AMERICAN MAH JONGG · DAY 3

Reading the card

You'll learn: Read group sizes, suit colours and instructions to find a matching hand.
Time: 7 minutes
Builds on: Call your winning tile
Up next: Choose a hand
Why it helps: Reading one row at a time helps you find a hand you'd like to build.

The card can look busy at first. You don't need to take it all in at once. Let's read one row together.

A row tells you exactly what to build

Each row describes one winning hand of 14 tiles. Follow the groups from left to right to see what you're collecting. Your finished hand will match that whole row.

For example, FF 222 444 666 888 means a pair of flowers and four pungs. F means flower, and each repeated number is one tile.

See the card reference for the symbols and sections.

Same colour, same suit. Different colours, different suits. You choose the suits. Green print does not automatically mean Bams.

If 222 and 444 share a colour, use the same suit for both. If 666 and 888 have a second colour, use a different suit for those groups.

Flowers, winds and a soap used as zero do not take on a suit. A dragon matches its suit: red with Craks, green with Bams, soap with Dots.

1 Bam — A sequence uses different numbered tiles. It is not a matching group, so these tiles cannot use jokers.

2 Bam — A sequence uses different numbered tiles. It is not a matching group, so these tiles cannot use jokers.

Read the instructions beside the row

Look beside the row for any choices it gives you, including whether you can use different numbers. Keep the printed numbers unless the instructions allow a choice.

For example, a row allowing “any consecutive run” can use 2, 3, 4, 5 in place of 1, 2, 3, 4. Move every number together and keep each group's size.

C means concealed: keep the hand hidden while you build it, with no exposures. You may still call the winning tile. The value beside the row is the starting amount used to calculate payment.

You can keep the card open while you play. Start with one row you understand, and explore more as the notation becomes familiar.

White dragon (soap) — Read the year one digit at a time. Each zero is a white dragon, called soap.

Remember

Check group sizes, suit colours, number choices and C. All 14 tiles must match the same row.

Teaches on the Learner card · reviewed 2026-09-14

Reading the card

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A row tells you exactly what to build

Colours tell you which groups share a suit

Read the instructions beside the row

Remember