Great news!! The Big Hand is within your reach this year! Give it a try-fabulous bragging rights, as you know. The set in the photograph is the Classic from the Mahjong Line.

All the exercises and quizzes in the book are linked to our card, but here’s where we guide you based on the current NMJL card. Of course you have to buy the card from the League, but once you have it you can consult this area of the website for updated NMJL card answers to our questions and exercises.   We won’t be able to include actual hands of the NMJL as they’re copyrighted.

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Answers using the 2024 NMJL Card
 
1 Consider using the 5B, 7B, 7C, 9C for the second line in 13579. Keep the odd numbers leaning towards the first hand on the right of 13579.
 
2 Love the pair of flowers. Think 3,6,9 especially line 2. 
 
3 Consider keeping 3, 6, 9. Also consider keeping all of your cracks and seeing if a Consecutive Run emerges. There are six hands of one suit Consecutive Run this year. 
 
4 Keep your 7’s, 8’s and 9’s in the hopes of Consecutive Run, especially the third line down in consecutive. You might also keep your dragons hoping for Like Numbers, line 2.
 
5 Consider the Quint hand, line 2 using your pair of 6 Dots, your pair of 8 Craks and your three Wests. You are already to call the Wests! You might also consider keeping the Wests and the North for a Wind hand. 
 
6 You might consider the second to the last line in Winds and Dragons keeping GGG, R and W. An all dragon hand is also a consideration. You can also consider keeping 2, and 4,s for the second line down in Like Numbers. Keeping your 3b and 4B and GGG might lead you to the 5th line in Consecutive Run. 
 
7 You have 7 even numbered tiles. Consider section 2468. 
 
8 Keep the 5B, 7B, 7C, 7C, 9C for line 2 on the right in 13579. You might consider the G, W, E, W for line 6 in Winds and Dragons. 
 
9 Again, keep the pair of flowers! Think about Winds and Dragons line 2 but line six is probably the hero here. Keep your E SS G R.
 
10 Keep 1B,3B,5B,5C,7C,9C,9C in hopes of a 13579 hand.
 
 

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Let’s talk about Backup hands on the 2024 NMJL Card. 

This year there are 18 hands that are POWER hands. A power hand has no singles and no pairs. Jokers galore and you can use them anywhere. Why you can use EIGHT jokers, if you should be so lucky. These hands are your saviors. You might have been playing a hand that you needed a pair, the third tile has just been thrown. You are two tiles from Mah Jongg and cannot call. Do not slump in your chair! This is your chance to use your backups! Maybe you can switch to a power hand in the same category.

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Quiz: 

1.     See if you can find all 18 hands with no singles or pairs. Our answer is below: No peeking! 

2.     How many hands have consecutive runs using only one suit?

3.     Which is the strongest section for Backup Hands?

Answers: 

1. This years’ Power Hands (drum roll please):

Section 2024 – Line 1

Section 2468 – Line 1 BOTH hands

Section Any Like Numbers – Line 1

Section Quint  – Lines 2 and 4

Section Consecutive Run – Line 7 BOTH hands

Section 13579 – Line 2 BOTH hands   

Winds and Dragons – Line 1 BOTH hands, line 2, line 3 BOTH hands

Section 369 – Line 1 BOTH hands, line 4   

2. There are six consecutive run hands on the 2024 Card that only use one suit. See if you can find all of them. 

Answer: Quint Line 1, CR lines 1 BOTH hands, 3 left side, 5, 7 left side.

3. The easiest section to back up into is the ANY LIKE NUMBERS section. But, (and here is a twist!) the easiest hand on the card this year is the second line in Quints. 864 combinations can make this hand!

4. Some fun facts about the 2024 NMJL Card

The last line in Quints only needs one joker!

There are two hands with a quint of flowers.

There are no flower pungs.

We have a DESCENDING hand in Singles and Pairs line 3 on the right.

The most popular number this year is 3. The least popular number this year is 8. So, when passing tiles in the Charleston and you have a choice, go for passing 8’s.

There are four hands that are direct pickups from 2023. The 3rd line in CR and the 1st line in Winds and Dragons.

Last year there were 70 hands on the card and this year there are 73 hands. This is partially because of the addition of the multiplication hands.

Have a GREAT 2024 year! May the jokers be with you.

Here’s Barney Galassio’s 2024 Card analysis

And here’s how Barney learns the new card each year.

  • I play Siamese with my patient friends
  • I play on-line with robots
  • I write down on paper every hand from the new card – the act of writing helps me
  • I build every hand on the card on a rack with tiles – I am a visual person
  • I play the 14 tile game that I have described before.   Grab 14 tiles that are a winning Mah Jongg hand.   Turn them face down and mix them up.   Replace 7 of them with 7 random tiles selected from the rest of the tiles.  Now turn up all 14 and see if you can spot the original Mah Jongg among those 14 tiles.
  • Start creating a list that shows when 2 exposures can only be one hand.  This will take time, but it is so helpful in truly understanding the card.
  • Start a second list that shows what your back-up plan is when you A Plan hand goes dead.  Nice to have a Plan B for most of your hands.
  • (Nerd alert!)  I have a photo of each panel of the car

Another good resource is Tom Sloper’s website: https://sloperama.com/mjfaq/2023.html He has info about the new card.

And here’s Michele Frizzell: