Highlights
Patience
September 25, Game 1, E4-5
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5003
In E4-5, Honda is in 4th place, 13,300 behind the 2nd/3rd place tie. With 3,500 in bonus sticks available, Honda just needs a mangan tsumo or better to move into 2nd place.
Honda starts out the hand 3-shanten. With a ryanmen, a connected 2p dora and a connected red 5p. In the first row, He completes sequences to further secure his doras and gets to iishanten. On turn 8, he gets to tenpai on a 47s ryanmen. However, he stays dama and waits for an improvement.
Just a turn later, he finds that improvement when he draws another 2p dora. Despite being guaranteed a haneman on either the 2p or 5p winning tile, Honda decides to calls riichi. While Honda is in riichi, dealer Aki makes a concealed kan trying to advance her own hand, giving Honda another chance at uradora. In the middle of the third row, Honda finds the 5p and wins the hand. Honda wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Iipeikou/Dora 2/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 4,000+500/8,000+500 plus two riichi sticks, successfully moving him into 2nd place.
Shortcut to Haneman
September 25, Game 1, S1-1
In S1-1, Kayamori is in 3rd place, trying to widen the gap with 4th place Aki and trying to get closer to 2nd place Honda. With a 16,500 gap between the two middle places, Kayamori would like to win anything to have a chance at moving up.
Kayamori starts the hand off with four pairs, 2-shanten from chiitoi. On turn 5, Kayamori draws a 9p dora, giving potential to double her hand’s value. On turn 6, she makes a pair of 7m to get to iishanten. Just a turn later, Kayamori pairs up the east and calls riichi on a 9p dora tanki. As Kayamori waits, Aki tries to advance her hand. After taking many turns to improve, Aki ends up in a tenpai position in the third row. Unfortunately, taking the tenpai means throwing the 9p dora. Aki throws the 9p trying to make a comeback and deals into Kayamori. Flipping two uradora, Kayamori wins the hand with Riichi/Chiitoi/Dora 2/Ura 2 for 12,000+300, getting within range of 2nd place.
Direct Hit
September 25, Game 1, S4-0
In S4-0, Aki is sitting in 4th place and in the negatives, 23,400 behind 3rd place. However, she has one last dealership to take advantage of.
Aki starts out the hand drawing the red 5m to fill in a kanchan and get to 3-shanten. With two ryanmens in hand, she has a good opportunity to add yaku. In the first row, Aki creates and completes sequence blocks while first place Honda calls and tries to rush the hand. At the start of the second row, Aki gets to iishanten. Through the rest of the row, Aki improves her hand slightly by increasing tanyao chances and Honda makes another call to advance. At the end of the row, Honda gets to tenpai and waits on a 25p ryanmen.
Within the go-around, Aki gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen. While there is the riichi on the table, Kayamori still pushes a bit because of the lack of safe tile. Near the middle of the third row, Kayamori gets to tenpai and throws the 4s, dealing into Aki. Aki wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 1 for 12,000. With the direct his Aki moves into 3rd place.
Recover
September 25, Game 2, S4-2
In S4-2, Kayamori is in 4th place after being hit with a dealer mangan two hands earlier. With 2,600 in bonuses up for grabs and a 2,600 gap between her and 3rd, Kayamori just needs to win this hand to move up in placement.
Kayamori starts out the hand 2-shanten for both a standard hand and chiitoi. Though it may seem close, only 4 different tiles would advance Kayamori’s hand for the standard route, 5 different tiles for chiitoi. After her first few draws were useless, Kayamori decides to cut a kanchan to lean more on the chiitoi side. On turn 6, she pairs up the 7s to get to iishanten. On her next draw, she pairs up the red dragon and sits dama on a north tanki. A few turns later, Honda discards the north and deals in. Kayamori wins the hand with Chiitoi only for 1,600+600 plus two riichi sticks. With the win, Kayamori finishes the game in 3rd place.
Purity
September 25, Game 2, E1-0
In E1-0, Tojo is playing in her game of the season. With her team sitting in 7th place, she hopes to win this game and get her team back into the positives.
Tojo starts out 4-shanten with 24567889m in manzu, giving her options for ittsuu or even a flush. On turns 4, 5 and 6, she draws manzu. With manzu filing her hand, she slowly shifts to chinitsu. On turn 8, she draws yet another manzu to be iishanten, waiting on any manzu except 36m for tenpai. When Hagiwara discards the 8m right after, Tojo calls pon to get to tenpai on a 9m tanki. Hagiwara advances his own hand to a 3s kanchan soon after, but Tojo finds her winning tile first at the start of the third row. Tojo wins the hand with Chinitsu for 8,000, starting her season in the lead.
Yakuman Tenpai!!?
September 25, Game 2, E2-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s60_p2036
In E2-2, Tojo is in 2nd place after getting hit by the 1st place dealer Mizuhara. Sitting in 3rd place is Hagiwara, 3,900 behind Tojo.
From the start we see Tojo 4-shanten for a standard hand (3-shanten for chiitoi) with an ankou of 5s (including the red 5s) and pairs of 8m and 8s, while Hagiwara is 4-shanten with two honour blocks and a handful of manzu. In her first few turns, Tojo pairs up the 3p and the white dragon, putting her iishanten for chiitoi and 2-shanten for a potential suuankou. As Tojo waits to advance, Hagiwara advances on his manzu honitsu. With a 456m chii and a 9m pon, Hagiwara advances to 2-shanten. On Tojo’s draws, she makes the 3p a triplet and then draws an 8s to put her tenpai. She calls riichi, hoping to draw the 8m or white dragon herself for the yakuman.
Having already called twice, it’s too late for Hagiwara to back out now. In the middle of the second row, he calls pon on the west to get to iishanten. A turn later, he gets to tenpai and waits on a 4m/white dragon shanpon. Later, he shifts it to a 3m wait. Soon after, Mizuhara discards the once-chance 3m and deals into Hagiwara. Hagiwara wins the hand with Honitsu/West for 5,200+600 plus one riichi stick, moving into 1st place and killing the yakuman threat.
South 4
September 25, Game 2, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4501
In S4-0, Tojo is in 4th place, 10,400 behind 3rd place Katsumata, 13,200 behind 2nd place dealer Hagiwara and 14,800 behind 1st place Mizuhara. A mangan ron would be nice for 3rd place, but a haneman tsumo would give her just enough points to move all the way up to 1st place.
Tojo starts out the hand with a messy 5-shanten hand (4-shanten for chiitoi) with an isolated 5s for value. In the first row, she draws a red 5p, creates a 244456p shape and gets to 3-shanten. At the same time, Hagiwara gets to 2-shanten with a pair of souths and Katsumata gets to 3-shanten. Around the middle second row, Katsumata shifts to tanyao while both Tojo and Hagiwara advance to iishanten. The first of them to get to tenpai is Hagiwara, who calls pon on the souths and waits on a 47p ryanmen.
Soon after, Katsumata gets to tenpai and waits on a 47p ryanmen.
Still within the same go-around, Tojo gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 568p wait. With tsumo and one more han, she would have the tsumo haneman for 1st place.
Two turns after the riichi, Hagiwara draws the red 5s double dora. With expensive value and a risk of falling into 4th, Hagiwara folds his hand. Near the end of the wall, Katsumata draws the 5p. Since the riichi stick would push his hand into 1st place, Katsumata pushes the 5p and deals into Tojo. Tojo wins the hand with Riichi/Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 8,000, finishing the game in 3rd.
Idol Debut
September 26, Game 1, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6004
In E2-0, Nakada Kana of the Beast Japanext is playing in her first M-League game. Sitting 6,200 behind the leader, a mangan would put her in a nice 1st place.
Nakada starts out with a big starting hand, iishanten with her first 13 tiles and waiting on 7 different tiles for the double riichi. Though she doesn’t get the double riichi, she still has the chance to add a 678 sanshoku with a 7p or 8p draw. Two turns later, she draws the red 5p, the next best thing. Nakada calls riichi and waits on a 47p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if it wins. In the middle of the second row, Nakada finds the 7p and wins the hand. Nakada wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000 to move into top spot.
Driving Forward
September 26, Game 1, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2001
In E4-0, Asami Maki of the Akasaka Drivens is making her M-League debut. Sitting in last place and starting her dealership, she has a chance to move up a few ranks.
Asami starts out 4-shanten with a lone 5p dora as its only value. In the first row, she draws a 4p to create a ryanmen, fills in an 8s kanchan and gets to iishanten. At the same time, Nakada to her right gets iishanten for tanyao and Takamiya Mari across from her gets to a wide iishanten. On turn 6, Asami pairs up the green dragon and tries to shift to honitsu, starting with the 4p. Then, Takamiya gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58p ryanmen.
With the 5p standing all alone, Asami is in a dangerous position. Still, she holds onto the 5p and keeps pushes her hand. A turn later, she draws the 4p again, creating the 36p ryanmen she had before. As she waits to get to tenpai, Nakada gets there in the middle of the second row and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen.
In the ippatsu round, Asami calls chii on the 3p to get to tenpai. Her wait is a green dragon/2s shanpon, but only the green dragon gives a yaku. Even as she draws dangerous tiles, she pushes them in hopes of winning. In the middle of the third row, Nakada draws and discards the green dragon and deals into Asami. Asami wins the hand with Green Dragon/Dora 1 for 2,900 plus two riichi sticks, moving her into 2nd place.
Maou
September 26, Game 2, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3503
In E4-0, Sasaki Hisato has just fallen from 1st to 4th place after dealing into a mangan. With at least a mangan win, he will move back into 1st place.
Hisato starts out the hand 3-shanten with an ankou of souths and a connected 4m. With only three tiles that are neither manzu nor terminals, Hisato’s hand naturally shifted towards honitsu. On turn 2, he creates a 14m ryanmen. On turn 7, he pairs up the norths to get to iishanten. On turn 11, he draws a third north and has multiple choices for tenpai.
Even though having a hand worth at least mangan is usually a dama, his discards have already tipped his opponents off to the fact that it’s a manzu flush. With no one discarding manzu isato decides to call riichi on a 14m ryanmen and try to get extra points. On his very next draw, he gets the 1s and wins the hand. With his hand at least a baiman now, he flips the dora and makes his south ankou into dora, upgrading his hand to the rare sanbaiman! Hisato wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/North/Honitsu/Dora 1/Ura 3 for 6,000/12,000, easily putting him into 1st place.
Birthday Present
September 28, Game 1, E4-3
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2503
On September 27, Rumi celebrated her birthday. On September 28, she plays in M-League. In E4-3, she is currently in 3rd place, 3,300 behind 1st.
Rumi starts out the hand 2-shanten for chiitoi (3-shanten for a standard hand) with pairs of 5m (containing the red 5m), 4s, red dragon and south. When the south comes out from both Taro and Uotani on turn 2, she doesn’t call it, confirming her pursuit for chiitoi. On turn 5, she draws the 3p to get to iishanten. In the middle of the second row, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a north tanki. With Taro holding a pair of norths, only one north is left in the wall. With each go-around, there is hope that she would draw that last tile. 13 tiles. 9 tiles. 5 tiles. The wall shrinks, but there is still one more chance. Then, on the very last tile in the wall, Rumi finds the last north and wins the hand! Rumi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Haitei/Chiitoi/Aka 1 for 3,000+300/6,000+300 plus one riichi stick, moving her into 1st place.
Ryan
September 28, Game 1, S1-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4502
In S1-2, Uotani is sitting in 3rd place, 13,900 behind the player ahead of her. In order to move up, she needs a limit hand soon.
Uotani starts out the hand. 4-shanten with a 123s sequence with an extra 1s, and a 789m sequence with an extra 8m. In the first row, she draws a 2s dora to set up a 123s iipeikou shape and a 47p ryanmen, getting to 2-shanten. Around the second row, Uotani creates a 678m sequences for iishanten. While Uotani builds, Rumi calls to move forward. Near the middle of the second row, Rumi gets to tenpai and waits on an 8p/1m shanpon.
Two turns after Rumi gets to tenpai, Uotani draws a 3s to complete the 123s iipeikou. Uotani decides to stay dama on a 5p tanki, hoping to either improve the wait or draw either the 6m or 9m to get a potential ryanpeikou. On her next draw, she does find the 9m and switches to a 69m ryanmen (hoping for the 6m for the ryanpeikou). At the end of the second row, Rumi draws and discards the 6m and deals into Uotani. Uotani wins the hand with Pinfu/Ryanpeikou/Dora 2 for 12,000+600, moving her into 2nd place.
Yakuman Tenpai!?!
September 28, Game 1, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3002
In S2-0, Okada is sitting in 1st place and 8,900 ahead of 2nd place dealer Uotani. With Uotani posing a threat, Okada wants to win this hand now to neutralize the threat.
Okada starts out the hand 3-shanten with a pair of white dragons and a lot of souzu, making honitsu an easy aim. By turn 4, Okada’s hand is now set for a flush, sitting at iishanten. On turn 6, she makes an ankou of white dragons and waits dama on a 36s ryanmen, guaranteed at least a haneman if it wins.
On her very next draw, she draws a 7s. With it being her third ankou, she now has three concealed triplets and a shanpon wait, tenpai for a potential suuankou. Staying dama, she hopes to draw either the 2s or the 6s to win the yakuman.
In the first go-around, Taro advances to 2-shanten. Holding an ankou of 4s and a lone 2s (with no need for another pair), Taro throws the 2s and deals into Okada. Okada wins the hand Honitsu/Toitoi/Sanankou/White Dragon/Aka 1 for 16,000, pushing Taro into the negatives.
Displaced Honitsu
September 28, Game 2, E2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2504
In E2-1, Aki is the dealer and starts out the hand 3-shanten with all the pinzu from 2-8 and a pair of 9m. In the first row, she draws a second 3p to secure a second sequence and a ryanmen, pairs up the red dragon and gets to iishanten on turn 5. At the start of the second row, Aki draws a 4p to get to tenpai. Even though it would be very easy to shift to honitsu, she chooses to just call riichi and wait on a 9m/red dragon shanpon. Two turns later, Shibukawa draws and discards the red dragon and deals into Aki. With the ura flip, Aki’s 9m pair becomes dora and upgrades her hand to a dealer haneman. Aki wins with Riichi/Red Dragon/Dora 2/Ura 2 for 18,000+300 plus one riichi stick, moving into 1st place.
Rinshan
September 28, Game 2, E2-2
In E2-2, Sonoda is in 3rd place and 5,200 behind 2nd place. With the team in 7th place and with only one 1st under their belt, Sonoda needs to earn points for the team.
Sonoda starts out the hand 3-shanten with two ryanmens and pairs of north and red dragon. In the first row, Sonoda fills in a ryanmen and calls pon on the 1m to get to iishanten. A few turns later, he calls pon on the red dragon to get to tenpai on a 36p ryanmen.
At the end of the second row, Sonoda draws the fourth 1m. With a good wait, Sonoda calls an added kan to fish for a rinshan.
Sure enough, on Sonoda’s draw, he finds the 3p and wins the hand. Sonoda wins with Rinshan/Red Dragon for 800+200/1,600+200.
South 4
September 28, Game 2, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2003
In S4-0, Sonoda is in 2nd place (despite having 51,000) and 7,800 behind 2nd place Aki. With a mangan general ron, a 3/50 tsumo or a 3/40 direct hit, he will be the sole 1st place player (a 3/30 direct hit would create a tie).
Sonoda starts out the hand 3-shanten with two ryanments and a single dora 6p. The hand has potential for pinfu and tanyao, but nothing is secured yet. In the first row, Sonoda draws a 7s to complete a 789s sequence, making tanyao unlikely. Still sitting 2-shanten at the end of the row, Sonoda hopes for either a 5p or 6p to firmly secure the dora. On turn 7, he draws the 5p to both secure it and make pinfu more likely. A few turns later, Sonoda gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen.
If Sonoda wins by tsumo or a ron off either Tojo or Shibukawa, he will still need an extra han to move into 1st. With a direct hit off Aki without an uradora, they would tie for 1st place.
While Sonoda waits, Shibukawa tries to escape the deep negatives. During the ippatsu round, Shibukawa calls pon on the south to get to tenpai on a 25s ryanmen. Unfortunately for him, he draws the red 5p on his very next turn and deals into Sonoda.
With the red dora being the extra han, Sonoda has successfully finished in 1st place. Sonoda wins with Riichi/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 8,000 and the team’s second 1st place of the season.
With Aki’s 58,800, she is now 2nd place for the highest 2nd place in an M-League game, behind only Matsumoto’s 59,600 from last season’s semifinals.
Raking In
September 29, Game 1, E2-2
In E2-2, Nakabayashi is sitting in 4th place and 3,000 behind the leader. With 3,600 going to the next winner, any hand will move Nakabayashi into 1st place.
Nakabayashi starts out the hand with a strong 2-shanten with three ryanmens, a pair of white dragon, a connected 3s dora and a secured red 5p. In the first row, he secures the 3s dora by filling in its ryanmen and makes the white dragon an ankou, guaranteeing a good wait tenpai. At the end of the row, Nakabayashi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen. As Nakabayashi calls riichi, Hisato makes a call to get to tenpai, but has a significantly weaker 4p kanchan. On Nakabayashi’s next draw, he draws the 8m and wins the hand. Nakabayashi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/White Dragon/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 2,000+200/4,000+200 plus three riichi sticks, easily jumping into 1st place.
Always on the Ippatsu
September 29, Game 1, E3-0
In E3-0, Hinata is the dealer in 2nd place and 10,800 behind 1st place Nakabayashi. With a dealer mangan, she will retake the lead.
Hinata starts out the hand with a cool 2-shanten, holding an ankou of 5m and a 69s ryanmen. On turn 2, she draws a 6s. On turn 3, she creates a 56778s shape to replace a kanchan. Over the next few turns, she upgrades the shape to a 369s sanmenchan, shifts to tanyao and guarantees a good wait tenpai at the end of the first row. While Hinata waits, Kurosawa gets to chiitoi tenpai and waits dama on an 8s tanki, hoping to improve the wait. In the middle of the second row, Kurosawa draws the 6p dora and calls riichi, hoping to pair it up.
During the ippatsu round, Hinata finally gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 369s wait. On Kurosawa’s ippatsu draw, she gets the 3s and immediately deals into Hinata. Hinata wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tanyao/Dora 1 for 12,000, putting her into the lead.
Skipping to S2-1, Hinata is being chased by 2nd place dealer Hisato, sitting only a dealer mangan away from losing her top spot.
Hinata starts out the hand 2-shanten with a secured dora 1s, but is lacking in good shapes. On turn 2, she fills in a penchan to get to iishanten. Though things are looking up for Hinata, the same could be said for Hisato. On turn 3, he gets to iishanten. On turn 8, Hisato draws the 6p to secure the red 5p. Being tenpai, he calls riichi and waits on a 25s ryanmen.
At this point, Hinata has improved her hand a lot and is now guaranteed a good wait at tenpai. With few safe tiles and a hand with potential, she pushes. Also pushing the hand is Kurosawa to her right, aiming for chiitoi. On turn 9, she gets to iishanten. On turn 10, she draws her sixth pair and waits on a 5p tanki. A turn later, draws the red 5s and shifts to a 5s tanki.
Kurosawa and Hisato wait. Hisato calls a concealed kan, but neither the kandora nor the rinshan help. After two rows of waiting, Hinata finally gets to tenpai in the third row and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen. On Hisato’s draw, he draws the 4s and deals the ippatsu into Hinata. Hinata wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Dora 1 for 5,200+300 plus two riichi sticks, widening the lead.
To The Top
September 29, Game 1
In S3-0, Hisato is in 3rd place after dealing the ippatsu while in riichi. Sitting 2,500 behind 2nd place and 23,900 behind 1st place, Hisato only has two hands to make up the deficits.
Hisato starts out the hand 3-shanten with a secured dora 7s and a 36p ryanmen. In the first row, he created and a kanchan to get to iishanten. In the second row, he widens his tile acceptance and shifts to accept tanyao. At around turn 10, a challenger approaches as 2nd place Nakabayashi gets to tenpai and waits on a 25m ryanmen.
Immediately after, Hisato gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69m ryanmen. On Hisato’s very next draw, he gets the takame 6m and wins the hand. Hisato wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1 for 3,000/6,000. Hitting Hinata with the dealer penalty, the gap between Hisato and 1st place Hinata is now just 5,900
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3504
In S4-0, Hisato needs a 3/50 general ron, a 3/40 tsumo or a 3/30 direct hit to win his second game of the season.
Hisato starts out the hand 4-shanten with a pair of 9m dora. He has good value, but he needs a yaku and a bit more for 1st place. On turn 4, he pairs up the white dragon to give a potential yaku. At the start of the second row, Hisato calls pon on the white dragon to get to iishanten. If Hisato can draw or call chii on the 9m, he will have enough value. Two turns later, Hisato calls riichi on the 9m and gets to tenpai on a 14m ryanmen.
With no risk of falling into 4th place, Nakabayashi pushes hard to try to overtake Hisato. Within the go-around, Nakabayashi gets to tenpai and tries to call riichi by throwing the 4m. Nakabayashi deals in and Hisato wins the hand with White Dragon/Dora 3, winning his second game of the season.
M-League Watch 