- If you ordered your card before February 19, your card is in the first mailing, which as of today, 3/29/25 is making its way across the country. All orders received before 2/19 should be in hand at the end of two weeks.
- All cards in the first mailing have a misprint.
- The large print cards show a hand in consecutive run in all green. This hand should be in three colors, as it is a three-suit hand according to the parenthetical.
- The standard sized cards show a three-suit hand in the 2468 category in all blue. This hand should be in three colors, as stated in the parenthetical.
- The League has asked that players make corrections on their cards, and replacement cards will be sent in a few weeks.
Now on with the comparison! I received my cards yesterday, which coincided with my weekly game, so I have played on it, and, as you can see from the coins in the 2025 bag, I won a few games (four dots on my new card). I can tell you from these first few games that the new card is somewhat more complicated than the 2024 - the word I heard most around the table was "challenging." And while beginners may take awhile to wrap their heads around the new combinations, seasoned players will find it will keep them on their toes, and they will have to play a very careful game. This card ain't for sissies!
As is my custom, I'll take each category and compare the hands, so even if you don't have the new card yet, if you read this and follow along with the 2024 card, you will get the idea of what has changed.
2025
Of course all the hands in this category differ in that they use 5s instead of 4s. This is a rare instance where 2s and 5s are together in hands that are not consecutive, making switching a little less fluid. There are still four hands in the category.
Of course all the hands in this category differ in that they use 5s instead of 4s. This is a rare instance where 2s and 5s are together in hands that are not consecutive, making switching a little less fluid. There are still four hands in the category.
- The first hand on the 2024 card has become the second hand on the 2025 card, although the pattern has changed from pung-pung-kong-kong to pung-kong-pung-kong. This is true for all "pattern" hands, and of course the last number is now 5555 instead of 4444.
- Second hand with four flowers is gone.
- The third hand has changed from a two-flower to a four-flower hand. The kongs have become pungs, any 2's or 5's. Keep this hand in mind, as like pungs with four flowers are sprinkled around, making this hand switchable.
- The closed hand is no longer in the year category. It has been moved to Winds, is now open, and the 2025 is at the end.
There are two completely new hands in the year category of 2025, and they are tricky. The third hand is open: 2025 222 555 DDDD (any 3 suits). In this hand, if you play 2025 in bams or craks and you use soaps for your dragon, you MUST keep a joker to complete your kong.
The closed hand is even trickier: FF 222 000 222 555. You may want to note that all the hands in this category have pungs of 2's so you will have somewhere to go if someone exposes the 5s that you need...
The closed hand is even trickier: FF 222 000 222 555. You may want to note that all the hands in this category have pungs of 2's so you will have somewhere to go if someone exposes the 5s that you need...
2468
This category has been expanded to include 8 hands instead of 6. This is because there is no "addition hand" category. There are, however, addition hands sprinkled throughout the categories, so they are not gone completely.
- The pattern hand in 2468 is the same as on the 2024 card, except that the pattern has changed to pung/kong/pung/kong as above. One or two suits.
- Hand number 2 on the 2024 card has been eliminated.
- Hand number 3 has been altered. Instead of pair/pair/pung/pung/kong, it's now pair/pung/pair/pung/kong of matching dragons.
- Hand number 4, which is a multiplication hand, has moved to the second line on the 2025 card and is now a completely new addition hand with two flowers, three suits: FF 2222 + 4444 = 6666 and FF 2222 + 6666 = 8888.
- Hand number 5, "the gate," has been eliminated.
- The closed hand in 2024 has been eliminated.
There are two hands in this category on the 2025 card that are more or less old favorites - one is the "dangling 8s," although the configuration is different than in the past. I always remember it being 2222 44 6666 88 88 but this time around it's 222 4444 666 88 88 so use caution. The configuration of the 2s, 4s and 6s mimic the pattern hand, so exposing will not be a giveaway. The other more or less familiar hand is FFF 22 44 666 8888, one suit.
There is a new three-suit hand. It has two flowers, two kongs of any like even numbers with a kong of dragons in the middle. There are like number kongs in many places on the card, so this hand has good switchability.
There is another new three-suited hand with four flowers, four singles and like even pungs. Note: This is the hand that has the misprint on the standard sized card. The large print card does not have a misprint in this category. The hand should read: FFFF 2468 222 222. The shape of this hand is identical to the four flower hand in 2025, so switchable within the category and without.
The closed hand has been seen before, 22 44 66 88 in one suit with like pungs of any even number in the other two suits. Even more switchability.
ANY LIKE NUMBERS
As previously noted, the math hands are gone - good riddance to lucky sevens in one suit - and so we come to Any Like Numbers. Sorry to say, if you were a fan of this category in 2024, you will have a rude awakening. All the hands have changed and become more challenging. There are still three hands but two are worth 30, so that should tell you something.
- First hand is now two flowers with a kong of a number and a single matching dragon (oy); another kong of the same number in a different suit with a single matching dragon (oy, oy) and a pair of the same number. Yikes.
- Second hand is now four flowers, pair of a number, pung of same number in second suit, pung of same number in third suit, pair of same number in the same suit as the first pair. What the...???? Ok, four flowers, two pungs of like numbers, two pairs of the same number. This will take some getting used to.
- Third hand is closed, three pungs of any like number with a pung of any dragon. It sounds simple, but I wonder if it is....
QUINTS
There's only three Quints on the 2025 card, and the first two are similar to the hands on the 2024 card, but with some tweaks.
There's only three Quints on the 2025 card, and the first two are similar to the hands on the 2024 card, but with some tweaks.
- First hand has changed. While still two flowers with three consecutive numbers, the hand is now in three suits, with a pung of the first number, kong of the second and Quint of the third. Only one joker is needed!
- Second hand has changed. While there is still a kong of any wind in the center, the quints are now any two consecutive numbers in the same suit.
- Third hand on the 2024 card has been eliminated. The hand is now a like number hand with two flowers, quint/pair/quint of any like number in any 3 suits.
CONSECUTIVE RUN
- The first hand from 2024 is back, but now uses a pyramid pattern; pair/pung/kong/pung/pair.
- The second hand from 2024 is eliminated.
- The third hand is back with a pattern change. The hand is now four flowers, kong/pair/kong of any 3 consec. nos. in any 3 suits. NOTE: If you have a large print card, the hand that is all in green should be in three colors, as the parenthetical notes it is in 3 suits.
- The fourth hand from 2024 has been changed to become a closed hand for 2025, using a pattern of FF 1 22 333 1 22 333.
- The fifth hand from 2024 has also been altered. It is now the fifth hand in the category and the pattern has changed to FF 11 222 3333 DDD, one suit only.
- The sixth hand from 2024 has been changed. There are no five-flower hands on the 2025 card. This hand now uses three flowers, with 123 4444 5555 in 3 suits. Tip: Due to pattern changes, this is the only hand on the card with two consecutive kongs.
- The pattern hand, which is in position 7 on the 2024 card has moved to position 2 on the 2025 card, with the pong/kong/pung/kong pattern, still 1 or 3 suits.
- The closed hand on the 2024 card has been eliminated.
New in consecutive run on the 2025 card are two hands which are debuting.
- 111 222 3333 DD DD - any 3 suits, any 3 consec nos, pairs opp dragons. This pattern appears again in the 135 and 579 section, so there is some switchability there.
- 112345 1111 1111 - longtime players may recognize this pattern from Quints of yesteryear, only then it was 11234 with two quints that matched the pair. This hand may confuse beginners as it may be hard to wrap your head around the "floating pairs" concept. The instructions say any 5 consec nos, pair any no. in run, kongs match pair. The pair can be, say, 456678 in bams, and then the kongs must be six craks and six dots. There's some hope if you go dead on the pairs, as there are a couple of like kong hands to switch to. Good luck! Oh, and the value is 30.
13579
Listen up, there have been some changes to this category.
- Hands numbered 1 and 2 you will be pleased to know are still in their respective places. However, the patterns have changed to conform to the pyramid in hand 1 and the pung/kong/pung/kong in hand 2.
- Hand number 3 from 2024 has changed shape and now has no flowers. It is a kong/pung/kong/pung pattern, with the last kong being matching dragons.
- Hand number 4 from 2024 has been eliminated.
- Hand number 5 from 2024 has been eliminated, but there is a "math" hand in the category. It is FFFF 1111 + 9999 = 10. The kongs of 1s and 9s match and the "10" is a 1 in a second suit with a soap. This is in the 4th position in 2025.
- Hand number 6 from 2024 has been eliminated, replaced by the hand in the same pattern as in consecutive run: pung/pung/kong of either 1s, 3s, 5s or 5s, 7s, 9s in one suit, followed by two pairs of dragons in the second and third suit. Kind of switchable, depending on the sequence of numbers.
- The closed hand from 2024 has been replaced with a new closed hand, an old favorite, FF 11 33 111 333 55 or FF 55 77 555 777 99. Sanity prevails!
Three new odd-number hands make their debut in 2025, although someone may remember these from the past. If so, it was the distant-distant past. This brings the total odd-numbered hands to 9 lines, two more lines than 2024.
- One hand is a "sandwich" hand - any two suits - kongs of matching 1s and 9s with pairs of 3s, 5s and 7s in the second suit. The three pairs earn it a 30 point value. There are now two hands in the category with kongs of matching 1s and 9s.
- A three-flower hand mirrors the three-flower hand pattern in consecutive run - FFF 135 7777 9999 or in three suits, FFF 135 7777 9999. Looks switchable to a consecutive 7-8-9 hand if you can't make your singles.
- Last but not least for our NEWS fans, NEWS is appearing in this category for the first time. Previously hands like this have had a kong of dragons in the middle or a kong of flowers, but this time it's 11 333 NEWS 333 55 or
55 777 NEWS 777 99, any two suits of course. And two pairs and four singles earn it a 30 point value as well.
WINDS - DRAGONS
A reliable mix of old and new, with some shape shifting.
- Hand number 1 on the 2024 card is identical.
- Hand number 2 has changed. While it still uses any 3 dragons, instead of using pung/kong/pung it uses pair/pung/kong. Instead of using four flowers it uses a pair of flowers followed by any 3 consecutive numbers in any one suit. The numbers do not have to match any of the dragons. This is new but could be interesting. Need I say the numbers are singles and can't be called?
- Hand number 3 from 2024 has been eliminated.
- Hand number 4 from 2024 has changed to a three-flower hand with a pair of norths, pair of easts, pung of wests and kong of souths. Small difference.
- Hand number 5 has been switched up. Instead of using pairs of consecutive numbers between kongs of winds, it is now like numbers in a single/pair/pung combo. We are back to North and South with odds and East and West with evens, so the hands would look like this:
NNNN 1 11 111 SSSS or EEEE 2 22 222 WWWW, again using any like odds with NS or evens with EW. - Hand number 6, the NEWS hand, is back in a different guise - four flowers, two pungs of any two dragons with NEWS in the middle. Another small difference. Makes the hand a little easier, I think.
- The closed hand has been eliminated and a new closed hand added:
NN EE WWW SSS DDDD. For this hand, the kong can be any dragon. Again, sounds simple, but we shall see!
As stated previously, the last year hand in 2024 has been moved to the winds-dragons category. The hand is now open, and the 2025 is at the end instead of the middle. Because it has two pairs and four singles, it retains the 30 point value.
369
This category lost one line, and though there are changes, they are not drastic.
- The first hand remains, although in the new pattern - pung/kong/pung/kong
- The second hand from 2024, which was quite the go-to, has been eliminated.
- The third hand from 2024 remains, although it's been dressed up as an addition hand! Think 3 + 6 = 9. It's the same hand, right? 1 or 3 suits.
- The fourth hand from 2024 is tweaked to be kongs of like 3s, 6s or 9s, and pungs of dragons, instead of the other way around. Kongs of like numbers, we've seen those before.
- The fifth, sixth and seventh hands in 2024 have been eliminated.
There are two 369 hands making their debut, and one hand making a comeback. The comback hand has pairs: 33 66 99 in one suit, followed by like kongs of 3, 6 or 9. Interestingly, the hand only has a 25 point value, even though it has three pairs. But here's another "like kong" opportunity/switch.
The debut hands are:
- FFF 3333 369 9999 - 3s and 9s in one suit, singles in a second suit.
- FF 333 D 666 D 999 D - Three suits, matching dragons. This is a pretty closed hand with a 30 point value.
SINGLES AND PAIRS
We come to the last category, singles and pairs. As is customary, no hands are repeated in the singles and pairs category. Some of the hands are making a first ever appearance, while others are old favorites. All are 50 points, with the exception of the last "big" hand, which is 75.
- First hand is a winds hand. NN EW SS followed by four pairs of consecutive numbers in one suit. This is a new hand, as in prior years it was pairs of each wind followed by pairs of three consecutive numbers in one suit.
- Second hand is a 2468 hand. Two flowers, 2468DD in two suits. I think we've seen this before.
- Third hand is new for 369: 336699 336699 33. Nice.
- Fourth hand is an old favorite - two flowers with repeating pairs of consecutive numbers in three suits; i.e., FF 1122 1122 1122.
- Fifth hand another old favorite - pairs of odds followed by two pairs of any like odd numbers.
- Sixth hand is the good old big hand, two flowers, 2025 repeated in three suits.
And there you have it!
There are some changes on the back worth mentioning. As more information has been added, the print has gotten smaller! Under Game Begins, rules for Jokers have been moved to the center panel. A sentence has been added: A player's turn begins when they either pick or claim a tile. A discarded tile may only be claimed to complete a Pung, Kong, Qint or Sextet in an exposed hand.
Under Claiming a Discard - (Changed text in bold)
- Under Rule 2 a line has been added: A claim is made when a called tile is taken and made part of an exposure.
- Rule 5 has been clarified: When two players want the same tile for Exposure, player next in turn to discarder has preference except when other player has claimed the discard by either placing the called tile on top of their rack or exposing tiles from their hand.
- Rule 6 has been clarified: When two players want the same tile for Mah Jongg, player next in turn to discarder has preference except when other caller has claimed the discard by either placing the called tile on top of their rack or exposing tiles from their hand.
- Rule 7 has been added: A player may change the NUMBER and TYPE of tiles displayed in an exposure up until the player has discarded. This means that if you put out three tiles but you need four, you may add another tile to your exposure before you have discarded. In addition, if you accidentally put out an incorrect tile as part of the exposure, you can take the incorrect tile back and put the correct tile in its place. Once you have discarded if the incorrect tile is still in the exposure, your hand can be decalred dead. However, an important clarification - once you pick up a tile from the table, and put it on top of your rack, you MUST use that tile in your exposure. You cannot put it back on the table. Rule 7 applies to only to tiles tiles that have been exposed.
A new section has been added: Rules for Jokers. Rules 1 through 4 have been moved from the "Game Begins" section of the 2024 card. Rule 5 and 7 appear on the center back panel of the 2024 card. Rule 6 has been added and Rule 8, which appeared on prior cards, has returned.
- Rule 6 - Any tile within a grouping such as NEWS, 11223 or tiles that represent a year may be called only for Mah Jongg.
- Rule 8 - When Mah Jongg is declared without a Joker, double the value is paid by all. Exception: Singles and Pairs.
So there is the yearly overview. As always, feel free to comment with your thoughts on the new card, and if you see any errors or omissions in this post, let me know and I will correct. It's always interesting to transition to a new card - I did love the 2024 card (although I didn't realize how much until the last couple of weeks) and saying goodbye to some beloved hands has been sad. But I believe this new card will stretch the brain in a new direction and teach this old dog some new tricks. Happy mahj!
