The best hands on the 2026 NMJL Card

The National Mah Jongg League has released the 2026 card and everyone is rushing to decide what hand to play. My emails and DMs are flooded with messages asking me “Which mahjong hands are the best to play on the new 2026 NMJL card?”

The best hand to play in American Mahjong

Based on the statistics of the 2026 NMJL card, the best hand to play on the card is:

111 222 3333 4444 (any 4 consecutive numbers, any 1 or 2 suits)

This pung-pung-kong-kong hand can use any consecutive tiles and jokers are allowed in every meld. Remember that there are eight jokers in American mahjong, making flexibility the best offense when playing the game. Defensive play is more difficult with this hand because other players do not know what the other numbers that are played.

There is a caveat with this hand as the best hand to play on the 2026 NMJL card.  Missy Mahjong avoids the six tiles in this consecutive run. The six tiles can be used throughout the card in eight sections: 2026, 2468, any like numbers, quints, consecutive, winds and dragons, 369 and singles and pairs.

The easiest hand to play on the 2026 NMJL American mahjong card

The easiest hand to play on the 2026 NMJL card is:

1234 DDD DDD DDDD (any four consecutive numbers in 1 suit, any 3 dragons

If a player is dealt more than three dragons to start the game, this is the hand I would pick to win. The consecutive meld or chow is easy to collect, especially during the Charleston. It is important to remember that the dragons can be ANY mix of the three suits.

Read the data behind the best hands to play in mahjong:

After the first two days of tracking online game data with app developers at Eight Bam, these are the most won hands on the 2026 NMJL Card:

1234 DDD DDD DDDD

11 222 33 444 5555

111 222 3333 4444

2468 2222 D 2222 D

FFF 1111 234 5555

2222 DDD 8888 DDD

1111 D 111 D 1111D

113579 1111 1111

FF 1111 11 1111 DD

FFF 1111 234 5555

 

Missy Mahjong and her data driven strategies for the best mahjong hands to play on the 2026 NMJL card:

Of course, I have my favorite hands and sequences that I “see” more than others.

The hands I am playing the most often on the 2026 NMJL card:

2026 DDD 2222 DDD

FFF 2026 222 6666

222 444 6666 8888

222 444 6666 8888

1111 FFFFFF 1111

11 222 33 444 5555

FFF 1111 234 5555

111 222 3333 4444

1111 FFFFFF 2222

555 777 7777 9999

1234 DDD DDD DDDD

NNN 1111 1111 SSS

EEE 2222 2222 WWW

333 666 6666 9999

At the risk of the bad Barbs scrutinizing my play, I am including my personal data. This data is provided by Eight Bam app developers. This data has been updated after 3 months of play on the 2026 card, with hands played broken down by section:

I "see" the winds and the dragons and consecutive hands the most.

Stay tuned for updates and suggestions on which hands I continue to play, and which hands I "see." I suggest playing on this phone app and tracking your own personal data:

American Mahjong Practice App 2026 $17.99.

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