Thursday (October 16)

Table A

Table B

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Table A, Game 1

Hisato Highlights

October 16, Table A, Game 1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p8511

In S3-3, Hisato the dealer in 2nd place and 6,300 behind 1st place Daisuke. Two riichi sticks and three honba will give the next winner 2,900 in bonus points.

Hisato starts out the hand at 2-shanten with a connected red 5p. On turn 2, he creates a ryanmen to guarantee himself a good wait when he gets to tenpai. At the end of the first row, he gets to a perfect iishanten.

Within the go-around, Kurosawa gets to tenpai first and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen.

Being iishanten with a lot of potential bonus value, Hisato keeps his hand. However, he can’t push too recklessly. When Hisato gets to tenpai at the end of the second row, he chooses to discard the slightly safer 3s, taking a 1s/4s shanpon onstead of a 25s ryanmen.

As the wall winds down, Hisato’s chances of winning also shrinks. But, on Hisato’s last draw, he gets to 1s and wins the hand. Hisato wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 1 for 2,600+300 plus three riichi sticks, moving up to 40,100.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p8512

In S3-4, Hisato starts with a bit more of a messy hand, being 4-shanten with a connected red 5p and a 36p ryanmen as his only good shape. He spends the first row filling in the ryanmen, filling a 2m kanchan and creating a 9p pair, getting him to iishanten.

At the start of the second row, 2nd place Daisuke is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69p ryanmen, wanting the 6p for tanyao.

With the riichi by Daisuke, Hisato tries to play it a bit safe, breaking his west pair and taking a step back.

To his left, Kurosawa gets to tenpai on a 1m yakuless tenpai. At the end of the row, Kurosawa improves the wait to a 58m nobetan and calls riichi.

During the ippatsu round, Hisato draws a second 1p, giving him his fifth pair. Being iishanten and also having a pair of 3p dora and the red 5p, Hisato also has the value to be a bit aggressive. On his second-last draw, Hisato pairs up the 2s to get to tenpai and waits dama on a 4p tanki. Within the go-around, Kurosawa discards the 4p and deals into Hisato. Hisato wins the hand with Chiitoi/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 12,000+1,200 plus two riichi sticks, pushing Hisato up to 55,300.

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Rebound

October 16, Table A, Game 1, S3-5
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p10011

In S3-5, Kurosawa is in 3rd place and wants to regain some points after dealing into a dealer mangan.

Kurosawa starts the hand at 2-shanten with a connected dora 5m. Kurosawa breaks her 1p pair within the first few turns, giving her the potential for tanyao. Near the end of the row, Kurosawa discards her final terminal. However, she will still have to draw the correct side of the 69p ryanmen and the 69m ryanmen. In the second row, she draws a red 5s and makes a triplet of 4p. Being tenpai, Kurosawa secures her 7m pair (solving the 69m ryanmen problem) and calls riichi on a 69p ryanmen, wanting the 6p tsumo fo haneman.

Being iishanten with some safety in hand, Hisato is able to keep pushing a bit. On his second-last turn, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins.

Within the go-around, Kurosawa draws the ideal 6p and wins the hand. Kurosawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 3,000+500/6,000+500 plus a riichi stick, coming to within 3,200 of 2nd place.

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Results

Game 49

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Table B, Game 1

Dama

October 16, Table B, Game 1, E3-0
Video:

In E3-0, everyone is back to the start after Genta dealt into Miuhara, then Mizuhara dealt into Genta.

Mizuhara starts out the hand drawing a 5m to pair with the red 5m, getting her to 3-shanten. In her first four turns, she gets to iishanten, needing to fill an 8s kanchan and a 14p ryanmen. She holds a floating 2s for a chance at a 123 sanshoku, needing a 1s and a 3s to get there.

On turn 5, Mizuhara draws the 3s. She has a 14s ryanmena nd 14p ryanmen needing to be filled, but the 1s is the big tile she needs for big value. On turn 8, she draws the 1s for tenpai. She stays dama and waits on the 14p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan. IF she wins on the 1p, she will upgrade it to a haneman.

A few turns later, Uchikawa makes a call to get to tenpai on a 47s ryanmen.

Unfortunately for him, he ends up drawing an extra 4p the very next turn and deals into Mizuhara. Mizuhara wins the hand with Pinfu/Sanshoku/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 8,000.

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Shortcut to Haneman

October 16, Table B, Game 1, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p10517

In S2-0, Mizuhara reamins in the lead and holds a 5,000 gap over 2nd place dealer Kazuma.

On Mizuhara’s first draw, she makes a 1s pair to join her 1m, 2m and 4p pairs. Pairing up the 7s on turn 3, she gets herself to iishanten. It takes a few turns to advance to tenpai, but when she gets there, she calls riichi on an east tanki. On her very next turn, she draws the east and wins the hand. Hitting the uradora, Mizuhara wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Chiitoi/Dora 2 for 3,000/6,000.

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Dora 3

October 16, Table B, Game 1, S3-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p9509

In S3-2, Genta is in 4th place and is 300 behind 3rd place Kazuma.

Genta starts out the hand 4-shanten, but the distance is balanced by a decent chance at a pinzu honitsu. In the first row, he advances to 2-shanten and starts breaking his last non-pinzu/honour shape. Included in the hand is a pair of west doras, laying the foundation for a mangan. If he makes a west triplet, he will upgrade to a haneman.

In the middle of the second row, Genta calls pon on the 9p and gets to tenpai on an 8p/west shanpon. In the middle of the third row, Genta draws the expensive west and wins the hand. Genta wins with Honitsu/West/Dora 3 for 3,000/6,000, putting him 3,900 behind 2nd place Mizuhara and 9,200 behind 1st place Uchikawa.

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Results

Game 50

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Table A, Game 2

Haneman Haneman Haneman

October 17, Table A, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p8513

In E3-0, Takamiya is tied for 2nd place and is 11,000 behind 1st place Ooi.

Takamiya starts off drawing the red 5m to gets to 4-shanten. After discarding honours and terminals in her first five turns, she gets to to 2-shanten with tanyao almost guaranteed. After two straight turns of useful draws, Takamiya gets to a near-perfect tenpai and calls riichi on a 256p wait. On her very next draw, she gets the 5p and wins the hand. Takamiya wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Tanyao/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 3,000/6,000, moving into 1st.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p8514

In E4-0, Takamiya starts with a 3-shanten hand with three ryanmens and a secured red 5s. On turn 2, she draws a dora 4m to complete a sequence. Within the first five turns, she is already tenpai and calls riichi on a 58p ryanmen. Just like last hand, Takamiya draws the 5p on the ippatsu turn and wins the hand. Hitting an uradora as well, Takamiya wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 3,000/6,000.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p8515

In S4-0, Takamiya is back down to 2nd place and is 7,900 behind 1st place dealer Ooi. To finish the game in 1st place, Takamiya needs a 3/40 direct hit, a 3/50 or 4/25 tsumo, or a mangan ron.

Takamiya starting hand is 2-shanten with a red 5m double dora for value. On turn 5, she creates a 58s ryanmen, going along with her 47m ryanmen and 47p ryanmen. With the current hand shape, she is guaranteed a good wait and possibly even a 567 sanshoku. Completing a 567p sequence at the end of the row, Takamiya gets to iishanten.

Two turns into the second row, Takamiya draws the 7m to get to tenpai. She calls riichi and waits on the 58s ryanmen. Any winning tile is enough, but a 5s will get her to a haneman.

Just two turns later, Takamiya draws the 5s and wins the hand. Takamiya wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Sanshoku/Dora 1/Aka 1 for for 3,000/6,000, ending in 1st place to complete the team’s daily double.

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Results

Game 51

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Table B, Game 2

Chinitsu

October 16, Table B, Game 2, S2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p10518

In S2-1, Kobayashi is in 3rd place, 2,800 behind 2nd place Takaki and 16,000 behind 1st place dealer Uchikawa.

Kobayashi starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a nine manzu tiles. He add a tenth tile a bit later, but it’s clear that other people want to challenge him. With a call already by Uchikawa, he pushes his own hand. WIth a 123s chii, Takaki is the first to tenpai and waits on a 36m ryanmen.

After getting to an 11th manzu tile, Kobayashi calls a 789m chii to get to iishanten. turn later, Kobayashi gets to tenpai on a 3m wait, guaranteed a haneman if he wins.

With Kobayashi’s 4p discard, Uchikawa calls a 456p sequence (involving the red 5p) for iishanten. t the end of the row, Uchikawa calls a 2p pon for a 1p tanki tenpai, waiting with a dealer mangan.

On Kobayashi’s very next turn, he gets the very last 3m and wins the hand. Kobayashi wins with Chinitsu/Ittsuu/Aka 1 for 3,000+100/6,000+100. With Uchikawa getting hit with the dealer penalty, Kobayashi moves up to 1st place.

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Takaki To Top

October 16, Table B, Game 2, S3-1

In S3-1, Takaki is the dealer in 3rd place, 6,200 behind 2nd place Uchikawa and 9,600 behind 1st place Kobayashi.

Takaki starts out the hand at 4-shanten with a loosely-connected red 5s. Through the first row, Takaki makes the 5s into a pair, then into a triplet. he also makes some sequences and sequence candidates, getting him to iishanten at the end of the first row.

At the start of the second row, Takaki fills in a 2s kanchan and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen. Near the end of the second row, Takaki draws a fourth 5s and calls a concealed kan. Though the rinshan doesn’t it, it does make Takaki’s 3s into a dora. In the middle of the third rowTakaki draws the 7m and wins the hand. Takaki wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 4,000+300 all, moving into 1st place.

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Kobayashi Goes Ahead

October 16, Table B, Game 2, S3-2

In S3-2, Kobayashi is in 2nd place and 6,800 behind 1st place Takaki.

Kobayashi starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a loosely-connected dora 2m. The first row gives Kobayashi a sequence and a ryanmen to get to iishanten. By the end of the first row, Kobayashi is at a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten with pinfu guaranteed, but the 2m has to be sacrificed.

At the start of the second, Kobayashi gets to tenpai and discards the 2m dora, calling riichi on a 69s ryanmen. Also in the hand is the potential for a 678 sanshoku, needing the 6s to make it happen.

Though there are still five winning tiles for Kobayashi to get, his opponents still have a chance to take the win away from him.

Towards the end of the seocnd row, Miura gets to tenpai on a 6s kanchan, having the ability to headbump Kobayashi.

Soon after, Uchikawa gets to tenpai on a 36m ryanmen.

But despite the challenge, Kobayashi still has the advantage. When Miura draws a dangerous 9p, Miura folds. At the start of the third row, Kobayashi gets the perfect 6s and wins the hand. Kobayashi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Sanshoku for 2,000+200/4,000+200, taking back the lead.

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Results

Game 52

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