Common Questions
Can the "A" tile be a joker? Yes, the "A" tile can be any tile!
What is the "M" tile? Take a West and turn it upside down!
Can a Joker be picked up to Mah Jongg when a hand requires a J? No, a discarded joker may not be picked up (NMJL rules). A discarded Joker is considered a DEAD TILE.
Jokers may be used in Pungs, Kongs or Quints and may be used as the letter "A" any tile. They MUST be used as the letter "J". They may NOT be used for any other singleton tile, or for a Pair ( 5BJ is NOT a pair ).
I know a joker can be used as A, any tile, but does that include a hand requiring a double AA as well? YES! AA=JJ or AA=FF or AA=5B5B
The ATOMIC hand this year must be represented in 2 suits only. A PAIR is two IDENTICAL TILES. So 5B5B is a Pair, 5B5C is not. You may not have two of the same pair ( 5B5B and 5B5B ). 5B5B and 5C5C are two different pairs.
ON the 2018 Year of the Dog Card:
For the SUB ATOMIC hand when it states that NO PAIRS IN ODDS, this means that the 1 3 5 7 9 in each run may not be the same suit.
An example could be 1D 2C 3C 4B 5B 6D 7C 8D 9D 1C 3D 5D 7B 9B
Under 3 Dog Night, the first hand A 333 KKK 666 PPP should read K any Kong rather that K and Kong! SORRY!
Under Run in the Park, the 6th hand the ZERO should be in BLACK. AA 01234 5 5 5 6789
Under PUREBREEDS the DO RA MI hand the 1 can be any suit and the 8 can be any suit, same or different.
On the 2017 Year of the Rooster card:
1. Can the “A” any tile be a Joker?
Yes, “A any tile” means ANY tile. In MMJ we use the A as a singleton and also as the letter A when spelling a Marvelous word. The “AA any pair” can be 5B5B, FF or JJ. Remember 5BJ is NOT a pair.
2. When I see a hand in the EVEN TONE section that contains a KKKK or a PPP, must the KKKK or the PPP be evens?
No, they can be ANY 4 like tiles ( KONG) or 3 like tiles ( Pung).
3. Under the EVEN TONE section, the hand FFF LI PPP 4444 MJ; the L and I are written in Black. Must they be the same suit?
Letters and numbers written in BLACK are not suit dependent. You may use any suit, they may be same suit or different.
4. In the ODD COLOR section, the MJ 111 3 5555 9999 hand, in parenthesis it states the M=W. Does that mean you may use any wind for a letter ‘M”?
M=West wind only. Take the “W” and turn it upside down for your “M”. Please refer to DEFINITIONS on the reverse of the card.
5. The ATOMIC Hand says any seven different pairs. Can you use 5B5B and 5C5C?
Yes, you may. They are different pairs! You may not use 5B5B 5B5B.
6. Under the GOT YOUR NUMBER section, the 48.8566 N and 02.3522 E hand, why are there decimal points in this hand?
They are there to help you realize that this is a LONGITUDE and LATITUDE number only. We do not have a decimal point!
7. In the PECKING ORDER section, the NEWS 13 14 15 16 17 hand, can you start the run at a different number?
No, you must use the numbers given 13-17.
B= any 1-9 Bamboo tile
C= any 1-9 Crak tile
Under Directional Bliss: 24 NEWS C 1111 C L E ( 24 News Cycle ) the Kong ( 4 of same tile ) of ones may contain Jokers.
BLI NNN D PPP A SSS: the L and the 1 may be the same or different suits.
Under Triple Threat: FFFF 36 93 PPP DDD: the D's are a Pung of any Dragon ( red, white or green )
Under Got Your Number: 111 2 3 OOO RRR GGG: the run must start with the lower number.
Under Even Tone: FFF LI PPP 4444 MJ: the L and the 1 may be the same or different suits.
ON THE 2016 Year of the MONKEY Card:
Under ON CLOUD NINE: E 111 357 999 FFF W : any two winds, they can be the same or different
Under 4 Corners of the Globe: LI KKKK E B A N A N A S can the B be a Green Dragon? No, it must be a BAM 1-9.
In the same section GGG OOO RRR I I L L A: The 1's are different as are the 7's, they are NOT PAIRS.
Under 3 RING CIRCUS: 3 L I L M O N KKKK I E S : the L's can be any 7's, same or different. The 3 is any suit.
Under the NEW MATH: the numbers in the first 3 hands DO NOT ADD UP, it is the "new math" !
Under Bigger than Kong: The LLL in QQQQQ E LLL FEARS is a PUNG of 7's. They must be the same suit ( or you can use J's).
The LLLL in J O N QQQQQ I LLLL is a Kong of 7's. They must be the same suit ( or you can use J's).
Under RUNNING FOR OFFICE: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 , the pairs of numbers must be in the same suit, you may use any suits ( so it could be 1D0 1C1C 1B2B 1D3D 1D4D... In reveiwing the NMJL rules, the White Dragon which we use as the ZERO can be used with any suit. So the 10 can be 1C0, 1D0 or 1B0. This hand is hard, but it has been done! ( good luck! )
On the 2015 Year of the Ram card:
On the hand under Even the Score 2222 15 15 15 8888 ( 3 suits ), Must the Kong of 2's be in one suit, the Kong of 8's in the second and the 15's represent all three suits? Yes!
Under Odds Maker, RAM 333 WWW 555 FF it should read ( A any tile.....
Under Odd's Maker, 3333 15 15 15 7777 ( 3 suits ), the Kong of 3's and the Kong of 7's are in the same suit? YES!
In the Atomic Hand this year it says any DIFF 7 pairs....that means NO 2 pairs alike ( i.e.: 5B5B 5B5B )
Under Compass Points: the longitude latitude hand the decimal point is not a tile!
Under Running 111 234 5 678 999 F ( 3 suits ) the 234 and 678 are not PUNGS and cannot be picked for exposure. They are singletons. Remember PUNGS are 3 like tiles!
Under Mumbo Jumbo: AA PPP KKKK QQQQQ 1 Joker only; does it have to be one suit? No it does not. Numbers and letters written in BLACK mean it they are not suit dependent. Can you pick up a grouping with 2 jokers and hope someone exchanges a joker to leave you with just one? Tricky,.... but.....YES! As long as you only MJ with only one joker!
Under Mumbo Jumbo: FFFFF 'S PPP LEASE the S is not a part of the quint of Flowers.
On the 2014 Year of the Horse card:
In the hand F NEWS DD 888 4444, it may be played 2 ways. Three suits represented ( the DD is the 3rd suit ) or F NEWS DD 888 4444, all one suit. The even numbers must be different numbers ( 2,8: 6,4 ) It does not matter which number is the Pung or Kong.
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In the fifth hand under " EVENLY MATCHED", does the PPP have to be an even #? In same hand in "AT ODDS WITH", does the PPP have to be an odd #?; in the 3,6,9 hand does the PPP have to be a 3,6,or9?
All three hands requite a Pung ( 3 like tiles ) and they can be ANY PUNG. They do not need to match the category.
In the 4th hand under "THEY COME IN 3'S- Do the 999's have to match the 333's or can they be any suit? The Pung of nines must match one of the Pungs of 3's, not the pair of 3's.
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In the 4th hand under "THEY COME IN 3'S- Do the 999's have to match the 333's or can they be any suit?
The Pung of nines must match one of the Pungs of 3's, not the pair of 3's.
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What constitutes a jokerless hand on this new card?
The double bonus for a joker less hand is not applicable to the single and pairs hands located under the WORDS and Actions section that are concealed. This is the same as on the NMJL card. The only hand that qualifies for the double bonus is the first hand with the Pung of FFF 2014 ****
On the 2013 Year of the Snake card:
In TWO BY TWO: In the hand NEWS FFF 222 4444 ( and diff evens, 1 or 2 suits ) does the pung need to be the lower number? No, you need a pung and a kong of 2 different even numbers, 1 or 2 suits.
In the ODDLY HE'S RIGHT section: the first hand 2013 3 555 777 999 ( 1 or 2 suits; any odd run, same suit ) Could the run be 1 555 777 999? No, the run must be sequential so your options are: 1 333 555 777 or 3 555 777 999.
In RUN HIM RAGGED: the hand MJ 222 222 333 444: can you change the order of the repeated number? No, the first number in the sequence must be the repeated number.
In the LETTERS FROM HOME section there are 2 hands that require 1's that are used as I's. It says "I any 1", do they have to be the same or different suits? The 1's can be ANY 1, same or different suits. In "2013" the numbers must ALWAYS be the same suit.
Can the KKKK kong be a Kong of Flowers? YES! The KKKK can be ANY Kong ( winds, dragons, numbers, flowers ). Like all Kong's it may also contain Jokers.
Under RUN HIM RAGGED: ( first hand FF 444 EEE DDD 777 ) does there have to be a 2 number "skip" in the run? The hand must be played as displayed- a two number interruption in the run. ( i.e.: 1 and 4, 2 and 5, 3 and 6 etc ). The pung of winds and pung of dragons hold those 2 spots!
Under LETTERS FROM HOME: line 3, SOME 1 4 ME IN 2013 can the 1"s in 2013 be different than the 2 and 3? 2013 must ALWAYS be played with the number's 2,1 and 3 in the same suit. The other I and 1 can be any #1 ( matching or same. )
In the ROOM 13 section : In the hand 222 333 444 444 = 13 can the hand be done in any fashion as long as 3 suits are represented? NO, the hand must be done as written, with the 222 and 13 in 1 suit, the 333 and 444 in the second, and the 444 in the third suit.
On the 2012 Dragon card:
On the hand FFFF DDD 11 333 55 ( any D; any 3 diff odds, same suit ) - do the numbers need to be in sequence order? No they do not, they must be the same suit.
In the ATOMIC HAND, can you have 2 pairs that are the same? Yes, any 7 pairs, excluding Jokers and Flowers.
When picking up and exposing the pung 777 in DDD III AAA LLL MJ, do you need to announce that these are "L"s? No you do not, you never need to define your exposures for the other players.
In the hand E 666 777 DDD 999 N (any winds, any inter. run; 1 or 3 suits ; any D) can the winds be the same? Yes, the two winds can be ANY wind. Can the interruption in the run be after the first numbered pung? No the interruption in the run must be after the second number in the run.
In a hand that REQUIRES a Joker (i.e. 5555 7777 9999 MJ) if the required "J" is the only joker, does the hand qualify for a joker less bonus? Yes!
If you have a hand that you think is MARVELOUS.....send it to me please! If I use it in next years card, you will get a FREE one!!!
For Hand Submissions: You may submit an unlimited number of hands, however, hands may only submitted by one person, not a group.