# Mahjong Island Winning Hands: How to Read the Island Card **Quick answer:** In Mahjong Island, a winning hand is any one hand on the Island Card: 14 tiles that match one line on the card. Bonus Hands and Mult Hands then raise the score. Source: https://mahjongisland.com/guides/mahjong-winning-hands · Mahjong Island · Updated 2026-11-03 You win by completing **any one hand on the Island Card**: 14 tiles that match one line on the card. The Island Card is Mahjong Island's own card of hands. The Island Card 2027 has 45 hands in 9 sections, and each month adds 3 Bonus Hands. This page uses the Island Card 2027 and the Bonus Hands for November 2026. ## What counts as a winning hand? Only a line on the Island Card wins, and close is not enough. A rack of Sets and a Pair that is not a line on the card does not win. Your 14 tiles must match one line exactly. There are two ways to finish a hand. You can Win on a tile you draw from the Draw Pile, the face-down stack of tiles. That is called a Self-Drawn Win. Or you can take another player's discard when it completes your hand. Each player is dealt 13 tiles, and the dealer gets a 14th. On your turn you draw a tile, then discard one. When your 14 tiles match a line, you Win instead of discarding. ## How do you read a line on the Island Card? Each line on the card is written as groups of identical tiles. The size of each group tells you how many matching tiles it needs. These are the six group sizes: Some lines also ask for numbers in a row, like 1-2-3-4-5. Each of those tiles counts as a Single. Add up every group on a line, and the total is always 14 tiles. Tiles: Red Dragon, Red Dragon. A Pair: two Red Dragons. Tiles: 7 Dot, 7 Dot, 7 Dot. A Set: three 7 Dot tiles. In traditional mahjong this is called a pung (a Set). Tiles: 3 Bam, 3 Bam, 3 Bam, 3 Bam. A Quad: four 3 Bam tiles. Tiles: East, East, East. A Set of Winds: three East tiles. Mahjong Island plays with 152 tiles. There are three suits (Bam, Crak, and Dot) numbered 1 to 9, four Winds, and three Dragons. There are also 8 Flowers and 8 Jokers. For a closer look, read [Mahjong Island Tiles Explained: Suits, Winds, and Dragons](/guides/mahjong-tiles). ## How do Jokers fit into a winning hand? A Joker is wild. It can fill a Set, Quad, Quint, or Sextet. It can never fill a Single or a Pair. Tiles: 5 Crak, 5 Crak, Palm Joker. Two 5 Crak tiles and a Joker standing in for the third make a Set. Every Mahjong Island game deals 8 Jokers, each a different kind. Jokers are never passed in the Charleston, the tile passing before play. A discarded Joker can never be taken. The [guide to Mahjong Island Jokers and Bonus Hands](/guides/mahjong-jokers-and-card-drops) covers every Joker rule. [Jokers and Jokerless](https://mahjongisland.com/learn/jokers-and-jokerless) ## What are the sections of the Island Card? The card sorts its hands into sections. The Island Card 2027 has 9 sections: Island Year, Tide Pools, Coral, Waves, Trade Winds, Mirrors, Compass, Volcano, and Shells. The Island Card is written by Mahjong Island, not copied from any other card. A new card is released each January 1. It never changes once released. ## What is a Concealed hand? A Concealed hand is a line marked C, and it cannot take a discard except the tile that wins. So you build it from tiles you draw yourself. Other lines let you Take Tile, which means picking up another player's discard. You may do that only to Win, or to make an Open Group of 3 to 6 identical tiles your line still allows. An Open Group sits face up for everyone to see. ## What are this month's Bonus Hands? Each month, 3 Bonus Hands join the Island Card for that month only. A win with a Bonus Hand scores ×2 Mult on top of everything else. These are the Bonus Hands for November 2026, with their points on the card: [Bonus Hands](https://mahjongisland.com/learn/bonus-hands-card) ## How do Mult Hands add to every win? Every winning hand scores Chips × Mult. Chips are the hand's points on the card plus each tile's Chips. A numbered tile is worth its number, a Wind or Dragon 10, and a Flower 5. A Joker is worth the tile it stands for. Mult, short for multiplier, starts at 2. Every +Mult Hand adds to it, then every ×Mult Hand multiplies it. Only the winner scores. These are the Mult Hands on Mahjong Island right now: Each Joker kind adds its own Mult too. The full math, step by step, is in [How Mahjong Island Scoring Works](/guides/mahjong-scoring). ## Where can you try a winning hand? At mahjongisland.com you can play a hand against 3 bots in your browser right away. There is no sign-up and no download. For every rule of a turn, read [Mahjong Island Rules: How to Win a Hand](/guides/mahjong-rules). For a first game from the start, try [How to Play Mahjong Island: A Beginner's Guide](/guides/how-to-play-mahjong). [Play a hand](https://mahjongisland.com/play?new=1) ## Frequently asked questions ### Do I need a specific hand to win in Mahjong Island? Yes. You win only by completing one hand on the Island Card: 14 tiles that match one line on the card. ### How many hands are on the Island Card? The Island Card 2027 has 45 hands in 9 sections. Each month adds 3 Bonus Hands for that month only. ### Can a Joker be used in a Pair in Mahjong Island? No. A Joker can fill a Set, Quad, Quint, or Sextet, but never a Single or a Pair. ### What does C mean on the Island Card? C marks a Concealed hand. A Concealed hand cannot take a discard, except the tile that wins. ### What are the Bonus Hands for November 2026? They are Landfall (30 points), First Harvest (30 points), and Welcome Lei (35 points). A win with any of them scores ×2 Mult.