What does "one tile away" mean? It means your hand is almost done: one more right tile and you win. In mahjong this is called a ready hand (Japanese players say *tenpai*), and the tiles that would finish it are your waits.
Last lesson you learned to chow, pung and kong. Now for the most exciting moment at the table: being ready.
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Ready means "one tile from a win"
A winning hand is four sets plus a pair, 14 tiles in all. You normally hold 13, so when you're ready, 12 of them are already in place and there's just one gap left to fill.
From then on, your job is simple. Every tile you draw and every tile someone discards, ask yourself: "Is that the one?" If it is, call the win!
The five basic waits
The shape of the gap decides which tiles you're waiting for. These five come up all the time:
Two-sided wait: two tiles in a row, open at both ends.
Closed wait (middle wait): the middle tile is missing.
Edge wait: two tiles next to a 1 or a 9, so only one end is open.
Pair wait (single wait): all four sets are done and one lonely tile is waiting for its partner.
Double pung wait: two pairs. One becomes your pair and the other becomes a pung, whichever comes first.
Two-sided and double pung waits cover two kinds of tile. Closed, edge and pair waits cover only one. More kinds of waits means more chances to win.
Sneak peek: multi-sided waits
Sometimes a hand lines up so nicely that it waits on three or even more kinds of tile. That's a multi-sided wait.
A long run can be split up in more than one way, so it has more than one gap. Multi-sided waits are an intermediate topic. For now, just know that this lucky shape exists.
How to find your waits
The surest method: try every tile. Drop each candidate into your hand in your head and see if it makes four sets plus a pair.
Let's try this one:
- Add : is the pair and is a set. Win!
- Add : is a set and is the pair. Win!
- Add or : five tiles in a row and no pair. No good.
So this hand waits on and . Tip: only try tiles near the gap. Tiles far away can never fit.
Practice: what are the waits?
Have a think first, then check the caption:
That last is easy to miss, which is exactly why you try every tile. Do it a few times and you'll spot waits at a glance when you play mahjong. Next up: scoring basics.
Quick quiz
What does wait on?
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— is missing the middle tile. It's a closed wait, so only wins.
What kind of wait is ?
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Double pung — Two pairs, and whichever turns into a pung first wins. That's a double pung wait.
What does wait on?
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— is an edge wait. There's nothing after 9, so only wins.
What does wait on?
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, and — splits as + (waiting for as the pair), or as + (waiting for or ).
Which wait is usually the best?
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Two-sided — A two-sided wait covers two kinds of tile. Edge and closed waits cover just one, so you have half the chances.