Konno’s Kolumn #6: Multiple Waits
Hello Mahjong players of the world. I am Shintaro Konno. I want to ask all of you what kind of environment you are playing Mahjong in. If, like in Japan, there are many spots where you can play live games then there is no problem, but I think there are many of you playing most of your Mahjong online.
Playing online is extremely comfortable. You can play wherever you want, listen to whatever you want and drink whatever you want while you play. If you get tired you can quit at anytime, if you’re half asleep during the game no one will know or care.
However, that does not mean that playing live is boring. There are a lot of great things about playing live. Since your opponent is right in front of you, you can enjoy a live conversation and even shake that person’s hand. You can read your opponents hands from their expressions and movements and put pressure on them, as well as feel pressure yourself.
When playing live there are some things you have to be careful of, since you don’t have the same support from the game as you do online.
For example if you are ready with this hand:
Online the computer will realize you are waiting for 
–
and let you know when it is discarded, but live you have to understand this yourself, on your own. If you have a hand like the one above it’s not very hard, but how about this hand?
Even us pro’s get a bit confused if we are suddenly faced with a hand like this. (We don’t get lost if we have been playing through the hand from the beginning, but at first glance it’s tough for anyone)
Hands like this that have a lot of waits are called multiple waits. Conquering multiple waits like this hand is the key to getting one step closer to becoming a strong live player.
Now, how can you actually verify what the above hand is waiting for? In order to find the multiple waits you need to split up the hand.
Reach Mahjong is a game in which you try to make 4 sets and a pair, so first of all let’s separate the pair.
First, we found the 5 wait. However, there is another in the hand already, so we can also see the hand this way:
Here we have learned that the hand has waits. Next, let’s look at 1 as a set instead of as a pair and divide the hand.
Now we have found the –
wait as well. We’re almost there.
Next let’s separate the hand the opposite way:
In the end we revealed a hidden wait. It was hidden quite well, but by dividing the hand, we were able to find it.
After this verification, we have determined that the hand is waiting for . By following this pattern to divide the hand it wasn’t too difficult.
Here are some tips to help you check your multiple waits.
1. Start by taking a pair that can be used as your head.
2. Take out sets starting with the smaller numbers.
3. Next take out sets starting with the higher numbers
That’s all you need to do.
Finally, let’s end with the most waits possible in a multiple wait hand. Divide up the hand and find these waits.
See you next time.
