Easiest Hands
We simulated 10 million games. Each one is tested against every hand on the card at the same time. NMJL rules are applied throughout, and whenever a discard could be called, both paths are explored. There are no favorite hands and no bot strategy — just the tiles and the rules, measuring how often each hand can reach mahjong.
Top 10
The ten hands with the highest completion rate.
| # | Hand | Section | Complete |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FFF 11 22 333 DDDD | Runs 5B | 13.2% |
| 2 | FFF 1111 234 5555 | Runs 2B | 9.9% |
| 3 | 11 22 111 222 3333 | Runs 3 | 8.4% |
| 4 | FFF 11 22 333 DDDD | Runs 5A | 6.0% |
| 5 | FFF 1111 234 5555 | Runs 2A | 5.2% |
| 6 | 1234 DDD DDD DDDD | Winds 2 | 5.1% |
| 7 | 2468 2222 D 2222 D | 2468 6 | 4.9% |
| 8 | 111 222 3333 4444 | Runs 4B | 4.3% |
| 9 | 33 66 666 999 NEWS | 369 | 4.3% |
| 10 | 1 22 333 1 22 333 44 (Concealed) | Runs | 4.0% |
September 11, 2026
Why it Ranks #1
FFF 11 22 333 DDDD is the strongest hand because it combines several things that make a hand easier to complete. Runs are flexible, with many variations. The flower pung needs only 3 of the 8 flowers, the number pung only 3 of 4, and jokers can fill either. The two pairs can’t take jokers, but they aren’t locked in either — the run can start on any number in any suit, so the pairs shift to whatever tiles come your way. Spreading the hand across two suits adds even more combinations that fit. And because the hand is exposed, the pungs and the dragon kong can all be called off discards. About one in eight games can complete it first.
Two Hands Still Dominate
Four of the top five are really just two hands. FFF 11 22 333 DDDD and FFF 1111 234 5555 each appear on the card twice: once in a single suit and once spread across two suits. Learn those two and you’ve covered most of the top of the board — only 11 22 111 222 3333 breaks in at #3.
Where are the FF 1111 2222 3333 hands?
Players like these hands because they’re easy to remember — a pair of flowers and three kongs in a row. But they rank much lower (26 and 47) because kongs are harder to complete than pungs. These hands require three separate kongs, meaning you need to collect four of three different tiles, so they have fewer easy paths to mahjong. They are not at the bottom because of run variations and multiple suits and joker support, but many hands rank above them.
What Makes a Hand Easy: More Ways to Get There
Biggest advantage first, based on the probability results.
- It has pungs. Three tiles, callable, and jokers fill them.
- Variety. It draws from several kinds of tiles: suits, flowers, dragons, winds. The more separate sources, the easier.
- It’s a consecutive-run hand. Any numbers means more ways to make it, and even its pairs are flexible: until you commit, any pair you draw can be the pair.
- It’s a like-numbers hand. You pick the number after you see your tiles.
- It uses more than one suit.
What Makes a Hand Hard: Fewer Ways to Get There
Biggest penalty first, based on the probability results.
- Concealed. Nothing can be called.
- Quints and flower sextets. They only work with jokers.
- Everything in one suit. All your tiles have to come from a single suit’s 36 tiles, and you’re competing with three other players for them.
- Kongs of winds. The card names the exact wind, so there’s no adapting to what’s showing up, and there are only four of each in the set. A kong of Any Wind is better, since you pick whichever wind the tiles are giving you.
- Singles and pairs. They can’t be called and jokers can’t fill them, so you must draw them yourself. In a fixed hand like 2026 or 13579, the pair is one exact tile from the start; these are the pairs that stall a hand.
- Kongs. Four of a kind means every copy, or a joker.