Highlights
Bite the Hand That Feeds You
November 20, Game 1, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3015
In E1-0, Okada is in 6th place in the individual standings, just a first place away from going to number one. As the starting dealer, she has a chance to rake in the points at the very beginning of the game.
Okada’s first hand of the game is impossibly good, holding 10 souzu tiles, including a concealed 5s triplet with the red 5s and pairs of 2s, 4s and 8s. Okada was so excited to play the hand that she started to discard before drawing her 14th tile. As she was discarding, Honda stopped her and reminded her to draw before discarding.
On turn 2, Okada draws a 3s, putting her 2-shanten. With a pon of the 2s on turn 4, Okada gets to iishanten. At the end of the row, Okada draws another 2s and will now get to tenpai with any souzu draw. On her next draw, she draws a 7s and is tenpai on a wide 1346s wait. A few turns later, Honda, the player who kept Okada’s hand alive, discards the 4s trying to get to tenpai and deals into Okada. Okada wins the hand with Chinitsu/Aka 1 for 18,000.
Dealer Double
November 20, Game 1, E3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2521
In E3-0, Rumi is the dealer in 2nd place, 8,700 behind 1st place Okada.
Rumi starts out the hand 4-shanten with a concealed 2s triplet. In the first row, fills in a kanchan, draws a red 5p and pairs up the east to get to iishanten. Also in the first row, Okada tries to end the hand quickly by making two calls and getting to tenpai on a 3p kanchan.
In the second row, Rumi draws a third east and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen. In the third row, she draws the dora 4p and wins the hand. Rumi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Double East/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 6,000 all, moving into 1st place.
One Yaku, Five Dora
November 20, Game 1, E4-0
In E4-0, Okada is in 2nd place and 12,900 behind 1st place Rumi.
Okada starts out the hand 4-shanten with a red 5s, a regular dora 5m and the red 5m double dora. In her first few turns, she pairs up the red dragon and calls pon on it to get to 2-shanten. At the end of the first row, she draws a third 5m for iishanten. At the start of the second row, she gets to tenpai and waits on a 3m. Immediately after, Tojo discards the 3m and deals into Okada. Okada wins the hand with Red Dragon/Dora 3/Aka 2 for 12,000, putting her within 300 of 1st place.
Back to Back to Back
November 20, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2522
In E1-0, Aki is the starting dealer and trying to carry the momentum from Rumi’s 1st place the previous game.
Rumi starts out the hand 2-shanten with two ryanmens. She spends most of the first row not drawing anything useful, but she does end up getting the red 5p at the end of the row. On her next draw, she gets the red 5m for a wider iishanten. After her, Daigo calls pon on the red dragon to get to a cheap 8p kanchan tenpai. On Aki’s next draw, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 457m wait, guaranteed at least a mangan. With a cheap hand, Daigo ends up folding against the dealer riichi. In the third row, Aki draws the 5m and wins the hand. Aki wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Aka 2 for 4,000 all.
In E1-1 Aki starts out 5-shanten with a red 5p double dora. In the first row, she creates some kanchans and secured the red 5p to get to 2-shanten. In the second row, Daigo again calls pon on the red dragon to get to tenpai on a 5m/2s shanpon, later switching to a 2m/2s shanpon. At the same time, Aki makes an ankou and creates a sequence getting to tenpai and calling riichi on a 2m kanchan at the end of the row. Within the ippatsu round, Daigo discards the 2m trying to accept a 3-sided wait and deals into Aki Aki wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 12,000+300.
In E1-2, Aki starts out 3-shanten with two ryanmens, a dora 9p and a red 5s. In the first row, Aki tries to shifts her hand to tanyao (and of course draws the 9p dora right after discarding it) and gets to 2-shanten with a very likely pinfu at the end of the row. At the start of the second row, Shibukawa calls a pon on the red dragon to get to tenpai on a 36p ryanmen. Right after him, Aki gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen. During the ippatsu round, Daigo draws and discards the 1m and deals into Aki. Aki wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Aka 1 for 12,000+600, putting her above 60,000 and Daigo into the negatives.
Moving Ahead
November 20, Game 2, E4-0
In E4-0, Shibukawa is the dealer and 15,000 behind 1st place Aki. A mangan tsumo or a haneman general ron is enough to get into 1st place.
Shibukawa starts out the hand 3-shanten with a pair of red dragons ad a connected dora 3m. Across from him is Kurosawa at 2-shanten and to Shibukawa’s left is Daigo 3-shanten. In the first row, Shibukawa makes sequences to get to iishanten, Kurosawa shifts to tanyao for iishanten and Daigo also gets to iishanten with a riichi hand. The first of the three to get to tenpai is Kurosawa, who calls riichi waiting on a 58m ryanmen.
Immediately after, Daigo gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a dora 3m penchan.
In the third row, Shibukawa joins the two by drawing a third red dragon for tenpai and calling riichi on a 25m ryanmen. On his very next draw, he finds the 5m and wins the hand. Shibukawa wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Red Dragon for 4,000 all plus two riichi sticks, switching placements with Aki.
Placement Battle
November 20, Game 2, S4-1
In S4-0, it’s anyone’s game for 2nd, 3rd and 4th. 4th place Daigo is 4,600 behind 3rd place Kurosawa, who is 6,200 behind 2nd place Aki.
At the start, Aki is 4-shanten with a connected red 5p, Kurosawa is 3-shanten with a secured red 5m and Daigo is 3-shanten with two ryanmens. Daigo is quick right out of the game, drawing for pinfu and tanyao and getting good tiles. On turn 5, Daigo draws the red 5s for tenpai and calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan. If he can draw the winning tile himself and find one more han, he will move into 2nd place. If not, then any win will put him into 3rd.
During the ippatsu round, Kurosawa gets to iishanten with a guaranteed pinfu. With a good wait and a chance at 2nd, Kurosawa pushes. On turn 7, Kurosawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen. If she wins off the 7m (to give her a 567m iipeikou) or by tsumo, she will have enough for 2nd place. Otherwise, she will have to find an extra han somewhere else. With the riichi by Kurosawa, it also makes it so that a mangan tsumo is enough for Daigo to get to 2nd.
During the ippatsu round, Aki gets to 2-shanten with a lot of ryanmens. She is already 2nd place and can’t fall into 4th unless she deals in, so she treads very carefully. As she draws tiles, she picks up pairs, getting to chiitoi 2-shanten by the end of the second row. In the middle of the third row, she actually gets to tenpai on an 8m tanki.
All three want to win, but time is running out. Then, on Kurosawa’s last draw, she finds the 4m and wins the hand. Kurosawa wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 1 for 1,300+100/2,600+100, finishing the game in 2nd place.
Hane-Maki
November 21, Game 1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2015
In E1-0, Asami starts out in the south seat and is a 1st place away from returning to the positives.
Asami starts out the hand 2-shanten from the start, but doesn’t have any clear value. In the first row, she draws tiles close to the edges. By the end of the row, she is iishanten with a chance at both junchan and sanshoku, only needing a 9s and a 9m to make it happen. As she waits, both Yu to her left and Hinata to her right push their hands forward. At the end of the second row, Hinata is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen, hoping for a ryanmen to add iipeikou.
Two turns later, Yu gets to tenpai as well and sits dama on a 47m ryanmen.
With Asami holding a good hand and the ability to move forward safely, she keeps pushing. Near the middle of the third row, she finally draws the 9m and calls riichi on a 69s ryanmen. If she gets the 9s, she will have at least a haneman. If she wins on the 6s, she will have a measly 2-han hand. With two riichi calls on the table, Yu decides to do a tsumogiri riichi. Two turns after Asami calls riichi, Hinata draws and discards the 9s and deals into Asami. Asami wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Junchan/Sanshoku for 12,000 plus two riichi sticks, a big start to the game.
In E2-0, Asami starts out with another edge-based hand, 3-shanten for another Junchan/Sanshoku hand. The first row brings her forward one step to 2-shanten, but is otherwise not useful. In the second row, Asami draws a west dora and pairs it up. Near the end of the row, she calls chii to get to iishanten. While Asami looks for tenpai, her other three opponents are actively moving forward. With two calls and a 1-han hand, Hinata is the first to tenpai at the start of the third row on a 47m ryanmen. Immediately after, Sugawara makes a call to be atozuke tenpai on a 4m/green dragon shanpon. Right after her, Yu makes a call to get to a yakuless 69m ryanmen. With the 9p draw after him, Asami is the last to tenpai and waits on a 69m ryanmen. On Sugawara turn, she draws and discards the 9m and deals into Asami. Asami wins the hand with West/Chanta/Sanshoku/Dora 3 for 12,000, her second haneman in a row.
Chumo
November 21, Game 1
In S1-1, Hinata is the dealer in 3rd place, 5,700 behind 3rd place Yu and 31,400 behind 1st place Asami. With the previous hand going to a draw while she was in riichi, Hinata looks to get back her stick and win a big hand in the process.
Hinata starts out the hand 2-shanten with a secured red 5p and a secured 2s dora. On turn 3, she makes the 5p an ankou to get to iishanten. On turn 6, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen. Her dealer riichi, however, would not go uncontested. After calling pon on the white dragon in the first row, 4th place Sugawara gets to tenpai in the second row and waits on a 4m kanchan. Even with the dealer riichi, Sugawara is able to maintain her tenpai. At the start of the second row, Hinata draws her 5m and wins the hand. Hinata wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 4,000+100 all plus one riichi stick, moving into 2nd place
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4023
In S1-2, Hinata is now 14,000 behind Asami. A 3/40 direct hit, a mangan tsumo or a haneman ron would be enough for 1st place.
Hinata starts out the hand 2-shanten with a sequence hand likely. After getting rid of her honours, she secures pinfu and tanyao on turn 5 and waits iishanten. On her next draw, she gets the red 5s and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen. Two turns after that, she draws the 7m and wins the hand. Flipping one uradora, Hinata wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 6,000+200 all, putting her in the lead.
Return to the Top
November 21, Game 1, S1-3
In S1-3, Asami is trying to return to top spot after being passed by the dealer Hinata the previous hand.
Asami starts out the hand 3-shanten with a secured dora 6p. To her right is Hinata at chiitoi 4-shanten (5-shanten for a standard hand) with a pair of green dragons. In the first row, Hinata quickly advances by calling pon on the green dragon and making ryanemns, getting to 2-shanten by the end of the row. On the other hand, Asami is stuck with bad shapes at 2-shanten. After drawing a red 5s and shifting to tanyao in the second row, Asami gets to tenpai with a 345m call and waits on a 36s ryanmen, hoping for the 3s for sanshoku.
Right after, Hinata gets to tenpai on a 14m ryanmen.
After a few draws and discards, Asami draws the 3s at the start of the third row and wins the hand. Asami wins with Tanyao/Sanshoku/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 2,000+300/4,000+300, enough for 1st place.
Taro Time
November 21, Game 2
In E1-0, Taro starts out in the south seat, trying to win his first game after going 20 games in a row without one.
Taro starts out the hand 3-shanten with pairs of east and white dragon, as well as a loosely connected dora 4m. Within the first go-around, Taro calls pon on the east to advance his hand. A few turns later, he calls pon on the white dragon to get to 2-shanten. At the end of his row, he gets to iishanten. Later, he shifts his hand to a souzu honitsu to add value. While Taro has a good hand, Nakada across the table also has good shapes to challenge him. At the start of her second row, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen.
During the ippatsu round, Taro fills in a 7s penchan and gets to tenpai on a 25s ryanmen. With the 5s being safe against Nakada, his chances of winning go up significantly. Sure enough, Matsumoto discards the 5s trying to defend against Nakada while advancing his hand and deals into Taro. Taro wins the hand with East/White Dragon/Honitsu for 8,000 plus one riichi stick.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2016
In E2-0, Taro is now the dealer and starts out with a nice 3-shanten hand with two ryanmens and the red 5s double dora. In the first row, Taro shifts his hand to tanyao and guarantees himself a good wait. In the second row, he calls chii on the 5s to guarantee mangan and get to iishanten. Also in the second row, Nakada advances her own hand and is the first to tenpai on a 69m ryanmen. Since six of them are visible, she stays dama. In the third row, she switches to a 47m/6p wait and calls riichi.
Two turns later, Matsumoto gets to chiitoi tenpai and calls riichi on a 2p tanki.
With Nakabayashi folding, he discards the 8p, allowing Taro to call chii and wait on a 36m ryanmen. On his very next draw, his last draw of the hand, he gets the 6m and wins the hand. Taro wins with Tanyao/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 4,000 all plus two riichi stick, bringing his score up to 48,000.
K
November 21, Game 2
In E3-0, Nakabayashi is in 2nd place and 24,400 behind 1st place Taro.
Nakabayashi starts out the hand 2-shanten with a pair of west yakuhai dora. In the first row, eh calls chii on the west to get his yaku and guarantee a mangan. At the same time, Matusmoto builds his hand and calls a kan, making the 1m an extra dora. In the second row, Matsumoto is the first to tenpai and stays dama on a yakuless 1p tanki. A few turns later, he switches to a 3s tanki and calls riichi. During the ippatsu round, Nakabayashi fills in a kanchan and waits on a 25s ryanmen. On his very next draw, he gets the 2s and wins the hand. Nakabayashi wins with West/Dora 3 for 2,000/4,000 plus one riichi stick.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5514
Skipping to S2-0, Nakabayashi is 13,400 behind the dealer Taro. With a haneman tsumo, it will be enough for 1st.
Nakabayashi starts out the hand 3-shanten with a connected 3-shanten and a chance at both pinfu and tanyao. In the first row, he pursues both of them, getting rid of a connected 1m and filling in some kanchans. By turn 4, he is iishanten. On turn 8, Nakabayashi draws the ideal tile and calls riichi on a 258m wait. On his very next draw, he gets the 8m and wins the hand. Nakabayashi wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 3,000/6,000, sending him up to 1st place.
After 20
November 21, Game 2
In S3-0, Taro is in 2nd place and 4,600 behind 1st place Nakabayashi. With no more dealership, he only has two hands to make up the difference.
Taro starts out the hand 3-shanten with no sign of value anywhere. With a pair of 1p in his hand, his only choice is to aim for a closed hand. By the end of the first row, he is iishanten with a kanchan and a 3-sided wait. Across from him is 3rd place Nakada has two red fives in her hand. In the middle of the second row, she pairs up the regular 5m dora and gets to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten. With a 345s call, Nakada is first to tenpai and waits on a 47p ryanmen, guaranteed a mangan if she wins.
In the third row, Taro gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 258p ryanmen. With only 1/50 guaranteed, Taro would like to either draw the tile himself or find uradora.
After a lot of drawing and discarding, it seems like there is no more hope for Taro. Then, on the second-last tile in the wall, Nakada draws and discards the 2p.
However, despite the 2p being Taro’s winning tile, he chooses not to call ron! Since the hand is only worth 1/50 (without considering uradora), that would only be a 1,600 swing against Nakabayashi. If the hand goes to a draw, it would instead be a 2,000 swing if only he and Nakada are tenpai (Taro gaining 1,500 plus Nakabayashi losing 1,500, plus Taro’s lost riichi stick). Since Nakabayashi discarded a pair of green dragons and 1s, Taro can be fairly sure that Nakabayashi is noten. The hand goes to a draw and only Taro and Nakada tenpai.
With the genius move, Taro is closer that he would be if he won the hand.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2017
In S4-1, Taro is now just 2,600 behind 1st place Nakabayashi. With a riichi stick and a honba on the table, any direct hit or tsumo would be enough. A 1/40 ron would also be enough for a tie, and anything more that that would put him as the sole 1st place.
Taro starts out with an annoying 5-shanten hand which is as close to kokushi as it is to a standard hand. To his left is Nakabayashi 3-shanten with a likely tanyao hand and to Taro’s right is 4-shanten Matsumoto, who needs a mangan tsumo or a haneman ron to move into 3rd place. In the first row, Nakabayashi calls a 234m chii to get to iishanten, Matsumoto shifts to tanyao and Taro pairs up the green dragon for 3-shanten. In the second row, Nakabayashi is the first to tenpai and waits on a 25p ryanmen.
As Nakabayashi gets to tenpai, Taro makes a chii to get to iishanten. Though he has no yaku secured yet, his green dragon and south pairs guarantee that he will get one. Unfortunately, 1/30 isn’t enough to call ron off anyone else but Nakabayashi. After Taro’s call, Matsumoto draws a red 5m and calls riichi on a 5p kanchan. With a tsumo, Matsumoto will move into 3rd place.
With Matsumoto’s riichi, Taro can now win in any fashion and win the game. At the start of the third row, Matsumoto draws and discards the green dragon, letting Taro call and get to tenpai on a 36p ryanmen. Two turns later, Nakabayashi draws and discards the 6p and deals into Taro. Taro wins the hand with Green Dragon only for 1,000+300 plus 2,000 in riichi sticks to win the game by 2,000.
After almost one whole year without an M-League win (his last one was December 13, 2022), Taro has finally won.
Rumi-Nation
November 23, Game 1
In E3-0, Rumi is in 1st place with a 5,400 lead over 2nd. Starting her dealership, she has a chance to widen the lead.
Rumi starts out the hand 3-shanten with a loosely connected 3m dora and a pair of norths. In the first row, Rumi makes a concealed triplet of easts, makes a 36s ryanmen and gets to 2-shanten by the end of the row. At the same time, Takamiya tries to go for a fast hand by calling twice and Sarukawa gets himself to 2-shanten as well. In the second row, Rumi calls pon on the 7m and draws a second 3m dora. The first player to tenpai is Sarukawa, who calls riichi on a 2p kanchan.
During the ippatsu round, Takamiya discards the north and Rumi calls pon, getting to tenpai on a 36s ryanmen. Two turns after getting to tenpai, Sarukawa draws a fourth 4p and calls a concealed kan, though it was of no use to anyone. On Sarukawa’s next turn, he draws and discards the 6s, dealing into Rumi. Rumi wins the hand with Double East/Dora 2 for 12,000 plus one riichi stick.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2523
In E3-1, Rumi starts out with a nice 2-shanten hand with good waits and pairs of west and red dragon. Very quickly, Rumi is able to call pon on both the honours and gets to tenpai on a 69s ryanmen.
A few turns after Rumi gets to tenpai, Sarukawa does as well and calls riichi on a 58p ryanmen.
Despite both players having good waits, neither of them are able to pick up their winning tiles. Rumi does, however, pick up a red 5s to get to a mangan. Both players just keep drawing and discarding, waiting for something. Around the end of the second row, Sarukawa’s tiles were all picked up, leaving him with little chance of winning. In the third row, Rumi finally draws the 6s and wins the hand. Rumi wins with Honitsu/Red Dragon/Aka 1 for 4,000+100 all plus one riichi stick, getting Rumi to above 55,000.
Yakuman Tenpai???
November 23, Game 1, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2524
In S1-0, Sarukawa is deep in 4th place at -6,800. He desperately needs a big hand. On the other hand, Rumi is comfortably in 1st place with 53,500.
Sarukawa starts out the hand 4-shanten with a single green dragon dora, a single red dragon and a pair of white dragons. With the need for points, he keeps the dream alive by holding them. Within the first few turns, he calls pon on the white dragon. On turn 5, he pairs up the green dragon. At the start of the second row, Sarukawa pairs up the red dragon. If he is able to make both of them into triplets, he will be tenpai for a daisangen yakuman. A turn later, he creates a 345s sequence to get to iishanten.
Around the table, he does have some competition, though. Across from him is Takamiya at iishanten. After shifting to tanyao, Takamiya gets to tenpai at the end of the second row and calls riichi on a 6s/4m shanpon.
With the riichi, Takamiya puts herself in a dangerous position where any dragon she draws will have to be discarded. Sure enough, Takamiya draws the red dragon on her ippatsu draw and is froced to discard it. Sarukawa call pon and gets to tenpai on a green dragon/8s shanpon. With one green dragon in Rumi’s hand, there is still one more green dragon in the wall.
Fans are at the edge of their seats. Beast fans hope that Sarukawa draws it, Konami fans hope Takamiya doesn’t draw it. Then, in the third row, Rumi ends up drawing it, killing the chance of a yakuman and also getting her iishanten.
As Rumi folds her hand, she ends up getting closer to honitsu tenpai. On the 6th-last tile of the wall, Rumi gets to iishanten and is able to continue safely. After Sonoda calls a chii to get to a yakuless tenpai, Rumi draws the 3rd-last tile. It misses, leaving her still at iishanten. On the second-last tile, Sarukawa draws and discards the 8p. With a pon, Rumi gets to tenpai on a 58p/green dragon wait. With the very last tile in the wall, Sarukawa draws the last 8p and ends up dealing into Rumi! After having so much hope, he ends up with one of the worst results possible. Rumi wins the hand with Houtei/Honitsu/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 12,000 plus one riichi stick, bringing Rumi up to 66,500 and Sarukawa all the way down to -18,800.
Beast Bump
November 23, Game 2, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6018
In S1-0, Sugawara the dealer, hoping to make up the points that were lost by Sarukawa the previous game.
Sarukawa starts out the hand with good value, holding a pair of 2p dora and a connected red 5s. Unfortunately, she is 4-shanten for both chiitoi and for a standard hand. In the first row, she secures the red 5s, but is still stuck at 3-shanten with bad shapes. In the second row, she makes some good shapes and calls pon on the 2p dora, getting to iishanten in the middle of the second row. Two turns later, she fills in a 5p kanchan and gets to tenpai on a 36s/4m wait. Soon after, Date discards the 4m and deals into Sugawara. Sugawara wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 3/Aka 1 for 12,000
She would go on to win two more small hands and eventually win the game.
There Be Dragons
November 24, Game 1, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3017
In E4-0, Hori is in 2nd place and 8,500 behind 1st place Hinata.
Hori starts out the hand with an annoying 5-shanten hand with one of each dragon. In the first row, Hori got rid of his stray terminals and started drawing dragons. By the end of the row, he is 3-shanten with pairs of the white and red dragons. In the second row, Hori calls pon on the red dragon, pairs up the green dragon and chii on a 345p sequence to get to iishanten. Instead of holding a 9s pair along with his two other dragon pairs, he instead breaks the pair to take a 25m ryanmen. Though he rejects the yakuman chance, his choice is sensible since one of each dragon is already discarded. On his next turn, he draws the red 5m and gets to tenpai on a green dragon/white dragon shanpon. At the end of the second row, Mizuhara draws and discards the green dragon and deals into Hori. Hori wins the hand with Green Dragon/Red Dragon/Shousangen/Aka 1 for 8,000.
There Be No Dragons
November 24, Game 1, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3018
In S1-0, Hori is 500 behind Hinata, just a hand away from moving into 1st place.
Hori starts out the hand 3-shanten with two sequences in hand. To his right is Setokuma at 4-shanten for both chiitoi and a standard hand. In the first row, Hori builds off his sequences to get to iishanten while Setokuma draws pairs, also getting to iishanten with pairs of green dragon and white dragon. On turn 9, Setokuma is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a red dragon tanki, waiting on the two copies left in the wall. Though the dragon pairs don’t provide extra points, it’s nice to see.
During the ippatsu round, Hori fills in a kanchan and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen, hoping for the 3m dora. On Setokuma’s ippatsu draw, he draws and discards the 6m and deals into Hori. Hori wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu for 2,600 plus one riichi stick, moving into 1st place.
Close Game
November 24, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s60_p2316
In S3-1, Kobayashi is in 4th place and 6,800 behind 3rd place Hagiwara. With a good tsumo he can join everyone for a close competition going into the last hand.
Kobayashi starts out the hand 2-shanten with two completed sequences, a 3s kanchan and a pair of green dragons. On turn 2, Kobayashi makes a 4m kanchan to get to iishanten. On turn 3, he converts the souzu kanchan into a 4s pair and a turn later, he fills in the 4m kanchan and calls riichi on a 4s/green dragon shanpon. Within the ippatsu round, Shiratori throws the green dragon and deals into Kobayashi. Kobayashi wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Green Dragon for 5,200+300 plus one riichi stick. Though Kobayashi is still in 4th place, he is now just 1,900 away from 1st.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3019
In S4-0, the scores are as follows:
- Hagiwara: 24,300
- Hori: 25,900
- Shiratori: 25,800
- Kobayashi: 24,000 (Dealer)
Hori and Shiratori can win any hand to finish the game in top spot, Hagiwara has to win a 2-han hand to get that title and Kobayashi can do whatever since he is the dealer. Everyone still has to be careful, though, since almost any deal-in will move them into last place.
With our first look around the table, we see Shiratori at 2-shanten while the rest of the table is at 3-shanten. In the first row, all four players shift to have a chance at tanyao. By the end of the row, Shiratori is iishanten (though with a pair of 9s) and Hori and Hagiwara are 2-shanten. In the middle of the second row, Hagiwara is the first to tenpai on a 3s/2p shanpon. Since one han isn’t enough, he calls riichi.
With the riichi on the table, all players tread carefully. Even with Kobayashi in 4th place, he chooses not to play recklessly. In the third row, Shiratori calls a chii to advance to iishanten. In the middle of the row, Shiratori makes another call and gets to tenpai on a 47m ryanmen.
The wall is starting to get short and time is running out. All four players know that a noten could spell a last place. On the 6th-last tile in the wall, Hori finally gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 36s ryanmen. On Shiratori’s draw, he gets the 6s. With 3456s shape in his hand, his only way to maintain tenpai on this turn is to deal in. With the scores so close, he takes the coin flip and ends up dealing into Hori with the 6s. Excited to open his hand, his hand breaks apart. After gathering up the tiles, he reveals his Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 1 hand for 3,900 plus one riichi stick, winning the game. With Hagiwara losing the riichi stick and Shiratori dealing in, Kobayashi rises from 4th to 2nd by doing nothing.
M-League Watch 
Worth noting that Shibukawa’s win was much more meaningful considering his great loss of -47,600 points to Saki about a year ago. In a way, it was a revenge match.