Thursday (November 27)

Table A

Table B

---

Table A, Game 1

Nagai

November 27, Table A, Game 1, E3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p7528

In E3-0, Nagai is the dealer in 2nd place, 2,600 behind 1st place Yu.

Nagai starts off with an okay 3-shanten hand with a connected red 5p as part of a ryanmen. In the first row, he makes a triplet of 3s, creates a 678s sequence and a 9s pair to get to iishanten, leaving a kanchan in manzu and the pinzu ryanmen to resolve.

At the start of the second row, Akutsu is the first to tenpai, calling riichi on an 8p tanki for mangan minimum. One more han will upgrade him to a haneman.

Being iishanten with only a single safe tile in hand, Nagai pushes. In the middle of the second row, Nagai completes the manzu sequence and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen. In the third row, Daisuke discards the 3p as a one-chance and deals into Nagai. Hitting an uradora, Nagai wins the hand with Riichi/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 7,700, moving into 1st.

---

Akutsu

November 27, Table A, Game 1, S3-1

In S3-1, Akutsu is in 4th place and is 17,000 behind 3rd place Yu. A riichi stick and a honba are in the pot.

Akutsu starts out the hand already iishanten with his first 13 tiles. Though he doesn’t get the double riichi, he does have the speed and a secured red 5p for value.

When we look across the table, Yu fills in a penchan on his first draw and is also iishanten! Of the two quick hands, Yu is the first to tenpai, calling riichi on a wide 369p three-sided wait. Five remain in the wall.

Only Akutsu has the speed to challenge Yu. Having already added a red 5m to his hand, he also has the value to challenge, with a mangan direct hit being enough to overtake. After building a cluster in manzu, Akutsu gets to tenpai at the start of the second row and calls riichi on a three-sided wait of his own, a 258m wait.

Yu has four winning tiles left, Akutsu has five. In the middle of the second row, Yu draws and discards the 2m, dealing into Akutsu. Akutsu wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Aka 2 for 8,000+300 plus two riichi sticks, enough to overtake Yu and move into 3rd place.

---

Results

Game 121

---

Table B, Game 1

Shibata

November 27, Table B, Game 1, S1-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p11524

In S1-2, Shibata is in 3rd place, 10,000 behind 2nd place dealer Honda and 10,600 behind 1st place Date.

Shibata starts out the hand already at 2-shanten with a secured red 5s. After quickly creating a 345s sequence and a pinzu block, Shibata gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 4p kanchan.

To his left, Honda has a lot of loose honours and terminals to throw while still pushing his hand forward. In the middle of the second row, Honda gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen.

It’s Honda’s five winning tiles to Shibata’s single 4p. However, mahjong will be mahjong. Immediately after Honda calls riichi, Shibata draws that final 4p and wins the hand. With the 4p also being the uradora, Shibata wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 2,000+200/4,000+200 plus a riichi stick, just enough to move into 1st place.

---

Sticks

November 27, Table B, Game 1, S3-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s80_p2490

In S3-2, Date is in 2nd place and just 1,200 from 1st place Shibata. The winner of the next hand will get 3,600 in bonuses.

Date starts out the hand at an annoying 4-shanten, but things get a little better on her second turn when she pairs up the white dragon. Before the row is done, she completes a 123s sequence and calls pon on the white dragon to get to 2-shanten. Two turns into the second row, she pairs up the 5s and gets to iishanten.

To her left, 4th place dealer Sonoda fills in a kanchan to get to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten. In the middle of the row, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen.

With Sonoda’s discarded 8m, Date calls a 789m chii (securing the 7m dora) and gets to tenpai on a 47p ryanmen.

To her right, Honda gets to tenpai on a 5s tanki (hoping that his red 5s gets paired up), but has no yaku. A turn later, Honda decides to make a switch, throwing the red 5s and calling riichi to wait on a 14s nobetan.

On Sonoda’s next turn, he draws and discards the 7p, dealing into Date. Date wins the hand with White Dragon/Dora 1 for 2,000+600 plus FIVE riichi sticks, a strong boost into 1st place.

---

Results

Game 122

---

Table A, Game 2

Uchikawa

November 27, Table A, Game 2, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p7529

In E1-0, Uchikawa starts off at 3-shanten with three potential ryanmen shapes and a slight lean towards all simples. By his third discard, he is already iishanten and both tanyao and a good wait guaranteed. Right as dealer Kobayashi (who has a hidden triplet of the double east) gets to a perfect iishanten in the middle of the second row, Uchikawa gets to pinfu tenpai and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen. A few turns later, Akutsu discards the dora 2p trying to keep his closed half flush iishanten and deals into Uchikawa. Uchikawa wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 8,000.

---

Akutsu

November 27, Table A, Game 2, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p8024

In S2-0, Akutsu is in 4th place and is 13,100 behind 3rd place Kobayashi.

With Akutsu’s first draw, he secures a dora 4m to get to 2-shanten. On his next draw, he advances to iishanten after creating a 47p ryanmen to go along with his 14s ryanmen, guaranteed pinfu. On his third turn, he draws a 4p and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen, wanting the 4s for mangan minimum. All eight of his waits are in the wall.

Despite such a wide wait, none of them come out! Neither he nor his opponents pick up the waits! Even by the middle of the second row, his waits are unseen. This gives time for Shimoishi to get to tenpai and chase on a 47p ryanmen. Four of his waits remain.

Though it looks like Shimoishi might upset Akutsu, mathematics prevails as Akutsu draws the 4s at the start of the third row to win. Akutsu wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1 for 2,000/4,000 plus a riichi stick. With the win, Akutsu is now 2,100 from 3rd place and just 7,200 from 1st place.

---

Results

Game 123

---

Table B, Game 2

Hagiwara

November 27, Table B, Game 2, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p10027

In S3-0, Hagiwara is the dealer in 2nd place and is 4,500 behind 1st place Futoshi.

Hagiwara starts off the hand drawing a red 5m, creating a 3345m shape and getting him to 3-shanten. His hand has strong shapes and floating tiles, geared up for pinfu and tanyao. He moves quite well in the first row to get to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten with both yaku guaranteed. In addition, Hagiwara just needs an 8s to add iipeikou into the mix as well.

The second row almost seemed to be a bust, but he completes the pinzu ryanmen at the end of the row and waits dama on a 58s ryanmen, wanting the 8s for mangan.

Soon after, Kazuma gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 4m kanchan, guaranteed at least a haneman if he wins. One 4m remains in the wall.

Though there is danger, Hagiwara keeps pushing. Just two turns after the riichi, Hagiwara draws the 8s and wins the hand. Hagiwara wins with Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Iipeikou/Aka 1 for 4,000 all plus a riichi stick.

---

Kazuma

November 27, Table B, Game 2, S3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p11525

In S3-1, Kazuma is in 4th place, 9,800 behind 3rd place Futoshi and 14,300 behind 2nd place Takizawa.

Kazuma starts off the hand with pairs of red dragon and the yakuhai west, but not much else. To try and build value, he quickly calls pon on the red dragon and tosses his pinzu and souzu. trying to go for a half flush. Before the row is done, he is rid of all his off-suits.

Around the start of the second row, Kazuma calls pon on the 4m and gets to iishanten. When a fourth 4m comes his way, he chooses to reject a 25m ryanmen shape and calls kan, trying desperately to gain value. Unfortunately, the attempt is futile.

At the start of the third row, Kazuma calls pon on the west and gets to tenpai on a 2m kanchan. In the middle of the row, Takizawa discards the 2m trying to take a baiman tenpai and deals into Kazuma. Kazuma wins the hand with Honitsu/Red Dragon/West for 8,000+300, moving up to 3rd place.

---

Results

Game 124

---

Intro | Standings