National Mah Jongg League's 2025 Card
Full Analysis

Ahhh, springtime 🌸. The season of fresh starts, blooming gardens, and... drumroll, please... a brand-new Mah Jongg card!

Just when you were finally feeling confident with the 2024 card, here comes 2025, ready to shake things up all over again. Time flies when you're having Mahj fun!

But don't worry – we've got your back.

At I LOVE MAHJ, we're all about helping you level up your game, whether you're a seasoned pro or still figuring out what a joker can and can't do. From helpful articles (like this one!) to hands-on tools and tutorials, our online platform is packed with everything you need to learn the new card faster than ever.

Let's be honest: no matter how long you've been playing, the arrival of a new card always feels like a mini reset. It's a little daunting at first, sure – but it's also a fantastic workout for your brain, and we're here to make learning the new card as smooth (and dare we say, fun) as possible!

This deep dive is going to be thorough – we've got tons to unpack. So, grab your 2025 NMJL card, cozy up with your favorite cuppa, and settle in. By the end, you'll feel confident, prepped, and ready to take on the Mah Jongg year ahead. Plus, you'll want to save this article to read again later in the year - you'll be surprised how much you'll get from it a second time through! Let's dig in! 🚀

---

What's Inside This Guide

We're not here to analyse every hand line-by-line. Instead, we're diving into the good stuff - the themes, surprises, patterns, and insights that'll help you get your head (and hands!) around the 2025 card faster than ever.

The goal? To give you the tools to feel confident, play smarter, and win more - all while having a blast. Because let's be real: frantically flipping around the card mid-game trying to find a hand to play is not much fun!

Here's what you can expect as you read through this article:

Ready? Let's take this shiny new 2025 NMJL card for a spin! Buckle up - we're in for a fun ride.

---

A Quick Note on Notation

Before we jump in, here's how we'll reference the hands throughout this guide:

• Hands will be labeled as <section>/<line> . 

• Sections use initials, like 2025, ALN (Any Like Numbers), CR (Consecutive Run), etc.

• Hand line is shown after initials, such as CR/4, ALN/3

• If a line has two versions, we'll use "a" and "b" - like CR/2a and CR/2b

• Hand patterns will be written by tile groupings - so instead of "pung-kong-pung-kong," we'll say 3-4-3-4. Trust us, it's easier to visualize that way!

---

Who Will Benefit From This Guide?

Our 2025 NMJL card analysis is designed for Mah Jongg players who are passionate about sharpening their skills and taking their game to the next level. Just like in other competitive pastimes and sports - whether it's chess, golf, pickleball, tennis, etc - there are players who love not just playing, but mastering their “sport.” Mah Jongg is no different.

This analysis is for those who want to go beyond casual play, diving into patterns, probabilities, and strategic insights to truly elevate their performance. If you're ready to put in the time and effort, this resource will help you better understand the card, make smarter decisions at the table, and gain a real competitive edge. It's perfect for die-hard tournament players, those who take the game seriously and more casual players who are just interested in knowing more!

---

First Impressions: What's the Vibe of the 2025 Card?

The 2025 NMJL card certainly has personality! While it may not be as inventive as last year's card, it still packs a number of surprises - including some quirky new hands that will both delight and baffle players alike (you've been warned. 😄)

Gone are the dedicated Addition and/or Multiplication sections from previous years, but a few sneaky math-based hands have still found their way into the 2468, 13579, and 369 sections. Don't worry though, you won't need a calculator. Just focus on the numbers, not the symbols. No algebra required. 🙌

The "Big Hand" (SP/6) is back to its classic form (after last year's easier version - SP/6).

One fun twist: "Year" hands aren't confined to the 2025 and Singles & Pairs sections this time around - they're back in the Winds & Dragons section!

And speaking of Winds & Dragons - it's a standout category this year. There's lots of flexibility between hands, the return of year hands, and even a chow (a run of three consecutive numbers). Plus, Winds pop up in the Quints, 13579 and S&P sections.

Now, let's talk about the headline act: Consecutive Run, Line 7 (CR/7). It includes a wild run of consecutive singles and a pick-your-own pair. Oh yes, it's getting spicy. It's the kind of creative hand we're more accustomed to seeing on Gladys Grad's Siamese card - rather than the official NMJL card - so this one's a real plot twist. We'll break it down for you later in the article.

All in all? The 2025 card is solid with some fun twists along the way. It may feel a touch tougher than last year's card (which had tons of flexible and player-friendly hands), but it still gives us a lot to play with and offers good switchability between hands and sections. Expect to see more wall games and fewer quick wins - a return to classic NMJL challenge levels!

Ready to dig deeper? 🀄🧠🔥

---

Let's Clear Things Up - Hand Clarifications! 🧐

The notes for each hand on the 2025 card are mostly straightforward. However, there were a couple of errors on the original print run (for both standard and large print cards) and a few hands that could use a little extra explanation. We've gathered the most important clarifications and decoding tips for you below:

🔹 2025 - LINE 1 (FFFF 2025 222 222)
Those two pungs can be either 2s or 5s. However, they must match! Either both 2s or both 5s - no mixing and matching allowed.

🔹 2025 - LINE 3 ( 2025 222 555 DDDD)
This is a three-suit hand. "2025" can be in any suit (since the "zero" is neutral), the pungs of 2s and 5s are in a second suit, and your dragons form a kong in the third suit.

🔹 2468 - LINE 2 (FF 2222 + 4444 = 6666 / FF 2222 + 6666 = 8888)
Yes, it's mathy - but don't overthink it! Use the exact numbers shown, and remember: it's a three-suit hand.

🔹 2468 - LINE 4 (FFFF 2468 222 222)
Both pungs must be the same even number (e.g., 2s and 2s, 4s and 4s, etc). This rule also pops up in Lines 7 and 8 in this section, and a few other places. Double-check those little parentheses on the card.
🖨️ Printing Oops #1: In the first print run of the standard-size card, this hand was printed in one color instead of three. Reprinted cards should be making their way to those affected.

🔹 ANY LIKE NUMBER - LINE 2 (FFFF 11 111 111 11 )
There are two identical pairs in here - which means jokers can't be used, and you can't claim a discard unless it's your winning tile. Tricky!

🔹 CONSECUTIVE RUN - LINE 3 (FFFF 1111 22 3333 / FFFF 1111 22 3333)
🖨️ Printing Oops #2: On the large card, the second version of this hand is mistakenly shown in all green. Ignore that - it's supposed to be a three-suit hand. Reprinted cards should be making their way to those affected.

🔹 CONSECUTIVE RUN - LINE 7 (112345 1111 1111)
Meet the headline act of the 2025 card! The run of five consecutive numbers (e.g., 2-3-4-5-6) include one flexible pair - you choose which number gets doubled. Your two kongs must match that number. Example: Want to pair the 5s? Then your hand might look like 3 4 55 6 7 with kongs of 5555 5555. Fun, right?

🔹 13579 - LINE 4 (FFFF 1111 + 9999 = 10 )
Only the exact numbers shown are allowed. The 1s and 9s must be in the same suit. The single 1 must be in a different suit, along with a Soap (representing zero) to form "10."
🧼 Reminder: Since Soap = zero, it's neutral and doesn't affect suit matching.

🔹 WINDS-DRAGONS - LINE 2 (FF 123 DD DDD DDDD)
The note states "any 3 Dragons" - and it means it! The Dragon kong doesn't need to match the suit used for the 3-number run, even if the colors on the card suggest otherwise. You've got full Dragon freedom here!

With those out of the way, we can move on to even juicier bits - scoring, strategy, patterns, and all the fun stuff! Let's keep going.

---

Points, Schmoints… Do They Actually Matter? 🤓

Let's talk points - because while Mah Jongg is fun and social, scoring does count, especially if you're playing in a tournament, playing for money with your group, or just want bragging rights at your weekly game night!

Here's the lay of the land for 2025:

• Most open hands are worth 25 or 30 points (with Quints bumping up to 40 or 45 points).

• Concealed hands are 30 points, except for the big dogs in Singles & Pairs, which are 50 or 75 points. There are no 35-point hands in 2025.

This year, there are eight 30-point open hands, up from six last year (note: we're counting a & b versions as two hands). That's great news for tournament players - definitely consider these hands if you want to get ahead! They are slightly trickier than the 25-point basics, but still offer joker-friendly exposure options and a solid scoring boost. Sometimes, those 5 extra points can be the difference between placing and pacing! Obviously, a Quint or Singles & Pairs hand would give you an even bigger boost…but these eight are great contenders.

Here are your eight open 30-point hands:

• 2025/3

• ALN/2

• CR/7

• 13579/7a

• 13579/7b

• 13579/8

• WD/7a

• WD/7b

🔥 Definitely worth keeping these in your back pocket when your tiles don't scream "Quints" or "Singles & Pairs."

But… Are the Points Fair?

We've said it before, and we'll say it again: the NMJL doesn't always match points with difficulty. Some hands take way more effort than others, but only get a tiny bump in reward. Sadly, this is true again this year, though perhaps to a lesser extent than 2024. (This inconsistency is discussed in more detail in the Hand Popularity section of this article.)

Take 13579/8, for example - it contains three pairs (bumping up its difficulty factor substantially!) and yet it's only worth 30 points. Plus, if we compare this hand to 369/5 - which contains the exact same groupings of three pairs and two kongs - we'll see that this hand is only worth 25 points! The exact same groupings, but different points values - how could that possibly be fair?

Or 2468/8, which is concealed AND contains four pairs - still just 30 points! Compare that with a basic exposed hand worth 25 points, and you've gotta ask: is it really worth the headache for a measly 5 additional points when there are so many restrictions to thwart your efforts?

Also, WD/2 requires all three Dragons (including a pair), along with a chow (3 consecutive single tiles), plus a pair of Flowers, yet it's only worth 25 points.

Another eyebrow-raiser: 369/5 has three pairs too, but only nets 25 points! 🤷‍♀️

Unless your tiles are practically screaming at you to play one of these hands, it might be wiser to go with something less risky (and with more joker flexibility). And, if you do go for it? Have a good backup in mind!

Spot the Inconsistencies

Let's compare:

• 2468/8 is concealed and has 4 pairs - 30 points

• ALN/3 is also concealed, but only needs 1 pair - also 30 points

• 2024/4 (on last year's card) is same as WD/7 on the 2025 card, the former was concealed, the latter is open, yet they are both 30 points

Hmm. 🤨

So yes, it feels a bit like the League assigned point values somewhat arbitrarily. There's not much evidence that these reflect actual difficulty or likelihood of success. Plus, the League has removed the 35-point allocation used in previous years, which has effectively led to the undervaluation of more tricky hands on the 2025 card. You've been warned!

In short: know your hands, weigh the risk, and play smart.

Ready to dive into some card insights next? Let's keep going!

---

The Card in Numbers

Before we jump into juicy insights and strategy tips, let's kick things off with a little number-crunching! (Don't worry, we'll keep it light.)

This early analysis is theoretical - based on the structure of the card and not yet on real-world gameplay. But don't fret, we'll be diving into actual game stats later this year, once we've gathered enough data from I LOVE MAHJ's online games (here's where you can find stats articles related to previous years). Be sure to follow us on Facebook if you want to be the first to see our 2025 insights when they drop!

So... how many hands are we working with?

The 2025 National Mah Jongg League card lists 71 hands, which is two fewer than last year. But here's the kicker - when you factor in all the possible permutations (like options for suits, number choices, etc), we're actually looking at 1,002 playable hands. Last year's number was a whopping 1,683, but 864 of those came from one unusually flexible hand that inflated the stats (Q/2).

So, in terms of realistic variety, this year's card brings us back to a more typical range.

A Note on Data and Notation

This time of year, you'll probably see a flood of blogs, videos, and hot takes reviewing the new card. And we love that! There is much to be gleaned from reading and watching as many of these as possible. But there's something very important to keep in mind:
Most reviews only take into consideration the 71 hands printed on the card - not the true number of playable hands (1002). Unfortunately, this results in misleading data analysis.

Why does that matter? Because each printed hand often represents multiple variations. Take 2025 Line 1, for example, which states: "like pungs of 2s or 5s." Technically, that's two distinct hands and it could have been written as such on the card. But, since they're grouped together, they're counted by many as one hand. Therefore, counting "playable hands" instead of "card hands" is a more accurate representation of the actual number of hands on the card. Let's face it, the NMJL could have listed every single hand possibility for us, but the card would have been so large and cumbersome and the information so overwhelming that they chose to use notation instead. Very wise!

Suffice to say, it's important to understand that the way hands are printed on the card is just a "notation," with each pattern describing a much larger set of playable hands. This difference in notation vs. actual play options can seriously skew any data analysis based on just the printed lines. So, if someone says "X% of hands have Y," (e.g., X% of hands contain Flowers) be sure to take a closer look - the information given may not be factoring in the full picture and the percentages reported could vary significantly!

Bottom Line:

There aren't just 71 hands on the 2025 NMJL card - there are 1,002 ways to win. And every one of them counts when you're planning your strategy!

All the stats and patterns we share in this article are based on that full, expanded list of playable hands - because accuracy matters when you're aiming to up your Mahj game. 🧠✨

Ready to dive into the juicy details? Let's go!

Number of variations for a given card hand

Below is the number of actual playable hands for each hand as written on the card. Hands are labeled as section/line. The section is abbreviated by its initials and two variations for a particular hand will be marked "a" and "b."

Card hand	Number of playable hands
2025/1	6
2025/2	6
2025/3	6
2025/4	3
2468/1a	3
2468/1b	6
2468/2a	6
2468/2b	6
2468/3	3
2468/4	12
2468/5	3
2468/6	3
2468/7	12
2468/8	12
ALN/1	27
ALN/2	27
ALN/3	27
Q/1	42
Q/2	96
Q/3	27
CR/1a	3
CR/1b	3
CR/2a	18
CR/2b	36
CR/3a	21
CR/3b	42
CR/4	30
CR/5	21
CR/6	21
CR/7	75
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	3
13579/5b	6
13579/6a	3
13579/6b	3
13579/7a	6
13579/7b	6
13579/8	6
13579/9a	6
13579/9b	6
WD/1a	1
WD/1b	1
WD/2	126
WD/3	1
WD/4	3
WD/5	30
WD/6	24
WD/7a	3
WD/7b	3
WD/8	3
369/1a	6
369/1b	6
369/2a	3
369/2b	6
369/3	9
369/4	6
369/5	9
369/6	6
SP/1	18
SP/2	3
SP/3	9
SP/4	8
SP/5	15
SP/6	1

Here we see that the hand with the most variants (126 playable hands) is WD/2 (because of the flexibility of the chow), followed by Q/2 (96). Note that Q/2 is a lot less flexible than last year, since the numbers are in the same suits and must be consecutive. Of interest is CR/7 with 75 permutations (the flexible positioning of the pair makes this hand somewhat easier).

Number of hands per section

The table below details the number of playable hands in each section of the card. This gives an indication of the flexibility of a particular category and the hand opportunities it represents.

Section	Number of hands	Percentage
Consecutive Run	291	29.04%
Winds-Dragons	195	19.46%
Quints	165	16.47%
Any Like Numbers	81	8.08%
13579	78	7.78%
2468	66	6.59%
Singles and Pairs	54	5.39%
369	51	5.09%
2025	21	2.1%

Here we can see that the Consecutive Run section has the most playable hands, followed by Winds-Dragons. This is more in line with expectation compared to last year, where the Quints section was disproportionately represented (due to the Q/2 hand, with its 864 permutations).

It's also important to note that ~50% of playable hands reside in the Consecutive Run (~29%) and Winds-Dragons (~19.5%) categories. So, if an absolute beginner (or someone new to this card!) were to focus on just these two categories initially, they would quickly become familiar with nearly half the hands on the card!

Number of hands that include a given tile

The table below shows how many hands include at least one instance of a given tile. Although this is interesting information, it is somewhat misleading as you'll discover in the next section, "Demand for each tile."

Tile	Number of hands	Percentage
1 Bam	81	8.08%
2 Bam	128	12.77%
3 Bam	169	16.87%
4 Bam	150	14.97%
5 Bam	183	18.26%
6 Bam	181	18.06%
7 Bam	142	14.17%
8 Bam	110	10.98%
9 Bam	104	10.38%
1 Crak	81	8.08%
2 Crak	128	12.77%
3 Crak	169	16.87%
4 Crak	150	14.97%
5 Crak	183	18.26%
6 Crak	181	18.06%
7 Crak	142	14.17%
8 Crak	110	10.98%
9 Crak	104	10.38%
1 Dot	81	8.08%
2 Dot	128	12.77%
3 Dot	169	16.87%
4 Dot	150	14.97%
5 Dot	183	18.26%
6 Dot	181	18.06%
7 Dot	142	14.17%
8 Dot	110	10.98%
9 Dot	104	10.38%
Red Dragon	204	20.36%
Soap	236	23.55%
Green Dragon	204	20.36%
Flower	523	52.2%
North	99	9.88%
East	93	9.28%
West	93	9.28%
South	99	9.88%

Top 10 hands that include a given tile (from the table above)

Tile	Number of hands	Percentage
Flower	523	52.2%
Soap	236	23.55%
Red Dragon	204	20.36%
Green Dragon	204	20.36%
5 Bam	183	18.26%
5 Crak	183	18.26%
5 Dot	183	18.26%
6 Bam	181	18.06%
6 Crak	181	18.06%
6 Dot	181	18.06%

Demand for each tile

The table below shows the number of times a given tile appears in all playable hands on the card, along with the percentage this represents of the total. In other words, if you were to make all variations of each hand, how many of each tile would be required.

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	Percentage
1	609	4.34%
2	984	7.01%
3	1308	9.32%
4	1158	8.25%
5	1380	9.84%
6	1440	10.27%
7	1152	8.21%
8	918	6.54%
9	921	6.57%
Red Dragon	552	3.93%
Soap	612	4.36%
Green Dragon	552	3.93%
Flower	1329	9.47%
North	297	2.12%
East	255	1.82%
West	259	1.85%
South	302	2.15%

Below is the same table, but this time ordered from most to least in-demand tile.

Tile	Number	Percentage
6	1440	10.27%
5	1380	9.84%
Flower	1329	9.47%
3	1308	9.32%
4	1158	8.25%
7	1152	8.21%
2	984	7.01%
9	921	6.57%
8	918	6.54%
Soap	612	4.36%
1	609	4.34%
Red Dragon	552	3.93%
Green Dragon	552	3.93%
South	302	2.15%
North	297	2.12%
West	259	1.85%
East	255	1.82%

From the previous section, titled "Number of hands that include a given tile", we saw that the Flower tile appears in the largest number of hands, followed by the Dragons. However, after further analysis, it's clear that the number of a particular tile needed for each hand is more significant, as it dictates how in-demand a tile will be at the Mah Jongg table. Looking at this new data, we can see that Flowers are only the 3rd most in-demand tile and Dragons are towards the bottom, with only the Wind tiles being lower on the demand scale. We should also remember that there are eight Flowers, so in reality, even though they are in relatively high demand, there are more to go around!

Among the numbers, we see that 5s and 6s are the most in-demand, while 9s, 8s and 1s are significantly less in-demand. It may be worth keeping these "popularity" figures in mind when choosing between hand options. If possible, you may wish to avoid tiles where there could be significant competition, especially if these form a "gap" in a particular hand you're considering (i.e., you have not been dealt any of these tiles). You may also wish to consider the popularity of a tile when deciding the order of your discards (more on this in the Strategy section).

We can also see from the data that Winds are required for significantly fewer playable hands than any other tile in the set. Therefore, our conclusion is that passing these in the Charleston is fairly safe - though, you'd definitely want to break them up if you have several to pass. You may believe that we are contradicting ourselves here, as previously we stated that the Winds-Dragons section contains ~19.5% of playable hands on the card. This is true, however, not all hands in this section contain Winds, and others contain only a sub-set (N/S or E/W) - it's the hands that contain numbers in that section that cause it to contain such a large portion of the overall hands on the cards. So, yes, passing Winds can certainly help a competitor build a hand, but sigificantly less so than passing, say, a 5 or 6!

Number of hands that include a given type of grouping

Below we show the number of hands (and percentage of the 1002 playable hands) that include each type of grouping.

Includes	Number of hands	Percentage
Single(s)	427	42.61%
Pair(s)	718	71.66%
Pung(s)	606	60.48%
Kong(s)	822	82.04%
Quint(s)	165	16.47%

Kongs are the most prevalent grouping on this year's card, appearing in 82% of playable hands (vs 89% in 2024), followed by Pairs (~72%, vs 27% in 2024). Single tiles are more represented than usual (42.6% vs 9.8% in 2024), so players need to be extra careful with their discards towards the end of the game.

Card hands matching a given exposure

Below we've listed all hands that contain a certain exposure. This information could prove to be extremely helpful when making decisions between particular hands (as this list shows how "in demand" each exposure is). You'll also be able to determine how "locked in" you are when making a certain exposure, and how much that exposure reveals to others. Finally, this table is useful for identifying the hands other players may be working towards (from their exposures).

Exposure	Appears in these Card Hands
Kong of 9s	23 hands: ALN/1, CR/2a, CR/2b, CR/3a, CR/3b, CR/4, CR/5, CR/6, CR/7, 13579/2b, 13579/3b, 13579/4, 13579/5a, 13579/5b, 13579/6b, 13579/8, 369/1a, 369/1b, 369/2a, 369/2b, 369/3, 369/4, 369/5
Kong of 6s	19 hands: 2468/2a, 2468/2b, 2468/7, ALN/1, Q/1, CR/2a, CR/2b, CR/3a, CR/3b, CR/4, CR/5, CR/6, CR/7, 369/1a, 369/1b, 369/2a, 369/2b, 369/3, 369/5
Kong of 5s	17 hands: 2025/2, ALN/1, Q/1, CR/2a, CR/2b, CR/3a, CR/3b, CR/4, CR/5, CR/6, CR/7, 13579/1a, 13579/1b, 13579/2a, 13579/3a, 13579/3b, 13579/6a
Pung of 3s	15 hands: ALN/2, Q/1, CR/2a, CR/2b, CR/5, CR/6, 13579/1a, 13579/1b, 13579/2a, 13579/3a, 13579/6a, 13579/7a, WD/5, 369/1a, 369/1b
Kong of 3s	16 hands: ALN/1, Q/1, CR/1a, CR/2a, CR/2b, CR/3a, CR/3b, CR/5, CR/6, CR/7, 13579/2a, 369/2a, 369/2b, 369/3, 369/4, 369/5
Pung of 2s	15 hands: 2025/1, 2025/2, 2025/3, 2468/1a, 2468/1b, 2468/4, 2468/6, ALN/2, Q/1, CR/1a, CR/2a, CR/2b, CR/5, CR/6, WD/6
Pung of 6s	15 hands: 2468/1a, 2468/1b, 2468/4, 2468/5, 2468/6, ALN/2, Q/1, CR/1b, CR/2a, CR/2b, CR/5, CR/6, WD/6, 369/1a, 369/1b
Kong of 4s	15 hands: 2468/1a, 2468/1b, 2468/2a, 2468/6, 2468/7, ALN/1, Q/1, CR/2a, CR/2b, CR/3a, CR/3b, CR/4, CR/5, CR/6, CR/7
Kong of 8s	15 hands: 2468/1a, 2468/1b, 2468/2b, 2468/5, 2468/7, ALN/1, Q/1, CR/2a, CR/2b, CR/3a, CR/3b, CR/4, CR/5, CR/6, CR/7
Pung of 7s	13 hands: ALN/2, Q/1, CR/2a, CR/2b, CR/5, CR/6, 13579/1a, 13579/1b, 13579/2b, 13579/3b, 13579/6b, 13579/7b, WD/5
Kong of 7s	14 hands: ALN/1, Q/1, CR/1b, CR/2a, CR/2b, CR/3a, CR/3b, CR/4, CR/5, CR/6, CR/7, 13579/2b, 13579/5a, 13579/5b
Pung of 5s	11 hands: 2025/1, 2025/3, ALN/2, Q/1, CR/2a, CR/2b, CR/5, CR/6, 13579/2b, 13579/6b, WD/5
Kong of 2s	10 hands: 2468/2a, 2468/2b, 2468/7, ALN/1, Q/1, CR/2a, CR/2b, CR/3a, CR/3b, CR/7
Pung of 4s	10 hands: 2468/3, 2468/4, ALN/2, Q/1, CR/1a, CR/2a, CR/2b, CR/5, CR/6, WD/6
Pung of 8s	9 hands: 2468/3, 2468/4, ALN/2, CR/1b, CR/2a, CR/2b, CR/5, CR/6, WD/6
Pung of 1s	8 hands: ALN/2, Q/1, CR/2a, CR/2b, CR/6, 13579/2a, 13579/6a, WD/5
Kong of 1s	7 hands: ALN/1, CR/3a, CR/3b, CR/7, 13579/3a, 13579/4, 13579/8
Kong of Flowers	7 hands: 2025/1, 2468/4, ALN/2, CR/3a, CR/3b, 13579/4, WD/4
Pung of Flowers	6 hands: 2468/5, CR/4, 13579/5a, 13579/5b, WD/3, 369/4
Pung of Soaps	6 hands: CR/5, 13579/3a, 13579/3b, WD/2, WD/4, 369/3
Pung of Green Dragons	6 hands: CR/5, 13579/3a, 13579/3b, WD/2, WD/4, 369/3
Pung of Red Dragons	6 hands: CR/5, 13579/3a, 13579/3b, WD/2, WD/4, 369/3
Kong of Soaps	5 hands: 2025/2, 2025/3, 2468/3, 2468/7, WD/2
Kong of Green Dragons	4 hands: 2025/3, 2468/3, 2468/7, WD/2
Kong of Red Dragons	4 hands: 2025/3, 2468/3, 2468/7, WD/2
Kong of Souths	4 hands: Q/2, WD/1a, WD/3, WD/5
Pung of Wests	3 hands: WD/1a, WD/3, WD/7a
Kong of Norths	3 hands: Q/2, WD/1a, WD/5
Kong of Easts	3 hands: Q/2, WD/1b, WD/6
Kong of Wests	3 hands: Q/2, WD/1b, WD/6
Quint of 3s	3 hands: Q/1, Q/2, Q/3
Quint of 4s	3 hands: Q/1, Q/2, Q/3
Quint of 5s	3 hands: Q/1, Q/2, Q/3
Quint of 6s	3 hands: Q/1, Q/2, Q/3
Quint of 7s	3 hands: Q/1, Q/2, Q/3
Quint of 8s	3 hands: Q/1, Q/2, Q/3
Quint of 9s	3 hands: Q/1, Q/2, Q/3
Pung of Easts	2 hands: WD/1a, WD/7a
Pung of Norths	2 hands: WD/1b, WD/7b
Pung of Souths	2 hands: WD/1b, WD/7b
Pung of 9s	2 hands: ALN/2, WD/5
Quint of 1s	2 hands: Q/2, Q/3
Quint of 2s	2 hands: Q/2, Q/3

Number of hands that include a given number of suits

The table below shows the number of hands (and percentage of the 1002 playable hands) that include a given number of suits. Note that since Dragons are associated with a suit, they are counted under their matching suit. The only suitless tiles are Flowers and Winds (and, or course, zeros).

Number of suits	Number of hands	Percentage
0	3	0.3%
1	209	20.86%
2	132	13.17%
3	658	65.67%

For example, the three "suitless" hands are WD/1a, WD/1b and WD/3.

Exposure overlap

The table below illustrates the number of hands that include a given exposure. Note that since we're discussing exposures, concealed hands are not included in this analysis.

To cross-reference this information with actual hands as written on the card, please refer to the table above, titled "Card hands matching a given exposure."

Hand	Number of hands	Percentage
Kong of 6s	117	11.68%
Kong of Flowers	117	11.68%
Kong of 5s	108	10.78%
Kong of 9s	102	10.18%
Kong of 4s	90	8.98%
Kong of 7s	90	8.98%
Pung of 3s	81	8.08%
Kong of 3s	81	8.08%
Pung of 6s	75	7.49%
Kong of 8s	72	7.19%
Pung of 2s	66	6.59%
Pung of 5s	60	5.99%
Pung of 7s	60	5.99%
Pung of Red Dragons	59	5.89%
Pung of Soaps	59	5.89%
Pung of Green Dragons	59	5.89%
Kong of Souths	56	5.59%
Kong of Soaps	55	5.49%
Kong of Norths	55	5.49%
Pung of 4s	51	5.09%
Kong of Red Dragons	49	4.89%
Kong of Green Dragons	49	4.89%
Pung of Flowers	49	4.89%
Kong of Easts	49	4.89%
Kong of Wests	49	4.89%
Kong of 2s	48	4.79%
Pung of 1s	36	3.59%
Quint of 3s	33	3.29%
Quint of 4s	33	3.29%
Quint of 5s	33	3.29%
Quint of 6s	33	3.29%
Quint of 7s	33	3.29%
Pung of 8s	33	3.29%
Quint of 8s	33	3.29%
Kong of 1s	30	2.99%
Quint of 2s	27	2.69%
Quint of 9s	21	2.1%
Quint of 1s	15	1.5%
Pung of 9s	9	0.9%
Pung of Wests	5	0.5%
Pung of Norths	4	0.4%
Pung of Easts	4	0.4%
Pung of Souths	4	0.4%
Quint of Red Dragons	0	0%
Quint of Soaps	0	0%
Quint of Green Dragons	0	0%
Quint 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

This year, only the Flower does not appear as a single tile. So, if you can account for the other flowers (in the discards, exposures or your own hand), these may be a safer discard toward the end of the game. Obviously, if a player has been lucky enough to be a "Joker magnet" they could still call your discard, so no tiles are truly "safe!"

---

Patterns

There's a little something for everyone this year - classic go-to's for comfort and clever new twists to keep us on our toes!

Number of playable hands that include a given pattern

Below is the popularity of each hand pattern. The numbers in the "pattern" column represent the size of the grouping (eg: 3|4|3|4 = pung-kong-pung-kong).

Pattern	Number of hands	Percentage
2|1|1|1|2|3|4	126	12.57%
5|4|5	96	9.58%
3|4|3|4	93	9.28%
4|4|2|4	63	6.29%
4|1|2|3|4	54	5.39%
2|3|4|5	42	4.19%
3|1|1|1|4|4	39	3.89%
2|4|4|4	33	3.29%
2|2|2|2|2|2|2	32	3.19%
2|3|3|3|3	30	2.99%
2|4|1|4|1|2	27	2.69%
4|2|3|3|2	27	2.69%
2|5|2|5	27	2.69%
3|3|4|2|2	27	2.69%
2|2|3|4|3	21	2.1%
2|1|2|3|1|2|3	21	2.1%
4|1|1|1|1|3|3	18	1.8%
2|1|1|2|2|2|2|2	18	1.8%
2|3|4|3|2	15	1.5%
2|1|1|1|1|4|4	15	1.5%
1|2|1|1|1|4|4	15	1.5%
1|1|2|1|1|4|4	15	1.5%
1|1|1|2|1|4|4	15	1.5%
1|1|1|1|2|4|4	15	1.5%
4|3|4|3	15	1.5%
2|2|2|2|3|3	12	1.2%
2|3|1|1|1|1|3|2	12	1.2%
2|2|2|3|3|2	12	1.2%
2|2|2|4|4	9	0.9%
1|1|1|1|3|3|4	6	0.6%
4|4|4|1|1	6	0.6%
4|2|2|2|4	6	0.6%
3|4|1|1|1|4	6	0.6%
2|3|1|3|1|3|1	6	0.6%
3|2|2|3|4	4	0.4%
2|3|2|3|4	3	0.3%
3|4|3|2|2	3	0.3%
4|3|1|1|1|1|3	3	0.3%
2|3|3|2|1|1|1|1	3	0.3%
3|2|2|3|1|1|1|1	3	0.3%
2|2|3|3|4	3	0.3%
2|1|1|1|1|2|1|1|1|1|2	3	0.3%
4|3|3|4	1	0.1%
3|4|4|3	1	0.1%
2|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1	1	0.1%

Note that the results are skewed by the very flexible WD/2 and Q/2 hands. If we were to excluding those hands, 3-4-3-4 would be the most popular pattern.

Below we detail the specific card hands that follow each of the patterns listed above.

Pattern	Card Hands
3|4|3|4	2025/2, 2468/1a, 2468/1b, CR/2a, CR/2b, 13579/2a, 13579/2b, 369/1a, 369/1b
2|4|4|4	2468/2a, 2468/2b, 2468/7, 369/2a, 369/2b
2|3|4|3|2	CR/1a, CR/1b, 13579/1a, 13579/1b
4|3|4|3	13579/3a, 13579/3b, 369/3
3|1|1|1|4|4	CR/4, 13579/5a, 13579/5b
3|3|4|2|2	CR/6, 13579/6a, 13579/6b
2|3|1|1|1|1|3|2	13579/7a, 13579/7b
2|2|2|3|3|2	13579/9a, 13579/9b
2|2|2|2|2|2|2	SP/3, SP/4, SP/5
4|1|1|1|1|3|3	2025/1, 2468/4
2|3|3|3|3	2025/4, ALN/3
3|2|2|3|4	2468/5, WD/3
4|4|2|4	CR/3a, CR/3b
4|1|2|3|4	WD/5, WD/6
4|4|4|1|1	13579/4
4|2|2|2|4	13579/8
1|1|1|1|3|3|4	2025/3
2|3|2|3|4	2468/3
3|4|3|2|2	2468/6
2|2|2|2|3|3	2468/8
2|4|1|4|1|2	ALN/1
4|2|3|3|2	ALN/2
4|3|3|4	WD/1a
3|4|4|3	WD/1b
2|3|3|2|1|1|1|1	WD/7a
3|2|2|3|1|1|1|1	WD/7b
3|4|1|1|1|4	369/4
2|2|2|4|4	369/5
2|3|1|3|1|3|1	369/6
2|2|3|4|3	CR/5
2|1|1|1|1|4|4	CR/7
1|2|1|1|1|4|4	CR/7
1|1|2|1|1|4|4	CR/7
1|1|1|2|1|4|4	CR/7
1|1|1|1|2|4|4	CR/7
2|1|2|3|1|2|3	CR/8
2|1|1|1|2|3|4	WD/2
4|3|1|1|1|1|3	WD/4
2|2|3|3|4	WD/8
2|1|1|2|2|2|2|2	SP/1
2|1|1|1|1|2|1|1|1|1|2	SP/2
2|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1	SP/6
2|3|4|5	Q/1
5|4|5	Q/2
2|5|2|5	Q/3

The 3-4-3-4 pattern is having a moment on the 2025 card, showing up in 9 different hands on the card - and a whopping 93 playable variations! These hands are open, so Jokers are fair game in every grouping, which makes them extra inviting. Get comfortable with this pattern and you'll have a solid base to build on this year.

A Few Patterns That Caught Our Eye

Let's start with ALN/2 - this one's a little sneaky! It features two pairs in the same suit, meaning you'll need all four tiles (no Jokers allowed here) and you won't be able to call a discard unless it's your final tile for Mah Jongg. Tricky, but doable with a good starting rack!

Then there's CR/7 - which is creative and exciting (in fact, it originally featured on a NMJL card back in the 90s!). This hand includes a run of five numbers, but here's the twist: the pair can go anywhere in the run, and whatever number you use for your pair must also be used for both kongs (in different suits). It's a fun challenge with lots of flexibility - just be ready to commit once you choose that pair or the numbers for your kongs!

Flower Power

Flowers are still blooming on the 2025 card, showing up as pairs, pungs and kongs. But no quints or single Flowers this year .

Math Hands

There's no dedicated "math" section on this year's card, but three addition-style hands are sprinkled throughout - 2468/2, 13579/4, and 369/2 . Normally, math hands let us get creative by combining numbers that don't usually appear together (like 3 + 4 = 7). But this year, since they're locked into specific number families, that flexibility is missing. Still fun, but not quite the numerical playground we've seen in the past!

Winds & Dragons

This year's Winds & Dragons section brings a refreshing mix of creativity and flexibility. A fan-favorite, WD/1, makes a welcome return with its versatile format - it can be played two ways: 4-3-3-4 or 3-4-4-3. We're also treated to a new twist on the crescendo pattern in WD/3, offering a familiar mix with grouping updates (it's now 3-2-2-3-4).

Good news for Dragon lovers: Dragons are better represented on this year's card vs last year! Red and Green Dragons each make up 3.93% of the tiles required for all 1002 playable hands on the card (refer to the "Demand for each tile" table above) - in 2024, Red & Green Dragons each made up 1.24% of tiles required for all playable hands. 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. Soaps (White Dragons) come in at 4.36% (1.48% in 2024). That's a nice bump from 2024.

On the flip side, Winds are used far less frequently this year - collectively only accounting for 7.9% of total tiles, compared to a whopping 28.3% in 2024 (though much of that was due to the infamous Q/2 hand). In general, Winds will be in less demand this year.

And here's a little bonus for Dragon fans - WD/2 features a full Dragon hand with Flowers and a chow. Yes, please!

And let's not forget the two "year" hands tucked into this section: WD/7a and WD/7b.

One last note: unlike last year, Dragons appear as singles this time around, giving you even more strategic wiggle room - but also cause to remain vigilant when discarding Dragons!

Good NEWS!

The fan-favorite NEWS pattern makes several appearances this year in 13579/7a, 13579/7b and WD/4, and we're here for it! You'll also find a similar vibe in WD/1, WD/3, WD/7, WD/8, and even in SP/1, giving us several ways to work those tiles into our games.

Consecutive Runs – Not Just in CR!

While the Consecutive Run section is, of course, the go-to for number runs, don't overlook the sneaky spots where similar patterns pop up! Five hands outside the CR section follow a run structure, including:

• Q/1 – Run of 3 numbers

• Q/2 – Run of 2 numbers

• WD/2 – Run of 3 numbers

• SP/1 – Run of 4 numbers

• SP/4 – Run of 2 numbers (in all three suits)

Being aware of these extra options gives you more flexibility when building a run-based hand and lots of potential for backup hands! So, if your tiles are heading in that direction, you'll have a whole buffet of run-style hands to choose from - not just the usual suspects in the CR section!

Like Numbers – Not Just in ALN!

While the Any Like Numbers section is the most obvious place for repeated digits, there are actually plenty of hands scattered across the card (25 in fact!) that also include like numbers - sometimes just a pair, other times pungs or even kongs. Here are the hands to keep on your radar:

• 2025/1 – 2s or 5s

• 2025/2, 2025/3, 2025/4, S&P/6 – 2s

• 2468/4, 2468/7, 2468/8, WD/6 – evens

• Q/3, CR/7, CR/8, S&P/4 – any number

• 13579/2a, 13579/7a – 3s

• 13579/2b, 13579/7b – 7s

• 13579/9a - 1s or 3s

• 13579/9b - 5s or 7s

• WD/5, S&P/4 – odds

• 369/1 – 6s

• 369/3, 369/5, S&P/3 – 3s, 6s, or 9s

Some of these hands may only require a pair of a specific number, along with a like number in a different suit, but as we all know, pairs have a tendency to grow as the game progresses! So, if you find yourself with like numbers during the Charleston or early in the hand, don't be too quick to let them go .

Keep these hands in mind as solid back-up options, as you never know what might come your way. And once your obvious discards are gone and your direction is becoming clearer, you'll know whether to lean into those like numbers or pivot to another hand.

The Big Hand

The "Big Hand" (SP/6) has returned to its classic format this year. In 2024, it was noticeably easier - incorporating a NEWS pattern and only two "year" groupings, which gave many players a fighting chance.

But this year? Not so much. It's back to being truly challenging, requiring three separate groupings of "2025" and a pair of Flowers. It's a hand that demands a very specific tile set and is likely to be attempted only when the stars align in your initial deal or Charleston.

That said, it's still worth knowing this hand really well, because any hand in the "2025" category could lead you this way and when it does come together – wow, what a feeling!!

---

Carryovers

Only five hands from the 2024 card have made it onto the 2025 card, which means there's a lot of new content to wrap our heads around this year. The four familiar faces are:

• WD/1a

• WD/1b

• WD/7 (previously 2024/4 - with updated year)

• 369/2a (previously 369/3a - just ignore the "+" and "=" symbols)

• 369/2b (previously 369/3b - just ignore the "+" and "=" symbols)

If you felt comfortable with these hands last year, you're off to a solid start! But don't get too cozy - many of the hands on this year's card look similar enough to hands we've played for the past 12 months to trip us up when we're not paying close attention. Stay sharp!

---

Subtle Changes and Gotchas

Since many of us are so familiar with the 2024 hands, our brains are likely to play tricks on us and "see" something that isn't really there! It's natural to instinctively match something new with something we already know – like a hand from last year's card!

While there are several true carryovers from 2024 (see above), many hands are similar but just different enough to trip us up if we're not paying close attention. Below, we've highlighted some of the key changes to be aware of, as well as a few sneaky gotchas that might catch you off guard. These tips will help you transition more smoothly from last year's hands to this year's versions.

Hands That Switched from 3-3-4-4 to 3-4-3-4 Patterns:

• 2025/2 (vs 2024/1)

• 2468/1a and b

• CR/2 a and b (vs CR/7 last year)

• 13579/2

• 369/1

Other Notable Changes:

• 2025/1 – Similar to 2024/3, but has 4 Flowers instead of 2, and pungs instead of kongs.

• 2468/3 – New pattern is 2-3-2-3-4 (vs 2-2-3-3-4 last year).

• 2468/5 – This one-suit hand with Flowers, now includes 3 Flowers (vs 2 last year), and the number pattern is 2-2-3-4 (vs 4-2-2-4 ). Also, note that there's no 2-suit version this year.

• ALN/2 – Same tiles as last year's ALN/1, but the kong has been replaced by two identical pairs. This means no Jokers allowed and you can only call a discard for the pair if you're one tile away from Mah Jongg.

• Q/2 – Same basic layout as Q/2 last year, but this year the numbers must be consecutive and in the same suit, reducing the number of permutations significantly.

• CR/1 – Pattern has shifted to 2-3-4-3-2 - a "pyramid" shape (vs the unusual 3-2-4-2-3 last year).

• CR/3 – In recent years, this hand has followed the FF 4-4-4 pattern; this year it's FFFF 4-2-4, a significant departure from past layouts.

• CR/4 – (vs CR/6 last year): Requires only 3 Flowers (vs 5), and uses consecutive kongs rather than like pungs.

• 13579/1 – Now follows the 2-3-4-3-2 "pyramid" pattern (vs 3-2-4-2-3 last year). Note that CR/1 and 13579/1 traditionally follow the same pattern - which makes our lives a little easier!

• 13579/3 – No Flowers required this year, but the hand now requires kongs of 1s and 5s or 5s and 9s, instead of pungs.

• WD/3 – (vs WD/4 last year): The "crescendo" hand now includes 3 Flowers, and the pattern for the winds portion is now 2-2-3-4 (vs 2-3-3-4 last year) - basically, a Flower has been added and an East removed.

---

Strategy

In this section, we'll cover:

• Common challenges on the 2025 card

• Exposures that will give your hand away or cause it to be dead

• General strategy suggestions to improve your game

• Switching strategies - tips on when and how to switch hands

Challenges You May Face

Here are a few tricky hands and tile patterns to look out for this year:

• SP/6 (the "Big Hand"): It requires 2025 in all 3 suits and is always a tough one. Last year, the version was somewhat easier, but we're back to a more challenging format.

• 2468/8: This concealed hand needs 4 pairs, which is always going to be tough. That said, there is some flexibility in the pungs as you have the choice of four numbers. Also, there's an opportunity to switch to 2468/6 if using 8s for your pungs (and vice versa) - so bear this in mind for added flexibility.

• 5s and 6s: These two numbers appear in more hands than any other numbers this year. That means they're likely to be in high demand, so you'll need to collect a solid base before committing to a hand that uses them.

Giveaways

This year's card gives you a little more flexibility when it comes to exposures. In fact, there aren't any single exposures that immediately give your hand away! Still, some exposures limit the possibilities to just two hands on the card. These are:

• A quint using the number 1 or 2 - as this would narrow the selection to Q/2 and Q/3

• A pung of Easts, Norths, or Souths - limiting hands to WD/1a and WD/7a or WD/1b and WD/7b

While the exposures listed above don't completely reveal your hand, they do give your opponents pretty hefty clues.

Two exposures could still be reasonably safe this year. Though, as always, the more exposures you make, the more information your opponents glean, and the more likely they are to thwart your plans!

Overall, the safest exposures - as far as giving your hand away is concerned - are:

• Kong of 6s - which appears in 19 hands on the card, and 117 playable hands

• Kong of Flowers - which appears in 7 hands on the card, and 117 playable hands

• Kong of 5s - which appears in 17 hands on the card, but 109 playable hands

• Kong of 9s - which appears in 23 hands on the card, but 102 playable hands

Take a look at the Exposure Overlap table earlier in this document for additional hand "giveaway" data!

WD/2 is a good example of a hand that can remain somewhat hidden: even if you expose a pung and a kong of Dragons, you could be constructing your chow in any suit, using any run of numbers. That means any number tile suddenly becomes "hot" as it could be your Mah Jongg tile. If you see this combination on a player's rack, discard cautiously, especially late in the game!

Finally, and rather unexpectedly, a consecutive pung-kong sequence in 2 different suits only matches Q/1. So be careful exposing this seemingly innocuous combination.

"Dead" Giveaways

Only three specific exposures will make your hand dead this year. Watch for these:

Quint of Flowers

Quint of Dragons

Quint of Winds

These don't exist on the 2025 card, so if an opponent exposes any of these (or you do by mistake), that hand is dead.

If you do happen to make an exposure error (other than those listed above), you potentially still have options but certain combinations of tiles may only appear in concealed hands (like a pung of 2-Craks with a pung of 5-Bams, which only works in 2025/4). Be mindful of what's possible and where it appears on the card.

Helpful Strategy Tips

Flowers

As always, Flowers will be popular. This year, even more hands require pairs of Flowers, which makes them especially valuable. Do your best not to pass Flowers in the Charleston. If you have one and don't need it, we'd recommend discarding it fairly earlier in the game (as it's less likely to be called). Since there are more pairs of Flowers on this year's card, holding onto this tile for too long could be a risky strategy!

Like Numbers

There are a plethora of hands using like numbers this year, even outside the ALN section (25, in fact). Don't pass them in the Charleston unless you're sure you won't need them - or at least split them up well. If you do have like numbers, you'll have lots of potential hands (and back-ups) to choose from.

Popular Tiles

A casual analysis may assume 2s and 5s would be the most popular number tiles this year, as it's the "2025" card, but this is not the case. As mentioned earlier (in the "Card in Numbers" section), 5s and 6s are the most in-demand tiles on this year's card. They're used in more hands than any other number. Conversely, 1s, 8s, and 9s are used the least.

If we were to include all tiles in our analysis, not just the number tiles, East and West are the least-used tiles overall closely followed by North and South.

So what does that mean for strategy?

• We expect it to be more difficult, on average, to complete hands that contain either 5s and/or 6s.

• We expect it to be easier, on average, to complete hands that contain 1s, 8s or 9s.

• If you are choosing between several hands, pick one that uses less popular tiles. It might well prove to be easier to complete. This is particularly applicable to hands in the Consecutive Run and Any Like Numbers categories.

• Consider discarding the popular tiles early to potentially thwart your opponents' plans - refer to our tile popularity analysis above.

Safe(r) Tiles to Discard

Only one tile isn't used as a single anywhere on the 2025 card: the Flower.

If you can account for 7 Flowers (in your hand, exposures, or discards), it's relatively safe to discard the 8th. Of course, a player could be using Jokers to build a pung or kong of Flowers, so it's not totally risk-free.

Remember, the absolutely safest discard is always a Joker - assuming you don't need it or you're folding and playing defensively.

Always check your opponents' exposures, and the discards on the table, to glean information regarding the hands they may be working towards. This will give you additional information regarding safer discards.

Switching Hands

Flexibility is key, and this year's card gives you lots of back-up options - always have a plan! Many hands use similar or overlapping groupings, so you can easily pivot if your main hand isn't coming together.

A few tips:

• In general, there are good opportunities to switch within a given category. So, collect tiles for a particular section of the card (such as all evens, all 3/6/9s, etc) and switch between hands depending on the tiles that come your way.

• Be sure to also collect Flowers and Dragons related to the hands you're considering.

• Familiarize yourself with hands that share exposures or patterns (e.g., like numbers or consecutive runs) as there is a great deal of flexibility for switching between sections of the card. (Review the section "Card hands matching a given exposure.")

Some Easy Switching Examples

Below are a few examples of hands from the same and different sections that you could easily pivot between (or at least keep as back-up options):

• 2025/1 - ALN/2: 12 tiles in common if you're using 2s. 11 tiles if using 5s. Also lots of overlap with other ALN hands.

• 2025/2 - 2025/3: 12 tiles in common.

• 2025/1 - 2468/4: 11 tiles in common. Both use 4 Flowers and 2s in all 3 suits.

• ALN/1 - Q/3: 12 tiles in common. Plus, if you have like numbers, a pair of Flowers, and a sprinkling of Jokers, you can aim for the higher-valued Q/3 hand!

• Q/1 - CR/3b: 11 tiles in common. Both start with Flowers and use 3 consecutive numbers in 3 suits. If you get lucky with Jokers, aim for the higher-value Q/1 hand.

• CR/1 - CR/2a: 12 tiles in common. An easy pivot, especially if you are struggling to form your pairs for CR/1.

• CR/3 - 13579/5 (a and b): 11 tiles in common. If you're working toward CR/3 with 7-8-9, you can easily switch to 13579/5, depending on whether you find yourself collecting supporting tiles (a pair of 8s or 135 in singles).

• WD/1a and b: 12 tiles in common. The two versions of this hand offer obvious switchability. There are also good switching options between many WD hands, depending on whether consecutive run tiles, like numbers or Dragon tiles come your way.

• WD/7a and b: 12 tiles in common. An easy switching option depending on what comes your way!

• SP/6 and ALN/3: 11 tiles in common. If the "Big Hand" isn't working out, ALN/3 (using 2s and White Dragons) makes a great fallback option!

• S&P/6 and 2025/1: 10 tiles in common. Another great back-up if the Big Hand isn't panning out!

Stay flexible, pay attention to what comes in, and don't be afraid to change your plan. The 2025 card rewards players who can adapt!

---

Predictions

After consulting our crystal ball, tarot cards, and reading the tea leaves, we feel ready to make a few predictions about the 2025 Mah Jongg card!

First off, we believe this year's card is trickier than the 2024 version (which, let's be honest, was unusually easy). Games are likely to last longer, with fewer Mah Jonggs and more wall games. That might sound a bit daunting, but here's the silver lining: it's tougher for your opponents too! If you're someone who enjoys a good mental workout, this card will keep you engaged and on your toes.

We expect WD/2 to be played more frequently than typical Winds/Dragons hands - due to the 126 playable variations of this particular hand.

We also predict that hands with 2 pungs and 2 kongs will be especially popular. Why? They're flexible, allow you to use Jokers in every grouping, and will likely be switched to from more tricky hands that aren't panning out.

Since 1s, 8s, and 9s appear in fewer hands this year, competition for those tiles will be lower overall. We predict that hands using these numbers - especially like-number hands and consecutive runs - will have a higher chance of success. On the flip side, 5s and 6s are in high demand across many hands, so be prepared to fight for those.

And finally, the "Big Hand" (SP/6) lives up to its reputation. It's always a challenge, and this year is no exception. We expect it'll be the one hand that holds players back from checking off the whole card - but hey, there's no glory without a little grit!

Here are the hands we predict will be the most popular this year. Initially, we believe many players will gravitate to simple 3-4-3-4 hands (such as CR/2, 2468/1, etc) and these hands will remain popular all year, but as the dust settles and players become increasingly familiar with the card, we expect the following hands to also do well:

• ALN/1
• 2468/4
• CR/5
• WD/2
• WD/4
• WD/5 and 6

---

Learning the Hands on the Card

Let's be honest - learning a new card can feel a bit overwhelming. It's tempting to just dive in and hope the hands will stick as you play, but we don't recommend that approach. Without some focused effort upfront, you'll probably keep defaulting to the same few familiar hands, missing great opportunities and struggling to recognize what other players are working towards. And that's no fun!

A little intentional study now will make a huge difference. You'll find the game more rewarding, more fun, and yes - more winnable! Early practice (and plenty of it) will help you build confidence and get those hands locked into your memory. The sooner you can internalize the hands, the sooner you'll be able to spot patterns, switch strategies, and outplay your opponents.

A while ago we wrote an entire article on this topic and it's still relevant today: Top Tips to Learn the New Card... Fast! It's full of practical ideas and tools we personally recommend to make learning easier and fun. Trust us - if you follow the tips in that article, you'll master the 2025 card in no time!

---

Wrapping It All Up

And that brings us to the end of our 2025 card analysis! We hope you've enjoyed this deep dive and found it helpful as you begin tackling the new card. There's a huge amount of insight packed into this guide, and we truly believe it can help take your Mah Jongg skills to the next level.

We recommend revisiting this article again in a month or so, once you have a good few games under your belt. You'll have seen some of these hands in action, and the tips and strategies we've shared will really start to click!

At I LOVE MAHJ, we're passionate about helping players grow and get the most out of their Mah Jongg journey. If this guide has inspired or empowered you, then we've done our job!

If you have questions or feedback, feel free to reach out to us at info@ilovemahj.com – we're always happy to help.

And don't forget to stay connected! Join our Facebook group and follow us on Instragram to stay in the Mah Jongg loop.

Mahj On, everyone! 💚🀄

Philippe & Julie
Creators of I LOVE MAHJ

---

Note: The data provided in this article is freely available for use, sharing, and adaptation. However, we kindly ask that you provide proper credit by citing the original source as I LOVE MAHJ. Thank you for acknowledging our work!