Bouquet
20 points
FFFFF XXXa XXXb DDDb
A quint of flowers needs no joker, because the set has eight flowers. The same number as a pung in two suits, and a pung of the second suit’s dragon.
Free to read and print
Joker & Bloom Practice Card
28 hands written for learning American mahjong. Pick a section, look for groups you recognize, and use this same card when you play the computer.
Version 1.0.0 · This card does not expire
First Steps
Pairs, pungs and kongs in one or two suits, with flowers to make the hand reachable. Start here.
Flower Bed
25 points
FFF XXXXa X+1 X+1 X+1 X+1a DDDa
A kong of flowers, a pung and a kong of neighbouring numbers in one suit, and the dragon that matches that suit.
Posy
30 points
FF XXXXa X+1 X+1 X+1 X+1a X+2 X+2 X+2 X+2a
Three kongs that climb by one in a single suit, with a pair of flowers. Every kong can take jokers; the flower pair cannot.
Garden Party
Flowers as the glue of a hand. There are eight flowers in the set, so a flower group can grow as large as a sextet without a joker.
Petals
25 points
F XXa XXXb XXXXc DDDDc
Every group size in a row: a single flower, then a pair, a pung and a kong of the same number, one per suit, and a kong of the last suit’s dragon. The single and the pair must be real tiles.
Skip Count
30 points
FFF XXXa X+2 X+2 X+2 X+2a X+4 X+4 X+4 X+4a
Numbers that climb by two. Read the gap on the card before reaching for tiles.
Standing Alone
Singles: tiles that stand by themselves. A single, like a pair, must be the real tile. Jokers only stand in inside groups of three or more, and a single or pair is never called from a discard.
Sprout
25 points
FFFF Xa X+1a X+2 X+2 X+2 X+2a X+3 X+3 X+3 X+3a
A run that starts with two lone tiles. The two singles must be the real tiles and cannot be called; the two kongs behind them can take jokers.
Four Corners
30 points
N E W S FFFF XXXXa XXb
All four winds as singles, and a pair of the same number as the kong in a second suit: six tiles that must be real. None of the singles can be called or replaced by a joker, so they have to come from the deal, the Charleston or your own draws.
Three Dragons
30 pointsFFF R G 0 XXXXa XXXXb
One of each dragon standing alone: red, green and white. Soap is a dragon here, not a zero. No joker can stand in for any of the three.
Echoes
The same number across two or three suits, each suit with its own dragon, and two different numbers side by side.
Echo
30 pointsFFFF XXa XXXXb XXXXc
One number across all three suits with flowers. The pair is the suit you have least of.
Mirror
30 pointsXXXXa DDDa XXXXb DDDb
Two suits, each with its own dragon. No flowers, so every tile must come from two suits and their dragons.
Twins
35 pointsFF XXXXa XXXXb DDDDa
The same number as a kong in two suits, plus a kong of the first suit’s dragon. The pair of flowers cannot take a joker.
Odd Couple
40 pointsFFFF XXXXa YYYYa DDa
Two different numbers, X and Y, as kongs in the same suit. They need not be neighbours; they only need to differ. The suit’s dragon makes the pair.
Stepping Stones
Runs: numbers that climb one step at a time, inside one suit or across suits.
Long Walk
25 pointsXa X+1 X+1 X+1 X+1a X+2 X+2 X+2 X+2a X+3 X+3 X+3 X+3a X+4a
A five-step run in one suit that starts with a single and ends with a pair. Neither end can take a joker; the three groups between them can.
Two-Suit Walk
25 points
FF XXa X+1 X+1 X+1a X+2 X+2 X+2 X+2b X+3 X+3 X+3b
A run that changes suit halfway: a pair and a pung in the first suit, a kong and a pung in the second.
Three-Suit Walk
35 points
FF XXa X+1 X+1 X+1b X+2 X+2 X+2 X+2c DDDc
Pair, pung and kong climbing through all three suits, finished with the dragon of the last suit. Suit order is free, but all three must differ.
Compass
The four winds as groups, beside numbers, flowers or a dragon.
Weather Vane
30 pointsFFF EEE WWW DDD XXa
East and West as pungs, flowers, a pung of any one dragon (red, green or white, your choice) and a pair of any number.
Crosswinds
35 pointsFF NNN EEE WWW SSS
A pung of every wind. There is only one way to make it, so the Charleston has to bring you winds.
North and South
35 pointsNNNN SSSS XXXa XXXb
Two wind kongs with the same number in two suits.
Dragon's Den
Dragons matched to the suit of the numbers beside them: green with Bams, red with Craks, white (soap) with Dots.
Dragon Walk
25 pointsFF XXa X+1 X+1 X+1a X+2 X+2 X+2a DDDDa
A pair and two pungs that climb, finished with a kong of the matching dragon.
Suit Match
40 pointsFF XXXXa DDDa X+1 X+1 X+1b DDb
Each number sits beside its own suit’s dragon: a kong with a dragon pung, then the next number as a pung with a dragon pair.
Zero Hour
Soap doing double duty as the number zero.
Countdown
30 pointsFFF 333a 222a 111a 00
Three, two, one, zero in one suit. Soap is the zero, and the pair of soaps must be real.
Zero In
35 pointsFF 00 XXXXa XXXXb XXc
A pair of zeros beside the same number in all three suits, a kong in one of them.
Behind the Rack
Concealed hands: nothing is called for an exposure, only the winning tile. Worth more because they are harder.
Quiet Pairs
35 points · concealedFF XXa XXb XXc YYYYa YYb
Five pairs and one kong, kept in the rack: one number as a pair in every suit, a different number as a kong in one suit and a pair in another. Only the kong can take a joker, and nothing is called except the winning tile. Five groups that must be real tiles is the most of any hand on the card.
Secret Garden
40 points · concealedFF XXXXa X+1 X+1 X+1a XXXb X+1 X+1b
Two neighbouring numbers in two suits, kept in the rack: a kong and a pung in the first suit, a pung and a pair in the second. The same tiles would be easy exposed; concealed, every pung must be drawn or filled with jokers, and only the final tile may be taken from a discard.
Big Groups
Quints and sextets. A number, wind or dragon has only four copies, so a quint of one needs at least one joker and a sextet at least two. Flowers have eight copies, so a flower quint or sextet needs none.
Staircase
30 pointsXXa X+1 X+1 X+1a X+2 X+2 X+2 X+2a X+3 X+3 X+3 X+3 X+3a
Pair, pung, kong, quint in one climb. The quint needs at least one joker.
Five Alive
35 pointsFF XXXXXa X+1 X+1 X+1 X+1a X+2 X+2 X+2a
Quint, kong, pung: a short run that shrinks as it climbs. The quint needs at least one joker; the kong and pung can take more.
Half Dozen
45 points
FFFFFF XXXa X+1 X+1 X+1a DDa
A sextet of flowers needs no joker, because there are eight flowers in the set; a sextet of a number would need two. Two neighbouring pungs and a pair of their suit’s dragon complete it.