Friday (March 28)

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Game 1

The Road To MVP

March 28, Game 1, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3621

In E1-0, Hisato is the starting dealer and playing for the MVP award. He currently sits in 5th place overall and 83.8pts behind 1st place Shiratori. He still has to compete against Genta and Daigo for this coveted award.

Hisato starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a triplet of 4p and a floating red 5m. In the first row, Hisato forms a 234s sequence and a 789m sequence, getting to iishanten with the red 5m still floating.

At the start of the second row, Hisato draws a red 5s and shifts his souzu sequence. On his very next turn, Hisato draws a 4m to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen.

To his left, Nakabayashi calls pon on the north druing the ippatsu round and waits on a red dragon/2m shanpon.

Because of the pon by Nakabayashi, the 6m that Hisato would have gotten on his ippatsu turn ended up going to Nakada. Though, on Hisato’s next turn, Hisato gets the 3m and wins the hand. Hisato wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 2 for 2,000/4,000.

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Kei

March 28, Game 1, E4-1

In E4-1, Nakabayashi is the dealer in 4th place, 1,000 behind 3rd place Genta and 5,400 behind 2nd place Nakada. A riichi stick and a honba sit in the pot.

Nakabayashi starts out the hand at 4-shanten, but is lacking both value and completed sequences. In the first row, Nakabayashi creates a 58m ryanmen and a 456s sequence to get to 3-shanten.

To his left, Nakada has been picking up sequence and is the first to tenpai, waiting on a 3m tanki. In the middle of the second row, she switches to a green dragon tanki.

Back to Nakabayashi, he fills in a 2p kanchan and a 7s penchan to get to iishanten. Near the end of the row, he separates a 4s pair and a 567s sequence to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen.

During the ippatsu round, Nakada switches her wait and calls riichi on a 9m tanki.

Immediately after, Nakabayashi draws and discards the green dragon, a tile that would have been Nakada’s winning tile.

In the third row, Nakada’s final 9m gets drawn by Hisato, leaving her no chance to win. To make things worse, Nakada ends up drawing and discarding the 8m and deals into Nakabayashi. Nakabayashi wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu for 2,900+300 plus two riichi sticks, moving up from 4th to 2nd place.

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Classic

March 28, Game 1, S2-0

In S2-0, Nakabayashi is in 3rd place, 1,900 behind 2nd place Nakada and 10,900 behind 1st place Hisato.

Nakabayashi starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a secured dora 9m and leaning towards sequences. Quickly, he forms ryanmens and sequences getting him to pinfu iishanten by turn 5. On turn 8, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58p ryanmen.

Again challenging Nakabayashi is Nakada, sitting iishanten with a connected dora 9m and a triplet of green dragons. Through the hand, she keeps pushing against Nakabayashi. Near the end of the row, Nakada calls a 234m sequence and waits on a 7m penchan.

Immediately after, Nakabayashi draws the 5p and wins the hand. Nakabayashi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000 to get within 900 of 1st place.

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Kana Competes

March 28, Game 1, S3-0

In S3-0, Nakada is the dealer in 3rd place, 8,100 behind 2nd place Nakabayashi and 9,000 behind 1st place Hisato.

Nakada starts out the hand at 2-shanten with pairs of north and east. On turn 2, Nakada draws a third east and gets to iishanten. A turn later, he creates a 345p sequence and calls riichi on a north/4s shanpon.

At the end of the row, Nakada draws the 4s and wins the hand. Nakada wins with Riichi/Tsumo/East for 2,600 all, moving into 1st place by 1,400.

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Keeping It Close

March 28, Game 1, S3-1

In S3-1, Genta is in 4th place and 13,200 behind 3rd place Nakabayashi and 15,500 behind 1st place dealer Nakada. To get within range of 1st place, he needs to win at least a mangan.

Genta starts out the hand at a standard 3-shanten with a red 5p in hand. he draws a pair of 1p to makes some advancement, but he is quickly forced to shift as Nakabayashi gets to tenpai near the end of the row and calls riichi on a 2s kanchan.

During the ippatsu round, Genta pairs up the 8p to get his fourth pair and throws the red 5p, a safe tile against Nakabayashi. On his next turn, he pairs the 9s and Genta pushes his pairs hand. Soon after, he pairs up the white dragon and calls riichi on an east tanki. If he can get it by tsumo and hit the uradora, he would have enough to move into 1st place.

Around the end of the second row, Nakada discards the east trying to keep her iishanten and deals into Genta. With the white dragon being the uradora, Genta wins the hand with Riichi/Chiitoi/Ura 2 for 8,000, moving up to 3rd place and coming within 4,800 behind 1st place.

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Taking Top

March 28, Game 1, S4-0

In S4-0, the scores are close. Hisato is in 1st place, just 1,900 ahead of 2nd place dealer Nakabayashi. Even 4th place Nakada is within a mangan of 1st place.

Nakabayashi starts out the hand at 4-shanten while Hisato is 3-shanten with a triplet of wests. Within the first row, Hisato fills in kanchans and makes sequences very quickly. Before the row is done, he is already tenpai on a 6m tanki. He has no yaku, but he has quite a number of tiles that can improve his hand.

In the middle of the second row, Hisato gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58s nobetan.

Wanting to move ahead is Nakabayashi who is iishanten and within range after Hisato’s riichi. During the ippatsu round, Nakabayashi calls a 456m sequence and gets to tenpai on a 1m/2m shanpon.

Two turns later, Nakada gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen. With Riichi/Pinfu/Dora 1 guaranteed, she just needs one more han to get to 1st place.

Right after, Nakabayashi draws the red 5s. Seeing the danger with the 5s, Nakabayashi chooses to fold instead of push.

When Hisato discards the red 5p, Genta calls chii and waits on a 7s kanchan. Because of the riichi sticks, Genta can win with Tanyao/Dora 2 and win the game.

Then, on Nakada’s next draw, she drops the 8s and deals into Hisato. Hisato wins the hand with Riichi/Ura 1 for 2,600 plus a riichi stick.

With a final score of 32,000 (+52.0), Hisato comes within 31.8pts from the MVP award going into the final game.

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Results

Game 215

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Game 2

Aim For MVP

March 28, Game 2, E2-1

In E2-1, Hisato is in 2nd place and 2,900 behind 1st place Sarukawa. Hisato needs to win this game in order to win the MVP award and be the first player to win the award twice.

Hisato starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a pair of red 5m dora (including the red 5m) and a pair of souths. With so much value, Hisato decides to call pon on the 8m and breaks his south pair, forcing either tanyao or yakuhai. On turn 5, he pairs up the green dragon for his yakuhai route. Creating a 25p ryanmen and a green dragon triplet, Hisato gets to tenpai and waits on a 25p ryanmen, ready with a mangan.

Two turns later, Sarukawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 4m/5m shanpon.

Within the ippatsu round, Sarukawa’s waits are exhusted, leaving Hisato to win. At the start of the third row, Hisato draws the 5p and wins the hand. Hisato wins with Green Dragon/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 2,000+100/4,000+100 plus a riichi stick, taking the lead.

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Stick Stealing

March 28, Game 2, E4-1

In E4-1, Hisato is the dealer and has a 10,400 lead over 2nd place Mizuhara. Hisato wants to earn as many points as possible to make his 1st place more secure. 1,300 in bonuses will go to the next winner.

Hisato starts the hand out at 4-shanten with a loose red 5p and a 1s dora. The first row gives Hisato with a 4m triplet and a 6789m shape. By the end of the row, he is 2-shanten.

At the start of the second row, Hisato pairs up the 5p to advance to iishanten. A turn later, he creates a 122s shape, giving an option to shift to tanyao (which would replace the 1s dora)

In the third row, Hisato makes a 5p triplet to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14p ryanmen, wanting the 4p for tanyao.

Immediately after, Mizuhara gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen., guaranteed at least a mangan if she wins.

Right after her, Daigo gets to tenpai on a 14s ryanmen.

On Mizuhara’s ippatsu turn, she draws and discards the 1p and deals into Hisato. Hisato wins the hand with Riichi/Aka 1 for 3,900+300 plus three riichi sticks, moving Hisato up to 40,500 almost double the score of 2nd place.

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Staying In Range

March 28, Game 2, E4-2

In E4-2, Daigo is in 3rd place, 1,800 behind 2nd place Sarukawa and 20,500 behind 1st place Hisato. If Daigo wants the MVP award, he needs to pass Hisato and finish in 1st place.

Daigo starts out the hand at 2-shanten with a connected red 5p and two ryanmens. On turn 2, Daigo completes a 567p sequence and gets to iishanten. Over the next few turns, Daigo breaks his 3m penchan to improve his shapes and potentially get to tanyao. At the end of the row, Daigo creates a 258s three-sided wait for iishanten, guaranteein him pinfu.

In the middle of the second row, Daigo completes a 123p sequence and calls riichi on a 258s wait.

Being iishanten with a dora 2s when Daigo calls riichi, Sarukawa keeps pushing his hand. In the third row, Daig gets to tenpai and stays dama on a 3s kanchan.

In the middle of the third row, Daigo draws the 8s and wins the hand. Daigo wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 1 for 1,300+200/2,600+200, shrinking the gap between Hisato and Daigo to 11,900.

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Ippatsu

March 28, Game 2, S1-0

In S1-0, Hisato is in 1st place and 11,900 ahead of 2nd place Daigo. Hisato wants to keep widening that gap.

Hisato starts out the hand at 2-shanten with two completed sequences. On turn 2, Hisato shifts an 8p kanchan to a 58p ryanmen. At the end of the row, he creates to a 25p ryanmen for iishanten and holding a guaranteed pinfu.

On turn 8, Hisato completes a 234p sequence and calls riichi on a 58p ryanmen. On his very next turn, he draws the 5p and wins the hand. Hisato wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000, increasing the lead to 21,900.

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The Final Hand

March 28, Game 2, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4608

In S4-0, it’s All Last in the final game of the regular season. Hisato is in the lead and the final dealer, needing to just bring the hand to a draw to be the next M-League MVP.

In 2nd place, Daigo is 19,400 behind 1st place Hisato. If Daigo gets a haneman direct hit, a baiman tsumo, or a sanbaiman win, he will finish the game in 1st place and become the next M-League MVP.

Everything comes down to this hand.

From the start, Daigo is 3-shanten for seven pairs with pairs of north, 9s and 3s. If he can get Riichi/Tsumo/Chiitoi/Dora 2/Ura 2, he will get the baiman tsumo. Alternatively, he can go for a souzu honitsu, being 4-away from it.

In the first row, Daigo makes the white dragon into a pair, and then a triplet, getting him to 2-shanten for chiitoi and a standard hand. In the middle of the second row, he makes a 567s sequence, and discards the lone 1m dora, confiming his pursuit of honitsu, forced to stay closed to have enough value.

At the start of the third row, Daigo draws a 3s to make a triplet and calls riichi on a north/9s shanpon. If Daigo can draw either of his winning tiles, he will have Riichi/Tsumo/Honitsu/Sanankou/White Dragon, enough for a baiman tsumo.

One north and one 9s remains in the wall.

During the ipaptsu round, Mizuhara gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 2m kanchan. If he can get one more han, she will move up to 3rd place.

Then, just two turns later, Daigo draws the north and wins the hand! With Riichi/Tsumo/Honitsu/Sanankou/North/White Dragon for 4,000/8,000 plus a riichi stick, Daigo finishes the game with 41,400.

With just this one hand, one lucky draw, Daigo becomes the league’s newest MVP!

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Results

Game 216

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Intro | Standings