With only SIX Hands that are repeated from last year’s playing card, the 2022 NMJL playing card promises to be a truly unique and challenging card! 91% of the Hands will be fresh and new to us all! The patterns are creative, and the variations that can be made in the Hands on this card are plentiful!
Some Observations of the 2022 Playing Card:
This year, players will see double Pungs of Flowers in Hands!
These Pungs are not a sextet and the double Pungs of Flowers are found in three Hands on the card. Jokers (0-3) may be used in each Flower Pung if necessary.
Players MAY “call” for Flowers to complete these Pungs of Flowers during play. It will be a challenge to get six of 8 natural Flower tiles, but maybe the florist fairies will be on your side and you will have a bouquet of Flower tiles to use for these double Pung Flower Hands! During the Charleston passing, avoid passing Flowers if you can.
There are NO Quints of Flowers this year.
Flowers are required in 39% of the hands.
~ There are 66 Hands as written on the 2022 card….with over 1000 variations that can be created. Just wow!!
The 2022 card is chock-full of TWOs!!
18 Hands require TWOs tiles! If you choose to play a Hand that contains a consecutive run, avoid a run with TWOs in it if you do not have the TWO tiles you will need. TWO’s will be in high demand. Additionally, during the Charleston passing, be mindful of passing TWOs and Soaps as you may inadvertently help your opponent toward a 2022 hand.
Clear Winner Translucent Blue dice from Modern Mah Jong - link below: https://modernmahjong.com/search?q=dice
~ The BIG Hand (photo above) has been moved from the Singles & Pairs section and is now the last Concealed (C) Hand in the 2022 Year category.
~ Be aware that the 2022 section has TWO Concealed (C) Hands listed last in this section!
~ The only exposure which will automatically make a Hand dead is exposing a PUNG of Winds.
~ Take time to double check your exposure when you CALL for a tile since there are so many new patterns of Hands. You can make changes to your exposure (ie. You exposed a PUNG but meant to expose a KONG) during your turn, but once you name and discard a tile, you could be stuck with an incorrect exposure.
~ Verify the winning Mah Jongg hand!
This year especially, due to the widely varied patterns of Hands on the card, players should not throw all their tiles in to begin a new game until the winner's Mah Jongg Hand is placed in Hand order on their rack and is verified as correct!
PATTERNS on the 2022 Playing Card:
Pattern recognition helps to remind us of what blocks of tiles compose each Hand. By relating to the rhythm of the Hand (ie. Pung Kong Pung Kong), players can better avoid making an error in an exposure when they CALL for a tile. Remembering where repeated patterns on the card are located, players will learn the Hands, remember the rhythms of tile groupings in the hand and make fewer errors in exposures.
The following are prevalent patterns on the card this year:
PUNG PUNG KONG KONG PAIR KONG KONG KONG
PAIR PUNG PAIR PUNG KONG
PUNG KONG PUNG KONG
~ Please note that there are many Hands that require single tiles! Single tiles are treated like PAIRS as you may NOT CALL for a single tile except for your final tile for Mah Jongg!
Can you find the sly "46" in three of the Hands?
~ Is it a Pung Kong Pung Kong year?
~ Can you locate the Hands with a Bell-Shaped Curve rhythm?
~ What unique patterns can be seen in the Hands on this card?
~ How many matching and opposite Dragon Hands are on this year's card?
Familiarity with the card leads to creativity of play. Strategy can be employed when a player becomes knowledgeable and comfortable with all of the Hands on the card.
Strong players will begin to determine what Hands their opponents may be playing when exposures are made.
Learning and playing Hands from all of the categories on the card will render you a stronger, more flexible & knowledgeable player. Feel free to subscribe to my website and read my other informative, instructional Blog posts on my "Ideas & Insights" page!
Happy 2022 Mah Jongg to all….and enjoy playing the 2022 card!!
May the tiles be Ever in your Favor!