Highlights
Expensive Dama
April 18, Game 1, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4066
In E4-0 Ooi is the dealer in 1st place. With the team at the bottom of the standings, Ooi wants to gain as many points as he can to raise the team back into a playoff spot.
Ooi starts out with a huge starting hand, holding a triplet of dora 5s, including the red 5s. Despite his mangan minimum path, he is at a standard 4-shanten. On turn 3, Ooi makes a 3p triplet. By turn 4, he incredibly already iishanten and has a chance at sanankou if he can draw a 9m or an 8s. After a bit of waiting, he draws the 8s on turn 8 and waits dama on a 6p tanki, hoping to hit someone with a sneaky dealer haneman. On his next turn, he changes to a 2s tanki. Near the end of the row, Okada discards the 2s trying to accept tenpai and deals into Ooi. Ooi wins the hand with Sanankou/Dora 3/Aka 1 for 18,000.
Rank Up Up
April 18, Game 1, S4-0
In S4-0, Rumi is in 4th place going into the last hand. Sitting 500 behind 3rd place Taro and 2,100 behind 2nd place Okada. If Rumi can get a 1/30 direct hit off Okada, 2/30 tsumo or a 2/40 ron, Rumi can go up 2 ranks and potentially finish with a positive gain.
Rumi starts out the hand 3-shanten for both a chiitoi and a standard hand, holding a pair of 5p dora to give her enough value. Quickly, Rumi makes north triplet, fills in a 3p kanchan and pairs up the 8s to get to iishanten. At the end of the row, Rumi makes the 8s into a triplet and calls riichi on a 69m ryanmen. In the middle of the second row, Rumi draws the 9m and wins the hand. Rumi wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 2/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000, finishing the game in 2nd place.
Ippatsu
April 18, Game 2, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2056
In E1-0, Sonoda is playing for the Akasaka Drivens, trying to recover the points lost by Taro in the previous game.
Sonoda starts out the hand already 2-shanten with a pair of 7m dora. In the first row, Sonoda is only able to advance one step, but he guarantees himself a good wait. Across from him, the dealer Ooi is also iishanten with a loosely connected red 5m. On turn 8, Ooi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 23p wait. If Ooi wins on the 3p, he will get sanshoku and have at least a mangan.
With the value in his hand, Sonoda just pushes. In the middle of the second row, he confirms pinfu while getting to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58p ryanmen. On his very next draw, Sonoda gets the 5p and wins the hand. Sonoda wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 2 for 3,000/6,000 plus one riichi stick, taking the early win.
Approach
April 18, Game 2, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2563
In S3-0, Hori is in 3rd place, 16,700 behind 2nd place Katsumata and 22,300 behind 1st place dealer Sonoda. If Hori wants a chance to improve his standing, he needs to win a big hand now.
Hori starts out with an incredible iishanten hand with a secured dora 7p, a secured red 5m and a 258m three-sided wait. On turn 2, Hori adds a guaranteed pinfu to his hand, now waiting on 6 different tiles for tenpai. After a bit of shifting, Hori gets to tenpai at the end of the row and calls riichi on a 258m wait, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins. During the ippatsu round, Ooi discards the 2m trying to accept a wide iishanten and deals into Hori. Hori wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 12,000, coming within a haneman of 1st place.
Zeus
April 19, Game 1, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2057
In E1-0, Taro is playing for the Akasaka Drivens and is the starting dealer.
Taro starts out already 2-shanten with two ryanmens and a clear path to tanyao. In the first row, Taro is unable to advance at all, just dropping whatever he draws. On turn 7, he fills in his last kanchan and guarantees himself a good wait. Two turns later, Taro gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen.
To Taro’s left is Takizawa, trying to get his team out of 5th place. In the middle of the second row, Takizawa gets to tenpai and calls a chasing riichi on a 4p kanchan.
In the third row, Takizawa ends up drawing and discarding the red 5m and deals into Taro. Taro wins the hand with Riichi/Tanyao/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 12,000.
K
April 19, Game 1, E3-3
In E3-3, there is one riichi stick and three honba on the table as dealer Nakabayashi is in 2nd place and 7,000 behind 1st place Taro.
Nakabayashi starts out 3-shanten with a pair of green dragons. In the first row, Nakabayashi adjusts his hand to have two ryanmens and another pair aside from the green dragon. In the second row, Nakabayashi chooses to replace the green dragon pair for a 3-sided wait and guarantee herself pinfu. At the end of the row, Nakabayashi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen, wanting the latter for tanyao. Two turns later, Nakabayashi draws that 4m and wins the hand. Nakabayashi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao for 2,600+300 all plus one riichi stick, moving him into 1st place.
Aka Ippatsu
April 19, Game 1, E3-4
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3571
In E3-4, Takizawa is in 4th place and 10,000 behind 3rd place Shiratori.
Takizawa starts out the hand 2-shanten with a pair of green dragons and a connected 9m dora. In the first row, Takizawa is only able to fill in a kanchan to get to iishanten. Filling in the 7m penchan to secure the dora 9m, Takizawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 5s kanchan. On his very next turn Takizawa draws the red 5s and wins the hand. Takizawa wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 2,000+400/4,000+400, moving him into 3rd place.
Pursuit Of First 1st
April 19, Game 1, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5567
In S2-0, Nakabayashi is in 1st place and 3,600 ahead of Taro. Nakabayashi is searching for the team’s first 1st of the playoffs and wants to make sure of it by extending the lead.
Nakabayashi starts out by creating a 147p 3-sided wait to be 3-shanten. Also in her hand is a secured red 5p and a pair of souths. On turn 5, Nakabayashi calls pon on the south and guarantees himself a good wait. At the end of the row, he calls a 123p chii and waits tenpai on a 58s ryanmen. Two turns later, Nakabayashi draws the red 5s and wins the hand. Nakabayashi wins with Double South/Aka 2 for 2,000/4,000.
Ippatsu
April 19, Game 1, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2058
In S3-0, Taro is in 2nd place and 13,600 behind 1st place dealer Nakabayashi.
From the very start, Taro is already iishanten with his first 13 tiles, needing any of 9 different tiles to call a double riichi, He unfortunately doesn’t get it, but he does expand his tile acceptance to 11 different tiles. On turn 5, Taro draws the perfect tile and calls riichi on a 258p wait. In the second row, Taro draws the 8p and wins the hand. With his 8p also being the uradora, Taro wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000, leaving just a 1,600 gap between him and Nakabayashi.
Close Game
April 19, Game 2, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3572
In S4-0, the scores are close, with 1,300 behind 2nd place dealer Futoshi and 2,900 behind 1st place Kobayashi. To take 1st place, Takamiya needs a 2/25 direct hit, a 2/40 tsumo or a 3/25 ron.
From the start, Takamiya is 3-shanten for chiitoi (4-shanten for a standard hand) with pairs of 1s, 8m and east. To her left and right, both Futoshi and Kobayashi are 3-shanten. On turn 4, Takamiya breaks her 8m pair to secure a 69m ryanmen and then creates a 2m pair on her next draw. By the end of the row, chiitoi pokes its head back up as she pairs up the 4p. Right after, Kobayashi is the first to tenpai and waits dama on a 25m ryanmen.
When the last east comes out from Matsumoto’s hand, Takamiya decides to call pon and pursue toitoi, even though she is 3-shanten from it. With only two han possible from this hand, she will either need to draw her winning tile or get a direct hit. A turn later, she pairs up the 7m, joining her 1s, 2m and 4p pairs as potential triplets. In the middle of the row, she calls pon on the 4p and gets to iishanten. As she looks for tenpai, Futoshi gets to tenpai before her and calls riichi on a 3p penchan.
Immediately after, Takamiya draws the third 2m and gets to tenpai and waits on a 1s/7m shanpon. With the riichi by Futoshi, she can now win however she wants. On Kobayashi’s draw, he gets a 4s. With a 123s sequence already in hand and edge tiles usually being safer, Kobayashi shift to a 234s sequence discards the “safer” 1s, dealing into Takamiya. Takamiya wins the hand with Toitoi only for 2,600 plus one riichi stick, winning the game.
With Futoshi losing 1,000 and Kobayashi losing 2,600, the two of them ended up tied for 2nd place with 30,100.
Book Start
April 22, Game 1, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2564
In E1-0, Matsugase is playing for the EX Furinkazan and sitting in the lucky starting south seat.
Matsugase starts out the hand 4-shanten with a pair of easts and a lone 2m dora. In the first row, he pairs up the souths, gets rid of his pinzu penchan and a souzu ryanmen to aim for honitsu. By the end of the row, he is 2-shanten for chiitoi. In the early part of the second row, Matsugase makes a fifth pair while also holding the flexibility to go for a standard hand. On turn 11, Matsugase gets to tenpai, throws the 2m stays dama on an east/south shanpon. Two turns later, Hisato throws the south trying to accept tenpai and deals into Matsugase. Matsugase wins the hand with Honitsu/South/Iipeikou/Dora 1 for 12,000.
Sanankou
April 22, Game 1, E4-0
In E4-0, Shibukawa is in 2nd place and 5,000 behind 1st place Matsugase.
Shibukawa starts out 3-shanten for chiitoi (4-shanten for a standard hand) with a pair of easts and the ability connect a 5s dora. On turn 3, he makes a triplet of easts to guarantee him value. After a bit of drawing and discarding, Shibukawa finally advances a step when he draws a dora 5s and advances to a standard 2-shanten. On his next turn, he makes a triplet of 9m for iishanten. With two pairs still in his hand, he has the potential to get sanankou or maybe even suuankou tanki. On turn 10, he makes the 6p a triplet and waits dama on a 47s ryanmen. With the 1m being either discarded or stuck in Yu’s hand, the suuankou tanki chance is gone, but a standard suuankou is still possible. Near the end of the second row, Yu tries to call riichi by throwing the 4s but deals into Shibukawa. Shibukawa wins the hand with East/Sanankou/Dora 1 for 8,000.
Book End
April 22, Game 1, S4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2565
In S4-1, Matsugase is in 2nd place and 8,700 behind 1st place Shibukawa. With one riichi stick and a honba on the table, Matsugase just needs a 3/30 direct hit, a 3/50 tsumo or a mangan ron.
Matsugase starts out the hand with an annoying 5-shanten hand with a penchan and a kanchan. For value, he has a floating 7s dora and a very distant 789 sanshoku. In the first row, Matsugase completes a 789p sequence and draws a 9s. By the end of the row, he is 2-shanten with the sanshoku potential still intact. In the second row, Matsugase creates an 8m triplet to get to iishanten. Near the end of the row, he has a chance to be tenpai on an 8s kanchan. With no sanshoku, he would only have two han with riichi. However, drawing the winning tile and finding one more han would be enough for 1st. With no good way to improve, Matsugase takes the chance and calls riichi on an 8s kanchan.
Across the table from Matsugase is 3rd place dealer Yu. With no chance of falling into 4th and holding a mangan minimum hand, he just pushes. In the middle of the third row, he calls chii to get to tenpai on a 36s ryanmen.
On Matsugase’ draw, he gets the 8s. All he needs is a one uradora to get the winning mangan. Just one. As he flips the uradora, he reveals the 7m as the indicator, making his 8m triplet into dora and instantly upgrading his hand to a haneman! Matsugase wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Ura 3 for 3,000+100/6,000+100 plus one riichi stick, winning the game.
Lots of Honba
April 22, Game 2, S1-7
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5568
In S1-7, Nakabayashi is the dealer in 1st place and holding a 27,900 lead over 2nd place Takizawa. He started the dealership in S1-0 and took each hand to a draw or won it himself. He is closing in on the M-League record of 10 honba.
Nakabayashi starts out with an amazing starting hand, already iishanten with a guaranteed pinfu and a chance at a double riichi. His first draw misses, but the path to mangan minimum is still there. Around the table, his opponents want to end his dealership. Takizawa calls his yakuhai south and Aki calls her yakuhai south to speed up their own hand. Soon after, Hori calls a pon on the 8m to get himself to iishanten. After seeing his opponents make moves, Nakabayashi is lucky enough to guarantee tanyao at the end of the first row and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen. On his very next turn, he gets the 3m and wins the hand. Nakabayashi wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 6,000+700 all, putting him at exactly 67,000.
Ending the Reign
April 22, Game 2, S1-9
In S1-9, Aki is in 3rd place, 1,600 behind 2nd place Takizawa and sick and tired of Nakabayashi’s seemingly infinite dealership.
Aki starts out the hand 3-shanten with a secured dora 7p and a pair of norths. In the first few turns, he converts his kanchan and lone tiles into ryanmens, guaranteeing pinfu and a good wait by turn 3. At the end of the first row, Aki fills in one of the ryanmens and gets to iishanten. While she waits, Nakabayashi tries to extend his dealership and match the M-League record of 10 honba. Pursuing pinfu as well, Nakabayashi hits iishanten in the middle of the second row. A turn later, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25s ryanmen.
During the ippatsu round, Aki gets to tenpai. With a good wait, a good chance to advance and a good chance to end the infinite dealership, Aki chases and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen. Soon after, Nakabayashi draws and discards the 7s and deals into Aki. Aki wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Dora 1 for 8,000+2,700 plus Nakabayashi’s riichi stick, moving Aki into 2nd place.
Shortcut to Haneman
April 22, Game 2, S4-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3061
In S4-2, Hori is the dealer in 3rd place, just 2,100 behind 2nd place Aki. Any win will put him in 2nd place, but a dealership gives you a chance to take you even further.
Hori starts out the hand 2-shanten for chiitoi with pairs of 5p, 9s, 1m and 5s. With the 5s also being the dora and holding the red versions of the 5p and 5s, he has a clear path to haneman. On turn 2, he pairs up the 9p to get to iishanten. On turn 4, he pairs up the white dragon and chooses to stay dama on an 8m tanki. Two turns later, he gets the 8m and wins the hand. Hori wins with Tsumo/Chiitoi/Dora 2/Aka 2 for 6,000+200 all, bringing his score up to 33,900.
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