NMJL 2024 Card - Initial Analysis

Published March, 27th 2024

Introduction

We're all really excited to have received the NMJL 2024 card! If you haven't received your copy yet, we're sure it will be in your mail box very soon. The first thing we noticed is that this card is quite unique and significantly different to previous years. So, there's going to be a fair amount to digest over the coming weeks as we all familiarize ourselves with the new hands.

This article offers a quick and dirty analysis of the NMJL 2024 card, providing various sets of numbers regarding sections, hands, patterns, etc. We will write a more in-depth analysis in the upcoming weeks.

The data presented in this article is based on the TOTAL number of playable hands, including all expanded permutations. This results in a more accurate analysis than counting only hands written on the card. To understand why this is important, please click here.

Please note that this year includes an unusual hand (Quints line 2). This hand is very flexible and results in a huge number of variations (864 to be precise)! As a reference, the entire 2023 card consisted of 756 hands. So, keep in mind that the numbers below will be skewed towards that particular hand and related tiles and patterns (as it forms a significant proportion of playable hands).

Overall numbers

Number of hands as written on the card: 73
Total number of playable hands: 1683 (vs 756 in 2023)
Number of non-concealed hands: 1578 (93.76%)
Number of concealed hands: 105 (6.24%)

Number of hands per section

The table below details the TOTAL number of playable hands in each section of the card.

Section	Number of hands	Percentage
Quints	963	57.22%
Consecutive Run	237	14.08%
Winds-Dragons	174	10.34%
Any Like Numbers	81	4.81%
13579	63	3.74%
369	51	3.03%
2468	42	2.5%
Singles and Pairs	42	2.5%
2024	21	1.25%
Addition Hands	9	0.53%

Number of hands that include a given tile

The table below shows how many hands include at least one instance of a given tile.

Tile	Number of hands	Percentage
1 Bam	123	7.31%
2 Bam	161	9.57%
3 Bam	192	11.41%
4 Bam	183	10.87%
5 Bam	183	10.87%
6 Bam	196	11.65%
7 Bam	171	10.16%
8 Bam	148	8.79%
9 Bam	141	8.38%
1 Crak	123	7.31%
2 Crak	161	9.57%
3 Crak	192	11.41%
4 Crak	183	10.87%
5 Crak	183	10.87%
6 Crak	196	11.65%
7 Crak	171	10.16%
8 Crak	148	8.79%
9 Crak	141	8.38%
1 Dot	123	7.31%
2 Dot	161	9.57%
3 Dot	192	11.41%
4 Dot	183	10.87%
5 Dot	183	10.87%
6 Dot	196	11.65%
7 Dot	171	10.16%
8 Dot	148	8.79%
9 Dot	141	8.38%
Red Dragon	84	4.99%
Soap	108	6.42%
Green Dragon	84	4.99%
Flower	316	18.78%
North	351	20.86%
East	351	20.86%
West	351	20.86%
South	351	20.86%

Top 10 from the table above.

Tile	Number of hands	Percentage
North	351	20.86%
East	351	20.86%
West	351	20.86%
South	351	20.86%
Flower	316	18.78%
6 Bam	196	11.65%
6 Crak	196	11.65%
6 Dot	196	11.65%
3 Bam	192	11.41%
3 Crak	192	11.41%
3 Dot	192	11.41%

Total number of each tile

Below is the number of times a given tile appears in the TOTAL number of hands on the card, and the percentage this represents of the total. For example, 2024 line 3 includes ten 2s.
This percentage basically illustrates how "in-demand" each tile is this year and, therefore, how much competition there is likely to be for a particular tile.

Tile	Number of hands	Percentage
1	1446	6.14%
2	1791	7.6%
3	2064	8.76%
4	1971	8.37%
5	2031	8.62%
6	2151	9.13%
7	1950	8.28%
8	1749	7.42%
9	1704	7.23%
Red Dragon	292	1.24%
Soap	349	1.48%
Green Dragon	292	1.24%
Flower	980	4.16%
North	1224	5.19%
East	1171	4.97%
West	1171	4.97%
South	1226	5.2%

Below is the same list ordered by count.

Tile	Number of hands	Percentage
6	2151	9.13%
3	2064	8.76%
5	2031	8.62%
4	1971	8.37%
7	1950	8.28%
2	1791	7.6%
8	1749	7.42%
9	1704	7.23%
1	1446	6.14%
South	1226	5.2%
North	1224	5.19%
East	1171	4.97%
West	1171	4.97%
Flower	980	4.16%
Soap	349	1.48%
Red Dragon	292	1.24%
Green Dragon	292	1.24%

Number of variations for a given card hand

Below is the number of actual playable hands for each hand written on the card. Hands are labeled as section/line. The section is abbreviated by its initials and when the card shows 2 variations for a particular hand, the first one will be marked a and the second b.

Card hand	Number of playable hands
2024/1	6
2024/2	6
2024/3	6
2024/4	3
2468/1a	3
2468/1b	6
2468/2	6
2468/3	3
2468/4a	6
2468/4b	6
2468/5a	3
2468/5b	6
2468/6	3
ALN/1	27
ALN/2	27
ALN/3	27
AH/1	3
AH/2	3
AH/3	3
Q/1	21
Q/2	864
Q/3	24
Q/4	54
CR/1a	3
CR/1b	3
CR/2	36
CR/3a	21
CR/3b	42
CR/4	21
CR/5	18
CR/6	18
CR/7a	18
CR/7b	36
CR/8	21
13579/1a	3
13579/1b	6
13579/2a	6
13579/2b	6
13579/3a	3
13579/3b	3
13579/4	6
13579/5a	6
13579/5b	6
13579/6a	6
13579/6b	6
13579/7a	3
13579/7b	3
WD/1a	1
WD/1b	1
WD/2	3
WD/3a	48
WD/3b	48
WD/4	1
WD/5a	21
WD/5b	21
WD/6	3
WD/7	27
369/1a	6
369/1b	6
369/2	9
369/3a	3
369/3b	6
369/4	9
369/5	3
369/6	6
369/7	3
SP/1	3
SP/2	6
SP/3a	6
SP/3b	6
SP/4	3
SP/5	15
SP/6	3

Number of hands that include a given type of grouping

Below we show the number of hands (and percentage of the 1683 total hands) that include each type of grouping.

Includes	Number of hands	Percentage
Single(s)	165	9.8%
Pair(s)	460	27.33%
Pung(s)	450	26.74%
Kong(s)	1506	89.48%
Quint(s)	981	58.29%

Number of hands that include a given pattern

Pattern	Number of hands	Percentage
5\|4\|5	918	54.55%
3\|3\|4\|4	189	11.23%
2\|4\|4\|4	81	4.81%
2\|5\|2\|5	45	2.67%
4\|2\|2\|2\|4	45	2.67%
2\|3\|4\|3\|2	36	2.14%
2\|2\|3\|3\|4	34	2.02%
2\|3\|2\|3\|4	33	1.96%
4\|4\|4\|1\|1	30	1.78%
4\|3\|4\|3	30	1.78%
2\|4\|1\|1\|1\|1\|4	30	1.78%
3\|1\|1\|3\|3\|3	27	1.6%
3\|3\|3\|3\|2	24	1.43%
1\|2\|4\|1\|2\|4	21	1.25%
2\|2\|2\|2\|2\|2\|2	21	1.25%
5\|1\|1\|1\|3\|3	18	1.07%
3\|2\|4\|2\|3	15	0.89%
2\|1\|2\|2\|1\|2\|2\|2	12	0.71%
2\|4\|2\|2\|4	9	0.53%
2\|1\|2\|3\|3\|3	9	0.53%
3\|4\|3\|4	9	0.53%
2\|1\|1\|1\|1\|4\|4	6	0.36%
2\|2\|3\|4\|3	6	0.36%
2\|2\|2\|4\|4	6	0.36%
3\|2\|3\|3\|3	6	0.36%
4\|2\|2\|3\|3	6	0.36%
2\|3\|1\|1\|1\|1\|3\|2	3	0.18%
2\|3\|2\|3\|2\|2	3	0.18%
2\|2\|1\|1\|2\|2\|1\|1\|2	3	0.18%
2\|2\|2\|2\|1\|1\|1\|1\|1\|1	3	0.18%
1\|1\|1\|1\|2\|1\|1\|2\|1\|1\|1\|1	3	0.18%
4\|3\|3\|4	1	0.06%
3\|4\|4\|3	1	0.06%

Card hands that follow a given pattern

Pattern	Card Hands
3\|3\|4\|4	2024/1, 2468/1a, 2468/1b, CR/7a, CR/7b, 13579/2a, 13579/2b, WD/3a, WD/3b, 369/1a, 369/1b
2\|4\|4\|4	AH/1, AH/2, AH/3, CR/3a, CR/3b, 369/3a, 369/3b
4\|4\|4\|1\|1	2024/2, 2468/4a, 2468/4b, 13579/5a, 13579/5b
2\|2\|3\|3\|4	2468/3, CR/5, 13579/6a, 13579/6b, WD/4
3\|2\|4\|2\|3	CR/1a, CR/1b, 13579/1a, 13579/1b
4\|2\|2\|2\|4	WD/5a, WD/5b, 369/5
2\|2\|3\|4\|3	13579/3a, 13579/3b
3\|2\|3\|3\|3	13579/7a, 13579/7b
2\|4\|2\|2\|4	2468/5a, 2468/5b
2\|3\|2\|3\|4	2468/2, ALN/2
2\|1\|2\|2\|1\|2\|2\|2	SP/3a, SP/3b
4\|3\|4\|3	ALN/1, WD/2
2\|4\|1\|1\|1\|1\|4	ALN/3, WD/6
3\|3\|3\|3\|2	CR/8, 369/7
2\|2\|2\|2\|2\|2\|2	SP/2, SP/5
2\|5\|2\|5	Q/1, Q/3
5\|4\|5	Q/2, Q/4
2\|2\|2\|4\|4	13579/4
2\|1\|1\|1\|1\|4\|4	2024/3
2\|3\|1\|1\|1\|1\|3\|2	2024/4
2\|3\|2\|3\|2\|2	2468/6
4\|3\|3\|4	WD/1a
3\|4\|4\|3	WD/1b
2\|1\|2\|3\|3\|3	369/2
3\|4\|3\|4	369/4
4\|2\|2\|3\|3	369/6
2\|3\|4\|3\|2	CR/2
1\|2\|4\|1\|2\|4	CR/4
5\|1\|1\|1\|3\|3	CR/6
3\|1\|1\|3\|3\|3	WD/7
2\|2\|1\|1\|2\|2\|1\|1\|2	SP/1
2\|2\|2\|2\|1\|1\|1\|1\|1\|1	SP/4
1\|1\|1\|1\|2\|1\|1\|2\|1\|1\|1\|1	SP/6

Card hands matching a given exposure

Exposures	Card Hands
Kong of 6s	19 hands: 2468/1a, 2468/1b, 2468/4a, 2468/4b, ALN/1, ALN/2, ALN/3, AH/1, CR/3a, CR/3b, CR/4, CR/7a, CR/7b, WD/3a, WD/3b, 369/1a, 369/1b, 369/3a, 369/3b
Kong of 9s	18 hands: ALN/1, ALN/2, ALN/3, CR/3a, CR/3b, CR/4, CR/7a, CR/7b, 13579/2b, 13579/3b, 13579/4, WD/3a, WD/3b, 369/1a, 369/1b, 369/3a, 369/3b, 369/5
Kong of 5s	17 hands: ALN/1, ALN/2, ALN/3, AH/2, CR/3a, CR/3b, CR/4, CR/7a, CR/7b, 13579/1a, 13579/1b, 13579/2a, 13579/3a, 13579/5a, 13579/5b, WD/3a, WD/3b
Kong of 3s	17 hands: ALN/1, ALN/2, ALN/3, AH/3, CR/1a, CR/3a, CR/3b, CR/4, CR/7a, CR/7b, 13579/2a, 13579/5a, WD/3a, WD/3b, 369/3a, 369/3b, 369/5
Kong of 7s	17 hands: ALN/1, ALN/2, ALN/3, AH/1, AH/2, AH/3, CR/1b, CR/3a, CR/3b, CR/4, CR/7a, CR/7b, 13579/2b, 13579/4, 13579/5b, WD/3a, WD/3b
Kong of 8s	16 hands: 2468/1a, 2468/1b, 2468/2, 2468/4b, 2468/5a, 2468/5b, ALN/1, ALN/2, ALN/3, CR/3a, CR/3b, CR/4, CR/7a, CR/7b, WD/3a, WD/3b
Kong of 4s	14 hands: 2024/1, 2024/3, 2468/4a, ALN/1, ALN/2, ALN/3, AH/3, CR/3a, CR/3b, CR/4, CR/7a, CR/7b, WD/3a, WD/3b
Kong of 2s	13 hands: 2024/1, 2024/2, 2024/3, 2468/5a, 2468/5b, ALN/1, ALN/2, ALN/3, AH/2, CR/3a, CR/3b, WD/3a, WD/3b
Pung of 3s	12 hands: ALN/1, CR/2, CR/5, CR/7a, CR/7b, 13579/2a, 13579/3a, 13579/6a, 369/1a, 369/1b, 369/2, 369/4
Pung of 6s	12 hands: 2468/2, 2468/3, ALN/1, CR/2, CR/5, CR/6, CR/7a, CR/7b, 369/1a, 369/1b, 369/2, 369/4
Pung of 9s	10 hands: ALN/1, CR/1b, CR/5, CR/6, 13579/1a, 13579/1b, 13579/6b, 369/2, 369/4, 369/6
Pung of 5s	10 hands: ALN/1, CR/1a, CR/1b, CR/2, CR/5, CR/6, CR/7a, CR/7b, 13579/2b, 13579/6a
Kong of Soaps	10 hands: 2024/2, 2468/3, Q/4, CR/2, CR/5, 13579/6a, 13579/6b, WD/2, WD/6, 369/4
Pung of 7s	9 hands: ALN/1, CR/2, CR/5, CR/6, CR/7a, CR/7b, 13579/2b, 13579/3b, 13579/6b
Kong of Flowers	8 hands: 2024/2, 2468/4a, 2468/4b, ALN/1, 13579/5a, 13579/5b, WD/2, 369/6
Pung of 4s	9 hands: 2468/1a, 2468/1b, 2468/2, ALN/1, CR/2, CR/5, CR/6, CR/7a, CR/7b
Kong of Green Dragons	9 hands: 2468/3, Q/4, CR/2, CR/5, 13579/6a, 13579/6b, WD/2, WD/6, 369/4
Kong of Red Dragons	9 hands: 2468/3, Q/4, CR/2, CR/5, 13579/6a, 13579/6b, WD/2, WD/6, 369/4
Pung of 1s	7 hands: ALN/1, CR/1a, CR/7a, CR/7b, 13579/1a, 13579/1b, 13579/2a
Kong of 1s	8 hands: ALN/1, ALN/2, ALN/3, AH/1, CR/3a, CR/3b, WD/3a, WD/3b
Pung of 2s	7 hands: 2024/1, 2468/1a, 2468/1b, ALN/1, CR/2, CR/7a, CR/7b
Pung of Soaps	6 hands: 2024/1, ALN/2, 13579/3a, 13579/3b, WD/2, 369/6
Pung of Red Dragons	5 hands: ALN/2, 13579/3a, 13579/3b, WD/2, 369/6
Pung of Green Dragons	5 hands: ALN/2, 13579/3a, 13579/3b, WD/2, 369/6
Pung of 8s	5 hands: 2468/3, ALN/1, CR/2, CR/5, CR/6
Kong of Souths	4 hands: Q/2, WD/1a, WD/4, WD/5a
Quint of 3s	4 hands: Q/1, Q/2, Q/3, Q/4
Quint of 2s	4 hands: Q/1, Q/2, Q/3, Q/4
Quint of 4s	4 hands: Q/1, Q/2, Q/3, Q/4
Quint of 5s	4 hands: Q/1, Q/2, Q/3, Q/4
Quint of 6s	4 hands: Q/1, Q/2, Q/3, Q/4
Quint of 7s	4 hands: Q/1, Q/2, Q/3, Q/4
Quint of 8s	4 hands: Q/1, Q/2, Q/3, Q/4
Quint of 9s	4 hands: Q/1, Q/2, Q/3, Q/4
Pung of Easts	3 hands: WD/1a, WD/3b, WD/4
Pung of Wests	3 hands: WD/1a, WD/3b, WD/4
Kong of Norths	3 hands: Q/2, WD/1a, WD/5a
Kong of Easts	3 hands: Q/2, WD/1b, WD/5b
Kong of Wests	3 hands: Q/2, WD/1b, WD/5b
Quint of 1s	3 hands: Q/1, Q/2, Q/4
Pung of Norths	2 hands: WD/1b, WD/3a
Pung of Souths	2 hands: WD/1b, WD/3a
Quint of Flowers	2 hands: Q/4, CR/6

Number of hands that include a given number of suits

The data below shows the number of hands (and percentage of the 1683 total hands) that include a given number of suits.

Number of suits	Number of hands	Percentage
0	3	0.18%
1	157	9.33%
2	1254	74.51%
3	269	15.98%

Exposure overlap

In this table, we show the number of hands that include a given exposure. Note that since we're discussing exposures, concealed hands are not included.

Hand	Number of hands	Percentage
Kong of Souths	239	14.2%
Kong of Norths	238	14.14%
Kong of Easts	238	14.14%
Kong of Wests	238	14.14%
Quint of 3s	207	12.3%
Quint of 4s	207	12.3%
Quint of 5s	207	12.3%
Quint of 6s	207	12.3%
Quint of 7s	207	12.3%
Quint of 2s	204	12.12%
Quint of 8s	204	12.12%
Quint of 9s	204	12.12%
Quint of 1s	201	11.94%
Kong of 6s	126	7.49%
Kong of 5s	114	6.77%
Kong of 7s	111	6.6%
Kong of 3s	102	6.06%
Kong of 8s	102	6.06%
Kong of 4s	99	5.88%
Kong of 9s	81	4.81%
Kong of 2s	78	4.63%
Quint of Flowers	72	4.28%
Pung of 3s	69	4.1%
Pung of 6s	69	4.1%
Kong of Flowers	66	3.92%
Pung of 5s	60	3.57%
Pung of 4s	57	3.39%
Kong of Soaps	56	3.33%
Kong of Red Dragons	50	2.97%
Kong of Green Dragons	50	2.97%
Pung of Easts	50	2.97%
Pung of Wests	50	2.97%
Pung of Norths	49	2.91%
Pung of Souths	49	2.91%
Pung of 7s	48	2.85%
Pung of 9s	45	2.67%
Pung of 2s	42	2.5%
Kong of 1s	33	1.96%
Pung of 1s	30	1.78%
Pung of Soaps	30	1.78%
Pung of Red Dragons	24	1.43%
Pung of Green Dragons	24	1.43%
Pung of 8s	21	1.25%
Quint of Red Dragons	0	0%
Quint of Soaps	0	0%
Quint of Green Dragons	0	0%
Pung of Flowers	0	0%
Quint of Norths	0	0%
Quint of Easts	0	0%
Quint of Wests	0	0%
Quint of Souths	0	0%

Tiles that don't appear as a single tile

Red Dragon

Green Dragon

Flower

We hope you enjoyed geeking out with us on our initial analysis of the 2024 card. Please feel free to use any of the data above, we only ask that you give credit to ilovemahj.com.

To read our thorough analysis, click here.

Please let us know if you have any questions or comments. Email us at info@ilovemahj.com or post on our Facebook Group.

Philippe & Julie
ilovemahj.com