Wait

Wait at a glance

A wait is the specific tile or tiles needed to complete your winning hand when you are in tenpai (one tile away from winning). It refers to the pattern of incompleteness in your hand and which tiles would resolve it into a winning configuration.

Wait in detail

When you reach tenpai, your hand consists of four complete melds (sequences or triplets) plus one incomplete pair or meld. The tiles that would complete this final component are your “wait.” Understanding your wait pattern is crucial for strategic decision-making, as different waits have varying probabilities of winning and different implications for your hand strength.

Wait Patterns

The most common wait patterns are:

Ryanmen (Two-sided wait): Also called a “open wait” or “bilateral wait,” this occurs when you need one of two different tiles to complete a sequence. For example, if you hold 3-4 of bamboo, you win with either 2 or 5 of bamboo. This is the strongest wait because you have eight outs (four copies of each tile in the deck).

Kanchan (Middle wait): A “closed wait” where you need the middle tile of a sequence. Holding 3-5 of bamboo, you win with 4 of bamboo. This wait has only four outs and is considerably weaker than ryanmen.

Penchan (End wait): Also called a “one-sided wait,” this occurs at the edge of a sequence. Holding 7-8 of bamboo, you win with 9 of bamboo. Like kanchan, penchan has only four outs.

Shanpon (Pair wait): You hold two pairs; either winning tile turns one pair into a triplet while the other stays as the pair. This has four outs total (two copies of each tile remain).

Tanki (Single wait): The narrowest wait, where you need a single tile to complete a pair. You have only three outs (one copy is already in your hand), making this the least desirable wait pattern.

Strategic Importance

Your wait pattern significantly affects your winning probability and hand value. A ryanmen wait is statistically superior to a tanki wait because it has twice as many winning tiles. Professional players often deliberately shape their hands to achieve ryanmen waits when possible, even if it requires discarding seemingly valuable tiles.

Additionally, the visibility of your wait matters. If you’re waiting for a tile that has already been discarded by multiple players, your chances of winning diminish. Conversely, if your wait tiles are still in the wall, your probability increases.

Terminology

Players often describe their wait explicitly: “I’m waiting for a ryanmen on 3-4 pin” or “I have a tanki wait on the east wind.” This communication helps other players understand the relative strength of your position.

Example: Wait in a real hand

Imagine your hand consists of: 1-2-3 bamboo, 4-5-6 character, 7-7-7 dot, 9-9 dot, and 2-3 bamboo. You need one more tile to complete a winning hand. Your 2-3 bamboo can be completed with either 1 or 4 bamboo, making this a ryanmen wait. You’re waiting for 1 or 4 bamboo, eight possible tiles in the deck that would give you agari (a winning hand).

If instead you held 2-4 bamboo, you would have a kanchan wait, needing only the 3 bamboo, just four possible winning tiles.