing and grouping on the card help show which tiles belong together.

Colors on the card

Colors on an American Mahjong card generally indicate suit relationships, not literal tile colors.

For example, different colors may mean that portions of the hand must use different suits.

Read the card’s own instructions or legend carefully because the exact meaning of its notation governs the hand.

Flowers

Flowers are represented separately from the numbered suits.

When a hand calls for Flowers, collect the required number of Flower tiles shown by the pattern.

Winds and Dragons

Winds and Dragons are honor tiles and appear in many card patterns.

Remember the four Winds:

North, East, South and West.

And the three Dragons:

Green, Red and Soap/White.

Jokers in a hand

Jokers may substitute for required tiles only in eligible groups of three or more.

They cannot replace a tile in a single or pair.

For example:

  • single: no Joker
  • pair: no Joker
  • pung: Joker allowed
  • kong: Joker allowed
  • quint: Joker allowed

Concealed hands

Some hands on the card are designated as concealed.

A concealed hand generally must be completed without making ordinary exposures from called discards. Follow the notation and rules of the current card being used.

Before calling Mahjong

Read your chosen line one final time.

Ask:

  • Do I have exactly 14 tiles?
  • Are the suits correct?
  • Are the groups correct?
  • Are the Flowers, Winds, or Dragons correct?
  • Is every Joker legal?
  • Did I satisfy any concealed-hand requirement?

If every part matches, call Mahjong.