How the card is organised
The card is a folded sheet listing dozens of hands, grouped into sections by theme. Section names change little from year to year, while the specific hands within them change. Familiar families include hands using the current year's digits, even numbers (2468), any like numbers, additions, quints, consecutive runs, odd numbers (13579), winds and dragons, multiples of three (369), and singles and pairs.
Because the hands are new each year, everyone — beginner and veteran — starts every season learning the card.
Reading a hand
Each hand is printed as a row of numbers and letters: digits for suit tiles, N, E, W and S for winds, D for dragons, F for flowers, and 0 for the white dragon (soap) in year hands. Colour shows how many suits are needed: a hand printed in one colour uses one suit, in two colours two suits, and in three colours three suits. The specific colours do not name particular suits.
Next to each hand is an X (it may be exposed) or a C (it must be concealed), and a point value, usually between about 25 and 50 or more for difficult hands.
Choosing a hand from the card
After the deal, look for hands that use what you already have. Count tiles that fit, including jokers for groups of three or more. Most players identify two or three possible hands during the Charleston and narrow them down as play continues.
A useful habit is to note which sections tend to fit your tiles: a hand full of evens points you toward 2468 hands, many honours toward winds-and-dragons hands.
The card and copyright
The League's card is a copyrighted publication, and players buy their own copy each year. This site explains how the card works but does not reproduce its hands — when you start playing, buy the current card so your hands are legal at the table.
