Highlights
Big Win
October 2, Game 1, E2-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6005
In E2-2, Daisuke is playing in his third game of the season, still looking for his first 1st. At this stage of the game, he is tied for 3rd place, sitting as the dealer and 16,000 behind 1st place Futoshi.
Daisuke starts out the hand at 4-shanten, but he has four ryanmens and a connected dora 4m for a promising outlook. In the first row, he fills in two of them and creates a pair to get to iishanten, hoping to draw a 3m to secure a 234m sanshoku. On his very next draw, he finds the 3m and calls riichi on a 69m ryanmen. If he wins on the 6m, his hand will also add tanyao and be worth at least a dealer haneman.
During the ippatsu round, Hinata fills in a kanchan. With a dora 4m pair and a secured red 5s, Hinata tries to advance her hand as safely as possible. On turn 10, she fills in a penchan to get to iishanten. At the end of the row, Hinata gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 369s wait, with the 6s and 9s safe against Daisuke.
Within the first go-around, Futoshi, who had been tenpai on a yakuless 7m, draws the 3s and folds, leaving it a battle between Daisuke and Hinata. Then, approaching the middle of the third row, Daisuke draws the takame 6m and wins the hand. Flipping one uradora, Daisuke wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Sanshoku/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 4,000+200/8,000+200 plus one riichi stick, sending Daisuke into 1st place.
Shortcut to Haneman
October 2, Game 1, E4-2
In E4-2, Hinata is in 4th place, 10,300 behind dealer Hori and 13,000 behind 2nd place Futoshi. In order to move up, she will need at least a haneman win.
Hinata starts out the hand 2-shanten for a standard hand (3-shanten for chiitoi) with a lone 1s dora in hand. In the middle of the first row, Hinata draws a second 5s, her hand still flexible to go either the standard or the chiitoi route. On turn 6, she pairs up the 8p for her fifth pair and secures chiitoi. In the middle of the second row, she pairs up the 1s dora and calls riichi on an 8s tanki. Within the go-around, perfect iishanten Daisuke draws and discards the 8s and deals into Hinata. Hinata wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Chiitoi/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 12,000+600, moving her into 3rd place.
Ippatsu
October 2, Game 1, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2004
In S1-0, Futoshi is narrowly in 2nd place and is 13,100 behind 1st place Daisuke. With a dealer mangan tsumo, he will move into 1st place.
Futoshi starts out the hand 4-shanten with a floating 3s dora. In his first few turns, he makes his 7s pair an ankou, he draws a 5s for a connection to the dora and creates a 47m ryanmen at the end of the row for iishanten. On turn 7, he draws the 4s to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen. On his very next draw, he gets the 7m and wins the hand. Fursohi wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Tanyao/Dora 1 for 4,000 all, moving him into 1st place.
Big Win Again
October 2, Game 1, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6006
Despite his big highs earlier in the game, Daisuke is back below 30,000 and in 2nd place in S2-0. With his last dealership starting, he has a chance to get another big win.
Daisuke’s hand is 2-shanten for chiitoi at the start, holding pairs of west, 3s, 3m and the 1m dora. In the middle of the first row, he pairs up the 4s to get to iishanten. Even as players call around him, he sticks to his chiitoi plan. At the start of the second row, Daisuke pairs up the 3p to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 1p tanki. Futoshi gets to tenpai soon after, but only on a single white dragon. In the third row, Futoshi draws a dangerous 6p and folds, leaving Daisuke in charge of the round. Then, on the second last tile of the wall, Daisuke draws the 1p and wins the hand. With the uradora hitting the 1p, Daisuke wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Chiitoi/Dora 2/Ura 2 for 8,000 all, getting him back into 1st place.
With that second dealer baiman tsumo, Daisuke is the first player ever to win two dealer baiman tsumos in a single game.
Despite dealing in five times in the hanchan, Daisuke would go on to win the game. He is only the third person in M-League history to win a game after dealing in five times, after Sonoda in the 2018-19 season and Hisato in the 2019-20 season.
Birthday Surprise
October 3, Game 1, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5006
On October 3, Honda celebrates his birthday and plays in the first game of the day. He sits 10,000 behind the leader Hisato, needing a mangan tsumo or better to either tie or beat 1st place.
Honda begins with a 3-shanten with two completed sequences and a secured 2s dora. In the first row, he creates three more ryanmens, including drawing another 2s for a 14s ryanmen. In the second row, he fills in one ryanmen, converts another into a pair and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen, hoping for the 1s for ittsuu. At the start of the third row, Aki discards the 1s trying to accept iishanten and deals into Honda. Flipping the uradora, his 1s becomes dora and upgrades his hand to a haneman. Hona wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Iipeikou/Dora 2/Ura 2 for 12,000.
Maou
October 3, Game 1, S3-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3505
In S3-2, Hisato is in 1st place and wishes to extend his lead with his dealership.
From the very start, Hisato is already iishanten with his first 13 tiles with a chance to double riichi. Though the double riichi chance doesn’t happen, he is still set for a potentially big hand. On turn 2, he draws a 4m to be just a 5m away from ittsuu. On turn 5, he draws the red 5m to secure ittsuu and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen. On his very next draw, he finds the 4s and wins the hand. Flipping one uradora, Hisato wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Ittsuu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 8,000+200 all.
No More Ura 3
October 3, Game 1, S3-4
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s60_p2074
In S3-4, Kayamori is in 2nd place, but is 9,000 away from 4th place. Kayamori wants to win this hand to prevent any of her opponents from overtaking her.
Kayamori starts our the hand 3-shanten with an ankou of 9p. In the first row, she makes an ankou of 5p and a 14s ryanmen to get to iishanten. In the second row, she draws a 456m sequence and a 123s sequences, getting to tenpai and calls riichi on a 678p wait. Soon after, Honda calls riichi on a 3m tanki, but his wait is already dead in people’s hands. In the third row, Kayamori gets the 8p and wins the hand. With the uradora flip, Kayamori’s 5p ankou becomes dora, upgrading the riichi only hand into a mangan. Kayamori wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Ura 3 for 2,000+400/4,000+400
Birthday Continues
October 3, Game 1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5007
In S4-1, Honda down in 3rd place with only 9,500, 14,600 behind 2nd place. With his dealership, he still has time to move up.
Honda starts out the hand 4-shanten with a secured red 5m. Sitting across from him is 4th place Aki already iishanten. On turn 2, she gets to tenpai, but lacks value for the comeback. On turn 3, she draws a 9m to secure a 789 sanshoku and calls riichi on a 7m penchan.
With very little information to go off of, Honda keeps pushing. In the second row, he fills in a ryanmen and creates another to get to iishanten for tanyao. At the end of the second row, Honda draws the red 5s and sits dama on a 36p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan upon winning. A few draws later, Honda finds the 6p and wins the hand. Honda wins with Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 3 for 6,000+100 all plus one riichi stick, moving him into 2nd place.
In S4-2, Honda is off to a great start being 2-shanten with two ryanmens. On turn 4, he draws a 9m to be an 8m away from ittsuu. On turn 5, he fills in a 25s ryanmen to be iishanten. On his next draw, he draws a red 5m. Though it’s not the ittsuu he was looking for, the draw adds value to his hand. Holding a single 1p dora, he decides to take the tanki and call riichi. In the middle of the second row, he draws the last 1p in the wall and wins the hand. Honda wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 4,000 all
8 vs. 2
September 3, Game 2, E3-4
In E3-4, Daigo and Katsumata are sitting 4th and 3rd, respectively, with 6,000 separating the two of them. With honba in play, there is a chance to boost up their scores.
Katsumata starts out the hand 3-shanten with a likely tanyao hand while Daigo holds a very wide 2-shanten. As mahjong would have it, Katsumata’s hand advances faster, getting to iishanten before Daigo. On turn 6, Katsumata gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 258m wait. Counting tiles, there are still eight of them left in the wall.
Immediately after, Daigo gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14p ryanmen. Counting his tiles, he only has two of his wait left.
With four times as many tiles for Katsumata to win with than Daigo, it would seem like Katsumata would win. However, this is mahjong. As mahjong would have it, on Daigo’s ippatsu draw, he finds the 1p and wins the hand. Daigo wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu for 1,300+400/2,600+400 plus one riichi stick, moving into 3rd place.
3s
October 3, Game 2, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4503
In S4-0, Daigo is in 4th place, 6,000 behind 3rd place Katsumata and 14,700 behind 2nd place Setokuma. With a mangan, Daigo can move up in placement.
Daigo starts out the hand 2-shanten with a connected red 5m and a small chance at either a manzu ittsuu or a 234 sanshoku. On turn 5, Daigo gets to iishanten, but the prospect of either yaku has disappeared. On turn 6, he draws the red 5s, adding value and giving the potential for pinfu. Just two turns later, Daigo creates a pair to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if it wins. On Setokuma’s draw right after, he picks up the 3s. Sitting within striking distance of 1st place date and holding an iishanten hand, he throws the 3s and deals into Daigo. Daigo wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Aka 2 for 8,000, hitting the right person to finish the game in 2nd place.
Shortcut to Haneman
October 5, Game 1, E3-4
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3507
In E3-4, Takizawa is in 4th place, 9,100 behind 3rd place. With the honba, Takizawa needs a mangan to move up in placement.
Takizawa’s first 14 tiles has four pairs, making him 2-shanten for chiitoi. Across from him is Hagiwara at 3-shanten and to his left is Yu at 4-shanten. In the first row, Takizawa moves up to five pairs, Hagiwara confirms tanyao at 2-shanten and Yu pairs up the dora white dragon for 2-shanten. In the second row, all three of them advance to iishanten. The first of the three to get to tenpai is Hagiwara, who waits dama in the middle of the third row on a 578m wait, hoping for the 8m for both pinfu and sanshoku.
Right after him, Yu makes the white dragon an ankou and waits dama on a 5s, guaranteed a mangan if he wins.
Still within the go-around, Takizawa pairs up his red 5s to get to tenpai and calls riichi on an 8p tanki.
As mahjong would have it, Yu draws the 8p on the ippatsu round. Holding a hand worth so much, Yu discards it and deals into Takizawa.
Takizawa wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Chiitoi/Aka 1/Ura 2 for 12,000, lifting Takizawa into 2nd place and pushing Yu down to 4th.
Last Tile
October 5, Game 1, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3508
In S4-0, the scores are shown above. Only 200 separates 1st place Uotani and 2nd place Hagiwara, meaning a simple tenpai/noten payment could be the difference. A 3 han hand from 3rd place dealer Yu would put him ahead. 4th place Takizawa needs a haneman tsumo, a baiman general ron or a 3/50 direct hit off Yu to escape 4th.
Yu starts out 3-shanten, Takizawa is 4-shanten with a pair of 5m dora (including the red 5m), Uotani is 3-shanten with an ankou of 3s and Hagiwara is 2-shanten with a red 5p. In the first row, Yu get to iishanten, Uotani calls for tanyao iishanten while the other two are stuck at 2-shanten (Takizawa for chiitoi, Hagiwara for a standard hand).
In the second row, Takizawa draws two pairs to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 2m tanki. Any win will give him a haneman, with an Ippatsu/Tsumo giving him a baiman for a big 1st place.
At first, no one pushes the hand very hard, with tenpai not being anyone’s priority. However, as the wall got shorter, their iishanten and 2-shanten hands started to become more appealing. When Hagiwara discards the red 5p, Yu calls chii to get to iishanten. When Uotani discards the 8p, Hagiwara calls chii to get to a yakuless iishanten. With four tiles left in the wall, Yu discards the 6s to get to a 7s/2p shanpon tenpai, having one last chance with the haitei.
With a pon, Hagiwara gets to tenpai and waits on a yakuless 5s/4p shanpon, haitei shifted to him. Yu draws his presumed last tile and misses. So does Takizawa. Uotani throws the 3s suji while sitting noten. Not wanting to risk a houtei deal-in, Hagiwara calls chii, maintaining tenpai and shifting the last tile to Yu.
Then, on the haitei tile, Yu draws the 2m. The 2m is dangerous, but he is so close to 1st place and he does see all the 4m to prevent a ryanmen. If he goes noten, he finishes in 3rd. If he stays tenpai, he has another chance to get a lot of placement points. After spending a bit of time thinking, Yu decides to discard the 2m and deals into Takizawa.
Takizawa wins the hand with Riichi/Houtei/Chiitoi/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 12,000, finishing the game in 3rd place.
Quick
October 5, Game 2, E1-0
In E1-0, Nakabayashi is the starting dealer and trying to avenge the 4th place Yu got the previous game.
Nakabayashi starts out the hand 2-shanten for chiitoi with pairs of 6p, 7p, 2s and south. On his next draw, he pairs up the 4p to get to iishanten. A turn after that, he pairs the 3p and calls riichi on a red dragon tanki. Surely this great start is a practical joke set up by the mahjong gods, right? Turns out, no! Instead of having his hand go to ryuukyoku, Nakabayashi is gifted with the red dragon on his very next and wins the hand. Nakabayashi wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Chiitoi for 4,000 all, starting the game off with a sizeable lead.
All The Sticks
October 5, Game 2, S2-4
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5008
After the previous three hands went to a draw, we arrive at S2-4 with five riichi sticks waiting for the next winner. Sitting in the dealer seat is 4th place Kurosawa, 9,600 behind 1st place Nakabayashi and only needing a 3-han hand to get there.
Kurosawa starts out the hand 3-shanten with a chance at a 456 sanshoku. On turn 2, Kurosawa draws a 6m to get to 2-shanten. On turn 3, Kurosawa draws the red 5p to fill in a kanchan and get to iishanten. Two turns later, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen, hoping to get the 4s for maximum points.
Though a dealer riichi is usually a call to fold, 6,200 in bonus sticks will make one push a bit more than usual. To Kurosawa’s left, Takamiya has a chance at iishanten, but rejects it to avoid the ippatsu. However, at the start of the second row, Takamiya fills in a kanchan to get back to iishanten, hoping for a 6s for tanyao and tenpai. On her next draw, she gets the 6s and waits dama on a 6p kanchan.
Two players vying for a big prize. Every draw, there is a chance for the near-mangan jackpot. At the end of the second row, Takamiya draws the 7s. Though she knows its dangerous, the extra sticks are too hard to pass up. She throws the 7s and deals into Kurosawa. Kurosawa wins the hand with Riichi/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 7,700+1,200 plus five riichi sticks, easily moving her into 1st place.
Redemption
October 5, Game 2, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5502
In S4-0, Nakabayashi is in 3rd place, 8,600 behind 1st place Kurosawa. With a mangan tsumo, a haneman general ron or a 3/40 direct hit, he will take the game.
Nakabayashi starts out the hand 4-shanten with an assortment of penchans and kanchans and no clear value whatsoever. On turn 3, he pairs up the south, both his seat wind and the round wind. On turn 5, he calls pon on the north and pursues honitsu, enough for a mangan with the double south. At the end of the row, he pairs up the 9s. After pairing up the 5m on his next draw, he now has the option to switch honitsu with toitoi. After drawing the third south and calling pon on the 2s, Nakabayashi gets to tenpai and waits on a 5m/9s shanpon, hoping to draw either of them himself.
As Nakabayashi waits, 4th place Daigo tries to move up in placement with his final dealership. Within the go-around, he gets to iishanten with pinfu potential. In the third row, Daigo finally reach tenpai and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen.
With the single riichi by Daigo, win conditions have changed for Nakabayashi. With 1,000 extra points, Nakabayashi can win the mangan in any way and move into 1st. Around the middle of the third row, Nakabayashi gets the 5m and wins the hand. Nakabayashi wins with Toitoi/Double South for 2,000/4,000 plus one riichi stick, successfully avenging Yu.
Dama
October 6, Game 1, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3003
In S1-0, Shibukawa is sitting in 4th place, 10,800 behind 1st place Matsumoto. With a haneman, he can flip his own standing.
Shibukawa starts out 4-shanten with two connected red fives. In the first row, he created sequences, ryanmens and shifted to tanyao. By the end of the row, Shibukawa is iishanten. After a lot of drawing and discarding, Shibukawa finally gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 47p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins. Two draws later, on his last draw, Shibukawa wins with Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Iipeikou/Aka 2 for 3,000/6,000, sending him into 1st place.
The Legend Returns
October 6, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4004
In E1-0, Ooi is finally playing in his first M-League game this season. He starts as the dealer and it’s a big deal.
Ooi starts out the hand 5-shanten, but has a lot of hope with an ankou of white dragons, a green dragon pair and a single red dragon. In the first row, he create a lot of ryanmens, including one with a red 5m and a 6m dora. By the end of the row, he is 2-shanten. In the first row, Ooi draws a 7m to connect the doras and then draws a 2s to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69p ryanmen (despite the 9p being exhausted). In the middle of the third row, Sarukawa discards the 6p trying to take tenpai and deals into Ooi. Ooi wins the hand with Riichi/White Dragon/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 12,000.
Make Rumi
October 6, Game 2
In S1-2, Rumi is in 2nd place and needs to get 25,100 to pass Ooi.
Rumi starts out the hand 4-shanten with a connected red 5s. To her right is Uchikawa, starting already iishanten with a connected 2p dora. In the first row, Rumi creates a sequences and pairs up the red dragon for 2-shanten. In the same span, Uchikawa cleans up his shapes while still iishanten. At the start of the second row, Uchikawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 258p wait, hoping for a 2p dora for haneman.
At the start, Rumi folds her hand a bit by discarding her pair of red dragons. Once they are gone, she gets back to iishanten. At the start of the third row, Rumi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan. Two turns later, Uchikawa draws and discards the 7p and deals into Rumi. Rumi wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Tanyao/Iipeikou/Aka 1 for 8,000+600.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2505
In S2-0, Rumi is now the dealer and a mangan tsumo or haneman ron away from 1st place.
Rumi starts out 3-shanten with a secured red 5m. On turn 4, Rumi draws a red 5s to create a 47s ryanmen and gets to 2-shanten. On turn 3, he creates a 3p for iishanten. At the end of the row, Rumi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 7p kanchan. At the start of the third row, Rumi draws the 7p and wins the hand. Flipping the uradora, Rumi adds a pair of dora and upgrades to a haneman. Rumi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 2/Ura 2 for 6,000 all, moving into 1st place.
The Beast is Back
October 6, Game 2
In S2-1, Sarukawa is in the negatives with -8,700, 16,300 behind 3rd place Uchikawa.
Sarukawa starts out the hand 4-shanten with a secured red 5p and one ryanmen in hand. Sarukawa spends his first row effectively discarding all his terminals and honours, getting to iishanten for tanyao at the end of the first row. In the middle of the second row, Sarukawa gets to tenpai and stays dama on a 47p ryanmen (hoping for the 7p to add iipeikou). Two turns later, Ooi discards the 7p and deals into Sarukawa. Sarukawa wins the hand with Pinfu/Tanyao/Iipeikou/Aka 1 for 8,000+300.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6008
In S3-0, Sarukawa is 8,000 away from 3rd place Uchikawa, needing a mangan or better to escape 4th.
Sarukawa starts out the hand 3-shanten with a lone 3p dora and a secured red 5s. In his first few draws, he adds a ryanmen to his hand and fills in another for iishanten, the 3s still not completely secured. On turn 7, he fills in the other ryanemn, leaving him with a pairless tenpai. With the dora lingering, Sarukawa decides to take the risk and calls riichi on a 3p dora tanki. On his very next draw, he draws the 3p and wins the hand. Sarukawa wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Tanyao/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 3,000/6,000 all, getting him into 3rd place.
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