The School Card is the School of Mahjong's own card of 31 practice hands in eight families. We wrote every hand on it, for practice games on this site. It is not the National Mah Jongg League card and holds none of the League's hands or values. For a League game you still need the current League card, which you buy from the League.
How to read the School Card
- Each line is one complete hand of 14 tiles.
- Each number is written once for every tile you need, so 444 is three 4s, a pung, and 6666 is four 6s, a kong.
- Colour shows the suit. Groups in one colour are in one suit, and a new colour is a different suit. You choose which suit goes with which colour. The line under each group shows the same thing, solid, dashed or dotted.
- F is a flower. N, E, W and S are the four winds.
- D is a dragon. A D in the same colour as a group of numbers is that suit's dragon, Red with Craks, Green with Bams and Soap with Dots.
- X means the hand may be exposed, so you can call a discard for any group of three or more. C means concealed, so the only discard you can call is the last tile, for mah jongg.
- The number on the right is the hand's value in points.
Jokers on the School Card
A joker can stand in any group of three or more, a pung, a kong or a quint. It can never fill a pair or a single tile. So the pairs and singles in a line are the tiles you need for real, and the pairs hands take no jokers at all.
Values and paying
Values run from 25 to 50 points, and the harder a hand is to finish, the higher its value. A concealed hand is harder because only its last tile can come from a discard. Quints and pairs are harder because they leave fewer places for a joker.
When you win on a discard, the player who threw it pays double the value and the other two pay the value. When you draw the winning tile yourself, all three pay double.
A win with no jokers in it doubles again, except a pairs hand, which never has a joker to leave out.
Those are the usual American payment rules, used here with School Card values.
Even Numbers
Hands of 2s, 4s, 6s and 8s only.
FF224446666888
One suit.
Every even number in one suit, so the tiles of the other two suits are the ones to pass, and only the 22 needs two real tiles.
FF222244666888
Two suits, the 2s and 4s in one and the 6s and 8s in the other.
The 44 is a pair, and a joker can never fill a pair, so it needs two real 4s of that suit.
2224446666DDDD
One suit, with that suit's dragon.
A D in a suit's colour is that suit's dragon, Red with Craks, Green with Bams and Soap with Dots, so all four groups come from one colour.
FFFF4444668888
Three suits, one number in each.
Each number has to come from its own suit, so decide early which suit holds the 4s, the 6s and the 8s.
222444666888DD
Two suits for the numbers, and the third suit's dragon as the pair.
Concealed, so nothing can be called except the last tile for mah jongg, and its four pungs are where the jokers go.
Odd Numbers
Hands of 1s, 3s, 5s, 7s and 9s only.
11133355577799
One suit.
All five odd numbers in one suit, with the 99 as the only group no joker can help.
FFF11115559999
Three suits, one number in each.
The two ends and the middle of a suit, so a 1, 5 or 9 dealt in any suit can start it.
FF113335555777
Two suits, the 1s and 3s in one and the 5s and 7s in the other.
Two pairs, the flowers and the 1s, means four tiles that must be the real ones.
11335557779999
One suit, concealed.
Two pairs at the bottom and three groups a joker can fill, all built from your own draws.
Consecutive Numbers
Numbers in a row. A line is written from 1, and it can start on any number that leaves room for the whole run.
11112223333444
Any four numbers in a row, in one suit.
The run can start anywhere from 1 to 6, so read your deal for the four numbers it already holds most of.
FFF11112223333
Any three numbers in a row, each in its own suit.
The numbers climb from one group to the next, and no single group is ever a sequence like 1, 2, 3.
1122333444DDDD
Any four numbers in a row in one suit, with a dragon from another suit.
The dragon is in a different colour from the numbers, so it is another suit's dragon, not the matching one.
11122223334444
Any four numbers in a row, the lower two in one suit and the upper two in another.
Splitting the run over two suits means a tile can be the right number and still the wrong suit.
FF112233444555
Any five numbers in a row in one suit, concealed.
Four pairs leave only two groups where a joker can go, which makes it the hardest run to finish and the highest valued.
Like Numbers
One number, the same in two or three suits. A line is written with 1s, and the number can be anything from 1 to 9.
11111111111FFF
Any one number, the same in all three suits.
One number in every suit, so each copy of it you see on the table is one fewer left for you.
FF111111DDDDDD
Any one number in two suits, each with its own dragon.
Each pung of the number brings the dragon of the same colour, so 5 Craks go with Red Dragons and 5 Bams with Green.
FF111111111DDD
Any one number in all three suits, with one suit's dragon, concealed.
Concealed, so start it only when your deal already holds most of one number.
3·6·9
Hands of 3s, 6s and 9s only.
33336669999FFF
One suit.
Flowers all count as the same tile in the American game, so any three flowers make the pung.
FF333666999DDD
Three suits, one number in each, with the dragon of the 3s' suit.
The dragon matches the suit of the 3s, so once you choose that suit the dragon is chosen too.
FF336669999DDD
One suit, with a dragon from another suit.
The 33 is a pair, so the two real 3s are the tiles to hold onto first.
33336666999933
Three kongs in one suit and a pair of 3s in another, concealed.
Three kongs give the jokers plenty of room, and the 33 in a second suit is the one part they cannot help with.
Winds & Dragons
Winds and dragons, with no numbers at all.
NNNEEWWWSSDDDD
All four winds, with a kong of any one dragon.
East and South are pairs, so they need real tiles, while North, West and the dragon kong can take jokers.
FFFNNNNDDDSSSS
North and South, with a pung of any one dragon.
Only two of the winds, so East and West are tiles you can pass.
EEEEWWWWDDDDDD
East and West, with a pair of each dragon.
Three dragon pairs means three groups no joker can fill, so it is worth more than the other exposed wind hands.
NEWSDDDDDDDDDD
One of each wind, with all three dragons, concealed.
The four single winds take no joker, and only the last tile can come from a discard, so it is the hardest wind hand to finish and the highest valued.
Quints
Five of a kind. A set holds four of each tile, so a quint of anything but flowers always needs a joker.
FF111112222333
Any three numbers in a row in one suit, the lowest as a quint.
A set holds only four of each number tile, so the quint of the lowest number needs at least one joker.
1111111111DDDD
Any one number as a quint in two suits, with the third suit's dragon.
Two quints need at least two jokers, so look at it only when your deal already holds jokers.
FFFFF11111DDDD
A quint of flowers, a quint of any one number, and that suit's dragon.
Flowers come eight to a set, so the flower quint can be all real tiles while the number quint still needs a joker.
Pairs Hands
Seven pairs, always concealed, and never a joker, since a joker cannot fill a pair.
FF1133557799DD
Odd pairs in one suit, with that suit's dragon, concealed.
Seven pairs and no joker anywhere, so every tile has to be the real one.
NNEEWWSS112233
All four winds in pairs, and any three numbers in a row in pairs, concealed.
Only the last tile can be called, for mah jongg, so a pairs hand is built almost entirely from your own draws.
FF336699336699
3s, 6s and 9s in pairs in two suits, concealed.
The same three numbers in two suits, so a 3, 6 or 9 of either suit is useful and the third suit can go.
Why we wrote our own card
The National Mah Jongg League publishes a new card every April, and its hands and values belong to the League. A practice game still needs real lines to finish against, so we wrote the School Card from the same kinds of hand you meet on any American card. It reads the same way, with colours for suits, X and C, and jokers that never fill a pair, so what you learn reading it carries over to the League card.
For League games and tournaments, play from the current League card, which you buy from the League.