Well, it’s that time of the year again: time to Spring-clean the house, time to start planting the garden and… time to learn the new Mah Jongg card! I know, right? Most of us barely mastered the previous one and here we are, starting over…

But fear not! At ilovemahj.com, we’re always keen to go above and beyond providing an online Mah Jongg game; we love to offer all the tips and tools needed to help newbies get up-to-speed and the more experienced players take their game to the next level.

So, buckle up, as we take the 2022 National Mah Jongg League card for a test drive!

Along the way, we’ll clarify points of confusion, discuss common patterns, changes from last year and highlight gotchas. We’ll also provide strategy tips specific to the 2022 card and outline our method of learning the new card at record speed.

Follow along and you will soon be ruling the Mah Jongg table at your weekly group game!

Assumptions

We’ll assume:

• You have a good grasp of American Mah Jongg and game strategy (if you don’t, check out our previous articles in this magazine – search for “Mah Jongg”, top right of the St Louis Jewish Light website)
• You are familiar with the NMJL’s 2021 card
• You have the 2022 card in your hand, so you can refer to it as we go.

Notation/Convention

Before we dive in, let’s clarify the way we’ll represent hands in this article.

• Hands will be labeled as <section>/<line>.
  • The section will be abbreviated by its initials (e.g. 2022, ALN, CR)
  • When the card shows 2 variations for a particular hand, the first one will be marked “a” and the second “b”
  • For example:
    • ALN/1 represents Any Like Numbers, line 1
    • CR/5b represents the second version of Consecutive Run, line 5
  • Hand patterns will be shown by the number of tiles in each meld (we find this format visually easier to follow). For example, pung-pung-kong-kong will be shown as 3-3-4-4.

Overall Impressions

Opening this year’s card was a refreshing experience! It seems the National Mah Jongg League has been listening to players and created a bunch of brand new hands in addition to recycling some of the old ones. It is unlike any card of recent memory and the usual consistency in patterns is missing this year (for better or worse).

The new card has its challenges but is very playable, with good switchability between hands and sections (more on this later).

There are 66 hands listed on the card (1 fewer than last year). Obviously, when these are exploded out into all the possibilities for each individual hand, there are literally hundreds of variations! A much deeper dive into the permutations would be required in order to provide any meaningful data on the distribution of hands and tiles, which is outside of the scope of this particular article (but, being the Mah Jongg nerds that we are, we plan to do this exercise at some point!).

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Clarifications

Overall, the instructions for each hand are pretty clear. The League has done a much better job making the parenthetical notes more precise this year. However, there are still a few areas where further clarification would be helpful and we highlight these below:

• 2022/1: The 2022 part of this hand can be in any suit (the note reads “2022 in any 1 suit”). At first glance, due to the color format of the hand, it could be assumed that it would need to be in dots, but it is not the case
• 2022/2: For some reason the zeros are presented in red, though this color does not signify anything in particular (e.g. the kong of twos depicted in red, does not have to be dots to match the soaps). As zeros are neutral, they are never associated with a suit
• 2022/5: The “Big Hand” is located in the 2022 section this year and not the Singles & Pairs section, as usual. It’s not clear why this decision was made, but possibly due to space restrictions in the 3rd column vs the 1st column of the card. Some players may wonder whether they would receive a bonus for being jokerless. The answer is no, since it’s impossible to use jokers in this hand and the 85 point value already accounts for this
• 2468/2: The two kongs are shown as 2s, but can be any like even number, so both kongs can be either 2s, 4s, 6s or 8s
• Q/1. As stated in the note, ANY dragon, wind and number can be used here. So, even though the dragons and numbers are depicted in the same color, they do not need to match. This definitely opens this hand up!
• WD/4: The phrasing “any like odd or even numbers” is a little peculiar. Perhaps it would have been better for the League to have just stated “any like numbers”
• 369/6: The kong is shown as 3s, but can be 3s, 6s or 9s
• Spacing: In several hands on the card, the League has grouped pairs and/or singles together with no space between digits (e.g. 1122 in Q/3 or 246 in 2468/8). We’re not sure why they did this, especially since there seems to be plenty of room to spread these out. This convention causes confusion, especially for newbies, as some begin to question whether these are kongs or pungs and wonder if they can use jokers or call a discard to complete these groupings. Just because they are shown together on the card does not make them pungs or kongs (as pungs, kongs and quints are groups of IDENTICAL tiles). Also, as jokers can only be used in melds of 3 or more identical tiles, they could never be used in any of the groupings being discussed here. So, be sure you treat these heterogeneous groupings as the singles and pairs that they are.

The League has also added a note, at the top of the card, clarifying that jokers may not be used in a 2022 grouping. This fact is obvious to most players, as this grouping is considered to be 2 single tiles and a pair (even though, once again, they are shown on the card without spacing between – though, reading 2022 in the way printed is more natural). The fact that they are printed together as a group often confuses less seasoned players. 

The Math section, with its addition or multiplication hands, is absent again this year. Some say “good riddance!” as they “don’t like math”. However, this was actually a very interesting section, as it brought together numbers that would not otherwise be found in a hand… and literally zero math is actually required to complete these hands! Hopefully, this section will return in future years.

Points

Hands are 25 or 30 points, unless you go for Quints or Singles & Pairs.

There were only four non-concealed 30-point hands last year; this year there are six. Consider those in tournaments to get the edge over others if you’re unable to make a Quint or S&P hand. The non-concealed, 30-point hands, are as follows:

• 2022/2
• 2022/3
• 2468/2a
• 2468/2b
• 2468/4
• CR/6
• WD/4

Patterns

Overall, there is a much wider variety of patterns this year. Some will like this as it makes for a more interesting card, and others will complain that the lack of uniformity makes the card harder to memorize. Personally, we welcome this variety as it provides a refreshing change from old, stale patterns and provides a little more challenge to keep our brain cells active!

Standard Pattern

Each year typically has a general pattern that alternates between 3-4-3-4 and 3-3-4-4. The 2022 card frequently uses the latter pattern (7 hands), though not as consistently as we’re accustomed to.

The seven hands that utilize the 3-3-4-4 pattern are as follows:

• 2022/2
• 2468/3a
• 2468/3b
• CR/5a
• CR/5b
• 13579/3a
• 135793b

All the hands listed above are played open and jokers can be used in any grouping. Familiarize yourself with these hands, and you’ll have built a great foundation to work from!

Two Bouquets of Flowers

This year, the League has included hands with 2 pungs of flowers. This is a welcome change for most people and the pattern appears in 3 hands (2468/6, ALN/1 and CR/2) – so be aware of these hands if an opponent exposes both sets!

Thankfully, the League chose to completely separate the pungs in each hand. This saves the confusions that existed in prior years, when the proximity of the pungs caused some players to believe they were a sextet and, therefore, needed to be exposed together.

Dragons, Dragons, Everywhere! 

The 2022 card is much richer in dragons (there’s at least one dragon hand in each section), including the beloved 3-dragon hand (WD/2). We love dragon hands, as do many others, but bear in mind that their preponderance will make them a hotter commodity than last year.

No NEWS is Good News? 

The beloved NEWS pattern, as in last year’s Any Like Numbers section, is absent this year. But, don’t fret, as it has popped up in a slightly adjusted form in the Winds – Dragons section! It is now in the “NN E W SS” format, with like-numbers and no flowers. It also makes an appearance as pairs in the Singles & Pairs section, along with dragons.

Common Patterns

As mentioned earlier, there is a wider variety of patterns this year, which makes it a little more tricky to give general guidelines and memorization tips. Below are some of the patterns you’ll encounter this year (besides the 3-3-4-4 pattern already discussed), and the hands associated with them.

2-3-2-3-4 is found in 2468/5, 2468/7, CR/4, 13579/6 and even ALN/2 (with a bit of switching around).

Ascending patterns (i.e. with increasing numbers of tiles as you move through the hand) are seen in Q/2, CR/1, and even CR/7 (if you were to mentally move the flowers to the right).

Bell curve patterns (2-3-4-3-2) popular in previous years are rarer this year: 2022/4, 13579/1, 369/3.

Three pairs can be found in CR/6, 13579/7, 369/7 and, of course, a plethora of pairs can be found in S&P hands. As any Mah Jongg player knows, the more pairs required, the harder these hands are to achieve, unless the Mah Jongg gods are smiling upon you!

FF 1-2-3 1-2-3 (2 suits) forms the shape of the concealed hands in both the 13579 and 369 sections.

“Sandwich” hands (with bigger melds surrounding smaller ones) can be found in several hands this year (most with pairs or singles in the middle). For example: CR/6 (4-2-2-2-4), 13579/4 (FFF 4-1-1-1-4), WD/2 (FFF 4-3-4), WD/3 (FFFF 4-1-1-4) and WD/4 (4-2-1-1-2-4).

The Big Hand follows the same convention as last year, FF 2022 2022 2022.

Unique Patterns Finally, there are some unique patterns that defy expectations, such as 369/6 (FF 3-2-3-4) or WD/1 (4-4-4-2). So, be sure that these don’t catch you out.

Carryovers

This year, seven hands have been carried over from 2021. This is fewer than usual. These are:

• • 2468/3b – same as 2468/5 in 2021
  • CR/3a – same as CR/5a in 2021
  • CR/3b – same as CR/5b in 2021
  • 13579/1a – same as 13579/1a in 2021
  • 13579/1b – same as 13579/1b in 2021

• WD/7 – same as WD/7 in 2021

• 369/5 – same as 369/3 in 2021

Subtle Changes and Gotchas

Since most of us are so familiar with the 2021 hands, our brains are likely to play tricks on us and interpret the new hands too quickly, and assume they are the same as we remember. 

There are indeed some carryovers from last year (see above), but there are also hands that are similar, but different enough to throw you off, should you glance at them too quickly. Below, we highlight these differences, and also list a few gotchas that are useful to be aware of. These tips will aid the smooth transition from last year’s hands to their corresponding hands this year.

2022/4: Similar to its counterpart from last year, but this time the pungs are East/West and the pairs are North/South.

2022/5: Yep, the Big Hand is a different year, but the format is the same. You’ll need an extra dose of luck to achieve this one!

2468/1: This hand uses only 3 flowers (instead of 4 last year). The pattern of numbers is ascending (2-2-3-4) instead of a bell-curve (2-3-3-2).

2468/2: Similar to last year’s concealed hand, but with 2 pairs and 2 singles (2-1-1-2), with the flexible part using kongs rather than pungs.

2468/3a: Similar to the same hand from last year (2468/5), with only 2 suits instead of 3.

2468/5: This 2468 hand with dragons follows the 2-3-2-3-4 format (as opposed to 2-2-3-3-4 last year) and also allows the option of using three suits instead of one.

ALN/2: This Any-Like-Numbers dragon hand is now made of pairs of dragons, and uses 3 suits.

Q/1: Similar to last year’s Q/1 hand (2 quints and a kong), but the first quint now uses dragons instead of flowers (be extra careful here, as we’ve had many players automatically use flowers here and wonder why their hand has been marked as dead!). Also, the second quint is winds and the kong is numbers (opposite to last year).

CR/1: Follows the 2-2-3-3-4 (ascending) pattern this year (instead of a bell-curve).

CR/5b: Is similar to the very popular CR/2 hand from last year, but with the 3-3-4-4 pattern. There is also a one-suit version. Yay, the old faithful is still there! We predict that this will be the most played hand on the 2022 card!

13579/1: This hand usually follows the same pattern as CR/1. However, this year, it does not! Instead of 2-2-3-3-4, it follows a 2-3-4-3-2, bell curve formation.

13579/3: Follows 3-3-4-4 this year, instead of 3-4-3-4 in 2021.

13579/5: Be extra careful with this hand; like many others, it has 2 pungs and 2 kongs, but the order is 4-3-4-3 (instead of the 3-3-4-4 or 3-4-3-4 patterns found elsewhere).

13579/6: Similar to 13579/7 from last year (in both versions), but the pattern is 2-3-2-3-4 and the hand is not concealed.

WD/1: Interestingly different from its counterpart last year. Notice the asymmetry of the hand (4-4-4-2). Last year it followed the symmetrical 4-3-3-4 pattern.

WD/2: Follows a 3-4-3-4 pattern, which is the standard pattern from last year (this year 3-3-4-4 is the dominant pattern). Though mentally, for memorization purposes, you could switch the hand around and place the pung of dragons after the pung of flowers, so that it follows the more prevalent 3-3-4-4 pattern.

WD/3: Uses kongs of North and South and single East and West (vs last year’s pungs of North/South and pairs of East/West).

WD/4: This hand is reminiscent of ANL/1 from last year, without the flowers and with pairs of North and South winds.

369/1: Follows 3-3-4-4 format this year.

369/2: Now uses flowers instead of dragons and has a 3-suit version. This hand is also the closest to last year’s 369/6 hand (FF 4-4-4), but with one extra flower and a pung in the middle (FFF 4-3-4). Take note here, as it’s easy to forget that the FF 4-4-4 hand, which has been consistently present for many years, does not exist this year!

369/3: This hand compares to last year’s 369/5 (with 2 pairs, 2 pungs and a kong of opposite dragons), but this year the pairs are 3s and 9s, with 2 pungs of 6s in 2 suits. 

S&P/4: The S&P consecutive run hand is made of just numbers this year (no flowers). As 2’s will be in high demand, we’d definitely recommend starting this run from 3 (unless you’re lucky enough to have your twos early on).

Additional observations:

• The pattern from last year’s opposite dragon hand in 13579 (13579/4 in 2021) appears in 369 this year (369/3) – 2-3-4-3-4, in 3 suits.
• There are no year hands outside of the 2022 section of the card. This makes it easier to locate potential hands if you happen to have “2022” from an early stage of the game.
• More 13579 hands span the whole array of odd numbers (rather than focusing on 135 or 579), including the S&P version.
• The 13579 category contains only matching dragon hands. All other categories contain a mixture of matching and opposite dragon hands.
• No winds in the Any-Like-Number category this year, only a mixture of flowers and dragons.
• Usually, in the Winds-Dragons category, North and South are paired with odd numbers and East and West with even numbers. Not so this year. In 2022, these combinations have both been teamed with a consecutive run of 3 numbers.
• Once again, all concealed hands are located at the end of each section (which is preferable to them being scattered throughout sections, as has occurred some years). 

Strategy

In this section, we’ll cover the following:

• Potential challenges you may encounter
• Exposures that will give your hand away or cause your hand to be called dead
• Switching strategies (so you can increase your flexibility and have a hand to fall back on, should your primary option not pan out)
• General strategy tips.

Challenges

There are a few challenges awaiting you as you play this year’s card.

2022/2: Requires 11 out of the 12 available twos! Thankfully, jokers can be used in each meld.

2022/3: Requires “only” 9 twos, but you will need to have 3 natural twos of a given suit to make the 2022 part of the hand.

2022/5: This year’s “Big Hand” is extra challenging, since you will need three 2s of each suit, in addition to 3 soaps (not forgetting a pair of flowers!). It will be tough, but not impossible. However, considering the fact that the stars and the moon have to be aligned just right to accomplish this one, we do think that it is worthy of more than the allocated 85 points.

CR/1a: Usually, this is a fairly easy hand, but bear in mind that due to 2s being in high demand this year, it may be a struggle to get that pair of 2s. It’s best to have at least one of the 2s in your hand, and ideally both, before aiming for this one!  

13579/7: This concealed hand contains 3 pairs and 2 singles. 30 points seems a little low, considering the difficulty.

S&P/4: Again, due to the popularity of 2s (unless you have the pair at the beginning), it may be less risky to start this run at 3. 

S&P/5: Requires two pairs of 2s so, once again, a challenging hand this year.

Giveaways

The 2022 card is flexible enough that, in general, one exposure isn’t going to totally give your hand away. For example, there are six hands with matching pungs. So, exposing a pung is pretty safe, plus you are still offered some level of protection when exposing two sets of matching pungs.

In other hands, having two exposures could still be reasonably safe, as identifying your exact hand may remain challenging (though, obviously, every exposure could decrease the potential subset of matching hands). We plan to do more analysis in this regard, so stay tuned!

However, expose five dragons, and you have totally let the cat out of the bag!

“Dead” Giveaways

There are only two exposures that will make your hand dead (since they only exist in concealed hands or not at all). Take note, and be careful not to expose these by mistake. Also, be on the lookout for opponents exposing these in error (and call their hand dead accordingly). The two exposures are:

• Pung of winds
• Quint of flowers

Obviously, once you have 2 exposures, you’re reducing the possibilities, and your opponents will likely have a much clearer idea of where you are heading, and whether your exposures are valid. You may still have options if you make an exposure error, but some combinations are definitely going to allow your hand to be called dead (e.g. if you were to expose 2 pungs of dragons – which is only valid in a concealed hand).

Strategy Tips

Flowers

As is the case every year, flowers are a prominent feature (~40% of all hands require 2 or more). Therefore, they are always going to be in high demand. We would caution against passing flowers in the Charleston. However, unlike previous years, there are fewer hands that require a pair of flowers (14 vs 19 last year). Jokers are going to be more helpful in flower groupings this year.

The remainder require pungs (5 hands), double-pungs (3 hands) and kongs of flowers (4 hands). So, the usual advice to discard flowers very early in the game (as your opponents may not be able to claim them, especially if they require a pair) may not be as warranted this year. You may even decide that you would rather hold on to them to potentially use as joker bait later in the game. Or, perhaps, choose not to discard the flowers you hold, especially if you decide that your hand is not progressing and breaking it up and aiming for a wall game is a safer option.

Twos

As mentioned previously, 2s are going to be in high demand this year. Obviously, they’re needed for the 2022 section, plus the 2468 section is larger this year (10 hands vs 8 last year), and any run could potentially include them. So, avoid passing 2s in the Charleston if at all possible, and definitely split them up if you absolutely have no other choice but to pass them. 

If you’re holding 2s that you don’t need at the start of the game, we recommend discarding them early. This way you’ll be less likely to throw someone’s Mah Jongg tile later in the game! Also, if you’re considering a hand with a pair of 2s, but don’t have them at the beginning, be aware that you’re taking a huge gamble! 

Winds-Dragons

With three hands on the card containing a single East and West, the number of North and South tiles required overall exceeds the number of East and West tiles. So, if you’re deciding between North and South or East and West when attempting the mini consecutive run in that category  (WD/5 and WD/6), there will likely be less competition for East and West tiles (so, safer to aim for WD/6).

Safe(er) tiles

Every number tile could potentially be used as a single on this year’s card, so there are NO safe number tiles. Additionally, Soap, East and West appear as singles, so these are also unsafe.The following tiles do not appear as singles in any hand: 

• North
• South
• Green Dragon
• Red Dragon

This means that, as long as you can account for four of them (in the discards, exposures and your own hand), you can safely discard any of the tiles listed above towards the end of the game, without a significant risk of another player calling Mah Jongg. Obviously, there’s a very slim chance that an opponent could be utilizing a plethora of jokers, so there’s always some risk!

Switching Hands

When considering hands, it’s always a good idea to have a back-up plan. Thankfully, there is enough overlap in this card to offer the flexibility to move one way or the other depending on the tiles you receive as the game progresses. Below are a few examples of hands that you could easily switch between.

2468/3a and 2468/3b: As this hand is offered in 2 or 3 suits, save all relevant tiles, giving yourself the flexibility to switch between options as necessary.

2468/8 and S&P/5: Lots of overlap here! As both these hands are played concealed, you could start by working towards the S&P hand and switch if you can’t quite get all the pairs you require, or if you begin collecting jokers.

CR/2 and ALN/1: Both use 2 pungs of flowers and kongs in different suits, so it would be relatively easy to switch between consecutive numbers and like numbers, depending on the tiles you receive.

CR/3b and 13579/2: This one is a little more complicated to explain, but goes like this:

• If building a consecutive run of 1, 2, 3 in 3 suits, also keep 5s in same suit as 2s
• If building a consecutive run of 3, 4, 5 in 3 suits, also keep 1s in same suit as 4s
• If building a consecutive run of 5, 6, 7 in 3 suits, also keep 9s in same suit as 6s
• If building a consecutive run of 7, 8, 9 in 3 suits, also keep 5s in same suit as 8s.

Q/4 and CR/3a: Both contain flowers and consecutive numbers in the same suit. They offer good swapability, depending on tiles received and how lucky you are with jokers.

CR/1a & b, CR/5 and CR7: These hands offer good options for switching, with CR7 being a great option if you start collecting flowers. And if you’re feeling ambitious, even S&P/4 is one to keep an eye on as you continue to collect tiles!

Q/2 and 2468/1: Begin with a good set of 2s, 4s, 6s and 8s in the same suit, then pivot between these two hands depending on the number of each tile you possess and whether you receive flowers or jokers. 

2022/5 and ANL/3: If you’re trying for the Big Hand and have your 2s but fall short on soaps, there are alternative options in the 2022 category, but also consider switching to this Any Like Number hand using 2s, soaps and jokers. Additionally, ALN/1 and ALN/2 could also be options depending on what comes your way! Frankly, with all those 2s in various suits, several of the 2022 category hands could easily be transformed into an ALN hand, if required (be sure to save flowers and dragons just in case!).

CR/5b and Q/3: Both offer consecutive runs with switching options, depending on joker and flower conditions. For example, if you have 1s and 2s in one suit and 3s in another, you could swap to the quint if you receive additional 3s in the third suit, along with jokers. Or choose to stick with the consecutive run if you receive 4s in the second suit.

SP/1 and WD/7: These two hands complement each other very well. Both are played concealed and which way you swing would depend on your distribution of winds and dragons (and presence of jokers).

SP/3 and CR/8: This one is a bit more of a stretch, but if you have sets of 3 consecutive numbers in 2 suits, you can certainly switch between these hands (depending on presence of flowers or jokers).

Two kongs of like numbers? You could aim for ANL/1 if you receive flowers, ANL/3 with a mix of flowers and opposite dragons, or WD/4 if you have winds. If those like-numbers are even, and if you collect more evens, you could also head towards 2468/2 (be aware that singles and pairs are required here, including the potentially elusive 2s, so there’s additional risk involved in taking this particular route). And, if those like-numbers are 2s, 2022/2 may even be an option!

How Can I Learn the Card Faster?

As many players (both beginner and advanced) are aware, just reading through the new card is not sufficient to commit the hands to memory. It’s necessary to take cognitive action in order to engage your senses and allow your brain to work in a way that imprints the hands by building new neural pathways in your brain. 

We recommend three exercises to fast-track your learning:  

1. Make each hand on the card. You can do this with your Mah Jongg set, by physically building each hand with your tiles.  
2. Practice the Charleston alone. Use the tips from this article and take your time recognizing patterns and choosing tiles to pass, without the pressure of a real game. Make a note of the tiles you were dealt at the beginning and, when you get to the end of the Charleston, count how many tiles you have towards Mah Jongg. If you wish, you can  deal yourself the same tiles once again and see if you can improve on your count.
3. Exposure recognition. Learning to recognize hands based on exposures is a great defensive skill (so you don’t accidentally throw a winning tile!). It’s also a great way to memorize the card. Put together 1, 2 or 3 exposures and then take some time to study them and identify all the potential hands they could be part of. Perhaps you conclude that they do not belong to any hand, in which case you would be in a good position to call that particular hand dead, were it a real game. First, complete this exercise without looking at the card, and then check your work.
4. Practice playing online with bots. Unlike people, bots really don’t mind waiting for you to figure out your moves. When a bot wins, take note of the winning hand, as it may be one that you have yet to commit to memory. 

There Must Be an Easier Way, Right?

If the above sounds like too much work, then never fear, we have you covered! The following is a far easier option…

Head over to ilovemahj.com where we’ve put together everything you need to get up-to-speed with the new card in record time!

ilovemahj.com – Make-A-Hand exercise (standard tiles)

Here’s a quick preview of what we have to offer:

• PLAY. Online games can be played against bots, so you can take your time and also choose bots to match your skill level. Start with our  level 1 bots and work your way up to more advanced levels as you gain confidence.
• EXERCISES. Our “Exercise Room” is the place to stretch your Mah Jongg muscles. The three exercises on offer are designed to improve skills in all aspects of the game. Here’s an outline (for more info click the link above):   
  • Make a Hand. Designed to help you memorize the card. You’ll be challenged to create specific hands by clicking the appropriate tiles and arranging them in your rack. Choose to go through the hands in card order or randomly. This is a lot quicker and much more convenient than using a physical set and the system even tracks how well you’re doing, automatically.
  • Charleston Practice. Work through the Charleston, with optional hand suggestions. A great way to practice making hand decisions quickly (especially once you’ve memorized the card with the help of the Make a Hand exercise, outlined above). 
  • What Hand is That? Study the exposures and determine all the possible hands your opponent could be working towards. Select these hands and click the ‘Validate’ button to check your results. A fantastic way to improve your defensive skills, while also helping you memorize the card.
• HAND SUGGESTIONS. By using the Practice Mode you can work through a game and receive a selection of suggested hands (ranked by difficulty and the number of tiles you have towards Mah Jongg). This is an excellent tool to check your decision-making skills (you can hide and unhide the suggestions at any time).

ilovemahj.com – Hand suggestions (“Botanical” tiles from The Mahjong Line)

And to top it all, we’re offering readers a ***special promotion***. Sign-up to ilovemahj.com using the promo code “LIGHT” and you’ll receive a 3-week trial absolutely free (with no obligation to continue and no card details required at sign up). So, you’ll have 21 days to immerse yourself in all the fantastic tools on our website, and take your card learning to a whole new level! You’ll definitely be ready for anything once you’re done.

Have Fun and Enjoy the Ride!

One last piece of advice: we know it may sometimes be tedious or frustrating to learn a new card, but remember Mah Jongg is a game. So, don’t be too hard on yourself as you learn, and enjoy the process and the mental challenge it provides.

2022 is shaping up to be an exciting year! We hope you found these tips helpful. By studying them, and with a bit of practice, we’re confident you’ll be able to master the card in no time.

If you have any questions about the game or our platform, don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected]. We’re always happy to help!

Philippe & Julie

Creators, I Love Mahj