Highlights
Big Debut
September 23, Game 1, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4560
In E1-0, Takeuchi Genta (竹内元太) of the Sega Sammy Phoenix is playing in his very first M-League game, starting in the south seat.
Genta starts out the hand 3-shanten with a bunch of sequence candidates. With a bunch of them being part of terminals, the hand is destined for a closed hand unless he can make his lone dragons into triplets.
In the first row, Genta fills in a penchan and pairs up the 9m dora, getting him to iishanten. To his left, Setokuma makes a pon of the east and a 789p chii to get to a 69s nobetan tenpai.
To Genta’s right, Shiratori gets to tenpai on a yakuless shanpon. He later makes it into a 36p ryanmen, but he still doesn’t call riichi because he doesn’t want to push too hard against dangerous dealer Setokuma. As Genta discards the 6p, Shiratori is unable to call ron. When he draws a dangerous 8s, Shiratori folds
Near the end of the second row, Takizawa gets to tenpai on a good 47m ryanmen wait and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan. If he gets the 4m, he will upgrade the hand to a haneman.
In the third row, Setokuma draws the red 5s and switches his dead 69s nobetan wait for a 58s nobetan.
Right after, Genta makes the 9m into a triplet and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen. Working around it, Setokuma switches to a 7m tanki.
On the third-last tile in the wall, Takizawa draws and discards the 7p and deals into Genta. Genta wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 3 for 8,000 plus one riichi stick.
In his first hand of his first ever game, Genta gets his first ever win.
Ura Ura
September 23, Game 1, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4072
In E4-0, Shiratori is in 4th place, 2,000 behind Takizawa and 15,000 behind the 1st place tie. With the Abemas near the bottom of the standings, he wants to make sure they stop falling.
Shiratori starts out the hand with a decent 4-shanten hand with three ryanmens and a connected red 5p. In the first row, he makes another ryanmen and secures the red 5p as part of a triplet, getting to 2-shanten and guaranteed a good wait however he gets to tenpai. In the second row, he is easily able to get to a tenpai and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen. If he wins with the 4m, he would add tanyao to his hand.
During the ippatsu round, Genta chases and calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen.
Unfortunately for Genta, the riichi stick is simply a waste. On Shiratori’s ippatsu draw, he draws the takame 4m and wins the hand. With the uradora flip, his 8s pair becomes dora and upgrades the hand to a haneman. Shiratori wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Tanyao/Aka 1/Ura 2 for 3,000/6,000 plus one riichi stick, instantly moving him up to 1st place.
If He Were A Rich Man
September 23, Game 1
In S1-0, Genta is in 3rd place, but just 2,000 from 1st place Shiratori.
Genta starts out with a disorganized 4-shanten hand with a ryanmen, a kanchan and a penchan. In the first row, he fills in the kanchan and makes a ryanmen with a red 5p, getting him to 2-shanten.
In the second row, he pairs up the 8s dora and fills in both ryanmen and gets to tenpai on a 3s/8s shanpon. Having guaranteed at least a mangan, he stays dama in hopes of hitting someone by surprise.
Within the go-around, Takizawa gets to tenpai as well and calls riichi on a 1p/8p shanpon.
A few turns later, Genta draws the 3s and wins the hand. Genta wins the hand with Tsumo/Tanyao/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000 plus one riichi stick, taking the lead.
In S2-0, Genta is now the dealer and starts out by drawing the dora 5s and getting to 4-shanten. The first row provides him two sequences to get him to 2-shanten. In the second row, he draws the red 5s double dora to get to iishanten. A turn later, he impvoes the iishanten from 3 advancing tiles to 9.
However, as Genta does this, Shiratori calls pon on the 3m to go along with his double south and 6m, putting him tenpai on a 14s ryanmen.
On Genta’s turn, he improves his iishanten further to 11 different tiles. In the middle of the second row, he gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 6s kanchan. On Shiratori’s turn, he draw and discards the 6s and deals into Genta. Genta wins the hand with Iipeikou/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 12,000.
Battle For 2nd
September 23, Game 1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3578
In S4-0, Takizawa is the final dealer and sitting in 4th place, 2,400 behind 3rd place Shiratori and 13,000 behind 2nd place Setokuma.
Takizawa starts out with a 4-shanten hand with a connect 4s dora. The hand has good potential, able to turn into pinfu or tanyao. In the first row, his hand moves towards both of them. By the end of the row, he has a pefect iishanten, waiting on 6 different tiles for tenpai.
Near the end of the second row, he draws a 1m to complete a sequence. It’s not tanyao, but it does get him to tenpai. He calls riichi and waits on a 25p ryanmen. Only two remain in the wall.
With 8 tiles left in the wall, Genta draw a 2p, leaving just the red 5p as Takizawa’s only winning tile. Then, on Takizawa’s last draw, the second-last tile in the wall, he gets the red 5p and wins the hand. Flipping one uradora, Takizawa wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 6,000 all, moving him into 2nd place.
In S4-1, Setokuma is in 3rd place and 11,000 behind 2nd place dealer Takizawa. In order to move up in rank, he would need a mangan tsumo or a haneman ron. If he were to get a 3/40 direct hit, he would tie Takizawa for 2nd place.
Setokuma starts out with a good 2-shanten hand, but is sorely lacking in value. On turn 2, he pairs up the red dragon. It does put him into iishanten, but the only way to increase his hand value is to make it into a triplet, an impossible task give that Genta has the other pair. When he gets to tenpai ona yakuless 69p ryanmen on turn 3, he stays dama and hopes to improve his hand, whether by making pinfu or by some other means.
On turn 6, he gets a 1p to give him a 123p iipeikou. With some value acquired, he decides to call riichi and wait on a 69p ryanmen. If he wins off the 9p, he would get chanta, but would still need two more han if he wins by ron. If he wins by tsumo on the 6p, he needs one more han for the mangan.
During the ippatsu round, Takizawa the dealer forms a souzu ittsuu and gets to tenpai on a 7p penchan. With a 4p in his discards, he decides to call riichi with the suji trap. A tsumo or a direct hit off Genta will put him into 1st place.
In the middle of the second row, Setokuma draws the 6p and wins the hand. All he needs is an uradora. With the uradora dora flip, he reveals…
…the 7p as the uradora and gets the mangan! Setokuma wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Iipeikou/Dora 1 for 2,000+100/4,000+100 plus one riichi stick, enough to finish the game in 2nd place.
Welcome To M-League
September 23, Game 2, E1-0
In E1-0, Asai Takaki (浅井堂岐) is playing in his very first M-League game and sitting in the starting dealer seat. To his left is Hinata Aiko (日向藍子) playing for the 9th place Shibuya Abemas.
Both Takaki and Hinata starts out the hand at 4-shanten, but Takaki has the value edge with a secured dora 4m. In the first row, Hinata makes a bit more progress, getting to iishanten compared to Takaki’s 2-shanten.
After drawing and securing a 4m dora for herself, Hinata is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 2s kanchan.
For Takaki, he is iishanten with absolutely no safe tiles. As a result, he pushes. At the start of the third row, he draws and discards the 2s and deals into Hinata.
With the uradora flip, Hinata’s 2m becomes dora and bring her hand up to a mangan. Hinata wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 1/Ura 2 for 8,000.
Ura Ura Ura Ura Ura
September 23, Game 2, S1-3
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5068
In S1-3, Honda is in 3rd place, 500 behind 2nd place Takamiya and 11,000 behind 1st place dealer Hinata. With four riichi sticks and three honba waiting for the next winner, any win is sure to be a big one.
Honda starts out with a very promising 2-shanten holding triplets of 2m and 9m, as well as a pair of 7s dora. In his first three turns, he pairs up the 8p and creates a kanchan for iishanten. However, it’s possible that he can get to toitoi or even a suuankou with a bit of luck.
On turn 4, he draws a third 7s and gets to tenpai on a 5p kanchan. He has sanankou, but also have the ability to upgrade to a suuankou. With potential upgrades in both wait and value, he stays dama. Looking around the table, though, the suuankou tanki chance is dead with the other two 8p stuck in Hinata’s hand.
In the second row, Honda improves to a 25p ryanmen, continuing to stay dama. On his next draw, he draws a fourth 2m and calls a concealed kan. Though the kandora doresn’t help, it also means that he could get more uradora. WIth that prospect, he calls riichi with his rinshan red 5m.
With the red 5m, Takamiya calls a chii and breaks the ippatsu, However, it shifts the wall to give Honda the 5p on his next draw and wins the hand.
WIth the uradora flip, both his 9m triplet and the 8p pair become dora, upping his hand value by 5 han! Honda wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Sanankou/Ura 5 for a big 4,000+300/8,000+300, not to mention the four riichi sticks in the pot. With all that, he moves his score from 23,000 to 43,900, easily moving into 1st place.
Heracles’ Counterattack
September 23, Game 2
In S2-0, Takaki is in 4th place. With his dealership, he only has at most three wins to change his fortune.
From the start, Takaki is 2-shanten with only a lone dora red dragon for value. Quickly, his hand develops, but is unable create value. On turn 4, he draws the red 5s for tenpai. He tosses the red dragon and calls riichi on an 8m kanchan.
With the red dragon discard, Takamiya calls pon to guarantee herself a mangan and get to 2-shanten. After a 9p pon and filling in a ryanmen, Takamiya gets to tenpai and waits on a 58m ryanmen.
With both Takamiya and Takaki waiting on an 8m, there is a chance for headbump. If Honda discards it, Takamiya will in. If Hinata discards it, Takaki will win.
A few turns later, Takaki draws the 8m and wins the hand. Takaki wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 1 for 1,000/2,000.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4561
In S3-0, Takaki is still 7,000 behind 3rd place dealer Takamiya.
Takaki starts out with another good starting hand, sitting 2-shanten with a loosely connected red 5p. The first row only gets him to iishanten, still waiting for the red 5p to be secured. All of his opponents, on the other hand, are able to get to iishanten, including Takamiya with her 4p pon. With that pon, it makes it even hard for Takaki to use that red 5p.
The first player to get to tenpai is 1st place Honda, who waits on a 47m ryanmen.
Right after, Hinata gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen as well. With both of them having the same wait, there is a chance at headbump.
Right after, Takaki has a chance at tenpai. He can choose between a 23s wait or a 5p tanki. Since there are already three 2s out and the fact that the red 5p is dangerous, Takaki takes the bold move to call riichi on a 5p tanki.
Since Honda is in 1st place, he chooses to fold against the two dangerou riichi calls. Takamiya the , pushes right ahead at first and gets to tenpai on a 5m kanchan, but later folds upon drawing a dangerou 4m.
Late in the hand, Takaki unexpectedly draws the 5p and wins the hand. Takaki wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 1 for 1,300/2,600 plus one riichi stick, moving him into 3rd place.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4562
In S4-0, it is Takaki’s last chance to move into positive position. Sitting 9,000 behind 2nd place dealer Hinata, he needs a 3/40 direct hit, a 3/50 tsumo or a haneman ron.
Takaki starts out the hand by drawing a 7p, securing the 9p dora as part of a 789p sequence and getting him to 2-shanten. With the combination of riichi and tsumo, he only needs to find one more han for the comeback.
On turn 2, he gets to iishanten and on turn 4, he gets to tenpai on a 47m ryanmen. If he wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1, he still needs one more han for 2nd. If he draws the 4m, he will add iipeikou and it will be enough.
Incredibly, on his ippatsu draw, he draws the 4m, getting two more han from a single draw and upgrading his hand to a haneman. For extra flair, he also hits the uradora to get to 7 han in seventh season of M-League.
Takaki wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Iipeikou/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 3,000/6,000, finishing with a positive 2nd place.
Half Flush
September 24, Game 1, S1-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2580
In S1-2, Matsugase is in 4th place, 1,900 behind 3rd place Uchikawa and 6,800 behind 2nd place Sarukawa. One riichi stick and two honba are in the pot.
Matsugase starts out the hand 2-shanten with two ryanmens and pairs of both yakuhai south and west. With a lot of pinzu in his hand, he has a chance to pursue a honitsu.
Very early, Matsugase calls pon on the south and breaks his souzu ryanmen, confirming his pursuit of a pinzu honitsu. Near the end of the second row, he calls a 789p chii to get to iishanten. Pairing up the green dragon soon after, Matsugase gets to tenpai on a green dragon/west shanpon, guaranteed mangan either way.
In the middle of the second row, Uchikawa draws and discards the green dragon and deals into Matsugase. Matsugase wins the hand with Honitsu/South/Green Dragon for 8,000+600 plus one riichi stick, moving into 2nd place.
Sashikomi
September 24, Game 1, S4-4
In S4-4, Matsugase is in 1st place with a commanding 19,600 lead over 2nd place Mizuhara. However, there is always a chance that 3rd place Sarukawa can go on a dealer rampage and steal it. In 4th place is Uchikawa, 2,600 behind Sarukawa. With a riichi stick and four honba in the pot, any win is enough for Uchikawa.
Sarukawa starts out the hand 4-shanten for chiitoi (6-shanten for a standard hand) while Uchikawa is 2-shanten for chiitoi (3-shanten for a standard hand). Very quickly, Uchikawa is able to make a triplet and two sequences. By turn 5, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen, having a chance at iipeikou for extra value.
By this point, Sarukawa is still 2-shanten, but he has no choice but to push with the scores so close. With a junchan-based hand, he kept creating shapes near the edges. In the middle of the second row, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen. If he gets the 1m, he will have a dealer mangan.
During the ippatsu round, Matsugase has safety in his hand. Both the 8m and 9m are completely safe against both of them. However, the more time that passes, the more opportunities Sarukawa has to win. So, Matsugase looks for a tile that is safe against Sarukawa but dangerous to Uchikawa (allowing him to win the hand and end the game). With the 6p in Sarukawa’s discards, Matsugase throws the 6p.
WIth the correct guess, Matasugase deals right into Uchikawa. Uchikawa wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 5,200+1,200 plus two riichi stick. WIth the result, Uchikawa finishes in 3rd place and Matsugase wins the game.
Win
September 24, Game 2, E1-0
In E1-0, Katsumata is the starting dealer and coming off the momentum of Matsugase’s win for the EX Furinkazan.
Matsugase starts out the hand with a 3-shanten hand with a penchan and a kanchan. However, with ever draw, it seems like Katsumata is only getting good tiles. On turn 3, he makes a 147s three-sided wait. On turn 4, he fills in the kanchan for iishanten. On turn 5, he fills in the penchan to secure the 8m dora and get to tenpai. He calls riichi and waits on the 147s three-sided wait. Six remain in the wall.
Three turns later, Katsumata draws the 7s and wins the hand. Flipping one uradora, Katsumata wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 4000 all.
Back In Contention
September 24, Game 2, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5581
In S2-0, Yu is in 4th place, 9,300 behind 3rd place Katsumata, 13,600 behind 2nd place Okada and 18,300 behind 1st place dealer Sugawara.
Yu starts out with a 4-shanten, but has good value in the form of two red fives. The first round goes very well, creating sequences and securing the red fives. By the end of the row, he is left with a penchan and a three-sided wait at iishanten. In the second row, he replaces the penchan with a ryanmen to guarantee pinfu. On turn 10, he gets to tenpai by drawing the 9s dora and calls riichi on a 147p wait.
Two turns later, Yu draws the 1p and wins the hand. Yu wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 3,000/6,000. With this big win, Yu goes from 4th place to just 300 away from 1st place.
Win Again
September 25, Game 2
In S3-0, Katsumata is in 4th place with his final dealership already gone. However, the scores are close with only 6,000 separating him and 1st place Sugawara.
Katsumata starts out with a decent 2-shanten hand, but is lacking in value. In the first row, he is only able to move forward by one step.
Sugawara, on the other hand, has very good value and good progress. In the first row, she calls pon on the red dragon to secure a yaku and get to iishanten. Soon after, she makes a souzu sequence and discards the red 5m double dora to get to tenpai on a 14m ryanmen.
Within the go-around, Katsumata gets to tenpai as well and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen, hoping for the 6s to add iipeikou.
With Katsumata’s riichi, Sugawara tries to play around it. When she draws the 5m dora, she switches to a 4m kanchan wait. Near the end of the second row, Katsumata draws the takame 6s and wins the hand. Katsumata wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Iipeikou for 1,300/2,600, enough to move into 1st place by 500.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2581
In S4-0, the scores are extremely close. Only 3,500 separates 4th place Okada and 1st place Katsumata.
From the start, everyone is either 3-shanten or 4-shanten. As the first row goes along, everyone is neck and neck in terms of speed. Katsumata may be 3-shanten while everyone else is at 2-shanten, but he has the superior shapes.
In the second row, everyone tries to speed things up. Both Katsumata and Yu makes calls to get themselves to iishanten. With one more call, Katsumata gets to tenpai in the middle of the second row and waits on a 36p ryanmen.
With some patience, Okada is the next to tenpai. Near the end of the second row, she calls riichi and waits on a 14p ryanmen. Almost any win will get her into 3rd, with some lucky results getting her to 2nd or even 1st.
However, immediately after, Katsumata is able to draw the 3p and wins the hand. Katsumata wins with Tanyao/Aka 1 for 500/1,000 plus one riichi stick. With that, he wins the game and gets the EX Furinkazan its first daily double of the season.
Chiihou Chance?!?
September 26, Game 1, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4563
In E1-0, Genta is in 1st place with a small lead.
When we have our first look at Genta’s hand we see that he’s already tenpai with his first 13 tiles! If If he can manage to draw the east as his first discard, he would have the rare yakuman chiihou! Genta draws his first tile and reveals…
…a north. It’s not the win, but Genta is able to call a tsumogiri double riichi.
Within two turns, Takamiya discards the east and deals into Genta. Hitting the uradora, Genta wins the hand with Double Riichi/Chiitoi/Ura 2 for a very quick 12,000.
Great Genta
September 26, Game 1, E4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4564
In E4-1, Genta is in 1st place and just starting his dealership. Two riichi sticks and a honba are in the pot after the previous hand went to a draw.
Genta starts out with decent value in his 4-shanten hand, holding a secured dora 4p and a red 5p. In the first row, he forms sequence and sequence blocks, giving him options for good waits. By the end of the row, he is iishanten and guaranteed a good wait.
At the start of the second row, he draws the perfect tile. With his 4p dora draw, he adds both a han from dora, from iipeikou and from pinfu. With a guaranteed mangan. he stays dama on a 58s ryanmen. If he draws his winning tile or gets the red 5s, whe will have a big dealer haneman.
To his left is Sonoda in 3rd place. In the first row, he had already called pon on the red dragont o secure a yaku. In the middle of the second row, he makes a triplet of 8m and gets to tenpai on a 4p kanchan.
As the turns go by, Hagiwara also joins in on tenpai with a 7s penchan. However, he has no yaku.
Near the end of the second row, Genta draws the 5s and wins the hand. Genta wins with Tsumo/Pinfu/Iipeikou/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 6,000+100 all plus two riichi sticks. With the win, he brings himself to above 50,000, the second time in as many games.
Ura Ura
September 26, Game 1, S3-0
In S3-0, Sonoda is the dealer in 3rd place, 2,400 behind 2nd place Hagiwara.
Sonoda starts out with a very good iishanten hand, needing a 6s, 1m or 9m to get himself to tenpai. On just hs second turn, he pairs up the 1m and calls riichi on a 6s kanchan.
Despite so little information, people were able to avoid it as first. However, as the turns went on, hands started to develop. To Sonoda’s left is 4th place Takamiya. By the second row, she is iishanten with tanyao and a red 5s. However, in the third row, Takamiya tosses the 6s trying to riichi and ends up dealing into Sonoda.
With the uradora flip, Sonoda’s hand is upgraded to a mangan. Sonoda wins with Riichi/Iipeikou/Aka 1/Ura 2 for 12,000, moving into 2nd.
Sanankou
September 26, Game 1, S3-1
In S3-1, Genta is in 1st place with a big lead. But no big deal, he wants more.
With Genta’s first draw, he makes a triplet of red dragons to go along with his east triplet. In the first row, he is only able to make a ryanmen, but it does get him to iishanten.
In the second row, Genta calls pon on the 9s to improve his tile acceptance. Soon after, he pairs up the 6p and waits on a 2p kanchan. Near the end of the row, he switches to a 3p/6p shanpon. If he can draw either of them himself, he will add sanankou to his hand.
Right after, Hagiwara also gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69p ryanmen. If either Takamiya or Sonoda discard the 6p, Hagiwara will be headbumped by Genta.
Just two turns later, Genta draws the 6p and wins the hand. Genta wins with Toitoi/Sanankou/Red Dragon for 2,000+100/4,000+100 plus one riichi stick, putting him above above 60,000.
Sanshoku Start
September 26, Game 2, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2071
In E1-0, Futoshi is playing in his second game of the season, hoping to improve on his 3rd place negative last Monday.
Futoshi starts the hand off 3-shanten with a loosely connected 2p dora. In the first row, he advances to iishanten with a 3p kanchan and a 14s ryanmen.
At the start of the second row, he shifts his 123m sequence to a 234m sequence. If he can get the 4s, he will be guaranteed sanshoku. On turn 9, Futoshi draws the 3p and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen, hoping for the later for sanshoku.
At the start of the third row, Date the dealer also gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen. On one hand, it’s impossible for Date to deal in. On the other hand, she will be headbumped if she calls ron.
The wall shrinks and it looks like the hand might go to a draw. Then, on the third-last tile in the wall, Futoshi draws the takame 4s and wins the hand. Futoshi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Sanshoku/Dora 1 for 3,000/6,000 plus one riichi stick.
Double Riichi Denied
September 26, Game 2, E2-0
In E2-0, Futoshi is in 1st place after the haneman in this first hand.
With his first 13 tiles, he is already iishanten. WIth his first draw, he pairs up the 9s and calls a double riichi on a 7m kanchan, the second double riichi of the night.
With a narrow wait on a fairly central tile, it’s unlikely that someone will discard it. To Futoshi’s left, Kayamori gets rid of her honours and terminal and somehow gets to iishanten. Even as Futoshi call a kan trying to get his winning tile and adding more potential dora, they keep pushing. In the middle of the second row, Kayamori gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 36p ryanmen.
In the third row, Kurosawa joins in and calls riichi on a 3m penchan. Unfortunately, there are none left in the wall.
With the riichi, Kayamori weaves through and switches to a 3m/7p shanpon.
With so few tiles left, it was no surprise the hand ended with a draw with everyone but Date in tenpai.
Date The Destroyer
September 26, Game 2, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3579
In S3-0, Date is deep in 4th place, almost 20,000 away from the rest of the group. With no dealership left for her, she only has two hands left to make the comeback.
On her first draw, she draws her favourite 3s to fill in a penchan and get her to 3-shanten. In the first row, she converts a kanchan into two ryanmens and gets herself to 2-shanten.
In the second row, she creates a 123p sequence and sets herself for a 123 sanshoku, needing only the 3m dora. On turn 10, she draws the 3m and to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen. With just one more han, she would upgrade the hand to a haneman.
Right after, Kurosawa gets to tenpai on a weak 3s penchan. Because of the risk, she ends up folding it on her next draw.
As the wall got shorter, it was almost guaranteed that Date would get her winning tile. On Date’s second-last draw, she gets the 7p and wins the hand. In a big surprise, the uradora flip makes her white dragon pair in dora and upgrades her hand to a big baiman! Date wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Sanshoku/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 2 for 4,000/8,000, moving her into 2nd place and just 1,100 from 1st.
Driving Ahead
September 26, Game 2, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2072
In S4-0, the scores are very close. Only 4,500 separates 4th place Kayamori from 1st place dealer Futoshi.
At the start, Futoshi has 4-shanten with a lot of room for improvement. In the first row, he advances just a bit to 2-shanten and holds a penchan, a kanchan and a ryanmen.
In the second row, he converts the kanchan into a ryanmen and gets rid of the penchan for a more flexible shape. By the middle of the second row, he is now iishanten with a guaranteed pinfu.
In the third row, Futoshi finally gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 258s three-sided wait. Four remain in the wall.
On Futoshi’s second-last draw, he gets the 8s and wins the hand. Hitting the uradora, Futoshi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 4,000 all, nearly guaranteeing himself the 1st place.
Ippatsu
September 26, Game 2, S4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s70_p2052
In S4-1, Date is in 2nd place with a narrow 500 lead over 3rd place Kurosawa and 3,400 lead over 4th place Kayamori. The only way she can guarantee her 2nd place is by winning this hand.
At the start, Date is 4-shanten with no good way to open her hand because of her north pair. All she can do is wait. In the first row, she draws a red 5m and finishes the row with two ryanmens and two kanchans.
In the second row, Date tries to make her acceptance as wide as possible and ends up creating a three-sided wait in manzu.
Meanwhile, Kayamori is moving forward with her souzu honitsu after calling pon on the east in the first row. In the middle of the row, she gets to tenpai on a north/8s shanpon, but none remain in the wall.
At the end of the row, Date fills in her final kanchan and calls riichi on a 258m three-sided wait. During the ippatsu round, Kayamori draws and discards the 8m and deals into Date. Getting the uradora, Date wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 12,000+300, finishing the game with a solid 2nd.
Fastest and Strongest
September 27, Game 1
In E1-0 Ooi is sitting in the north seat, A seat has had two double riichi calls in this week alone.
Ooi start out the hand 3-shanten with a secured 5p dora and a ryanmen. In the first row, he is able to make a ryanmen and fill in a kanchan, guaranteeing him a good wait tenpai by turn 5. On turn 6, he gets there and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen.
However, Okada the dealer also has quick progression herself. During the ippatsu round, she calls riichi and waits on 14m ryanmen.
On Ooi’s ippatsu draw, he gets the 6s and wins the hand. Ooi wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1 for 2,000/4,000 plus one riichi stick.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4073
In E2-0, Ooi has an extraordinary starting hand at 2-shanten with all three of the red fives. On turn 2, he advances to iishanten and is waiting on 10 different tiles for tenpai. On turn 4, Ooi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 3s kanchan.
In the middle of the second row, Ooi draws the 3s and wins the hand. Ooi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 3 for another 2,000/4,000 mangan.
Straightforward
September 27, Game 1, E3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2582
In E3-1, Rumi is in 3rd place and trying to catch up to 2nd place dealer Nakabayashi who is 10,000 ahead of her.
From the very start, Rumi is 2-shanten and just an 8m away from a manzu ittsuu. In the first row, Rumi searches for her pair and her final group. Near the end of the row, she pairs up the 1s dora to get to iishanten. A turn later, she creates a 345p sequence to secure the red 5p. With those two steps complete, she is now tenpai on an 8m kanchan. She stays dama, ready for mangan on a ron or a haneman with a tsumo.
After a few turns of waiting dama and seeing the progress of her opponents, Rumi decides to call a tsumogiri riichi, guaranteeing herself at least a haneman however she wins. Two turns later, Nakabayashi discards the 8m trying to go for a pinzu honitsu and deals into Rumi. Rumi wins the hand with Riichi/Ittsuu/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 12,000+300, moving her into 2nd place and Nakabayashi into 4th.
Haitei Heights
September 27, Game 1 E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5582
In E4-0, Nakabayashi is in 4th place after dealing into Rumi’s haneman and losing his dealership.
In Nakabayashi’s starting hand, he has a dora and 4 ryanmens in a 4-shanten hand, basically guaranteeing himself pinfu and a path to a limit hand.
In the first row, he fills in one of them and makes a potential 147s three-sided wait. Though he is furiten for it, he can easily switch to a 47s ryanmen that guarantees him tanyao without furiten. In the middle of the second row, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on that 47s ryanmen wait, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins.
With six left in the wall, it looked like it would just be a matter of when. But as the wall dwindled down, the possibility of all of them being stuck crossed our minds. On Nakabyashi’s second-last draw, he misses again with three of his winning tiles still unseen.
Then, on his last draw, the very last tile in the wall, he manages to draw the 7s and wins the hand. If his 6 han hand wasn’t enough, the uradora makes the two 5s in his hand into dora and upgrades the hand to a baiman! Nakabayashi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Haitei/Dora 1/Ura 2 for 4,000/8,000, moving him from 4th place to within 1,300 of 1st.
Revenge
September 27, Game 2, E1-0
In E1-0, Aki is playing for the EX Furinkazan, trying to avenge her older sister who lost the previous game.
Before Aki can even get her first draw, Ooi is already moving quickly, calling pon on the white dragon. When she does get her first draw, we see that she is already 2-shanten with a pair of easts and two ryanmens. By turn 4, she is already tenpai and calls riichi on an east/2m shanpon.
By this point, Ooi is already iishanten for a potential dealer mangan. During the ippatsu round, he discards the “safer” east and deals into Aki. Aki wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/East/Ura 1 for 8,000, successfully hitting the player who got 1st place the previous game.
Closed Chanta
September 27, Game 2 E3-0
In E3-0, Nakabayashi is tied for 3rd place, 2,000 behind 2nd place Shibukawa and 10,000 behind 1st place dealer Aki.
Nakabayashi starts out 3-shanten with a pair of yakuhai norths and a 69s ryanmen. With Nakabayashi’s draws, the tended to be closer to the edges, moving him closer to a potential chanta. On turn 5, he gets to iishanten and needs only a 1p to guarantee the yaku for him. Just a turn later, he gets it and calls riichi on a 9p/north shanpon. If he wins on the north, he will have at least a mangan.
Near the end of the second row, Nakabayashi draws the north and wins the hand. Nakabayashi wins with Riichi/North/Chanta for 2,000/4,000, moving him into 1st place.
Tanki
September 27, Game 2, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3077
In E4-0, Shibukawa is the dealer in 3rd place, 6,000 behind 2nd place Aki and 8,000 behind 1st place Nakabayashi.
Shibukawa starts out with a messy 4-shanten hand with no value to be seen. Looking to at least advance, Shibukawa plays the hand efficiently, getting rid of the stray honours an terminals first. By the end of the row, he has two 4p dora and is at 2-shanten.
On turn 9, he draws a 5p to create a 1124456p pinzu block, needing a 3p to fully make use of both dora. and get to iishanten. As the turns go along, Nakabayashi calls twice to put pressure on the table.
Near the end of the second row, Shibukawa draws a third 1p and discards the 2p, losing some efficency to avoid throwing the dangerous 6s.
In the third row, Shibukawa draws a fourth 1p and calls kan. With his rinshan draw, he gets himself to tenpai. With only two of the 4p left from his 47p ryanmen left and not wanting to throw the 6s, he cuts the extra 4p from his hand and calls riichi on a 6s tanki. Having both the 9s and 3s in his discards, he has the suji trap set for someone to fall for.
Unexpectedly, Shibukawa manages to draw the 6s two turns later and wins the hand. Shibukara wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 4,000 all, moving into 1st place.
Dragon Inheritor
September 27, Game 2, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5583
In S1-0, Nakabayashi is in 1st place, but his lead is just narrow at 2,400.
With his first 14 tiles, he is already 2-shanten. More importantly, he has a triplet of red dragons, a pair of green dragons and a single white dragon. With all three dragons in hand, he has the option to go for shousangen or even the yakuman daisangen.
As we go around the table, we see that Aki has one of the white dragons, leaving just two left in the wall. In the first row, he calls pon on the green dragon and gets to iishanten. Though he may have eight different tiles to get him, only a white dragon draw can get him a yakuman.
In the second row, Nakabayashi is stuck while everyone else is moving forward. In the middle of the row, Aki makes a chii involving the red 5m double dora to get to iishanten and discards the 7m. With a pon, Nakabayashi gets to tenpai and waits on a white dragon tanki. It’s not a daisangen, but it’s a good enough shousangen for mangan minimum.
Right after, Aki gets to tenpai and waits on a 147s wait, only allowed to win off the two simple tiles.
On Nakabayashi’s next draw, he gets the white dragon and wins the hand. Nakabayashi wins with Shousangen/Green Dragon/Red Dragon for 2,000/4,000.
Ooi Oops
September 27, Game 2, S2-1 (1)
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s70_p2061
In S2-1, Ooi is in 3rd place and 14,800 behind 2nd place behind 2nd place Shibukawa..
Ooi starts out the hand a whole lot of manzu. Though his first draw creates a souzu ryanmen, he is still iishanten.
As Ooi hopes to build around his manzu shape, Nakabayashi the dealer is buys trying to win even more. In the first few turns, Nakabayashi calls pon on the south to secure a yaku. Later, he calls pon on the 7p to get to iishanten. Before the row is done, Nakabayashi gets to tenpai on a 2m kanchan.
Though a more valuable hand would be ideal, the souzu ryanmen is getting in the way. With a 9s draw, he completes a 789s sequence. Though, it does get him tenpai on a 4p tanki and he does have a 234m iipeikou which lets him call ron. A turn later, he draws a 3m. WIth a complex and wide shape, Ooi calls riichi and waits on a very wide 23467m wait. However, he is furiten that he had discarded earlier on.
On the ippatsu turn, Nakabayshi draws the green dragon dora. Not wanting to deal the dora, Nakabayashi throws the suji 3m.
Suddenly, a ron comes from Nakabayashi’s left and Ooi reveals his hand. Shock and surprise abound in the commentating booth as Hiyoshi and Murakami realize what is happening. Ooi has just called a furiten ron.
As Ooi looks at it again, he realizes with embarrasment his mistake. He apologizes profusely as the referee speaks over the intercom.
WIth the revelaed furiten ron, Ooi receives a -20.0pts chombo penalty and the hand is reshuffled with no changes in the dealer or honba. The penalty will be applied to Ooi’s individual score and not to his game score (i.e. will not affect any placement bonuses).
This marks the third time in M-League history that a chombo has occured, the first with a furiten ron.
The previous two were both noten riichi calls revealed at an exhaustive draw.
- Sawazaki Makoto (沢崎誠) of the Kadokawa Sakura Knights on February 7, 2020
- Uotani Yuumi (魚谷侑未) of the Sega Sammy Phoenix on January 3, 2022
In the post-game interview, Ooi said that he though he had a 2223344456m shape (three 2m) and not a 2233344456m shape (three 3m), which would explain his mistake.
- A 2223344456m shape would be waiting on 23457m
- A 2233344456m shape would be waiting on 23467m
Ooi Overcomes
September 27, Game 2, S4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4074
In S4-1, Ooi is in 4th place, 3,400 behind 3rd place Aki and 10,800 behind 2nd place dealer Shibukawa. After the embarrassing chombo he committed just a few turns early, he wants to redeem himself with at least a 3rd or even a 2nd place.
Ooi starts out with a promising 3-shanten hand with a pair of white dragons, a pair of 2m dora and a connected red 5p. On turn 2, he pairs up the double south for even more value. If he can make all the yakuhai in his hand into triplets and keep all the dora, he would have enough for a haneman and 2nd place.
When the south comes out of Nakabayashi’s hand, Ooi calls pon to get to 2-shanten. At the start of the second row, he draws a third white dragon to get to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten, guaranteed at least a haneman however he gets to tenpai.
In the middle of the second row, though, Nakabayashi gets to tenpai first and waits on a 47m ryanmen.
On Ooi’s next draw, he gets to tenpai as well and waits on a 25s ryanmen.
Immediately after, Nakabayashi draw and discards the 2s and deals into Ooi. With Ooi’s White Dragon/Double South/Dora 2/Aka 1 win for 12,000+300, he finishes the game in 2nd place.
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