Thursday (October 2)

Table A

Table B

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Table A, Game 1

Hanemania

October 2, Table A, Game 1, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p10511

In E1-0, Mizuhara is the starting dealer and beings at 4-shanten with a secured red 5p. In the first row, she draws a red 5m and improves the shapes, getting her to 2-shanten. Within the first few turns of the second row, she gets to iishanten and opens up the possibility of a 567 sanshoku, only needing a 5s to get there.

As Mizuhara waits, she holds onto a live red dragon, not wanting to throw it until absolutely necessary. As Miura calls pon on the 9p, the danger of the red dragon becomes more apparent. When Mizuhara draws a second red dragon, she decides to keep it and give up on pinfu and tanyao. Miura gets to tenpai in the third row, but he has no yaku.

Soon after, Mizuhara draws a third red dragon for tenpai, staying dama. If she manages to draw the 5s herself, she will have haneman. On her very next draw, she gets the 5s and wins the hand. Mizuhara wins the hand with Tsumo/Sanshoku/Red Dragon/Aka 2 for 6,000 all, a big start to the game.

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Hanemania

October 2, Table A, Game 1, E1-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p11506

In E1-1, Miura is in a three-way tie for 2nd place after Mizuhara won a big haneman in the very first hand.

Miura’s starting hand is quite unspectacular, being 4-shanten with a loose 6m dora for value. The first row does well to crete shapes and get him to 2-shanten, but Miura is left with a bunch of kanchans. One of the hopes for Miura is creating a 123p iipeikou, only needing an additional 2p.

In the second row, Miura makes pairs of 4s and 6s, shifting his hand towards seven pairs. He only needs one more pair for tenpai.

The first at the table to make a move is Setokuma, who calls riichi on a 69m ryanmen and can get a haneman with a 6m dora.

Within the ippatsu round, Miura makes his 2p pair and calls riichi on a 6m dora tanki. If anyone discards the 6m, he will have the advantage.

Immediately after, Shiratori calls the third riichi and waits on a 58p ryanmen.

On Miura’s very next turn, he gets the perfect 6m and wins the hand. Miura wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Chiitoi/Dora 2 for 3,000+100/6,000+100 plus two riichi sticks.

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Hanemania

October 2, Table A, Game 1, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p9004

In E2-0, Shiratori is tied for 3rd place after getting hit with two haneman tsumos.

Shiratori’s starting hand is 3-shanten and lacking in value. Shiratori’s first row provides a red 5p for potential value and gets to 2-shanten by the end of the row.

To Shiratori’s right, 1st place Mizuhara is hard at work trying to keep the game going. With pons of both the green dragon and the 6s, Mizuhara gets to tenpai on a 69p ryanmen.

On Shiratori’s turn, he draws a dora 1m and pairs it up on his next draw. In the middle of the second row, Shiratori fills in a 2p kanchan, advancing him to iishanten but isolating the red 5p. On his next turn, he creates a 678s sequence for tenpai. Throwing the red 5p, he calls riichi on a 2s/1m shanpon, wanting the dora. On his ippatsu draw, he gets that 1m dora and wins the hand. Getting the 2p uradora for style, Shiratori wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Dora 3/Ura 1 for 3,000/6,000, moving within 400 of 2nd place and 7,000 from 1st.

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Hanemania

October 2, Table A, Game 1, E3-0

In E3-0, Mizuhara’s is only 6,600 ahead of 2nd place and 7,000 ahead of 3rd despite winning a dealer haneman in the first hand.

Mizuhara’s starting hand is decent at 3-shanten with a red 5m and the ability to accept the dora 2s. On turn 2, she draws the 2s to create a 123s sequence, shifting to a 234s sequence on her next turn. Over the rest of the first row, she nurtures tanyao and gets a red 5p. By the end of the row, she is iishanten with a callable mangan. She improves her shapes a bit in the second row, but not much progress is made.

Approaching the end of the row, Miura (who has called three times) gets to tenpai first and waits on a 3s penchan, but none remain in the wall.

When Miuhara draws an additional 2s dora, she drops some of her efficiency just to keep it. The choice to keep it pays off as she draws another on on her next turn to replace her pair. At the end of her 2nd row, Mizuhara gets to tenpai and stays dama on a 6m kanchan, guaranteed a haneman.

With only a handful of tiles left in the wall, Setokuma is the third to tenpai and calls riichi on a 7s penchan.

During Setokuma’s ippatsu round, Shiratori has almost no safe tiles against Setokuma the dealer. Everything except the 6m. Not wanting to deal into the 4th place dealer, Shiratori discards the 6m and ends up dealing into Mizuhara. Mizuhara wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 3/Aka 2 for 12,000 plus a riichi stick.

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Challenger

October 2, Table A, Game 1, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s80_p2097

In S2-0, Miura is the dealer in 2nd place and 19,300 behind 1st place Mizuhara.

Miura starts off 4-shanten with no clear direction for value. Miura gets some very good draws in the first row, making good shapes and a 9s triplet, but his 2-shanten, good-wait guaranted hand is still lacking in any real value.

At the start of the second row, Miura creates a 678p sequence for iishanten, opening up the possibilty at a 678 sanshoku. He just needs an 8m and an 8s. On his next draw, he gets the red 5s. Though it kills the sanshoku, he does get to tenpai and value. Miura calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen.

In the third row, he gets the red 5m and wins the hand. Because of the bonus value from the red fives, Miura wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 2 for 4,000 all, putting him within 3,300 of 1st place.

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Results

Game 25

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Table B, Game 1

Genta

October 2, Table B, Game 1, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p9504

In E4-0, Genta is the dealer in 3rd place, 9,600 behind 1st place Nakada.

Geta starts out the hand 3-shanten with not much in terms of value. Drawing a 2p would give him iipeikou, though. On his first four turns, he makes pairs of both the 7m and the 9m, putting him 2-shanten for both a pairs and standard hand. On turn 5, he draws the 2p to get to iishanten for both kinds of hands.

At the end of the first row, he draws a third 7m, creating a triplet. Being tenpai, he calls riichi and waits on a 7s kanchan. On his very next turn, he gets the 7s and wins the hand. Genta wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Iipeikou for 4,000 all, moving into 1st.

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Results

Game 26

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Table A, Game 2

Ooi Oportunity

October 2, Table A, Game 2, E3-4
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p9006

In E3-4, Ooi is the dealer and holding a 17,200 lead over 2nd place Kurosawa.

Ooi starts off at 3-shanten with three potential ryanmen shapes. Exclusively throwing terminals and honours in the first row, Ooi pushes his hand towards tanyao. In the process he guarantees pinfu and has the ability to accept a dora 5m. He get to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten by the end of it.

Near the end of the second row, Ooi draws the dora 5m and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen.

Two turns later, Aikawa gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 7s kanchan.

With Aikawa’s discard, Kobayashi calls to get to tenpai on a 69m ryanmen.

On Aikawa’s turn, she draws a 3m. Not wanting to discard any tile around the dora, Aikawa reverts back to iishanten.

Near the middle of the third row, Kobayashi discards the 6p to maintain tenpai and deals into Ooi. Ooi wins with Riichi/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 12,000+1,200,

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Double East

October 2, Table A, Game 2, E4-0

In E4-0, Kurosawa is the dealer in 3rd place, just 100 behind 2nd place.

Kurosawa starts off at a strong 2-shanten with pairs of east and green dragon, as well as the ability to accept the 8s dora. Towards the end of the first row, Kurosawa calls pon on the east and gets to iishanten.

To her right, Aikawa gets to iishanten with a clear honitsu. With a pon of the white dragon at the end of the row, Aikawa gets to tenpai on a 789p wait.

Soon after, Kurosawa calls pon on the green dragon and waits on an 8s kanchan.

In the third row, Aikawa makes an adjustement and switches to a 69p ryanmen. On Kurosawa’s turn, she draws the 8s and wins the hand. Kurosawa wins with Double East/Green Dragon/Dora 1 for 4,000 all, comgin within 7,700 of 1st place.

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Dora Power

October 2, Table A, Game 2, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p9005

In S3-0, Ooi is the dealer again, and has a 10,500 lead over 2nd place Kurosawa.

Ooi’s starting hand is 3-shanten with a pair of the dora easts, giving him a path to call pon and aim for mangan. With the dora being the dora, it’s no surprise that it doesn’t come out immediately. While Ooi waits, he improves his waits and advances to 2-shanten. At the end of the first row, Kobayashi discards the east to take a strong 2-shanten. Ooi calls pon and advances to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten, later improving to a perfect iishanten.

As Ooi builds, Kurosawa is 2-shanten with a good chance at honitsu plus other value from yakuhai. After calling pon on the 1s and making a triplet of double souths, Kurosawa gets to tenpai on a 3m kanchan for mangan. If she draws it herself, she will pass Ooi.

In the middle of the third row, Aikawa gets to tenpai on a white dragon/6p shanpon.

Back to Ooi, it’s clear that he has reservations about discarding any manzu, having held a stray 7m for a while. When he draws a 5m, he breaks a ryanmen to keep the 6m kanchan.

On his next turn, he fills in the 6m kanchan and waits on a 69p ryanmen. Immediately after, Kurosawa discards the 6p and deals into Ooi. Ooi wins the hand with East/Dora 3 for 12,000.

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Results

Game 27

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Table B, Game 2

Speedy Mangan

October 2, Table B, Game 2, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s80_p2106

In S1-0, Shimoishi is in 3rd place and 5,000 behind 1st place dealer Aki.

Shimoishi starts off with a very strong hand with five pairs: south, green drargon, 4p, 6p and 7p. His hand is already iishanten for seven pairs, but calling the honours and going for honitsu is both faster and more expensive. On turn 3, he calls pon on the green dragon. Immediately after, he calls pon on the south and gets to a 58p ryanmen tenpai.

Before the row is done, Date discards the 8p and deals into Shimoishi. Shimoishi wins the hand with Honitsu/Double South/Green Dragon for 8,000, taking the lead.

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Aki

October 2, Table B, Game 2, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p7507

In S2-0, Aki is in 2nd place and 3,000 behind 1st place dealer Shimoishi.

Aki starts off the hand at 2-shanten with a floating 8p dora. With only four blocks in hand, Aki can easily incorporate the dora. On turn 2, she pairs it up for iishanten. Two turns later she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 5m kanchan.

Approaching the middle of the second row, Aki draws the perfect tile, the red 5m, and wins the hand. Aki wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000, taking back the lead.

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Geki

October 2, Table B, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p11005

In S4-0, Shimoishi is in 2nd place and 7,100 behind 1st place Aki. To take 1st, Shimoishi needs a 3/30 direct hit, a 3/50 or 4/25 tsumo, or a mangan ron.

Shimoishi starts off the hand already 2-shanten with a pair of green dragon and a single red dragon dora. The hand leans towards a chanta and a potential 123 sanshoku. If he can keep the hand closed, he can get the mangan. On turn 5, he draws a 1s, confirming both sanshoku and chanta. All he needs to do is get the 3s and the 7s.

At the start of the second row, Shimoishi gets the 7s and stays dama on a 3s penchan.

Two draws later, 4th place Daigo gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen. If Daigo manages to draw his winning tile himself, he will move up to 3rd place.

Because Shimoishi has 1st place within reach, Shimoishi keeps pushing, ecen as he draws the dora. Near the end of the row, Shimoishi draws the 3s and wins the hand. Shimoishi wins with Chanta/Sanshoku for 2,000/4,000 plus one riichi stick, winning the game.

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Results

Game 28

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