Thanks Barticle

Please reply in the original thread, and let this one clear.
More important than knowing the names is knowing the probabilities.
Tanki - pair wait, one tile waiting for another of the same













wait:

As there are four copies of each tile in the full set - and you have one of them - you are waiting for only three tiles.
Some of these might be unavailable if already discarded, in a melded set or in the dead wall so three is the theoretical maximum number.
Ryanmen - the serial pair or two-sided wait, waiting to complete either end of a chow













waits:


Of the five basic waits, this one gives the highest chance of winning - you are waiting for eight tiles in total (four each of the two waits).
A hand must be won on a Ryanmen wait in order to qualify for the Pinfu yaku.
Kanchan - centre wait, waiting on the middle tile of a chow













wait:

You are waiting on four tiles.
Penchan - edge wait, a ryanmen including a 1 or 9 hence only waiting on one side













wait:

Again you are waiting on four tiles.
Shanpon - I call it a \"double pair wait\", a hand with three complete sets and two pairs, one of which must become a pung













waits:


With this one too you are waiting on four tiles but this time two each of the two different waits.