The 2026 Card Challenge

Hi friend,

Be honest with me for a second. If I handed you the 2026 card right now and asked you to point to the hands you actually play, how many would you land on? Five? Six? For most of us it is a small, loyal handful. We have our favorites, the ones we reach for the second the Charleston ends, and we run them again and again because they feel like home.

There is nothing wrong with having favorites. But here is the quiet cost. Every section you skip is a section your eye never learns to see. When one of those hands is the only thing the wall will give you, you do not recognize it, because you have never actually built it. The card is full of hands you own on paper and have never once played for real.

So I want to give you a way to fix that this year. Not with a cram session or a strategy binge, just a steady, low-pressure nudge to meet the whole card, one section at a time. I'm calling it the 2026 Card Challenge, and it starts whenever you say go.

Start the Card Challenge

Free, year-long, and there's a printable tracker waiting for you.

The challenge

One card. One year. Every hand.

The premise is simple enough to fit on a sticky note: play your way through every hand on the 2026 card before the year is out. Not the highlights. Not the ones you like. All of them, section by section.

You do not have to be fast and you do not have to be perfect. This is not a race and there is no clock ticking on any single hand. The only thing the challenge asks is that you keep showing up to the table and let yourself try the hands you normally pass over. By the time December comes, you will have met the whole card on its own terms.

And here is what that gives back to you along the way. Sharper pattern recognition, because you have actually built the shapes instead of just reading them. Faster, calmer reads at the table, because fewer hands surprise you. And a kind of confidence that does not wobble when the wall hands you something outside your usual five. That is the real prize. The challenge is just the path to it.

How it works

I built a free printable tracker so you never have to wonder where you are. It is a one-page checklist of all nine sections of the 2026 card, and it is yours the moment you sign up. Here is the rhythm.

1. Download the free tracker. A one-page printable checklist of every section, free when you sign up on the Card Challenge page.

2. Work it section by section. Take the card one section at a time, in any order you like. Start wherever you feel weakest, or wherever you feel curious.

3. Check off each hand. Tick the box the first time you play a hand for real, in an actual game or a solo practice run. Built counts. You did the thing.

4. Date your wins. Write the date next to each one. Watching the page fill in across the year is quietly addictive, and it is proof you are covering ground you used to skip.

A win counts, however you play. There is no one right way to tick a box. A four-player game in person at your table counts. A game on I Love Mahj counts too, whether you are playing a four-player game or a two-player Siamese hand. I use both, depending on the day, sometimes a full table with friends, sometimes a quiet Siamese hand while my coffee is still warm. Play the way that fits your life. Every hand you win, in any format, ticks a box on your tracker. New to playing online? I Love Mahj is a lovely place to practice, and my link gets you 3 weeks free.

The nine sections on your tracker:

2026 · 2468 · Any Like Numbers · Quints · Consecutive Run · 13579 · Winds and Dragons · 369 · Singles and Pairs

Grab the Free Tracker

A little reward along the way

If you are someone who loves a small reward for steady work, you are going to like this part. There are SoloMahj charms, gold cloisonne keepsakes, and there is a charm for every section of the card, so you can collect one as you finish each section. They are $16 each. There is even a limited 2026 Year Charm to mark the whole year. Think of them as a little trophy shelf for the work you are already doing.

And if you want practice games and a community of women working through the very same card right alongside you, that is what the Confidence Club is for. It is $19.99 a month and it gives you a place to actually log the reps, ask questions when a section stumps you, and get hands in between game nights. The challenge gives you the map. The Club is the practice engine that helps you finish it.

None of that is required. The challenge and the tracker are free and they stand on their own. The charms and the Club are just there if you want them.

Start whenever you're ready

You do not need a fresh January or a perfect week to begin. You just need the card, your tiles, and the willingness to play a hand you would normally skip. Pick one section this week, the one you have been avoiding the longest, and play a single hand from it. That is the whole first step.

Then let the tracker carry you the rest of the way. By the time the year is out, the card will not have a single corner you have never visited.

Start the Card Challenge

One card. One year. Every hand.

Talk soon,
Lara

P.S. The hands you avoid are usually the ones costing you the most, because the wall does not care about your favorites. Grab the free tracker here and let's go meet the whole card this year.