Highlights
The First Hand
September 16, Game 1, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5065
In E1-0, it’s the first hand of the first game of the seventh season of M-league. Honda Tomohiro (本田朋広) is playing for Team Raiden and sitting in the west seat, a wind that has a lot of importance in Team Raiden history.
Honda starts out the hand with a really good hand, starting iishanten and needing to fill both a 36m ryanmen and an 8p kanchan. On turn 2, he upgrades the middle wait into a 58p two-sided wait. Working with his draws, he creates two sequences in pinzu and gets to tenpai on turn 4. He calls riichi and waits on a 36m ryanmen. Though his turns are interrupted by calls from Sonoda, it shifts the wall in just the right way to give Honda his winning 6m. Honda wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000, the first win of the season.
Sonoda
September 16, Game 1
In E3-0, Sonoda Ken (園田賢) of the Akasaka Drivens is in 3rd place and 2,600 behind 2nd place Okada after he lost his dealership to a very cheap hand.
He starts out the hand by drawing a 6m to create a 5678m shape (with the 5m being a red five). Sitting 3-shanten with a path to tanyao, he starts by getting rid of his lone dragons. By turn 5, he is iishanten with two ryanmens.
But, to his right, Honda the dealer in 1st place is collecting pinzu and honours for a honitsu. On turn 6, he gets to iishanten and is just a 9p away from having ittsuu. When Sonoda discards the 9p a turn later, Honda makes a 789p chii and gets to tenpai on an east/south shanpon.
On turn 8, Sonoda finally gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins. At the end of the second row, Honda draws and discards the 5p and deals into Sonoda. Sonoda wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 1 for 8,000, switching placements with Honda.
In E4-0, Sonoda starts out 4-shanten with a lone 3s dora and a pair of red dragons. That red dragon pair gives him the flexibility to call for a yaku if he so chooses. With some good progress early on, he is given the choice of calling pon on the red dragon on turn 4. He rejects it and is rewarded with a red 5s to put him iishanten, the red dragons still being his only pair. At the start of the second row, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 4s kanchan. Only one remains in the wall.
As Sonoda is stuck drawing and discarding, Honda take advantage, wanting to reclaim his lead. When Sonoda discards the dora on his ippatsu turn, Honda calls chii and shifts towards honitsu. In the third row, he calls pon on the white dragon to get to tenpai on a 36s ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan.
As the turns go on, Rumi draws Honda’s last winning tile, leaving him stuck. On the second-last tile in the wall, Sonoda draws the final 4s and wins the hand. Sonoda wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000, further extending his lead.
Game 1 Win
September 16, Game 1, S4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2069
In S4-1, Sonoda is in 1st place and has a 7,500 lead over 2nd place dealer Okada Sayaka (岡田紗佳) of the Kadokawa Sakura Knights. With this threat, Sonoda wants to win this hand and end the game on top.
Sonoda starts out with a 2-shanten hand, but has three middle waits, two of them connecting to a terminal. After pairing up the dora 1p and shifting around some shapes, he gets to iishanten on turn 5, waiting on 4 different tiles for tenpai.
After quite a bit of waiting, he creates a 567p iipeikou shape at the start of the second row and gets to tenpai on a 1p/9m shanpon. Since he already has a yaku, he stays dama in hopes of catching someone by surprise.
With the hand in its late stages, dealer Okada makes a call without a yaku simply to be in tenpai. On her next draw, she ends up drawing and discarding the 9m and deals into Sonoda. Sonoda wins the hand with Iipeikou/Dora 2/Aka 2 for 8,000+300 plus one riichi stick, securing the first game of the season.
From the first-ever game of M-League, to the 1000th game, to the first game of M-League 2024-25, Sonoda is the master of winning milestone games.
Dora Kan Rinshan
September 16, Game 2, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2578
In S2-0, the EX Furinkazan’s Matsugase Takaya (松ヶ瀬隆弥) is the dealer and has a good score of 37,000 after winning two mangans previously. However, he still trails the Sakura Knights’ Hori Shingo (堀慎吾) who has 44,200.
Matsugase starts out the hand 2-shanten for chiitoi (4-shanten for a standard hand) with pair of dora for value. If he keeps towards the chiitoi route or draws another dora, he will have enough value to take 1st.
As Matsugase draws two sequence in the first four turns, he gets rid of his 4p pair to secure his 234p sequence and get to a standard iishanten.
During the second row, he shifts his hand and creates a 147p three-sided wait. However, he has already discarded three tiles that would complete that shape (two 7p, one 4p), potentially putting him in furiten.
At the end of the second row, he draws a third 9m to make a triplet and calls riichi on a 147p furiten wait.
Just two turns later, he draws a fourth 9m. He calls a concealed kan so he can get another draw. The the kandora flip, the 6m in his hand becomes dora. On his rinshan draw, he gets…
…the 4p! Matsugase wins the hand with Riichi/Rinshan/Tsumo/Dora 5 for a big 8,000 all. With the win, he brings his score all the way to 60,000 and puts him into 1st place.
Hori Higher
September 16, Game 2
In S3-1, Hori is the dealer in 2nd place and chasing 1st place Matsugase who is 21,800 ahead of him.
Hori starts out with a jumbled mess of tiles at 4-shanten, holding no standalone good shapes and a 4m dora that’s only loosely connected. In the first row, Hori is lucky enough to secure the 4m as part of a sequnce and fills in a bunch of his bad shapes. It seems like almost every draw of his gets him closer to tenpai. By the end of the row, he is indeed tenpai and calls riichi on a 7m/3p shanpon.
Sitting to his right is Team Raiden’s Hagiwara Masato (萩原聖人) in 3rd place . With two red fives in his hand and some good waits, he pushes his 2-shanten hand for a chance to capitalize on it. With a 456p chii, he gets to tenpai as well and waits on a 58s nobetan.
In the middle of the second row, Hagiwara draws a 3p. Though the 6p is safer, he wants to have a chance to shift the pinzu shape to make a 567 sanshoku. He tosses the 3p and deals into Hori. Hori wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 7,700+300 plus one riichi stick.
In S3-2, Hori has a 3-shanten hand with pairs of green dragon, north and 3m. With a pon path, he could make the hand quick. On turn 2, he pairs up the 4s, allowing him to pivot between a standard or seven pairs. On turn 3, he finds a second 8m and puts himself into iishanten.
On turn 5, he makes the north pair into a triplet. Since a standard hand is easier to form and more reliable with calling, he commits to it and cuts his 4s pair. With a 3m pon a turn later, he gets to tenpai and waits on a green dragon/8m shanpon. Only the green dragon will give him a yaku.
Across from him is 4th place Watanabe Futoshi (渡辺太) deep in the negatives. With a need for points and no immediate threat of big value, Futoshi keeps going on his business. In the second row, he makes the south into a triplet and makes a 678p chii for iishanten. Near the end of the row, he gets to tenpai and waits on a 58m ryanmen.
Though Hori is at a disadvantage, mahjong has a way of doing things. In the middle of the third row, Hori draws the green dragon and wins the hand. Hori wins with Green Dragon/Dora 2 for 2,600+200 all, putting him 1,600 behind Matsugase.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3075
After the previous hand went to a draw, Hori is now 400 ahead of Matsugase going into S3-4. Two riichi sticks are in the pot.
On Hori’s very first turn, he draws the red 5p double dora to be 2-shanten. However, he has a kanchan and a penchan that he has to handle, plus a 1s pair that makes it hard for him to open the hand.
In the first row, he fully commits to the tanyao. On turn 5, he gets rid of his 1s pair, putting him from chiitoi iishanten to a standard 3-shanten. In the second row, he makes a 456m chii, draws another 5p dora and gets to a standard iishanten.
Soon after, Hagiwara is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14p ryanmen.
During the ippatsu round, Hori is able to call pon on the 8m and get to tenpai on a 36p ryanmen. 3 tiles vs. 3 tiles. On Hagiwara’s next draw, he draws and discards the 6p and deals into Hori. Hori wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 2/Aka 2 for 12,000+1,200, plus two riichi sticks, moving Hagiwara into the negatives and Hori above 70,000.
Special 3 Sou
September 16, Game 2, S4-7
In S4-7, the fight for 3rd place is fierce. Both Futoshi and Hagiwara are in the deep negatives with Futoshi holding a narrow 400 lead over Hagiwara.
Futoshi starts out the hand 2-shanten for chiitoi (3-shanten for a standard hand). With a pair of 1s and a bunch of middle pairs, he will either have to go for toitoi or get rid of the 1s pair to open up his hand.
Very early on, Futoshi takes the risk and calls pon on the 5m. At the end of the row, he makes a 345s sequence and drops his 1s pair, still at 2-shanten. In the middle of the second row, he calls pon on the 3p and gets to tenpai on a 14m ryanmen. His ability to win is difficult, both because he is only allowed to win with the 4m (to give him a yaku) and because he is furiten from his 1m discard on turn 2.
Almost immediately, Matsugase draws and discards the 4m, leaving just one 4m in the wall. To make things harder, the dealer Hagiwara gets to tenpai soon after and calls riichi on a red dragon/7s shanpon.
Near the end of the row, Futoshi makes his 8m pair into a triplet and switches to a 3m tanki, getting him out of furiten.
Within the go-around, Hori is the third player in tenpai and waits dama on a 58m ryanmen.
On Futoshi’s turn, he switches to a wider 36s nobetan. On his next draw, he gets a 3p. After taking some time to think, he calls an added kan. You can see Futoshi’s hand shaking as he puts the 3p aside and he flips the kandora. On his rinshan draw, he gets…
…the winning 3s! Futoshi wins the hand with Tanyao/Rinshan for 700+700/1,300+700 plus three riichi sticks (incorrectly scored as 800+700/1,600+700 at the time) to finish in 3rd place.
By the grace of the 3s, the green team escapes 4th place with the green tile.
This second rinshan is part of a growing list of first-day shenanigans, from Date’s suuankou in 2022-23, to the Beast getting two Ura 3 wins in their debut in 2023-24.
Takame
September 17, Game 1, E3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4559
In E3-1, Kayamori Sayaka (茅森早香), the team captain of the Sega Sammy Phoenix, is tied for 2nd place and 5,600 behind Konami Mahjong Fight Club’s Date Arisa (伊達朱里紗) in 1st place.
Kayamori starts out the hand by filling in an 8s kanchan to get to 4-shanten. With a mix of bad waits and no value, it’s hard to figure out how Kayamori can move up in the rankings. However, as the first row went along, Kayamori started drawing souzu tiles. By turn 5, she was just a 4s and 6s away from ittsuu.
Across from her is 1st place Date. In the middle of the row, she called pon on the green dragon. Soon after, she calls pon on the red dragon. Though Shiratori Sho (白鳥翔) of the Shibuya Abemas knows that it’s not daisangen because he has a pair of white dragons, neither Kayamori nor Nakada could rule it out. When Nakada draws the white dragon, she holds onto it.
At the end of the first row, Kayamori draws a 4s to get herself to iishanten. A turn later, she gets to tenpai. Though there is the risk of dealing into a daisangen, Kayamori pushes straight through and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen.
On her ippatsu draw, she draws the white dragon. To her relief, no calls were heard. Nakada follows suit with her own and Shiratori calls pon to give him a yaku. In the third row, Date gets to tenpai and waits on a 6s/8s shanpon, guaranteed at least a mangan.
With Date’s 1m discard, Shiratori calls pon and gets to tenpai on a 7s tanki.
On Kayamori’s draw, she picks up the final 6s and wins the hand. Kayamori wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Ittsuu for 2,000+100/4,000+100 plus one riichi stick, moving into 1st place.
Shiratori Shove
September 17, Game 1, E4-0
In E4-0, Shiratori is in 3rd place, 600 ahead of the Nakada Kana (中田花奈) of the Beast X in 4th place and 7,600 behind 2nd place Date.
On Shiratori’s first turn, he draws the 8p. It’s good for value, but he still sits 3-shanten with a bunch of bad waits. The first row improves the hand slightly, but not by much.
For dealer Date, on the other hand, she gets to chiitoi iishanten with the easy ability to shift to a standard hand. After drawing triplets of 6s and 8s, Date gets to tenpai. She could take the 25p ryanmen wait now, or he could stall and try for suuankou, something that she did on the very first day two years ago. All that would require is to get a third 3p, 4p or green dragon to get to tenpai. However, she chooses to just take the tenpai now and call riichi.
For yakuman hunters, Date’s green dragon draw on the ippatsu round brought pain.
Back to Shiratori, he is still quite far at 3-shanten. Having held a bunch of stray honours, he has the privilege to wait and see. At the start of the third row, Shiratori makes a call to get to iishanten. On his very next draw, he gets to a 58p nobetan tenpai. Right after, Shiratori gets the dora 8p and wins the hand. Shiratori wins with Tanyao/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000 plus one riichi stick, moving him into 2nd place.
Date Arise
September 17, Game 1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3575
In S1-0, Date is in 3rd place after Shiratori passed her and killed her dealership the previous hand. Still, she only sits 8,800 from 1st place.
Date starts out the hand 4-shanten with a pair of white dragons and three ryanmens. In the first row, she gets herself to 2-shanten. On turn 7, she pairs up the 9p dora to provide secured value. Soon after, she gets herself to iishanten.
Around her, there is some danger looming. To her left, Nakada calls twice to get her close to a manzu chinitsu. Across from her, Kayamori calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen.
During the ippatsu round, Date draws a third white dragon to get to tenpai and calls a chasing riichi on a 25s ryanmen. At the end of the row, she gets the 5s and wins the hand. Date wins with Riichi/Tsumo/White Dragon/Dora 2/Ura 1 for a big 3,000/6,000 plus one riichi stick win, immediately moving her into 1st place.
In S2-0, Date starts out with a bunch of scattered tiles, sitting with a 5-shanten hand with an east pair that isn’t even yakuhai. However, sitting so far from tenpai, it gives her a good opportunity to improve. In the first row, she makes the easts into a triplet and makes a sequence to get to 2-shanten by the end.
In the second row, she draws a 7m dora, which can either be pair of a 69m ryanmen or as a connector for the red 5m in hand.
In the third row, after both Nakada and Kayamori get to tenpai, Date draws the 6m to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 7p kanchan. Two turns later, she gets the 7p and wins the hand. Date wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000, further extending her lead.
Speed Demon (Again)
September 17, Game 2, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3576
In E2-0, Sasaki Hisato (佐々木寿人) is tied for 2nd place and 2,000 behind 1st place Matsumoto Yoshihiro (松本吉弘). With his dealership starting, he has the chance to win big points.
He starts out with a 3-shanten hand, holding a penchan, a kanchan and a ryanmen. In the first row, he gets rid of the kanchan, turns the kanchan into a triplet and puts himself into a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten. In the second row, he transforms one of the ryanmens into a triplet and gets to tenpai on turn 9. With tanyao guaranteed, he calls riichi and waits on a 58s ryanmen. On his ippatsu draw, he gets the 5s and wins the hand. Hisato wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Aka 1 for a quick 4,000 all and the lead.
One Beats Three
September 19, Game 1, E1-0
In E1-0, Nikaido Aki (二階堂亜樹) is the starting dealer, facing off against Mizuhara Akina (瑞原明奈) of the U-Next Pirates in her lucky south seat.
Aki starts out the hand with a strong 2-shanten hand with a pair of dora, while Mizuhara is 4-shanten with a floating red 5m.
Quickly, Aki is able to fill in her shapes and get to tenpai. On turn 4, she calls riichi and waits on an 8p/8m shanpon.
At this point, Mizuhara is only at 2-shanten. However, she doesn’t really have too many safe tiles. After exhausting her single safe 7s, she starts to push a bit. As discards go by that indicate safety, she starts to pull back.
On turn 8, something interesting starts to develop. With a 1p draw to make a triplet, she gets to iishanten. Also holding triplets of 1s and 6s, she happens to be iishanten for a potential suuankou tanki!
Near the end of the second row, Mizuhara draws the fourth 6s. After weighing the options calmly and being still, she calls the concealed kan. On her rinshan draw, she get the 4m, connecting to her lone red 5m and putting her tenpai. She calls riichi and waits on a 36m ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan.
With three of Mizuhara’s waits in the wall compared to Aki’s one, the odds favoured Mizuhara. However, on Aki’s second-last draw, she gets the final 8m in the wall and wins the hand. Aki wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 2/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000.
Kuma Kuma Time
September 19, Game 1, E3-2
In E3-2, Setokuma Naoki (瀬戸熊直樹) is the dealer in 2nd place, 4,700 behind 1st place Aki. There is one riichi stick and two honba in the pot.
From the start, Setokuma is already iishanten with his first draw. With a ryanmen in hand a some space to improve the wait in manzu, things are looking good. On turn 2, he widens his acceptance from four different tiles to five. At the end of the row, he makes a triplet of souths and calls riichi on a 58p ryanmen. Six remain in the wall.
With the dealer riichi, it’s dangerous to push too hard. Aki makes a call during the ippatsu, but doesn’t get too far. Hinata calls chii on a red 5m and later gets to tenpai on a weak 4p kanchan, but ends up folding with a dangerous 6m draw.
However, to Setokuma’s left is Mizuhara. While staying safe, she manages to advance her hand. At the end of the row, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 23m wait.
Immediately after, Setokuma draws the red 5p double dora and wins the hand. Setokuma wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 4,000+200 all plus two riichi sticks, easily moving into 1st place.
All Reds
September 19, Game 1, E4-0
In E4-0, Hinata Aiko (日向藍子) is now the dealer, sitting in 3rd place and 8,000 behind 2nd place Aki.
Hinata starts out with a 3-shanten hand, with a loosely connected red 5p and a floating red dragon dora. On turn 2, he draws a red 5s to create a 36s ryanmen. On turn 4, she draws a 6p to make the red 5p part of a ryanmen. By the start of the second row, she is 2-shanten with a guaranteed good wait.
In the second row, she fills in the souzu ryanmen and gets to iishanten. In the middle of the row, she draws the red 5m for tenpai. With good value and a good wait, she calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen. Even past the halfway point, there are still six left in the wall.
However, this dealer riichi does not mean she will go unchallenged. Two turns later, Aki gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen. She wants the 4p to add ittsuu, but all of them are stuck in other people’s hands.
In the middle of the third row, Hinata draws the 1m and wins the hand. Hinata wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 3 for 4,000 all plus one riichi stick, moving into 2nd place with more than 30,000.
100
September 19, Game 1, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2579
In S4-0, Aki is in 3rd place and 11,900 behind 2nd place dealer Hinata. In order for Aki to finish in 2nd place, she would need a 3/50 or 4/25 direct hit, a mangan tsumo or a haneman ron. For those last two, it would let her finish the game ahead by just 100.
Aki’s starting hand is full of messy shapes, but she does have a red 5p as part of a ryanmen. No route to mangan is visible yet, but she’s willing to wait for it.
The first row provides Aki some better and more defined shapes, but still nothing in terms of value. As she draws an off-wind west pair, it impedes her value progress. However, she has no hesitation to discard it in the second row. Near the end of the row, she draws the dora 9m. This is the value she needs. With Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1, it would be enough for the comeback.
In the third row, she draws a 3s to fill in a kanchan and get to tenpai. She chooses a 5s kanchan and calls riichi, hoping for that tsumo. She only has three draws left and only one remains in the wall.
On her first draw, she draws the 8s. Right suit, wrong number. On her next draw, her second-last tile, she gets the 5s and wins the hand! Aki wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000.
She finishes the game with 25,200, just ahead of Hinata with 25,100.
Koba Going
September 19, Game 2, E3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5580
In E3-1, Kobayashi Go (小林剛) is tied for 2nd place, narrowly behind 1st place Katsumata Kenji (勝又健志) who ended his dealership with a cheap hand.
With Kobayashi’s starting hand, he is 3-shanten with a pair of 7s for value. After getting rid of his honours, he puts himself 2-shanten. On turn 5, he makes the 7s into a triplet and gets to iishanten.
After shuffling his pair from 9m to 7m, he fills in a ryanmen in the middle of the row and calls riichi on a wide 369p wait, guaranteed at least a mangan. Within two turns, Katsumata discards the 9p trying to accept iishanten and deals into Kobayashi.
Turns out, the pair shuffle was a stroke of luck for Kobayashi, as the uradora lines up perfectly with the new 7m pair and upgrades his hand to a haneman. Kobayashi wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 3/Ura 2 for 12,000+300 plus one riichi stick, easily moving into 1st place.
Ippatsu
September 19, Game 2, S2-0
In S2-0, Katsumata is in 3rd place and 2,800 behind 2nd place Ooi Takaharu (多井隆晴). After dealing into Kobayashi for the mangan, he has been slowly making his way back up.
At the start, Katsumata is 3-shanten with a path to pinfu. In the first row, he discards mostly honours and terminals. Drawing just the right tiles, he gets to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten at the end of the row, also holding a chance at a 234s iipeikou if he can get the 4s.
In the second row, Katsumata gets the desired 4s and calls riichi on a 69p ryanmen. On his very next draw, he gets the 9p and wins the hand. Katsumata wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Iipeikou for 2,000/4,000, moving into 2nd place.
Asami Ascends
September 20, Game 1, S4-0
In S4-0, Asami Maki (浅見真紀) is the dealer in 3rd place. 2nd place is quite far at 19,400 away.
Asami starts out with a pretty good starting hand, being 4-shanten with three ryanmens. On turn 2, she creaates a fourth one to guarantee pinfu and a good wait.
Through the rest of her turns, her only goal is to stay closed and fill them in. After drawing a red 5s and a regular 5p, she gets to iishanten with a ryanmen and a 3-sided wait. Before the first row is over, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 258s wait. Three remain in the wall.
Two turns later, Asami draws the 2s and wins the hand. Asami wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 4,000 all, putting her within 7,500 of 1st place.
One Shot, One Opportunity
September 20, Game 2, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2070
In S1-0, Suzuki Taro (鈴木たろう) is the dealer in 4th place, sitting 11,300 behind 3rd place Sarukawa Masatoshi (猿川真寿).
Taro starts out the hand with two pairs and a kanchan, but otherwise nothing else. With no value and no way to open his 5-shanten hand, all he has to do is wait.
In the first row, he is able to make both his pairs into triplets and manages to get all the way to iishanten by the end of it. However, he still has no value and his waits are less than ideal. As such, he rejects the iishanten and tries to build around floating tiles.
In the second row, he has a chance to take a 6p kanchan tenpai, but continues to reject the bad waits. At the end of the row, his patience is rewarded as he makes a 789s iipeikou and calls riichi on a 356p wait.
On his very next turn, he draws the 5p and wins the hand. Taro wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Iipeikou for 4,000 all, moving into 3rd.
Speed Demon
September 20, Game 2
In S2-0, Hisato in the dealer in 2nd place, holding just a 5,200 lead over 2nd place Shibukawa Nanba (渋川難波).
Hisato starts out with an extremely good starting hand, having a pair of red dragon dora and a chance to call double riichi if he draws the 3m, 6p or 9p. Though he doesn’t get any of them, he does draw the 5m to create a 369m wait. After a couple of turns waiting for tenpai, he finally gets the 6p at the end of the row and calls riichi with the 3-sided wait.
A few turns later, Shibukawa discards the 3m and deals into Hisato. Hisato wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 2 for 7,700.
In S2-1, Hisato starts out with a 4-shanten hand. Though not the best start, he has a few middle tiles that can help improve his hand.
The first row doesn’t help much, but it does provide him with a pair of white dragons.
In the second row, he starts building sequences. He draws a red 5s and a dora 7m for value, and both end up being secured in sequences. At the end of the row, Hisato gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen.
A few turns later, Shibukawa challenges his dealership with an 8s call and a tenpai wait on a 36m ryanmen.
Though Hisato is behind in the count, he still manages to get the 6s in the middle of the second row and win the hand. Hisato wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 4,000+100 all, putting him above 55,000.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3577
In S2-2, Hisato is 3-shanten with his starting hand, holding two ryanmens. For all of his opponents, they are all 3-shanten or better.
In the first row, the wall kept gifting Hisato with souzu tiles. While he was tenpai on a relatively cheap hand at the end of the first row, he has the opportunity to force a chinitsu and get at least a dealer mangan. Around the table, both Taro and Shibukawa have matched his speed at iishanten.
In the second row, Hisato calls pon on the 2s to confirm his chinitsu pursuit. With a 789s chii, he is the first to tenpai and waits on a 12s wait.
Two turns later, Sarukawa is the next to tenpai and calls riichi on a 7s kanchan, hoping to win the mangan minimum hand and get to to 2nd place.
Immediately after, Taro gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 7p penchan.
On Hisato’s turn, he improves his wait to a 245s wait, though his tile count is reduced down to just two.
Not wanting to be left out, Shibukawa gets to tenpai at the end of the second row and calls riichi on a 36m/5s wait.
Everyone is tenpai. Though Sarukawa has 2 of his waits left against everyone else waiting on just 1, you never know your luck when there’s a free for all.
When Taro draws the dangerous 1m, he chooses to fold.
Then, late in the hand, Sarukawa draws and discards the 4s and deals into Hisato. Hisato wins the hand with Chinitsu for 12,000+600 plus two riichi sticks, putting Hisato at exactly 70,000.
Shibukawa Surprise
September 20, Game 2, S2-3
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3076
In S2-3, Shibukawa is in 2nd place and 52,600 behind 1st place Hisato. Though a bit far, the young, scrappy and hungry Shibukawa wants to take his shot at 1st place.
Shibukawa starts out with a strong first draw, making a triplet of 1s dora and getting himself to 2-shanten. On turn 4, he draws a red 5m to make a triplet, upping his hand to four total dora. By the end of the row, he has eight different tiles that will get him to tenpai, all of them providing a good wait.
On turn 10, he draws one of those eight tiles and calls riichi on a 69p ryanmen.
On his next draw, he draws a fourth 1s. With nowhere to go but up, he calls kan. With the kandora flip, his 5s become dora and guarantees him at least 7 han if he wins. On his rinshan draw, he gets…
…the 9p and wins the hand! The third rinshan of the week, the second rinshan after a dora kan!
With the uradora flip, his 7m pair becomes dora up his hand to an incredible 11 han sanbaiman! Shibukawa wins the hand with Riichi/Rinshan/Tsumo/Dora 5/Aka 1/Ura 2 for 6,000+300/12,000+300. With this huge win, Shibukawa cuts Hisato’s lead significantly to just 15,400 going into his dealership.
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