Review of the Middle Panel, 2026

 

Greetings and salutations from your dedicated Bubbe, who is happy to spend time with you going over some new hands. 

Yesterday we went over the left panel of the card, so obviously today is all about the center panel!

Again I will remind you of my shorthand convention: The Quint section will be referred to as Q, Consecutive Runs will be listed as CR, and the 13579 section, which I call Odds, will be abbreviated as O. When a hand has suit variations there will be a suffix, e.g. a single and three-suited hand will have suffixes of .1 and .3. If a hand falls in the upper and lower ends of the number line, it will have suffixes of a and b.

 

QUINTS

A quick reminder that you must have at least two jokers to make any of this year's Quint hands. This means there's no way to make the hand jokerless, so no opportunity to get a bonus for making a jokerless hand. This is part of the reason why these hands are valued at 40 and 45, rather than 25 or 30. 

Q1: This is a super-size LN hand. It's about as straightforward as they come: quints of the same number in suits A and B, plus a kong of that number in suit C. I don't recommend trying to make this with 6s, this year.

Backup options: Once you've exposed a quint, you're tied to this section: either Q2 or Q3. If you only expose the kong you have a lot more flexibility; you could switch to nearly anything. Two exposures? Zero options. 

Q2: a super-size CR hand. Three consecutive numbers in the same suit, with the first and third ones being quints and the middle one a pair. For your remaining two tiles, you will need a pair of Flowers. Needless to say, getting the two pairs is the hardest part, which merits that extra 5. Backup options: even if you make both exposures, you can very easily switch to Q3, which doesn't require any pairs.

Q3: Another super-sizer. Like Q1, this hand doesn't require any pairs (such a relief!). You just need to amass quints of any two numbers in the same suit; they could be consecutive, but they don't have to be. To complete your hand, you will need a kong of dragons in either of the other suits.

Backup options:  Stick with Q3; you can certainly go for dragons in the other other suit. This hand doesn't require any pairs, so you really don't need to worry about your hand being called dead.

CONSECUTIVE RUNS

Boy, there are a lot of hands in this section, and there's a lot of fine print. Bubbe will spell it out for you. Don't forget that only the first hands, CR1a and CR1b, must be the exact numbers, while the other hands have more variability; I will be explicit about any limitations. Also, no getting cute, saying, “The Soap is a 0 so I can do a run of 012.” Not on MY watch!

CR1a and CR1b: these are each the very definition of a Consecutive Run hand: the number line 1 through 5 or 5 through 9, all in the same suit. This year the combinations are in the ascending order: pair, pung, pair, pung, kong so that CR1a is a pair of 1s through a kong of of 5s, and CR1b is a pair of 5s through a kong of 9s. Remember that it must be exactly these numbers, and you can't call for a discard to complete a pair until your very final tile.  

Backup options: Even with two exposures, CR1a has backup options including  E1.1, E1.2, and CR4.1. CR1b is a little trickier for backup hands because of the nature of the "pung pung kong kong" format for 2026: the only double exposure that can be "repurposed" is pung of 6, kong of 9 in CR4.1.

 

CR2.1 and CR2.2 both include a natural chow (run of three single numbers of the same suit) that falls between two kongs, in consecutive order. You have flexibility in which number you start with; the entire group of numbers can run from 1-5, 2-6, 3-7, 4-8 or 5-9. CR2.1 is the one-suited version, while CR2.2 has two suits: the kongs are in suit A, and the chow in the middle is in suit B. This adds up to 11 tiles, so to complete the full 14 you will need a pung of Flowers! The chow must be achieved on your own, you can't call to complete that meld unless it's for your final mah jongg tile. 

Backup options: CR2.1 and CR2.2 are backups for one another, and a third option would be to do the chow in the third suit. Other possibilities, if you start with either 1 or 5, would be O3a or O3b.

CR3: This hand always uses three suits. It's similar to one of our traditional CR1 patterns, the stair steps: pair, pair, pung, pung, kong–except that the numbers themselves are pairs of two consecutive numbers in suit A; pungs of those same two consecutive numbers in suit B, and finally a kong of the third consecutive number in suit C. Again, you have flexibility; the numbers can fall anywhere in the number line, 1-3 all the way up to 7-9. Make sure you remember that you can't call to complete a pair except as your final tile. 

Backup option: CR4.2 for any series that starts between 1 and 6.

CR4.1 and CR4.2: four consecutive numbers, in one suit or two. This year the pattern is pung pung kong kong; When playing it in two suits, the kongs, which are the higher numbers, are of a different suit than the pungs. Another flexible hand: the tiles can begin anywhere on the number line starting between 1 and 6. I said previously, pung & kong hands are my favorites in terms of simplicity, as you can call for exposure and/or use a joker for any meld. 

Backup options: Because it has no pairs, the hand theoretically cannot go dead, but you might use CR4.2 as a good backup for CR4.1, and vice versa, or use CR4.2 with the third suit. You might also consider CR3 as a backup but frankly that's a harder hand to make. 

CR5.1 and CR5.2: first of all, I think those of us who have been waiting for the return of the old reliable “Flowers, two consecutive numbers and matching dragons” hand are just going to have to go another year without the standard. The current card crafters are not taking the easy way out, they're trying new things every year. 

This year's version involved a one- or two-suited hand. Let me start with the single-suit one, which is significantly more straightforward. There are two pairs, two pungs, and a kong: The pairs and one of the pungs are the three consecutive numbers, all in one suit. The other pung is a group of Flowers, and the kong is of matching dragons. Obviously the pairs are the hardest part to make, and the choice of numbers itself is flexible: the three numbers can fall anywhere in the number line beginning between 1 and 7. 

Backup options for CR5.1: There are three other hands this year that MIGHT be backups for CR5.1, even with three exposures: O5a, O5b, and 369 #3.1. In those cases, it works if the exposed pung is a 5, 6, or 9.

The two-suited version, CR5.2, is as close as we've gotten to a knit hand in a while. (Click on the link if you're unfamiliar with that term). Like CR5.1 it's flexible on the number line and again it's two pairs and a pung, in consecutive order, but the second pair is in suit B. The first pair and the pung are in suit A, and that kong of dragons is in the same suit B as that middle pair. In other words, the suits alternate. This is definitely a tricky hand to make, and I recommend forming it with your own tiles, a few times, to help with visualizing it.

Backup option: the only hand on this year's card that could possibly serve as a backup is if your pung is a 6: 369 #3.2 .

CR6: Oh boy, much more straightforward: two consecutive kongs in the same suit, completely flexible on the number line. As with yesterday's LN1, the tricky part is getting the sextet of flowers. Remember that you can use as many jokers and/or Flowers as you need, but you cannot call for a discarded Flower until you've amassed a combined total of five. This is not two pungs of Flowers, this is six Flowers together. 

Backup options: CR4.1, CR4.2, or CR7.1 are all very simple backups.

CR7.1 and CR7.3: great hands, the trickiest part is the pair of Flowers. It's combined with three consecutive kongs, in one suit or three. One of the reasons I like this hand is because it's flexible, especially if you go toward the middle of the number line. Say you've got the 4s and 5s, you can wait and see whether you get more 3s or 6s for your third consecutive number. Likewise, you can just collect tiles in the same part of the number line even if they're in three different suits. It definitely helps to have a few jokers!

Backup options: you can modify (per above) within either hand, deciding on a "prequel" or "sequel" kong. For CR7.1 ONLY, depending on the numbers other options may include E1.1, E1.2, CR4.1, CR4.2, O2a and O2b. 

CR8: This is a three-suited concealed hand, but it's flexible, starting anywhere between 1 and 6 on the number line. Consecutive single, pair, and pung of the same three numbers in suits A and B, completed by a pair of the fourth number in suit C. Since it's a concealed hand, you don't have to worry about anyone calling your hand dead. However, if you find that the hand isn't viable, you might want to switch to something more simple. 

Backup options: CR3, CR4.2 or even possibly CR 7.3.

ODDS

 

This section is a lot less flexible than CR. Expect to make the hands almost exactly as they appear on the card.

 

O1.1 and O1.3: just like CR1, we have this stutter step pattern of pair, pung, pair, pung, kong. The numbers must be pairs of 1s and 5s, pungs of 3 and 7, and kongs of 9. Obviously the hardest thing is to get the pairs, but getting representation of all three suits is also difficult. 

Backup option: O7.1 is an interesting backup for O1.1, depending on where your single-suited odd tiles fall.

O2a and O2b: another beautiful pung pung kong kong hand in two suits. Remember that the first two are the pungs and the higher ones are the kongs. You can use jokers and/or call for exposure for any meld. You must use these numbers: choose either the 135 group or the 579 group. 

Backup options: CR4.2, O6a and O6b are excellent choices

O3a and O3b: similar to E3, following the E/O rule, we are now seeing what happens when the NOrth and SOuth winds sneak over to the Odd numbers section! Remember that you'll need a pair of each of these Winds, and then chose whether you're going with the upper or lower part of the odd number line. Your third pair will be the middle number, whether 3s or 7s, between two kongs in the same suit.

Backup options: CR2.1 or CR2.2 could work.

O4: The return of the floating pair, this time in the Odd section. You need kongs of the same ODD number in suits A and B, with a matching pair of that number in suit C, but you do get to CHOOSE which number so it's slightly flexible. The remainder of that meld includes a single of each of the other four odd numbers, all in suit C.

This is another hand where it's good to map it out with your own tiles to get familiar with it. Backup hands: Remember that the only exposures will be the two kongs, and there are EIGHT different hands this year with two kongs of a like number. Specifically, LN3 has the two kongs and the pair, all of the same number. It's very unlikely that your hand would be called dead, and there are plenty of options for backup.

O5a and O5b: This hand, on the 1-5 or 5-9 section of the number line, is very similar to CR5.1: pairs of the two lower numbers, pung of the third number in the sequence, pung of Flowers and kong of matching dragons, all in one suit. 

Backup option: Since the pungs of Flowers and high number and kong of dragons are the only exposed parts of the hand, you could always use CR5.1

O6a and O6b: a three-suited hand, with these exact numbers on either the low or high part of the odd number line. It's the same pattern as CR3, the three-suited ascending staircase of pair, pair in suit A; pung, pung in suit B; and kong in suit C. 

Backup options: You could consider the respective O2 versions.

O7.1 and O7.2: The two suited version, O7.2, is particularly reminiscent of E2 without the Flowers. It's a “sandwich” hand, with the kongs of 1 and 9 as the two pieces of bread. The sandwich filling is the three intermediate odd pairs (3,5,7) in either the same suit as the kongs (O7.1), or all in suit B (O7.2). 

Backup options: O7.1 and O7.2 can serve as each other's backups, as well as using suit C for O7.2.

O8a and O8b: these are concealed hands, meaning that you have to build the entire hand on your rack except for perhaps the final tile. You have the option of using the lower or upper part of the odd number line, in all three suits. It's a little bit of a Like Numbers hand: You have pairs of Flowers and the three odd numbers in suit A. According to the card it's “these numbers only” so they are very serious that it is pungs of 1s (O8a) or 5s (O8b) in the other two suits. 

Backup option: Since it's a concealed head you don't really have to worry about your hand being called dead, but if you do choose to switch, you might consider O4.

O9: a two suited hand, also concealed. You may not call for ANY tile, including the 7, 9 or dragon pungs, except as your final mah jongg tile. It feels familiar yet it is different from all the other hands on the card. There's a pseudo chow (135), as well as pungs of 7 and 9 in suit A, and an opposing pung of dragons in suit B, completed with a pair of Flowers.  

Backup option: O1.1, O5's and O7.1. If you're collecting Odd tiles in one suit, and you somehow also pick up Flowers and opposite dragons, then O9 is the hand for you!

Bubbe knows that you may not have your card quite yet, but it's on its way. Feel free to use these descriptions with your own set of tiles to try to create something you can visualize. Then, when you actually do get your card you can go back and read these articles again. 

If you have any questions or comments, or better ideas for backup hands, you can always contact me at bubbefischer@gmail.com. 

I'll check in next time with the third panel of the card!!

Bubbe 

Review of the Left Panel, 2026

 

Greetings and salutations from your Passover-prepping Bubbe, postponing my grocery shopping at Livingston ShopRite just long enough to go over the left hand side of the 2026 NMJL card!

Reminder about abbreviations: 2026 hands will be listed as Y for Year; 2468 hands will be referred to as E (Even); and hands from the Any Like Number section will be denoted as LN. Variations on a hand will also be listed. If there are a one- and three-suited version, for instance, they will have suffixes of .1 and .3. if a hand has both a lower and upper end of the number line they will be versions “a” and “b”.

Year section: 

Note that there are no concealed hands in the 2026 section; all four Year hands are open / some melds can be called for exposure. The four tiles in 2026 itself cannot be called except for mah jongg, as they are considered four singles. Also remember that the soaps used as “zeroes” for the purpose of Year hands are like Flowers: they have no “suit”. 

Y1: a very attainable hand. Jokers can be used for any and all melds. There are pungs of the first “2” and Soaps, and then kongs of 2 and 6 in a second suit. Most important thing to remember: the “2” melds are of different sizes and therefore not interchangeable, so if you expose, remember that the *2 and 6 kongs* must be of the same suit. 

Backup options: Y2, Y4, LN2 

Y2: This hand uses pungs of dragons in two suits. The first dragons match the suit of the numbers in 2026; the second dragon pung must match the suit of a kong of either 2’s or 6’s. Remember that the “0” itself has no suit, so for example, you could have “2026” using bams with a matching pung of green dragons, and then a kong of 2 dots with a pung of Soaps. 

Backup options:  Y3, E4

Y3: This hand uses all three suits. Remember that “0” has no suit, so the 2026 meld does not have to be in dots. The melds include a pung of Flowers, 2026 in suit A, a pung of 2s in suit B, and a kong of 6s in suit C. 

Backup options: Y2, E1.2 

Y4: This hand is not a concealed hand, although only two of its component melds (the pungs) can be called for exposures. It's definitely a little trickier, hence it's worth 30 instead of 25. 

Using any two suits, you'll need a pair of 2s in suit A (it does NOT have to be dots!), a pair of soaps, pungs of 2s and 6s in suit B, and NEWS (which are all single tiles and can't be called for except as final mah jongg tile). Be careful not to make the second exposure if you're not close on all the other melds; there is no other hand with exposures of 2 and 6 pungs.

Backup options: Y1, E3, W4 

Interesting to note that the first three hands *may* each use a kong of 6s. This is very helpful when you're thinking about backup hands. 

 

 

Evens section:

E1.1 and E1.2: Very simple pung pung kong kong hand, ascending with the 2 and 4 as pungs and 6 and 8 as kongs. You can do it either all in one suit or in two suits: remember that the lower numbered suit As are both pungs; the higher numbered suit B are both kongs. Again, remember that any meld can be called for exposure, and jokers can be used in any meld.

Backup options: You may easily switch between E1.1 and E1.2, or choose a different suit for E1.2 

E2: This is a two-suited hand. I think in previous years I've called it the sandwich. “Bread” kongs of 2 and 8 in suit A, filled with pairs of 4 and 6 in suit B, and then two Flowers as garnish to complete the set of 14 tiles. 

Backup option: the only option you can have , once you have both kongs exposed, would be to switch the complementary suit of the pairs of 4 and 6.

E3: Similar to Y4, it is not concealed, but there are only two components that can be called for exposures: pungs of 4 and 6. In addition,you've got four additional pairs to contend with. This is one of those scenarios where Wind tiles have “flown the coop” and are now in a Number section! As we'll see again on this card, there's an NMJL convention (E/O) that East and wEst go with Even number tiles, and nOrth and sOuth go with Odd. 

Backup options: as with Y4, there is no other hand on the card with pungs of 4's and 6's, so if you expose, you're stuck! Prior to exposure, I would say E1.1 and E5 would be possible backups.

 

E4: I spoke about this one yesterday. Kong of 2s and pung of matching dragons in suit A; kong of 8s and pung of matching dragons in suit B. It may help you to remember that there are *no hands this year with two kongs of dragons*. This is a pung and kong hand (again, love it: jokers for any meld, any can be called for exposure!) and since we're working with dragons, they must be the pungs.

Backup options: Y2, or sticking with this hand but using suit C

 

E5: Like E1.1 and E3, this is a one-suited Even hand. This time we have an ascending hand: the pairs are the lowest numbers (2 and 4), with a pung of 6s. Remember that there are no kongs of Flowers on this card; the Flowers are a pung leaving you with four tiles as a kong of 8s.

Backup options: if you've exposed both the 6s and 8s, CR4; otherwise, keep E1.1 and E3 in mind.

E6: A three-suited hand. Matching even-numbered kongs in suits A and B, each with its respective single dragon tile. The final four tiles are the “pseudo chow” of 2468 in suit C. … OR….(this is the part where Bubbe starts tripping): 

You can think of this hand as the Monster Creature Double Feature: Even numbered King Kong vs. the Dragon King in suit A, with their rematch in suit B. The audience (suit C) is so excited that they give out a big “2468” cheer.

Backup options: you can only expose the two like numbered kongs; your hand can't be called dead. LN2 is particularly nice if you have the single dragons, but you could also consider LN1 or LN3, as well as W4.

E7: More cheering–2468 in suit A! This time, it's for the beautiful Fay Wray. She gets two pung bouquets of Flowers (one in each arm). She’s the one in control, having tamed the Beast, and gets to pick the even number of her choice, for the kong in suit B.

Backup options: once you've made all three exposures, if suit A is unavailable then you have to stick with E7 but make the pseudo chow (2468) in suit C. If you expose both pungs of Flowers and all the Even tiles are out, you can only claim you are going for W5. If you expose a pung of Flowers and the kong, you have a lot more flexibility: CR2.1, CR2.2, or possibly E5 if your kongs were 8's.

E8: Our first concealed hand, and the only one on the left side of the card!! The melds are 246 pseudo-chows with a matching pung of 8s, in each of two suits. The pair of Flowers completes the hand.

Backup options: first of all, this is just for switching purposes; as a concealed hand, no one else will know if it goes dead, unless--like me--you have no poker face. You might consider switching to E5 in the stronger of the two suits, especially early in the game if the 2 and 4 pairs come in. 

Like Numbers section:

LN1: our first sextet of Flowers. Remember, you can use as many jokers as you want, but you cannot call to expose the meld until you have a combination of five Flowers and Jokers ready. The other part of the hand is fairly simple, kongs of the same number in two different suits. 

Backup options: one of the eight hands (!!!) that use two kongs of Like Numbers (including LN2 and LN3) or (if you put up the sextet) CR6.

LN2: Three-suited hand–two like-number kongs in suits A and B, with a pung of that number in suit C. Matching single dragons for each. Or….a triple feature, for the very dedicated: King Kong versus the Dragon King (any number) in suit A, plus the sequel in suit B. It ends with a very poor quality third chapter, much shorter with a pung facing off against the Dragon Prince.

Backup options: LN1, LN3, E6 (if even)

LN3: once again, we have two like-number Kongs in suits A&B, plus a pair of the same number in suit C. They're complimented by a pair of Flowers and a pair of dragons in any of the three suits (dealer’s choice!). That flexibility is probably why this hand with three pairs is only worth 25.

Backup options: if you happen to be using an Odd number, and your problem is getting the dragons or the Flowers, you might consider O4. Otherwise, consider LN1 or LN2.

You may have found even better backups: please share your ideas with me, as well as any other questions or comments, at bubbefischer@gmail.com

Talk to you soon! 

Bubbe

Let's Talk About SIX, Baby!

 

Greetings and salutations from your favorite sexagenarian, Bubbe Fischer, giving you my overview of the 2026 NMJL card. Yes, I know it's not even March 20th yet, but the Mah Jongg Groundhog got her act together this year and you ought to receive your card any day now!!

I'll start out with today's overview and then follow up with additional posts, almost daily. My next three articles are devoted to the three panels of the card, with lots of specific detail. After that I'll be talking about ambiguous exposures, illegal exposures, and underlying things to watch out for on the new card. 

Bubbe's overall philosophy is “luck favors the prepared mind.” Mah jongg is 70% luck. We can't control the 3/4 of the tiles that we don't pick from the wall, nor can we control the timing of when tiles come out: while we may want to call for an exposure, we might not be ready. 

My goal is to help you learn (NOT memorize!) the new card. I want you to be as prepared as possible, to maximize the 30% under your control, by thinking analytically about hands. If and when a lucky opportunity arises, you'll know what to do with it!

 

Let's get started. It's 2026, so of course “6” is even more valuable. THREE sections of the card rely heavily on it: 2026 (hereafter referred to as “Year”), 2468 (aka “Evens”), and 369. Of course you might see them in any other section (except 13579 or “Odds”), but they're essential to the three sections mentioned above.

Another observation: the card designers continue to think outside the box, not relying on the same predictable hand patterns we saw in older cards. The first hands in the Consecutive Runs section (“CR1”--a and b versions for the lower and upper ends of the number line) used to be either a bell curve

AA BBB CCCC DDD EE

 or a stair ascending from lowest to highest:

AA BB CCC DDD EEEE

This year, it's a stutter step: pair pung pair pung kong. 

AA BBB CC DDD EEEE

The pattern also occurs in Odds and 369.

Pung and kong hands are some of my favorite go-tos because they don't require any pairs, meaning you can use Jokers and/or call for exposures in every meld. Unfortunately there is no set pattern this year; they appear in different forms: pung pung kong kong, pung kong pung kong, or even kong pung kong pung. I'm going to suss out whether there's any easy way to remember which hands go which way, but it’s still good to keep your card in front of you to double check the correct components.

Other things to note: 

*three hands use at least two pungs of dragons; several hands use a single dragon in multiple suits

*You may remember how the Winds mysteriously appeared in the Odd section last year. This year they've busted out of Winds and Dragons (“WD”) again: we see them in Evens, Odds, and 369, as usual as well as their usual cameos in Year and Singles and Pairs (“SP”).

*Like-numbered kongs in two different suits appear in eight different hands on the card. They are represented in all three LN hands, but also Evens, Odds, WD, and 369. 

*Following last year's surprise, there is again a hand featuring a chow, and we’ll also see some “pseudo chows”!! As a reminder, a chow in Chinese mahjong is three consecutive single numbers in the same suit. NMJL used them in last year’s card, and the chow is back again in its pure form in one CR hand. 

As for the pseudo chows, there are “Even” pseudo chows (single tiles within that family, skipping the odd numbers, so a 246 or a 2468).  Of course, you can expect to see some pseudo chows in the Odd, 369 and SP section as well. There's even a “si lian shun” (four consecutive numbers in one suit, or what I'd call a "super chow") in WD. 

*We see a variation on another interesting hand from last year, the “floating pair,” now in the Odd section. Remember, that's the hand where you have kongs of the same number in two suits–then a matching pair in the third suit, surrounded by four single consecutive tiles in that suit. Since it's an Odd hand, a single of each of the other four odd numbers completes the meld in the pair’s suit. Don't worry, I'll go over it again when we do the middle panel.

*I kept hoping for the “kongs of 1-9-D and 2-8-D” from many years back. I am happy to see the return of kongs of 2 and 8 in two different suits, this time with pungs of matching dragons.

*There is one very special knit hand this year. This means the melds alternate between two different suits. It's unique on the card, one of only two hands that use a pung of a number and then a kong of a dragon in a different suit. I’ll be discussing it further in the “middle panel” article.

 

VERY IMPORTANT: Possibly the most confusing feature of this card involves Flowers. Some hands use pairs or pungs, and there are two hands where you will need two pungs of Flowers…. but there are another two hands that require an actual *sextet* of Flowers. Please note that “two pungs” is quite different from a sextet. To make either of the sextet hands, you will need to keep ALL SIX Flowers together, as opposed to being able to expose/complete them as two separate pungs. As I'll mention again in the Illegal Exposures article, there won't be any kongs of Flowers this year. 

 

One final takeaway: because 6’s are very useful and pungs are easier to make, I strongly recommend NOT passing 6’s or Flowers if you have other options. Even if you don’t need them, I recommend holding onto a Flower until you have two, in the hope of using the first as “Joker bait,” luring out someone who will call for it and, in so doing, expose a joker: then you exchange for that joker with your second Flower. With 6’s I would keep them in the Charleston but then throw them out early in the game. In general, with so many pungs of dragons and Flowers, I would keep my eyes wide open for exposures and opportunities to exchange. Jokers will be flying all over the place with this card!! THIS is exactly the kind of preparation ("pay attention to exposed jokers") that is going to bring you more luck.

I can't wait to do that deep dive with you over the next few days. Obviously, there's a lot to cover. I don't expect you to absorb it all right away. Just familiarize yourself with the patterns and especially recognize that tiles can appear in more than one section. I want you to be fearless: play the hand that's right for your tiles, regardless of its section.

Feel free to contact me at bubbefischer@gmail.com with any questions or comments you might have. 

Talk to you very soon!

Bubbe

Right Panel of the 2025 Card

 

Greetings and salutations from your wise Bubbe, who knows that good things come in threes. Today, the third (right) panel of the 2025 card!

WINDS & DRAGONS

W1a and W1b: We've seen these hands before. All four Winds are pungs or kongs, but you get to decide which are which. Just remember, for this hand, the number of Norths=Souths and Easts=Wests. Pay very close attention once you've made that first exposure, you don't want to mess this up! It's also pretty great that you don't need any pairs.

W2: New for 2025: Purina Dragon Chow! Remember the rule of 14: you have melds of all three dragons as a pair, pung, and kong so that's nine tiles. Add a chow anywhere on the number line, in whatever suit you want, so you're up to 12. Complete the hand with a pair of Flowers! Note: although this is the only hand on the card with a pung and kong of dragons, it would be virtually impossible for anybody to guess what your chow is.

W3: very sneaky. Based on your Wind exposures, people might think you're going for W1a, but if you have pairs of North and East as well as a Flower or two, why not switch?

W4: a true Wind and dragon hand. Three of the melds can be exposed, but NEWS is all singles and can only called for mah jongg. Remember that the dragons are pungs, and the last four tiles are Flowers.

W5 and W6: One of my very favorite mnemonics is back. North/South goes with Odd numbers, East/West goes with Even numbers. This is a hybrid Winds and Like Numbers hand. You will need a single, pair, and pung of some number X in all three suits (total of six tiles). The remaining eight tiles will be the proper combination of Wind kongs, based on what number X is. If X is even, you go with W6, kongs of East and Wests. If X is odd, you use W5, kongs of North and South. If you have a lot of Winds during the Charleston, this is a great hand to try!

W7a and W7b: we've seen both of these hands as the concealed hand in the Year section. What was once considered a classy, challenging concealed hand has been demoted to just a regular hand, hidden near the bottom of the Winds section. At least it's worth 30 cents instead of 25, but wow, that's a demotion! Note that there are two variations. If you put the NEWS meld in the middle, where it LOOKS LIKE a kong, you can either have the pairs of North and South at the ends, like the bell curve, or pungs of North and South, dipping down to the pairs of East and West before climbing back up to the middle-meld, as in last year's “sombrero.” The most important piece for you to remember is which Winds you have chosen to be the pairs and which are the pungs. As above, Easts=Wests, Norths=Souths. This hand is slightly easier than previous years’ since it's no longer concealed–you may call the two pungs for exposure.

W8: a very basic, old school Wind and Dragon hand, it's a stair step. The Winds are pair, pair, pung, pung, and the kong is of whatever suit of Dragon you want. Don’t forget that this hand is concealed!!

Overall, this section was fine, but not that many number-related hands. My favorite is the Purina Dragon Chow hand (W2), where you have all the dragons in different sizes and a chow of Singles anywhere on the number line, in any suit you want. Just remember to add a pair of Flowers to make it up to 14.

 

369 SECTION

369 #1.2 and 369 #1.3: this is a simple pung/kong hand, with the variation that you can add in a third suit for the final kong of 9s. No pairs required, easily switchable. An easy option if you've had a good Charleston and have some nice jokers.

369 #2.1 and 369 #2.3: In either one suit or three, you've got this basic addition hand involving kongs of 3, 6, and 9. To be honest, three kongs and a pair of flowers in the 369 section is really conventional, we’ve seen it many times. This year, they just put “plus” and “equal” signs in to match the addition hands in the other sections.

369 #3: as I've remarked earlier, this is a like numbers hand, with pungs and kongs, where the only number options are 3’s, 6’s or 9’s. This year, the numbers are the kongs and the matching dragons are the pungs. That's probably the hardest thing to remember about it: go AGAINST the matching “u” and “o” vowels (pungs are dragons, kongs are numbers). Also, if you are going for LN1 in 3, 6, or 9 and you've made two kong exposures, your hand will not go dead– you can always use this as your backup hand.

369 #4: interesting, another example of working backwards to figure out how many Flowers. We've got kongs of 3 and 9 in suit A, and then a trio of singles, 369, in suit B. It only gets us to 11 tiles, so we need three Flowers.

369 #5: three-suited hand. Suit A is the pairs of 3s, 6s, and 9s, complemented by kongs of one of those numbers in suits B and C. Because the only things that are called for exposures are the kongs, you will appear to be going for a like numbers hand. If the pairs are unattainable, you can switch to 369 #3.

369 #6: this is a concealed hand, since it would be relatively easy to accumulate the pungs by calling for them. It includes a pair of Flowers with pungs of 3, 6 and 9, each in its own suit, as well as one matching dragon each. I'm calling it “Penny Candy” because you're getting a little bit of everything in all the different colors.  If you're lucky in the Charleston you could be set up very nicely. This is not a hand that you would stumble on by accident, you have to pay attention to the tiles you've gathered.

 

SINGLES AND PAIRS

As we know, each hand in this section is sort of stripped-down version of other hands in specific neighborhoods. I like to call people's attention to that so they understand that, even as they're going for the Singles and Pairs one, if they start picking up Jokers they may end up going to the bigger neighborhood with more options. All hands are concealed, no tiles can be called for exposure except your final tile for mahjong.

SP1: this is a combined consecutive run and Winds hand. It strikes me as yet another hand where the Charleston can set you up for this very well If you focus on it, e.g., if you find yourself with three or four of the Winds, as well as some consecutive numbers in a specific suit, you might try building on it. If you start drawing more Winds, numbers, or jokers, just switch to one of the other sections.

SP2: this is an Evens hand, truly stripped down to its essence: two suits of the singles 2468, with pairs of matching dragons and Flowers. It's not an obvious switch to any particular backup, but if you got enough jokers and accumulated more of a certain number, you could switch to E4.

SP3: seven different pairs, 3,6&9 in suit A, 3,6&9 in suit B, and 3,6, OR 9 in suit C. If you accumulate an abundance of these kind of tiles in all suits but no jokers, during the Charleston, it's a good hand to try.

SP4: this is a hybrid of Like Numbers and Consecutive Runs: Like Consecutive Runs. It is a very easy hand to remember. If you collect several of the same two numbers during the Charleston and have no jokers, it’s a good hand to try.

SP5: this one is clearly an Odds hand. All of the odd pairs in one suit, with matching pairs of any odd number in the two complementary suits. If you are not able to get all of the natural pairs, especially of the like numbers or in the middle section, consider switching over to O1.1, especially if you pick up some jokers.

SP6: The traditional big hand, making the Year meld in all three suits, plus a pair of Flowers. You hope to get as many soaps as possible during the Charleston. If someone discards a second soap, or two or more soaps are exposed, it's time to look in the Years section for a backup hand.

All of these are perfectly serviceable Singles and Pairs hands, nothing that really caught my eye as special and new. I really feel like the Charleston makes such a difference. Pay attention to what comes in. At the end of the passing, make a reasonable assessment as to whether you want to begin with one of those hands as an option; since it’s concealed, no one else will know!

 

 

I've been hinting at backup hands throughout the discussion of each of the sections of the card. I'll be talking more about them in the next day or two, because they are the essence of being a skilled player. You can't control much in this game. You only get full option on a quarter of the tiles, and you can't even control what order you pick them in.

A skilled player understands how the hands on the card relate, and considers in advance what they would do in various scenarios so that they're ready when one of those situations arises. “Luck favors the prepared mind” and Bubbe is here to help you with that preparation.

Please tell your friends about the blog (or maybe master these ideas first before sharing? That’s up to you!). I'm going to be talking about the card on Fern Bernstein's podcast soon, and doing a few live Zoom lectures. I'm always available at bubbefischer@gmail.com if you want to invite me to a Zoom chat with your community. By the way, I’m really enjoying getting the positive feedback, thank you for indulging me!!

Talk to you soon.

Bubbe