The 2026 Siamese Mah Jongg card is a fantastic option for playing Siamese with a friend or online. However, the card is quite different from the National Mah Jongg League's version, and these differences can cause confusion for players who are not familiar with the notation. For this reason, we clarify particular hands and card notations below.


All the clarifications below have been verified by Gladys Grad, the creator of Siamese Mah Jongg®.


Open vs Concealed

All hands, except those in the "1 or 2 Cats Stayed in the House" section, and other hands that only include singles and pairs (2026/3, CAT/1, 369/6), can be played open or concealed. If they are played concealed the player will receive a 10-point bonus. 


Dragons

  • R represents a red dragon
  • G represents a green dragon
  • O represents a white dragon (soap)


Purple Hands

Hands printed in purple are more geared towards Royale, but you can still do them in 2-player Siamese if you have enough jokers.


All Cats Look Alike

  • For hands in this section, all numbers must be the same
  • If using 2s or 6s, the hand is worth 50 points. Otherwise, it's worth 40 points.
  • Line 2: 
    • Ignore the coloring of specific tiles
    • The hand can be made of any combinations of singles, pairs, pungs, kongs and quints, adding up to 12 tiles
    • Obviously, only pungs, kongs and quints can be exposed
    • Winds can be North and South OR East and West


Cats are Quintessential

  • Line 3:
    • The number part is made of a kong and 2 singles, making a consecutive run. The kong has to be the first number (eg: 2222 3 4)
    • The winds part is made of a quint and 3 singles. The quint can be in any position (eg: NNNNN E W S or N EEEEE W S or N E WWWWW S or N E W SSSSS)
  • Line 5: The 2 quints can be odd numbers (potentially the same number), not just those printed


All Kitty Runs are Consecutive

  • Hands in this section can use any consecutive numbers, unless otherwise indicated (ie: Line 4)
  • Line 7: the pair has to be the last part of the first run of numbers (eg: 3 4 5 6 77 8888 9999). Unlike other hands on this card, the pair is not floating.


Odd Cat's Out

  • Line 3:
    • Both FF 111 33 555 DDDD and FF 555 77 999 DDDD are valid
    • The kong can be any dragon
  • Line 4: 
    • The number grouping is made of 1 pair and 4 singles
    • All odd numbers need to be used
    • The pair can be any of the numbers and needs to be in a different suit to the other numbers (11 3 5 7 9 or 1 33 5 7 9 or 1 3 55 7 9 or 1 3 5 77 9 or 1 3 5 7 99)
    • Winds can be North and South OR East and West


Riding the Winds

  • Line 1:
    • The wind sequence needs to include all winds and is made of a kong and 3 singles
    • The kong can be any of the winds (NNNN E W S, N EEEE W S, N E WWWW S, N E W SSSS)
  • Line 4: There are 2 versions of this hand
    • The North-South version requires 2 pungs of like odd numbers in different suits
    • The East-West version requires 2 pungs of even numbers in different suits
  • Line 7:
    • Ignore the coloring of specific tiles
    • The hand can be made of any combinations of singles, pairs, pungs, kongs and quints, adding up to 10 tiles
    • Obviously, only pungs, kongs and quints can be exposed


Cats have 3, 6 or 9 lives

  • Line 1:
    • This hand requires 2 kongs and a single, in the same suit
    • The numbers 3, 6 and 9 all need to be used
    • The single can be any of the numbers (3 6666 9999 or 3333 6 9999 or 3333 6666 9)
  • Line 5: this hand requires a pair of flowers and a pung of flowers (this is not a quint of flowers)
  • Line 6 (Cat Scat): 
    • This hand is unusual because it breaks the standard rule that jokers cannot be used as a single tile
    • For this hand, you are required to have a joker as a single (or a blank if you're playing with them)
    • The hand also requires one of each dragon, a 3 in each suit, a 9 in each suit, plus NEWS


1 or 2 cats stayed in the house

  • Line 1:
    • The first run is made of 8 singles and a pair, using all 9 numbers in one suit
    • The pair can be any of the numbers
    • Whatever number you chose for your pair, the pairs at the end need to match that number and to be opposite suits
  • Line 4:
    • This hand is made of pairs and singles in 3 groups (one in each suit)
    • The numbers must follow the pattern written and must be consecutive, but in descending order
    • Example: 77 6  77 66 5  77 66 55