Highlights
First Hand
October 3, Game 1, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s60_p701
In the first game of the M-League 2022-23 season, the team captains of Team Raiden, Konami Mahjong Fight Club and Sega Sammy Phoenix faced off, along with newcomer Suzuki Yu of the U-Next Pirates. In E1-0, Hagiwara the dealer starts out iishanten, while Uotani is 3-shanten with two dora. On turn 3, Hagiwara switches out his 3m penchan for a 2p kanchan, but the move ends up backfiring on him just two turns later when he draws the 3m.
In the meantime, Uotani’s hand advances to iishanten on turn 4 with a chance at iipeikou. On turn 7, Uotani misses the iipeikou, but gets to tenpai by throwing the 4p and calling riichi on a 7p penchan. With the 4p throw, Uotani would expect her only chance of winning is by drawing the tile herself.
Even though Yu tries to avoid the riichi by throwing relatively safe tiles, he ends up getting to tenpai at the end of the 2nd row and calls riichi on a 7s penchan for his first riichi of his M-League career.
Despite Yu’s attempt at a chase, it ends up backfiring for him when he draws the 7p and deals into Uotani. Uotani wins with Riichi/Dora 2 or 5,200 (plus Yu’s riichi stick) for the first win of the season.
Ippatsu Twice
October 3, Game 1
In E3-0, Uotani is in 2nd place after just losing the lead and her dealership to Hisato’s mangan tsumo. She starts the hand off quite well, being iishanten with a dora and a chance at pinfu. However, with many iishanten hands, the wall did not make it easy to get to tenpai. At the end of the 1st row, she was still iishanten, but she did manage to draw another 1s dora. On turn 8, Uotani draws an iipeikou and gets to tenpai calling riichi on a 69s nobetan. On her very next draw, she finds the 6s and wins the hand. Flipping an uradora, Uotani wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Iipeikou/Dora 2/Ura 1 for 3,000/6,000 and retakes the lead.
Jumping to S1-0, Uotani is 12,900 ahead of 2nd place and starts out 2-shanten with a red 5s. On turn 3, Uotani draws a ryanmen to advance to iishanten. A turn later, she upgrades to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten. It takes her a while, but near the end of the 2nd row, she finally gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen, with the 1m also giving her iipeikou. With Yu lacking any completely safe tiles, he pushes the 1m (one of the safer tiles in his hand) and ends up dealing in. Uotani wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Iipeikou/Aka 1/Ura 1 for yet another 12,000 haneman.
Yakuman Tenpai?!?
October 3, Game 1, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s40_p701
In S3-0, Hisato is the dealer, 19,900 behind 1st place Uotani, while Hagiwara is 8,900 behind Hisato. Hisato starts out with a quite messy 4-shanten with two completed groups. Meanwhile, Hagiwara has a five well-defined blocks and sits 3-shanten. By the end of the 1st row, both of them are 2-shanten. On turn 10, Hagiwara draws a 7m to create an ankou and put him just iishanten from suuankou. At the end of the 2nd row, Hagiwara draws his 3rd ankou to get to suuankou tenpai and calls riichi on a 7p/9s shanpon. After having no yakuman last season until the semifinals, a first-day yakuman would truly be unprecedented.
Within the ippatsu turn, Hisato draws a red 5s. With a regular and red dora in hand, Hisato calls riichi and waits on a 5p kanchan.
Even though Hagiwara was only waiting on the single 7p (compared to Hisato’s two 5p), the hope of yakuman was still alive. However, the wall was in Hisato’s favour. On the ippatsu draw, Hisato draws the red 5p and wins the hand. Hisato wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 6,000 all. With the dealer baiman, he moves ahead of Uotani and sits in 1st place.
Ishibashi-Like
October 3, Game 1, S4-2
In S4-2, Yu is the dealer and sitting in the negatives, hoping to escape. He starts out with four ryanmens, a red 5m and a single green dragon dora. From very early on, Hisato tries to end the game by calling a yakuhai and getting to tenpai on a 69m nobetan.
As Hisato waits, Yu gets to iishanten near the end of the 1st row. However, as Yu throws the green dragon, Uotani calls pon to try to take 1st from Hisato, getting to 2-shanten. At the start of the 2nd row, Uotani reaches tenpai, waiting on a 47s ryanmen.
As Uotani and Hisato sit around waiting for their winning tiles, Yu tries to get to tenpai. In the middle of the 2nd row, Yu has a chance to be tenpai. However, it would either result in him waiting on a single 5m or throwing the 5m to wait on a 4m. As if possessed by the spirit of Ishibashi Nobuhiro, Yu decides to call riichi and throw the red 5m to wait on the 4m.
On the ippatsu turn, Hisato draws and discards the 4m and deals into Yu. Yu wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Aka 1 for 7,700+600 (plus one riichi stick) to move out of the negatives.
This move caught the attention of the man himself, with Ishibashi essentially calling him a worthy successor.
Headbump
October 3, Game 1, S4-3
In S4-3, both Uotani and Hagiwara are trying to end the game, with Hagiwara wanting to stop Yu from passing him and Uotani trying to keep her 1st place. Hagiwara starts out with a hand destined for chanta, while Uotani is 4-shanten with a red 5m. By turn 5, both Uotani and Hagiwara manage to be iishanten. At the start of the 2nd row, Hagiwara draws the green dragon. Being the dora and a dangerous tile, he shifts his hand to chiitoi. In the middle of the 2nd row, Hagiwara gets to tenpai on a 2p tanki, staying dama.
Right after, Uotani gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 2p kanchan. If either Yu or Hisato throws the 2p, then Hagiwara would win because of headbump.
Sure enough, as Yu pushes his hand, he draws and discards the 2p, giving Hagiwara the win and ruining Uotani’s ippatsu win. Hagiwara wins the hand with Chiitoi/Dora 2 for 6,400+900 to maintain 3rd place.
MVP
October 3, Game 2
In E1-0, Mizuhara is the dealer and is trying to avenge Yu’s loss. She starts out 3-shanten, though lacking in value. At the end of the 1st row, she is iishanten with pinfu likely and iipeikou still in the picture. At the end of the row, Date calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen.
Right after, Mizuhara gets to tenpai as well and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen (with the 2p giving iipeikou).
On the ippatsu turn, Mizuhara draws the red 5p and calls tsumo. Flipping two uradora, Mizuhara wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 1/Ura 2 for 6,000 all (plus Date’s riichi stick) to put her firmly in first place.
In E1-1, Mizuhara starts out 4-shanten with a red 5p for value. Her hand advances decently in the 1st row, getting to chiitoi iishanten. In the middle of the 2nd row, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a west tanki. With one already cut, there is a good chance that it would be difficult for anyone else to use. When Honda draws a west in the 3rd row, he folds, meaning Mizuhara only has one more west to hope for. Kondo chases Mizuhara right after on a 2m/2p shanpon, but Mizuhara finds the last west on her second-last draw to win. Mizuhara wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Chiitoi for 3,200+100 all, putting her above 50,000.
Dama Shortcut
October 3, Game 2, S1-0
In S1-0, Date is in 2nd place and trying to close the 27,100 gap between her and Mizuhara. She starts out. She starts out 2-shanten for chiitoi with a pair of 9s dora and two red fives. On turn 4, she draws another pair to advance to iishanten. At the end of the row, Date draws her 6th pair and stays dama on a 7s tanki. Two turns later, she switches to a west tanki. But, within a turn of switching, Kondo gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69s ryanmen by throwing the 7s, the tile that could have been Date’s winner.
With Date’s hand being so expensive, she decides to push the 4m on the ippatsu turn. The very next turn, Date draws the west to win the hand. Date wins with Tsumo/Chiitoi/Dora 2/Aka 2 for 3,000/6,000 (plus Kondo’s riichi stick) to put her within 8,100 of Mizuhara.
On Day 1
October 3, Game 2, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s40_p702
In S2-0, Kondo is in 4th place and Date is in 2nd. Kondo starts his hand off 2-shanten for chiitoi (3-shanten for a standard hand) and Date holds a 2-shanten haipai. On turn 2, Kondo drew a 5th pair to put him chiitoi iishanten and suuankou 2-shanten. On turn 3, Date is iishanten for a chance at suuankou as well. With not one, but two chance at suuankou, the audience got excited. After the close call from Game 1, viewers wanted to see a yakuman. On turn 4, Kondo draws a 6th pair, but chooses to hold an ankou instead of taking tenpai, keeping the dream alive.
Right after, Date is faced with a similar situation where she can choose to take a 4-sided wait tenpai, but have a high probability of being a cheap hand.
With a lot more value possible, she rejects the tenpai and aims for the toitoi and suuankou.
When Kondo draws a fourth green dragon, he makes the interesting call and says kan, rejecting chiitoi and confirming his pursuit of toitoi and suuankou.
At the end of the 1st row, Date draws a 3rd ankou to get to suuankou tenpai, the second such tenpai of the day. However, Date’s wait isn’t quite as simple as a shanpon. Because of how her pinzu is lined up, she is waiting on a 25p/2m wait. If Date wins on the 2p, the hand would be a tragic Iipeikou/Tanyao. As such, Date stays dama and hopes for a 5p or a 2m. Fans sit at the edge of their seats to see a yakuman.
Running out of time, Kondo decides to abandon the closed hand and calls pon on the 4s to reach iishanten. Reacting to Kondo’s call, Date decides that it’s time to riichi. In the middle of the 2nd row, Kondo makes a second call to get to tenpai on a north/1s shanpon. Hisato’s win to beat Hagiwara’s suuankou tenpai is still fresh in the minds of yakuman watchers.
But, with Date’s next draw, she gets the 5p and wins the hand. Date wins with Suuankou, winning the first yakuman of the season on the first day of the season.
By drawing the 5p, Date also had the unofficially recognized local yakuman Suurenkou, a local yakuman only seen once before when Takizawa won it back on Yakuman Day in 2021
South 4
October 3, Game 2, S4-0
In S4-0, Date is the dealer and wanting to keep 1st place, while Kondo and Honda are duking it out for 3rd place. Date starts out 3-shanten while Kondo and Honda are 4-shanten. By the end of the 1st row, all three of the are 2-shanten. The first one to get to iishanten is Honda who calls pon on the white dragon to confirm a yaku. With every draw, all three of them became frustrated as they couldn’t advance to iishanten or tenpai. At the start of the 3rd row, Kondo makes a call to confirm sanshoku and advance to iishanten. On Kondo’s antepenultimate draw, he is the first to get to tenpai, waiting on a 2p kanchan.
On Date’s second-last draw, she gets to chiitoi tenpai with a 3p tanki.
Even after almost two rows of draws, Honda was just unable to get to tenpai.
On Date’s last draw, she has a choice to make. Date can choose to maintain tenpai by discarding the north or the 3p, or she can break one of her pairs and be noten (in theory, she can also declare noten even if she discards the 3p or 7p). She is currently 23,900 ahead of 2nd place Mizuhara and has a chance to get more points with her dealership. However, there is a risk of Mizuhara winning a baiman tsumo and passing her. Date determines that she would rather guarantee her 1st place instead of farming points and chooses to break her 7p pair.
The hand ended in a draw with Kondo the only one tenpai, meaning that Kondo was able to move ahead of Honda and Date wins the game.
Riichi! Riichi! Riichi!
October 4, Game 1, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s50_p701
In S3-0, 4,100 separates 4th place Matsumoto and 3rd place Rumi, while Rumi trails 2nd place Okada by 3,700. Both Okada and Rumi start 4-shanten,. while Matsumoto is 2-shanten for chiitoi (but 4-shanten for a standard hand). By the end of the 1st row, all three of them are 2-shanten, with their yaku necessitating a closed hand. At the start of the 2nd row, Rumi and Okada both advance to iishanten while Matsumoto converts his hand to a standard hand. In the middle of the row, Rumi draws a red 5 to increase her hand’s value and give her a chance at sanshoku and Matsumoto gets his standard hand to iishanten. Soon after, Okada gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen.
With Rumi’s draw, she draws the 3rd red 5 and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen, with the 4p giving her sanshoku.
And right after her, Matsumoto gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14p ryanmen.
With the rapid-fire riichi calls, it was anyone’s game. In the 3rd row, Rumi draws the 1p and deals into Matsumoto. Matsumoto wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 8,000, plus the two other riichi sticks.
No More Ura San
October 4, Game 2, E2-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s50_p702
In E2-0, Hinata is tied for 3rd place and 12,400 behind 1st place Aki. She starts out 2-shanten with a red 5m, but she is stuck with two penchans. On turn 2, she fills in one of the penchans to get to iishanten. Through the rest of the first row, she converts the penchan to a kanchan and creates a ryanmen in another group. At the start of the 2nd row, Hinata gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen. In the middle of the 2nd row, Aki tries to push her iishanten hand, but ends up dealing into Hinata with the 2p. Revealing the 4m as the indicator, her 5m ankou suddenly becomes dora and her 3,900 hand transforms into a haneman. Hinata wins with Riichi/Pinfu/Aka 1/Ura 3 for 12,000+600 to move into 1st place.
It Ain’t Over
October 4, Game 2
In S3-0, Shibukawa Nanba is playing his debut match and is currently in 4th place, sitting 8,000 behind 3rd place. Not wanting to suffer the same fate as Suzuki Yu, he kicks it into high gear. He starts the hand off 3-shanten with a dora 6m and a red 5s. Though the hand has decent value, the two penchans will slow his hand somewhat. On turn 5, Shibukawa fills one of the kanchans to get to iishanten. Soon after, Shibukawa drops the penchan for a kanchan. In the middle of the 2nd row, Shibukawa draws the red 5p to get tenpai, staying dama on a 4s kanchan. Right after Shibukawa gets to tenpai, Aki tries to call riichi by throwing the 4s, but ends up dealing into Shibukawa. Shibukawa wins with Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 8,000, moving into 3rd place.
In South 4, Shibukawa is just 2,200 behind 2nd place and starts out 3-shanten. Standing in his way of progress is Aki, who holds honitsu pairs and two souths. Early on, Aki calls pon on the south on the way to mangan or haneman. Soon after, Aki makes a second call. Luckily for Shibukawa, the wall has been kind to him, putting him iishanten with a ryanmen and a kanchan. Near the start of the 2nd row, Shibukawa fills in the kanchan and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen. With pinfu being the only other yaku, he hopes to find an uradora, tsumo or hit Taro directly. Within the ippatsu turn, Taro draws the 8s. Since being noten would make him 3rd anyways, he throws the 8s, dealing into Shibukawa. Shibukawa wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Ura 1 for 8,000, completing his 4th to 2nd comeback.
Shortcut to Baiman
October 6, Game 1, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s20_p701
In E2-0, Matsugase is tied for 4th and trying to close the 24,700 gap between him and 1st place Takizawa. He starts out with a 3-shanten chiitoi hand with a 4s dora. On turn 2, he creates a fourth pair. Next turn, he pairs up the dora to get to iishanten. On turn 4, Matsugase draws a red 5m and calls riichi on a green dragon tanki. With the wall perfectly aligned, Matsugase draws the green dragon on his ippatsu turn to win. Including a flip of the uradora, Matsugase wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Chiitoi/Dora 2/Aka 1/Ura 2 for 4,000/8,000, closing the gap significantly.
Dama Dealer
October 6, Game 1, E4-0
In E4-0, Matsugase is the dealer and 11,800 behind 1st place. He starts out with two red dora and a 3s dora, 3-shanten for a mangan. Through the first row, he converts his hand to tanyao and pinfu and reaches iishanten on turn 5 with a guaranteed yaku. On turn 8, he gets to tenpai and stays dama on a 369p sanmenchan. With not much indication of big danger, Maruyama ends up discarding the 6p as she pushes and deals into Matsugase. Matsugase wins with Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 12,000, moving him into 1st place.
Rinshan
October 6, Game 1, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s40_p703
In S1-0, Takizawa is the dealer in 3rd place, wanting to retake the lead. He starts out with an annoying 5-shanten, but holds a pair of souths and a red 5m for value. Through the first row, Takizawa started to draw more and more manzu, setting his hand up for honitsu. On turn 6, Takizawa called pon the 2m to get to 2-shanten. However, as he grabbed the 2m from across the table, it slipped out of his hand and knocked over two tiles from the wall.
The game was paused temporarily, three pings were sounded and a voice started speaking overhead. Because Takizawa revealed two tiles from the wall, he was issued a yellow card. If Takizawa were to receive another yellow card during the game, then -20 would be deducted from his individual score (and thus his team’s total). The knocked-over tiles were placed back in their spots, Takizawa completed his pon and the game continued.
A turn later, Takizawa called pon on the 1m to get to iishanten. His hand stalled in the 2nd row, but in the 3rd row, Takizawa completes an ankou of green dragon and get to tenpai on a 36m ryanmen. On the very next turn, Takizawa draws the fourth 2m and calls kan.
With the kandora flip, the 4m in Takizawa’s hand is now a dora. With Takizawa’s draw, he finds the 3m and calls tsumo. Takizawa wins the hand with Rinshan/Honitsu/Green Dragon/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 6,000 all, giving him the lead once again.
Challengers
October 6, Game 1, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s20_p702
In S3-0, only 10,000 separates 3rd place dealer Setokuma and 2nd place Matsugase, while Matsugase is only 2,000 behind 1st place Takizawa. Both Matsugase and Setokuma are 4-shanten with no obvious value, but both are hopeful to find some. Though placed far back in 4th place, Maruyama is still looking to gain points and not give up. By the end of the 1st row, Setokuma is 3-shanten still looking for value, Matsugase is 2-shanten and 3-shanten for honitsu and Maruyama is iishanten for chiitoi (2-shanten for suuankou) with two dora 6s and a red 5m. On turn 10, Maruyama gets to iishanten for suuankou, a chance for the comeback she desperately needs.
The first player to get to tenpai is Setokuma, who draws to guarantee tanyao and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen.
With the riichi on the table and a 9m just discarded, Maruyama decides not to pursue the yakuman and calls, settling with a guaranteed mangan minimum with a chance of baiman if she draws the 6s dora.
With multiple stray honours in his hand, Matsugase had little difficulty pushing his hand. Near the middle of the 3rd row, Matsugase calls a chii to get to chinitsu tenpai on a 47p ryanmen.
Near the end of the hand, Setokuma draws and discards the 4p, dealing into Matsugase. Matsugase wins with Chinitsu for 8,000 (plus a riichi stick) to move into 1st place.
Nakabayashi’s Debut
October 7, Game 1, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s80_p701
In E1-0, Nakabayashi is making his debut and starts out with a very nice 2-shanten with two red doras, a pair of east dora and a pair of green dragons. To his left is the dealer Kayamori and across is Uchikawa, with both of them being 2-shanten as well. On turn 2, both Nakabayashi and Uchikawa advance to iishanten, with Kayamori catching up on turn 5. The first of the three to get to tenpai is Uchikawa, who waits dama on a 5s tanki. A turn later, he draws an east dora and calls riichi with the dora tanki.
Immediately after, Kayamori gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen.
Luckily for Nakabayashi, he draws a safe tile on the ippatsu turn to allow him keep pushing. A turn later, Nakabayashi is able to call pon on the green dragon to get to tenpai on a 6m kanchan. Near the end of the 2nd row, Nakabayashi calls pon on the 7m to upgrade his hand to a haneman minimum and wait on an east/5m shanpon (with the east further upgrading the hand to a baiman.) Within the go-around, Kayamori draws and discards the 5m, dealing into Nakabayashi. Nakabayashi wins the hand with Toitoi/Dora 2/Aka 2 for 12,000, winning his very first hand in M-League.
Dora
October 7, Game 1, S2-0
In S2-0, Uchikawa is in 2nd place and 5,700 behind 1st place Nakabayashi. He starts out with an incredible north dora ankou, a pair of red dragons and a red 5s. With his first draw, he fills in a penchan to get himself to 2-shanten. On turn 2, he creates a ryanmen with the red 5s to advance to iishanten. With a pon of the red dragon on turn 4, he gets to tenpai on a 47s ryanmen. Before the end of the row, Nakabayashi draws and discards the 7s and deals into Uchikawa. Uchikawa wins the hand with Red Dragon/Dora 3/Aka 1 for 8,000 and the lead.
Skipping to S3-1, Uchikawa is in 1st place, but his lead is by no means secure. He starts out the hand 4-shanten with a red 5m for value. On turn 3, he fills in a penchan and draw a red 5p fills in a penchan on turn 6, being 2-shanten at the end of the 1st row. In the 2nd row, last place Kayamori calls kan to try to get more points, but ends up giving Uchikawa an extra dora. In the middle of the 2nd row, Uchikawa fills in his last kanchan to get to iishanten. Soon after, he gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 14m ryanmen. Two turns later, dealer Shiratori discards the 4m and deals into Uchikawa. Uchikawa wins the hand with Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 8,300, essentially confirming his win.
Haitei
October 7, Game 1, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s30_p701
In S4-0, Uchikawa is in 1st place, ahead by over 16,000, while Kayamori is in 4th place, trying to overcome the 13,800 difference between her and 3rd place. Uchikawa starts out with another dora-heavy hand, holding a pair of 2p dora and a red 5p. Meanwhile, Kayamori is 2-shanten, but only has a red 5m for value. Her closest option to gain even more value is to aim for the more distant honitsu, being 4-shanten from it. With points being what she needs, she confirms her pursuit of honitsu by throwing her 5s pair on turn 3 and 4. Meanwhile, Uchikawa advances to iishanten by the end of the 1st row.
In the 2nd row, Uchikawa calls pon on the east to confirm a yaku and is the first to tenpai, waiting on a 58m ryanmen near the end of the 2nd row.
By this point, Kayamori is still 2-shanten and still needing to add value to her Honitsu/Aka 1 hand. Extra pressure is added when Nakabayashi makes a call and getting to tenpai on a green dragon/8m shanpon (though he ends up folding a few turns later when he draws a dangerous manzu). Near the end of the hand, Kayamori draws to tenpai. Even though there are only 7 tiles left in the wall, she decided to call riichi on the 258m sanmenchan, hoping to draw any of them to get the haneman to get out of 4th.
At this point, Uchikawa doesn’t need to push the hand, as being noten at the end would mean he wins the game. On his first draw, he draws a safe tile, allowing him to keep chances of winning the hand at the last minute. On his next draw, the final draw of the hand, he miraculously finds his winning 8m and calls tsumo. Uchikawa wins the hand with East/Haitei/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 4,000 all.
Endless Chiitoi
October 7, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-15_s90_p110
In S1-1, Ooi is the deaer and just 1,600 behind 1st place, he starts the hand off with 4 pairs, making him 2-shanten from chiitoi. On turn 2, he draws the 5th pair to get to iishanten. Though he drew the 4s on turn 4, the same tile that he discarded on turn 3, he gets the north on turn 5 to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a south tanki. As with many once-cut honours waits, the south came out easily. On turn 6, Kobayashi drew and discarded the south, dealing into Ooi. Ooi wins the hand with Riichi/Chiitoi for 4,800+300.
In S1-2, Ooi starts out with a far worse hand, being 4-shanten from chiitoi and 5-shanten from a standard hand. Even with the bad hand, the draws seemed to be in Ooi’s favour. By turn 4, Ooi was already chiitoi iishanten. On turn 6, Ooi draws his 6th pair and calls riichi on an east tanki. Once again a once-cut honour, the tile came out easily. As Kobayashi was pushing, he threw the east at the start of the 2nd row and dealt into Ooi. Ooi wins the hand with Riichi/Chiitoi/Aka 1 for 9,600+600.
Working My Way Up
October 7, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s80_p702
In S3-0, Kobayashi is in 4th place and 19,000 behind 3rd place. Being the face of 4th place avoidance, his current standing does not bode well for his image. However, his current dealer turn is the perfect time to turn things around. He starts out 4-shanten from the start, for both a standard hand and chiitoi, but a few tanyao calls put him iishanten in the middle of the 2nd row. Even with Hori’s riichi, Kobayashi pushed on. After a 3rd call and some wait shifting, Kobayashi settled on a 47s ryanmen, which Hori ended up throwing in to. Kobayashi wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 1 for 2,900 (plus Hori’s riichi stick).
In S3-1, Kobayashi pushed against a row 1 riichi from Tojo and held onto tenpai until the end went to a draw, netting him 1,500.
In S3-2, Kobayashi’s haipai holds a lone south dora and red 5p. His hand gets to 2-shanten at the end of the 1st row, still holding the lone south. On turn 8, he gets rid of the south to allow a wider potential for a 7,700 hand. Near the end of the 2nd row, Kobayashi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 3m/4s shanpon. In the middle of the 3rd row, Kobayashi draws the 3m. Kobayashi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Aka 1 for 4,000+200 all, plus the riichi stick from the previous hand. With the win, Kobayashi moves ahead of Hori to sit in 2nd place.
Skipping to S4-0, Kobayashi is back to 4th after dealing into a mangan the previous hand. Being 3,200 behind 3rd place, Kobayashi needs at least a 3-han hand. He starts out with four pairs, including a pair of white dragons. Toitoi is an option, but the 6p pair and the 5m pair will make it very difficult to complete. Therefore, chiitoi would be a better option. He still keeps his hand open to the potential of a standard hand in the 1st row, but confirms chiitoi in the middle of the 2nd row when he draws a 5th pair. Approaching the middle of the 3rd row, Kobayashi draws the 6th pair and calls riichi on a green dragon tanki. With it being a once-cut honour, he looks to get revenge for the two other chiitois he got hit with. On the ippatsu draw, Kobayashi finds the green dragon. Kobayashi wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Dora 2 for 2,000/4,000 to take 3rd place and preserving his status as 4th place avoidance master.
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