Highlights
Two Mangans
November 21, Game 2
In E3-1, Uotani is in 4th place, but only 4,000 from 1st place. She starts out with an iishanten hand right away, waiting on 4 different tiles to get her to tenpai. With a lone floating 7p dora, she also hopes to draw something around it. On turn 2, she makes a ryanmen to get to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten, but the dora is still isolated. On turn 3, she turns her 2p pair into an ankou and gets rid of her dora, improving to 9 tiles for tenpai. On turn 4, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen with tanyao guaranteed. Two turns later, she draws the 5m and wins the hand. Uotani wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Dora 1 for 2,000+100/4,000+100, taking the lead.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s60_p719
Skipping to S1-0, Uotani starts out with a 2-shanten hand with two ryanmens and a dora 7m. On turn 3, she secures a pair to get to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten. On turn 5, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69m ryanmen (with the 6m giving tanyao as well). On turn 8, Uotani draws the takame 6m to win the hand. Uotani wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Ura 1 for 4,000 all.
With these two quick hands, Uotani built up a good lead and was able to take 1st in the game.
Red Doras
November 22, Game 1, E3-0
On E3-0, Okada is in 1st place, but she is ahead by only 1,900. She starts out with a horrible 5-shanten hand, being as close kokushi as she was a standard hand. The only positive side of her hand is a red 5s connected to a ryanmen. Through the first row, she drew very useful simple tiles, creating ryanmens and completing sequences. By turn 5, Okada is already iishanten with two red fives and a chance at a 456 sanshoku. At the start of the 2nd row, Okada draws the 6s to confirm her sanshoku and gets to tenpai on an 8m kanchan.
Near the end of the 3rd row, Okada draws the last red five to upgrade her hand to a 5-han minimum. At the end of the row, Okada switches to a 47m nobetan. It confirms tanyao, but sanshoku is no longer guaranteed (only waiting on the 7m for sanshoku).
A turn later, Okada further improves her wait, changing to a 1247p wait. Each of Okada’s four waits give a different yaku combination:
- With the 1p, she gets Pinfu/Sanshoku/Aka 3
- With the 2p, she gets Tanyao/Sanshoku/Aka 3
- With the 4p, she gets Pinfu/Tanyao/Sanshoku/Aka 3
- With the 7p, she gets Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 3
In the 3rd row, Rumi pushes her honitsu and gets to tenpai on a 47m ryanmen.
Two turns later, Rumi ends up drawing the 2p and deals into Okada. Okada wins the hand with Tanyao/Sanshoku/Aka 3 for 12,000.
Penchan Ippatsu
November 22, Game 1, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s70_p713
In S3-0, Honda is in 2nd place and 4,600 behind 1st place Okada. With his dealership already passed, he effectively only has two hands to move ahead. He starts out with a 2-shanten hand, but holds two penchans and a kanchan. On turn 2, he fills one of the kanchans and advance to iishanten. On turn 3, he draws a red 5s to change the kanchan to a ryanmen. On turn 4, he completes the ryanmen and calls riichi on a 3p penchan. Though it was a bad wait, he had a lot of turns to try to tsumo it. On his very next turn, the ippatsu draw, Honda found the 3p to win the hand. Honda wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000 taking the lead.
Yakuman Tenpai??!
November 24, Game 1, E1-0
In E1-0, Nakabayashi is sitting in the west seat and wanting to continue the team’s positive results from earlier this week. He starts out with an ankou of 2s and pairs of 7p, 9p and souths, putting him 2-shanten for chiitoi and 3-shanten for toitoi. The first row provides him with a pair of white dragons which becones an ankou, bringing his hand to iishanten for a potential suuankou. With the 9p already exhausted, Nakabayashi looks for the 7p and the south for the dream. At the start of the 2nd row, Nakabayashi draws the fourth white dragon, allowing him to call kan. The rinshan misses. In the middle of the 2nd row, Nakabayashi draws the 7p! He calls riichi, effectively only waiting on a single south. If Nakabayashi draws it, he would win only the second yakuman of the season.
Two turns after the riichi, Matsugase gets to tenpai. With a guaranteed mangan, Matsugase calls riichi and waits on a 3456p wait.
Even with the dangerous riichi from Matsugase, Nakabayashi only needs the one tile for a big win. In the 3rd row, Date has an opportunity to get to tenpai, Holding two dora and two red fives, she is guaranteed a dealer mangan with a good chance at a dealer haneman. However, trying for tenpai would result in dealing in to Matsugase. The tragedy unfolds as Date calls riichi and throws the 5p.
With a ron, Matsugase defuses two potential bombs and wins the hand. Matsugase wins the hand with Riichi/Tanyao/Dora 2/Ura 1 for 8,000 plus Nakabayashi’s riichi stick.
Dama Mangan
November 24, Game 1, S2-0
In S2-0, Matsugase is the dealer in 2nd place, trailing top spot by only 1,100. Starting out 3-shanten with a pair of 7m dora and a red 5p, Matsugase has a big chance to move into 1st place and go even further. On turn 2, he fills in a kanchan to get to 2-shanten. On turn 3, he gets rid of a 9m to guarantee tanyao. On turn 4, he fills in another kanchan to get to iishanten. On turn 5, Matsugase pairs up the 5p to get to tenpai on a 5p/7m shanpon. Having discarded the 5p the previous turn and now advancing to 2-shanten for kokushi, Maruyama discards a second 5p. Only this time, she ends up dealing in. Matsugase wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 12,000.
4th to 1st
November 24, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s40_p711
In E3-0, Takamiya is in 4th place and the dealer, sitting 13,900 behind 3rd. She starts out with a 2-shanten, leaning towards an open tanyao but little else. On turn 2, she draws a 5s to give her a 1245678s shape, allowing sanmenchan tanyao or ittsuu options. On turn 4, Takamiya’s chances of winning drop when Kobayashi calls riichi on a 14p ryanmen.
Being only 2-shanten, Takamiya tries to work around the riichi. She breaks a kanchan and a pair while still maintaining 2-shanten. At the end of the 2nd row, Takamiya gets to iishanten. At the start of the 3rd row, Takamiya fills a kanchan to get to tenpai on a 2p/8s shanpon, staying dama. A turn later, Takamiya creates a sanmenchan and calls riichi on a 369s wait (with the 3s and 6s giving tanyao as well). In the ippatsu turn, Takamiya draws the 6s and wins the hand. Flipping one uradora, Takamiya wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Ura 1 for 6,000 all, moving her from 4th place to 1st place.
In E3-1, Takamiya starts out with a horrible 5-shanten hand, equally close to a standard hand, chiitoi and kokushi. Even with the bad hand, good draws seemed to come like magic. With each draw, she gets closer to tenpai. 4-shanten on turn 2, 3-shanten on turn 3. With a call of a the easts, she gets to 2-shanten. She creates an ankou of wests the very next turn to get to iishanten. Drawing a 3s ankou, Takamiya gets to tenpai on a 69m nobetan before the end of the 1st row. Soon after, Kobayashi discards the 6m and deals into Takamiya. Takamiya wins the hand with Double East/Dora 1 for 7,700+300.
Closed
November 24, Game 2, S1-0
In S1-0, Katsumata is in 3rd place and 2,300 behind 2nd place. Katsumata starts out with a big 3-shanten, holding an ankou of 9m and pairs of green dragons, souths and 3m. The hand was clearly a honitsu mangan, but it could easily go to haneman, baiman or even yakuman. On turn 2, the green dragon pair becomes an ankou. On turn 3, he makes the 3m an ankou, putting him iishanten for suuankou tanki. On turn 5, Katsumata draws a 6m and gets to tenpai on a 7m kanchan. With the hand as it is right now, he is set for haneman without even calling riichi.
A few turns earlier, Kobayashi the dealer had gotten to tenpai on a 5s kanchan. He stayed dama, hoping to improve his wait. At the end of the row, Kobayashi decided that he was tired of waiting and called riichi on a 5s kanchan.
Within the ippatsu turn, Katsumata draws the 7m and wins the hand. Katsumata wins with Tsumo/Honitsu/Sanankou/Green Dragon for 3,000/6,000 plus Kobayashi’s riichi stick.
Same Waits
November 24, Game 2, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s80_p718
In S2-0, Taro, Katsumata and Kobayashi are all trying to chase 1st place Takamiya. From the start, Katsumata is the closest to tenpai at 3-shanten, with Kobayashi and Taro folling behind at 4-shanten. With a call of the yakuhai east, Taro gets to 2-shanten at the start of the 2nd row. Soon after, Katsumata advances to 2-shanten and Kobayashi gets to iishanten. With two more calls, Taro is the first to get to tenpai near the end of the 2nd row, waiting on a 6s kanchan.
With two calls by Katsumata, he is the next to tenpai, wiaiting on a 6s/4p shanpon.
A few turns later. Kobayashi gets to tenpai. Here, he has a choice. If he discards the 7s, he gets to tenpai on a 4s kanchan with iipeikou. If he discards the 3s, he gets to tenpai on a 6s kanchan with no iipeikou. Despite the opportunity to add an extra han to his hand, he chooses to throw the 3s and call riichi.
With three players waiting on a 6s, we waited to see who would get the last 6s. On Kobayashi’s ippatsu turn, he manages to draw that last 6s and win the hand. Kobayashi wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Dora 1 for 2,000/4,000.
Spoiler
November 24, Game 2, S4-0
In S4-0, Katsumata is the dealer in 3rd place, 7,900 behind 1st place. He starts out 3-shanten with a decent chance at tanyao. With some good draws, Katsumata gets to iishanten on turn 4. With a call of the red 5p, Katsumata gets to tenpai on a 3s kanchan. Two turns later, Katsumata draws the 3s and wins the hand. Katsumata wins with Tanyao/Aka 1 for 1,000 all.
In S4-1, Katsumata starts out with another 3-shanten hand, this time with two ryanmens and a red 5m in hand. He creates a kanchan and fills it. Later, he fills in the two ryanmens. At the end of the 1st row, Katsumata gets to tenpai. With the red 5m still unconnected, Katsumata decides to call riichi and wait on a 5m tanki. Two turns later, Katsumata draws the 5m and wins the hand. Katsumata wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 1 for 2,000+100 all, moving him into 1st place.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s20_p718
In S4-2, Katsumata is in 1st, Kobayashi is just a mangan tsumo away from 1st and Takamiya is a 3 han 30 fu hand away from tying 1st. Kobayashi starts out at 4-shanten while everyone else sits at 3-shanten. Katsumata’s hand again develops quickly, getting to iishanten on turn 4. At the end of the row, Kobayashi advances his hand as well, calling pon on the double south to get to iishanten. With a call of the 5p at the start of the 2nd row, Katsumata gets to tenpai first, waiting on a 47m ryanmen.
Soon after, Takamiya gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 7s kanchan, guaranteed to overtake Katsumata if she wins.
With a call on the ippatsu turn, Kobayashi gets to tenpai on a 7p kanchan. If Kobayashi draws it, he would move into 1st place.
However, both Pirates and Konami fans were disappointed when Katsumata drew the 4m less than a turn later to win the hand. Katsumata wins with Tanyao/Aka 1 for 1,000+200 all plus Takamiya’s riichi stick.
Kuma Kuma Time
November 25, Game 1
In E2-3, Setokuma is in 2nd place and 13,000 behind 1st place. With 3,900 in bonus sticks up for grabs, this is a good opportunity to make ground. He starts out the hand 2-shanten with an out of place 9s dora. Early on, Setokuma gets rid of the 9s dora to maintain efficiency. By turn 5, Setokuma is already tenpai, allowing him to call riichi on a 36p ryanmen. In the middle of the 2nd row, Uchikawa discards the 3p to advance his hand and deals into Setokuma. Setokuma wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu for 2,000+900 plus three riichi sticks. With the win, he more than doubles his gain from bonus sticks alone.
In E3-0, Setokuma is now the dealer and only 7,100 behind 1st place. He starts out 3-shanten for chiitoi (4-shanten for a standard hand) with no dora or clear yaku. In the 1st row, Setokuma creates ankous of wests and 6m to get to iishanten. With pairs of 6p and 6s, Setokuma has a chance to get suuankou or even sanshoku doukou, a yaku never seen in M-League. On turn 8, Setokuma makes the 6p an ankou putting him tenpai on a 25m ryanmen. Setokuma stays dama in order to have a chance at suuankou or sanshoku doukou. Within two turns, Kayamori discards the red 5m to advance her hand and deals into Setokuma. Setokuma wins the hand with Sanankou/Aka 1 for 9,600, putting him into 1st place.
In E3-1, Setokuma starts out 3-shanten with a red 5s and a clear chance at a 345 sanshoku. Through the first row, his hand advances closer to a 345 sanshoku while still able to pivot to incorporate the 1p dora. By the end of the row, he is iishanten. In the middle of the 2nd row, Setokuma gets rid of the 3p, dropping sanshoku in favour of pinfu. When he draws the 3p the very next turn, he decides to hold it, giving him the option of either pinfu or sanshoku. Near the end of the 2nd row, Setokuma’s is put in a bit of danger when Kayamori calls riichi on a 9m/green dragon shanpon.
With a good chance for a good hand with a good wait, Setokuma pushes his hand. In the middle of the 3rd row, Setokuma finally gets to tenpai. To increase his chances of winning, he rejects sanshoku and calls riichi instead on a 47p ryanmen. Even though Setokuma’s ippatsu was broken, the call by Uchikawa shifted the wall in Setokuma’s favour, giving Setokuma his winning 7p on his next draw. Setokuma wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 1 for 2,600+100 all plus Kayamori’s riichi stick.
Positioning
November 25, Game 1, S4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s50_p714
In S4-1, Matsumoto is in 2nd place and 2,300 behind 1st place. With 2,300 in bonus sticks available, Matsumoto could win any hand and win the game. Also of note is the 500 point difference between 3rd place dealer Uchikawa and 4th place Kayamori. Matsumoto starts out the hand 2-shanten for chiitoi (3-shanten for a standard hand) with a pair of green dragons. With his first two draw, he gives himself the option to pivot. With chiitoi being such a slow hand, Matsumoto decides to call pon on the green dragon on turn 3 to get to iishanten. When we look around the table, Setokuma also has a quick hand and is already tenpai on turn 3, albeit yakuless on a 4s kanchan. With one good draw, Matsumoto gets to tenpai on a 7m penchan. At the end of the 1st row, Setokuma switches his wait to a flexible 3s tanki and throws the red 5s. With a pon on the 5s, Matsumoto switches his wait to a flexible 9m tanki.
On Setokuma’s next turn, he draws an 8p and calls riichi on a 78p wait. Having previously thrown the 5p and 6p, the 7p and 8p both seem quite safe.
Though the hand is dangerous, this is Matsumoto’s last chance to take top spot. On the ippatsu turn, Matsumoto throws the 1m dora. On the very next turn, Matsumoto draws the winning 9m. Matsumoto wins with Green Dragon/Aka 1 for 500+100/1,000+100 plus three riichi sticks to finish the game in 1st place.
Also of note is that because Uchikawa was the dealer, he lost 500 more points than Kayamori, causing the two of them to finish the game with 5,400, tying for 3rd/4th place.
Ippatsu Timing
November 25, Game 2, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s60_p720
In E4-0, Tojo is in 2nd place and 10,300 behind 1st place. She starts out the hand 3-shanten with a ryanmen and a red 5s. In the 1st row, Tojo creates more ryanmens and gets rid of some bad shapes, getting to 2-shanten by the end of the row, almost guaranteed to have a good wait at tenpai. In the 2nd row, Tojo starts by getting rid of the 4s kanchan to advance to iishanten, but draws the 4s a turn later. Near the end of the row, Tojo draws the 3s back to complete her 345s sequence and getting to tenpai on a 25p ryanmen. Despite it begin a good wait and the potential of the hand value to increase, she chooses to stay dama. On the very next turn, Tojo decides it’s time to call riichi and waits on her 25p ryanmen. On the ippatsu draw, Tojo miraculously finds the 5p and wins the hand. Flipping one uradora, Tojo wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Tanyao/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 3,000/6,000. With just the one-turn delay, Tojo upgraded her hand from a mangan to a haneman.
Challenging the Dealer
November 25, Game 2, S4-3
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s30_p713
In S4-3, Shibukawa is in 1st place, but he holds a narrow 1,800 lead over 2nd place Tojo. With 3rd place dealer Shiratori 16,100 behind 1st place, Shibukawa wants to end the game as soon as possible.
He starts out the hand with plenty of value, holding two red fives and an 8p dora. However, he is 4-shanten, with two kanchans meaning he will need some good draws to advance his hand. On turn 3, he draws a 6p to complete a ryanmen, coaxing his hand towards tanyao. He confirms this pursuit at the end of the row when he gets rid of his 1m pair and ignores the chiitoi iishanten. The very next turn, he actually draws the 8p dora to get him iishanten for chiitoi. With chiitoi being slow, he rejects the chiitoi proposition yet again and gets rid of his 3m pair, going back to 2-shanten. As Shibukawa waits at 2-shanten, the dealer Shiratori pursues 1st place by calling riichi on a 69s. Looking at Shiratori’s discards his hand looks like a pinzu honitsu and the 9s is a one-chance, making his hand ripe for winning.
In the ippatsu turn, Shibukawa gets to iishanten. Having held a safe 5s, Shibukawa is able to throw a safe tile to advance to iishanten. The very next turn, Shibukawa gets to tenpai on a 47m ryanmen. He confidently throws the 8p dora and waits quietly for his winning tile. With every draw, Shibukawa kept pushing. In the middle of the 3rd row, Shiratori draws and discards the 7m, dealing into Shibukawa. Shibukawa wins the hand with Pinfu/Tanyao/Iipeikou/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 12,000+900 plus a riichi stick, a big way to finish the game and end the week.
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