Prototype — not live yet

You have the tiles. Which hand are you closest to?

Tap your rack into the Mah Jongg Hand Matcher and it ranks all 79 hands on the 2026 card — closest first. Every picture on this page is a screenshot from the app itself — nothing redrawn.

Open the Hand Matcher → Skip to the hand cards

Prototype: still being tested — including by an experienced player who teaches Mah Jongg — and not approved to go live. Fine for practice; not the final word in a real game yet.

The app, at a glance

Two panels do all the work. Pick tiles at the top; they land in your rack below. The example rack used on this page: three Flowers, 2 Bam × 4, 3 Crak, 4 Crak, 6 Bam × 3, one Joker, 9 Dot — 14 tiles, East.

Screenshot of the Matcher's Add tiles panel: an East checkbox ticked to the left of the Random hand button, kind buttons for Bams, Craks, Dots, Winds, Dragons, Flower and Joker, and the Bams number picker open below — Screenshot from the app — the Add tiles panel. East ✓ (left of Random hand) = 14 tiles; unchecked = 13. The red badges count the tiles already in from each kind.

Screenshot of the Matcher's Your Rack panel: 14 tiles arranged — four 2 Bams, three 6 Bams, 3 and 4 Craks, 9 Dot, three Flowers and a Joker — with Arrange and Clear on the left and Sections and Matching tiles on the right — Screenshot from the app — Your Rack with the example hand, arranged. Tap any tile to take it back out; drag it sideways to move it. Sections and Matching tiles narrow the results.

How to read a hand card

This is the real top result for the rack above. Six things on it — numbered here, explained at the side.

Screenshot of the Matcher's top result card for hand E2.2: rank number 1, E2.2 with a gold star, Section E Consecutive Run, X Exposed and 25 pts badges, brown 12, purple 1 and red 1 circles, the hand FFF (aaaa) [bcd] (eeee), a red note Needs a 5 you don't hold, the lined-up hand marked X, J and blank, and a 9 of Dots below the dividing line — Screenshot from the app — the #1 result for the rack above. 1 top left · 2 top right · 3 the three circles · 4 the red line · 5 the lined-up tiles · 6 below the dividing line.

Hand ID + ★Find E2.2 on your printed card, in Section E — Consecutive Run. The gold star means the hand has singles or pairs — here the 3-4-5 run — and a Joker can’t fill those. The X · Exposed badge means the hand may be exposed.

PointsThe hand’s value, as printed on the card — 25 pts here.

The three circlesBrown 12 Have (tiles you hold toward this hand, not counting Jokers) + purple 1 Jokers used + red 1 Don’t Have. They always add up to 14.

The red note“Needs a 5 you don’t hold.” The 5 of Craks is a single in the run, so no Joker can cover it — you must draw it. Often the decider between two close hands.

The lined-up handEvery tile in the hand, in its groups — number over suit letter (B, C, D) — marked against your rack: X you hold it, J a Joker fills it (the fourth 6 of Bams), blank you still need it (the 5 of Craks).

Below the lineYour tiles that don’t help this hand — just the 9 of Dots here. Short row = almost everything you hold is working. Long row = a lot set aside.

Spot the difference

Same rack, two real results. Left is the closest hand; right is much further off.

Screenshot of the Matcher's E2.2 result card: 12 held, 1 Joker used, 1 still needed — E2.2, #1 — 12 Have, 1 Joker, 1 to go. One tile away.

Screenshot of the Matcher's A1 result card for the same rack: 7 held, 1 Joker used, 6 still needed, with six tiles below the line — A1, #10 — 7 Have, 1 Joker, 6 to go, six tiles wasted. Probably not your hand.

How to use it — four taps

Add tiles

Tap a kind — Bams, Craks, Dots, Winds, Dragons — then the tile. Flower and Joker go straight in, one tap.

Fix mistakes

Tap any tile in Your Rack to take it back out.

Arrange / Clear

Arrange sorts the rack neatly. Clear empties it.

Random hand

Top right of Add tiles. Deals a practice hand — 14 tiles with East checked, 13 without.

Narrowing the results

Screenshot of the Matcher's results heading: Hands you could make, 79 hands, and a ticked Sort all checkbox — Screenshot from the app — the results heading, with Sort all ticked. Sections and Matching tiles sit in the rack panel, above.

Sort all checked ranks everything in one list — all 79 hands here. Unchecked, hands missing a single or pair drop into a separate group below, so the Joker-friendly hands stay on top.

Prototype — still being tested

Try it with a rack of your own

Deal a Random hand, or tap in the tiles from your last game, and see which hands you were closest to.

Open the Hand Matcher →

Planned address: exponology.com/apps/mah-jongg-hand-matcher/app.html

The other Mah Jongg tool works in reverse: the Hand Finder starts from the kind of hand you want; the Matcher starts from your tiles. A third app, CipherDesk, is coming soon.