Monday (September 21)

Table A

Table B

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Table A, Game 1

Edges

September 21, Table A, Game 1, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p7071

In S3-0, Futoshi is the dealer in 3rd place, 1,500 behind 2nd place Shiratori and 6,900 behind 1st place Akutsu.

Futoshi starts off at 3-shanten with pairs of white dragon and north, as well as a 123p sequence. Within the first three turns, it’s clear that a pinzu honitsu is in the tiles. He confirms it by tossing out the dora 6m. On turn 5, he creates a 69p ryanmen.

To his left, 1st place Akutsu has a strong hand going as well. On his fifth turn, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen.

After tossing some stray honours, Futoshi calls a 123p chii in the second row and gets to iishanten.

Then, in the middle of the row, Shiratori adds pressure too, discarding the 6m dora and calling riichi on a 14s ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan.

During the ippatsu round, Futoshi draws a white dragon triplet and gets to tenpai on a 69p ryanmen. If he wins on the 9p, it’s a mangan.

At the start of the third row, Futoshi draws the 9p and wins the hand. Futoshi wins with Honitsu/Chanta/White Dragon for 4,000 all plus two riichi stick, moving him to 1st place with a 12,100 lead.

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Results

Game 9

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Table B, Game 1

Super Setokuma

September 21, Table B, Game 1, E4-4
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p10077

In E4-4, Setokuma is the dealer in 1st place, 18,700 ahead of the 2nd place tie.

At the start, Setokuma is at 2-shanten with a route to a 789 sanshoku. In the first three turns, he turns a west pair into a triplet and adds a 678 sanshoku as a flexible option. Before the row is done, he is iishanten.

To his left, Aikawa is also iishanten before the end of the row. At the start of the second, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen.

Being the dealer with good waits and no real folding fodder aside from the west triplet, Setokuma pushes. In the middle of the row, he draws the 6p dora to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen. If he gets the 8s, he will have the 678 sanshoku for mangan minimum.

Within the go-around, Nagai calls pon on the 6p dora and gets to tenpai on a 14p ryanmen, guaranteed a mangan.

At the start of the third row, Setokuma draws the perfect 8s and wins the hand. With his 9s pair being the uradora, Setokuma wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Sanshoku/Dora 1/Ura 2 for 6,000+400 all plus a riichi stick, moving him up to 60,800.

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Go Sano

September 21, Table A, Game 1, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p9559

In S1-0, Sano is the dealer in 4th place 5,200 behind 3rd place Nagai.

Sano’s starting hand is very clean, being 2-shanten with a 345m sequence, a 6777p shape and a pair of white dragons. On turn 2, she has a chance to take iishanten, but instead breaks an 89s shape in favour of floating tiles (including the red 5s). On turn 5, she draws a red 5p to complete a 567p sequence and a 789p sequence, getting her to iishanten.

At the start of the second row, she pairs up the 5s and calls riichi on a 5s/white dragon shanpon. Two turns later, Nagai discards the white dragon and deals into Sano. Sano wins the hand with Riichi/White Dragon/Aka 2 for 12,000, moving her to 3rd place and Nagai into the negatives.

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Results

Game 10

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Table A, Game 2

Secret Sanshoku

September 21, Table A, Game 2, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p9055

In S3-0, Ooi is the dealer in 1st place 20,800 ahead of 2nd place Shimoishi.

Ooi starts out with a very good 3-shanten hand with three ryanmens. With a 6789p shape as well as a 69m ryanmen and 69s ryanmen, he has the flexibility of going for either a 678 sanshoku or a 789 sanshoku.

After compleeting a 123p sequence during the first few turns, Ooi gets the 6s on turn 5, getting him iishanten. Two turns into the second row, he gets the 6m and stays dama on a 58s ryanmen. For sanshoku to happen, he needs another 8s.

A turn after that, he draws the 3m dora. Confirming sanshoku, he switches to a 3m dora tanki. It’s a high-risk, high-reward play. If it works out, he has a mangan.

At the end of the row, Shimoishi gets to tenpai on a 4s kanchan.

To Ooi’s left, 3rd place Sonoda is quite exposed, having already called three times and is still iishanten. At the start of the third row, he throws the 3m dora and deals into Ooi. Ooi wins the hand with Sanshoku/Dora 2 for 12,000, moving him up to 57,000.

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Results

Game 11

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Table B, Game 2

Big Dama

September 21, Table B, Game 2, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p9560

In S4-0, Genta is the last dealer and is in 3rd place, 15,200 behind 2nd place Katsumata and 30,700 behind 1st place Honda.

Genta starts out the hand at 2-shanten, though is lacking any value. In the first row, he draws a bunch of pinu. Having started with seven pinzu tiles and adding three more by the end of the first row, the hand looks like it’s shifting to a full flush. Two turns into the second row, he breaks his 9s pair, going back a step to go for a bigger hand.

Across from him, Katsumata doesn’t want to give Genta any chance of catching up. In the middle of the second row, he gets to tenpai on a 58s ryanmen, needing the 5s for iipeikou. Not wanting to overextend and still have the ability to fold, he stays dama, only allowed to win to tsumo, or call ron on the 5s.

On Genta’s next draw, he gets his 12th pinzu tile, putting him iishanten. A turn later, he draws his 13th pinzu tile and is tenpai on a 47p ryanmen. With either tile, he will have a baiman:

• 7p: Chinitsu/Pinfu/Iipeikou (8 han)
• 4p: Chinitsu/Pinfu/Ittsuu/Dora 1 (10 han)

With such a big hand, he stays dama. Within the go-around, 1st place Honda discards the 7p nd deals into Genta. Genta wins the hand with Chinitsu/Pinfu/Iipeikou for 24,000. With the direct hit, Genta rockets up to 1st place.

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Katsumata Closer

September 21, Table B, Game 2, S4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p7580

In S4-1, Katsumata is 2nd place and is 8,800 behind 1st place Genta. To finish the game in 1st place, Katsumata needs a 3/40 direct hit, a mangan tsumo or a haneman ron.

Katsumata starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a secured dora 5m and pinfu and tanyao as possible boosters. By turn 4, Katsumata is iishanten. However, an 8m triplet stops the possibility of pinfu.

Though Katsumata has an exciting hand, Genta’s hand is easily more exciting. At the start of the second row, Genta is tenpai for a full flush and waiting on a 25s ryanmen, guaranteed a dealer baiman if he wins.

Immediately after, Kazuma calls riichi on a wide 4578m wait. Kazuma looks for the 4m, which will give him at least 5 han.

Right after him, Katsumata draws the 5m and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen. Because of Kazuma’s riichi, Katsumata’s mangan tenpai is now enough for 1st place. A few turns later, Katsumata draws the 6m and wins the hand. Katsumata wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Iipeikou/Dora 2 for 3,000+100/6,000+100 plus a riichi stick, winning the game.

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Results

Game 12

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Intro | Standings