In Episode 3 of our Complete How to Play American Mahjong Series: Mahj 101, we cover the NMJL Card. The National Mah Jongg League (NMJL) Card is the official rule book for American Mahjong.
Why do I need a NMJL Card to play mahjong? In American Mahjong, the NMJL Card gives all of the hands that players can win with that year. Each player at the table plays fro the same card, so all are trying for the same group of hands.
Why is there a new NMJL Card each year? The hands change every year, which keeos the game challengin and exciting. Every year, no matter how long you've been playing mahjong, you get to be a new player for a while as you learn the new card.
The NMJL Card is broken into sections of simialr hands. The sections are: 2025, 2468, Any Like Number, Quints, Consecutive Run, 13579, Winds & Dragons, 369, Singles & Pairs
What do the colors on the NMJL Card mean? The Colors on the card indicate how many suits must be played in a particular mahjong line on the card. The colors are not indicative of which suit should be played in a hand, but where the suits change. Hands may be a single suit, two-suits, or all three-suits. Flowers and Winds are always shown in Navy, though they do not have a suit.
Read the Parentheses! The parenthetical text on the NMJL Card tells you more ways to win each hand, by adding flexibility in the suits and umbers that are included in the line. Reading this will make it easier for you to win mahjong!
What does X & C stand for in Mahjong? X = exposed, meaning a player can call for a tile to expose it during gameplay, while C stands for closed or concealed hands, which must remain hidden until mahjong is won.
What are the little numbers next to each mahjong line on the NMJL Card? The numbers are Point values for each hand. The point values reflect hand difficulty, so if you're new to mahjong, you may want to seek out lower value hands while you learn.
Even if you’re watching in a future year, the structure of the cards' sections will stay the same.
Watch the full series of MAHJ 101 in order here:
- Episode 1: What is American Mahjong
- Episode 2: The Tiles Explained
- Episode 3: How to Read and Play the NMJL Card (This is the one you're watching now!)
- Episode 4: How to Set Up a Game of Mahjong & How to Deal
- Episode 5: How to Organize Your Tiles & Choose a Section of the NMJL Card
- Episode 6: The Charleston & Courtesy Pass
- Episode 7: Mahjong Gameplay Basics
- Episode 8: How to Win Mahjong & Scoring/Betting