The Card Has a History.

The National Mah Jongg League was founded in 1937 by a group of Jewish women in New York City who wanted to standardize the game. The first card established the framework that continues today: a laminated sheet of winning hands grouped into categories, updated annually. Early cards had no Jokers and far fewer flowers than modern cards. The exact hands are not publicly documented, but they featured simpler pung/kong structures across suits without the year-hand system introduced later.

Cards from this decade show gradual evolution of the tile set. Joker tiles were introduced progressively — early 1940s cards used 0–2 Jokers; by the late 1940s some cards included up to 4. The number of Flower tiles varied between 6 and 12. MahjForAll has reproduced all individual year cards (1940–1949) based on original sources. Exact hand compositions differ year to year; complete hand lists for these years require purchasing the reproduction cards.

The early 1950s continued refining the card format. The number of Jokers stabilized toward 6–8. Flowers expanded. MahjForAll reproduces all years 1950–1953 individually. Exact hand lists require the reproduction cards.

1954 is the first year the NMJL card included "Year Hands" — hands built around the digits of the current year. However, the year referenced on the card did not align with the actual play year until 1961. So a card used in 1954 might reference 1953. This quirk is well-documented by NMJL historians and MahjForAll.

Cards through 1960 continued with Year Hands referencing the prior calendar year. The 1960 card did not include a standard Year Hand because the year contains a zero and zero tiles (Soap as zero) were not standardized until 1980. Some cards from this era used creative workarounds or historical themes for year-like sections.

1961 marks the year when the Year section of the card finally matched the actual year being played. This alignment has been maintained ever since (except for years containing zero digits, handled by Soap tiles). The 8-Joker set also became standardized around this era.

Through the 1960s and 70s, the modern NMJL card structure solidified. Eight Jokers and eight Flowers became standard. The major outstanding issue: years containing a zero digit (1960, 1970) had no clear tile representation for "0" — that wouldn't be solved until 1980. Cards from 1970 either skipped Year Hands or used alternative number arrangements. MahjForAll reproduces all years in this range.

1980 introduced the Soap tile (White Dragon) as the standard stand-in for zero on Year Hands. This solved the longstanding problem of years containing "0" and became a permanent rule. The 1980 card was the first to use this convention, which remains in use today (2020, 2026, etc.).

These years represent the classic NMJL card format in its mature state. The structure of sections was well-established. Exact hand compositions changed annually. MahjForAll reproduces all individual years through this period. The community began growing significantly during the 1990s, and card analysis culture (comparing year-to-year changes) started informally.

Note: The 2025 card analysis referenced a specific CR/7 hand that "originally appeared on a NMJL card back in the 90s" — confirming that some hands recur across decades.

1999 saw the first known alternative American Mah Jongg card published by a third party. These alternative cards use the NMJL framework (three suits, jokers, Charleston, flowers, 14-tile structure) but introduce new hands and rules. Gladys Grad's Siamese/Tournament card is the most prominent alternative, notable for creative hands not typically seen on the NMJL card. Several independent publishers now offer alternatives.

The 2000s brought rapid growth in American Mah Jongg. Annual card analysis started appearing online. The NMJL grew from a few thousand members to hundreds of thousands. The card format remained consistent but hands evolved annually. The year section continued using Soap for zeros (2000, 2001, 2002, 2010 cards all required zero representations). Addition and multiplication hands were introduced during this era as a section novelty. MahjForAll reproduces all years 2000–2025.

This period saw the emergence of sophisticated annual card analysis from sites like ILoveMahj, The Mahjong Line, and others. Community hand tracking became formalized. Cards from 2015 onward were analyzed for hand counts, tile demand, difficulty ratings, and cross-year comparisons. The NMJL reached 350,000+ members.

Key structural data (from Bam Good Time's 11-year analysis of 2015–2025 cards): total printed hands ranged from approximately 66 to 73 per year; concealed hands comprised roughly 14–16% of printed hands; point values ranged 25–75 (35-point hands were removed sometime in this period and not restored).

The 2022 card had an unusual year composition: three 2s and two 2s (for "2022"), creating high demand for 2-tiles. The NMJL added a note directly on the front of the card: "JOKERS MAY NOT BE USED IN A 2022 GROUPING" to clarify that the four-digit year grouping uses singles, not a kong. Approximately 66 printed hands (fewer than most recent years). The card prompted significant community confusion around the year hand joker rule, which carried forward into 2023 (the note was eventually removed in 2023 as causing more confusion than it solved).

70 printed hands representing 756 possible permutations across the card. The 2023 card was described by analysts as "more conventional" than the unusual 2022 card. Addition Hands returned as a section, and the controversial joker note was removed. Eight hands carried over from previous years, confirming the practice of recycling strong hands across decades.

The 2024 card was described by community analysts as "exciting, creative and unique." 73 printed hands with 1,683 total permutations across the card. Addition and Multiplication hands both returned. The standout feature: a legendary "monster" Quints/2 hand that alone accounts for 864 permutations — a testament to the extraordinary complexity of that single hand configuration. This is one of the most heavily featured hands in recent NMJL history.

The 2025 card contains 71 printed hands representing 1,002 permutations. Approximately 10 hands are concealed. Nine sections appear on the card, with no dedicated Quints section this year (quint-style hands appear as embedded variants within other sections).

The 2026 card features 69 printed hands representing 1,458 permutations — a notable step up from 2025's 1,002. Quints return as a dedicated section after a year's absence. The card is characterized by unusually heavy Flower content, a pung-kong dominant structure, and year digits split across multiple suits. Approximately 11 hands are concealed. Ten sections appear on the card.