Friday (April 11)

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Game 1

Dora 3

April 11, Game 1, E2-0

In E2-0, Nakabayashi is the dealer in 4th place, 9,000 behind 3rd place Hagiwara and 11,600 behind 2nd place Hisato.

Nakabayashi starts out the hand at 3-shanten, drawing a 1m dora on his first turn. In the first four turns, he fills in a 6m kanchan and pairs up the 1m dora to get to 2-shanten. On turn 5, he makes the 1m into a triplet to get to iishanten. After making an 8m triplet and a 2s pair Nakabayashi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58p ryanmen, guaranteed mangan minimum.

At the end of the second row, Nakabayashi draws the 8p and wins the hand. Nakabayashi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 3 for 4,000 all, moving up to 2nd.

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The Devil’s Work

April 11, Game 1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3624

In E4-0, Hisato is the dealer in 4th place, but he is just a dealer mangan away from moving into 1st place.

With Hisato’s very first draw he has five pairs, needing just one more for tenpai. Ideally, he pairs up the lone red 5m to add value to the hand. On turn 4, he pairs up the east to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 5m tanki.

At the start of the second row, Hisato draws the 5m and wins the hand. Hisato wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Chiitoi/Aka 1 for 4,000 all, moving into 1st place.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3625

In E4-1, Hisato starts out 3-shanten with no value to be seen. In the first three draws, Hisato forms a 789m sequence, having the 9m dora for value and getting to iishanten. Over the next three turns, he makes a 1p triplet and a 9p pair to get to tenpai. He calls riichi and waits on a 6m kanchan.

On his very next draw, he gets the 6m and wins the hand. Hisato wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Dora 1 for another mangan, 4,000+100 all.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3626

In E4-2, Hisato starts out 3-shanten with two 6s dora in his hand. Within the first three turns, he gets to iishanten, but requires another tile around the 6s dora to secure both of them. On turn 5, Hisato fills in a 7p kanchan and has a chance to take a 3m/4m shanpon tenpai, but instead breaks the 4m pair to use the additional dora.

On his very next turn, he draws a 7s to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan. If he wins off the 5s, he will have at least a haneman.

Across from him, Nakabayashi has been tenpai for a few turns, waiting on a 5m kanchan. In the middle of the second row, he improves to a 58m/8p wait.

Two turns later, Hisato draws the 8s and wins the hand. Hisato wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 2/Ura 1 for 6,000+200 all, moving Hisato up to 61,900.

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A Bunch Of Dora

April 11, Game 1, E4-4

In E4-4, Nakabayashi is in 2nd place, but is just 2,900 from dropping into 4th place.

Nakabayashi starts out the hand at 4-shanten with a secured red 5s. In the first row, Nakabayashi shifts his hand towards tanyao, looking to also accept the 5m dora to increase its value. Around the end of the first row, Nakabayashi is 2-shanten.

To his left, Futoshi is looking for a quick pinfu hand. At the start of his second row, Futoshi discards the red 5m and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen.

With the red 5m, Nakabayashi calls chii to get to mangan iishanten. With a 7s pon, he gets to tenpai on a 3m kanchan. On his next turn, he improves to a 36m ryanmen.

As both Futoshi and Nakabayashi draw and discard, Hisato gets to tenpai on a 47p ryanmen.

Around the end of the second row, Hisato draws and discards the 6m and deals into Nakabayashi. Nakabayashi wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 2/Aka 2 for 8,000+1,200 plus a riichi stick.

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Escaping 4th

April 11, Game 1, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2127

In S4-0, Futoshi is in 4th place, 12,000 behind 3rd place Hagiwara. To escape 4th place, Futoshi needs a 3/50 or 4/25 direct hit, a haneman tsumo or a haneman ron (for a tie). If Futoshi wants 2nd place, he needs a baiman.

Futoshi starts out the hand at 4-shanten with a connected dora 7p and a red 5s, some good value for a potential comeback. Within five turns, Futoshi makes a 456s sequence, a 789p sequence and a 7s pair, getting him to iishanten. At the end of the first row, Futoshi opens up the possibility of creating a 369s three-sided wait.

At the start of the second row, Futoshi draws another 7p giving the potential to use another dora. Though, the 8p discarded in the first row could be problematic. On his next draw, he gets the red 5p to add even more value. He needs a 6p to get the ideal tenpai.

Around the end of the row, Futoshi draws the 6p and calls riichi on a 369s wait. He has haneman guaranteed and can get to a baiman with tsumo and one more han.

Across from him, Hagiwara has been tenpai for a whole row on a yakuless 7p kanchan, looking to win and move up to 2nd place. At the end of the second row, Hagiwara gets to tenpai on a 467p wait. Though it’s a nice wait, he is furiten.

Sitting between them is dealer Hisato, who has already called pon on the 3m and east, going for honitsu. In the middle of the third row, Hisato gets to tenpai on a 7m wait.

A few turns later, Futoshi draws the 6s and wins the hand. Though Futoshi fails to get the uradora for baiman, Futoshi still wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 2/Aka 2 for 3,000/6,000 for 2nd place.

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Results

Game 7

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Game 2

Ura San

April 11, Game 2, E4-1

In E4-1, Sonoda is in 2nd place and 3,400 behind 1st place Takamiya. With two riichi sticks and a honba, any hand other than the cheapest will be enough for 1st place.

With Sonoda’s first draw, he creates a 345p sequence to join his 6m triplet and 1p triplet, getting to iishanten. On his very next turn, he completes a west pair and calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen. With not much information to go on, Setokuma decides to push. At the end of the first row, Setokuma discards the 2m trying to maintain iishanten and deals into Sonoda. With the uradora flip, Sonoda’s 6m suddenly becomes the new dora and upgrades him to mangan. Sonoda wins with Riichi/Ura 3 for 8,000+300 plus two riichi sticks, moving up to 1st place with his second Ura 3 in his M-League career.

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Ippatsu

April 11, Game 2, S1-0
VIdeo: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5622

In S1-0, Kobayashi is the dealer in 3rd place, 2,800 behind 2nd place Takamiya and 9,700 behind 1st place Sonoda.

Kobayashi starts off at 3-shanten and leaning towards sequences. In the first row, Kobayashi is only able to make a single sequence, advancing just one step to 2-shanten. Around the table, everyone else is at 2-shanten or better, most of them with better shapes as well.

At the start of the second row, Nakabayashi shifts to tanyao and advances to iishanten on turn 8. On turn 11, he draws a red 5s and guarantees himself pinfu. Soon after, Setokuma calls pon on the green dragon and gets to tenpai on a 5p kanchan with three han

On Sonoda’s turn, he completes a 345p sequence and gets to tenpai on a 47m ryanmen with three han.

When it goes around to Kobayashi, he draws the perfect dora 7s to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan.

To round everything out, Takamiya gets to tenpai during the ippatsu round and waits dama on a 58p ryanmen.

On Kobayashi’s ippatsu turn, he draws the 9p and wins the hand. Kobayashi wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 6,000 all, easily moving into 1st place.

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Setokuma Sanshoku

April 11, Game 2, S3-1

In S3-1, Setokuma is behind, sitting 16,100 behind 3rd place dealer Takamiya. He wants to make up as much ground as he can before his final dealership. A riichi stick and a honba sit in the pot.

From the very start, Setokuma is 3-shanten with all four of the 1s in his hand. On turn 4, he decides to call a concealed kan to try to advance his hand faster. Despite all the chances, he is only able to get to 2-shanten by the end of the first row.

At the start of the second row, he fills in a 4s kanchan for iishatnen. A turn later, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen, wanting the 5p for a 345 sanshoku.

During the ippatsu round, Kobayashi calls a 789s and waits on a west/1m shanpon. It’s a risky move since only the west gives him the win, but the west being the kandora gives him a mangan tenpai.

On Setokuma’s very next draw, he gets the 5p and wins the hand. Setokuma wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Sanshoku for 2,000+100/4,000+100 plus a two riichi sticks, cutting the deficit down to 2,700 going into his final dealership.

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Results

Game 8

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Intro | Standings