Every winning hand on the NMJL card is assembled from the same five groups of identical tiles: Pair (2), Pung (3), Kong (4), Quint (5), and Sextet (6). In American Mah Jongg there are no runs — every group is identical tiles only, and jokers are wild inside groups of three or more. Learn these building blocks once and every hand on the card makes sense.
From smallest to largest. In American Mah Jongg there are no runs — every group is identical tiles only.
Two identical tiles. Pairs appear in many hands as the final element. Jokers can never be used in a pair.
Three identical tiles — the workhorse of most hands. Jokers may stand in for one or more tiles in a pung.
Four identical tiles. A kong may be exposed by calling a discard, or concealed in your hand. Jokers allowed.
Five identical tiles. Because only 4 of each natural tile exist, a quint must include at least one joker. This is its own section on the card.
Six identical tiles — the largest group on the card. With only 4 natural tiles of any kind, a sextet requires at least two jokers.
This one rule explains most of the card's logic (per American Mah Jongg Association rules): a joker may stand in for any tile in a group of 3 or more identical tiles, but never in a pair or a single.
That's why the Quints category exists on the card — joker-heavy hands are powerful, so they're priced and sectioned separately. The hand checker tool applies this exact rule to any combination you enter.
Hand-group and joker rules summarized here are confirmed against these primary sources.