Tuesday (September 22)

Table A

Table B

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Table A, Game 1

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September 22, Table A, Game 1, E3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p8058

In E3-0, Okada is in 2nd place, 9,800 behind 1st place dealer Uchikawa.

Okada starts out with a strong 4-shanten hand with good shapes and a pair of the 9p dora. Within the first four turns, Okada makes an incredible transformation to get to iishanten with a ryanmen still intact. On turn 5, she has a chance to take a 1s/9p shanpon tenpai, but chooses instead to break her 1s pair to try and add more value and a better wait. In the second row, she gets to a 3p/9p shanpon (and equally bad wait) and stays dama with no yaku, still looking for that upgrade.

In the middle of the second row, Hagiwara draws the last 9p in the wall for tenpai and calls riichi on a 6m kanchan.

As Okada draws the red 5s during the ippatsu round, she breaks her 3p pair and goes back to iishanten.

A turn later, Hinata gets to a seven pairs tenpai and calls riichi on a 9p tanki (though none remain in the wall).

Right after, Okada has a chance to take a wide 147p three-sided wait, but she would have to discard the red 5s.Holding a guaranteed mangan, she takes a risk and calls riichi. And though Uchikawa calls the red 5s to break the ippatsu and get himself to tenpai on a 69m ryanmen (only allowed to win on the 6m), it shifts the wall so that Hagiwara discards the 1p and deals into Okada. With the 9p also being the uradora, Okada wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Dora 2/Ura 2 for 12,000 plus two riichi sticks, enough to move into 1st place.

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Results

Game 13

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Table B, Game 1

Simply Sasaki

September 22, Table B, Game 1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p8582

In S1-0, Hisato is in 4th place, 6,800 behind 3rd place Kayamori, 6,900 behind 2nd place Yu and 15,500 behind 1st place dealer Daisuke. A haneman tsumo can put him on top.

Hisato starts out at 4-shanten with a connected 2p dora and a nearby red 5p. In the first row, he draws a red 5s to create a 456s sequence, creates a 4s pair, as well as draw a 6p to connect to the red 5p. By the end of the row, he is at a ryanmen-ryanmen iishantne, essentially guaranteed a mangan.

To his left, Daisuke is also iishanten. At the start of the second row, Daisuke is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14p ryanmen.

Hisato is able to keep his hand since he had held a safe honour for these cases. Even when he runs out, he keeps pushing because of the value.

In the middle of the third row with only two more draws for himself, he completes a 567p sequence and calls riichi on a 14p ryanmen, the same wait as Daisuke. On his very next draw, Hisato draws the 1p and wins the hand. Hisato wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 12,000 plus a riichi stick, enough to move into 1st place.

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In S2-0, Hisato is now the dealer and has a frustrating 4-shanten hand with no good waits. With his first seven turns, he discards solely terminals and honours, By turn 8, he now has a hand he can work with, being 2-shanten with a strong chance at being tanyao. In the middle of the second row, he gets to iishanten.

To his right, Kayamori has already called pon on the double south and is also iishanten. With a 456p chii (securing her red 5p), she gets to tenpai and waits on a 36s ryanmen.

At the end of the second row, Hisato calls a 678s chii and waits on a 6m kanchan. However, he breaks his hand two turns later when he draws the dangerous 3s, a great dodge. On his next turn, he draws the 6m. Though it’s not a win, he is able to get back to tenpai and wait on the 8m/3s shanpon.

In the middle of the third row, he gets a much better improvement and waits on a 47m ryanmen. On the very last tile in the wall, Hisato draws the 4m and wins the hand. Hisato wins with Haitei/Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 1 for a surprising 4,000 all.

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Moving to S3-0, Hisato starts at 4-shanten with a pair of 7p dora. In the first row, he gives himself some sequence potential and moves forward to 2-shanten by the end of the row. In the second row, it ends up shifting to a pairs hand. Having ended the first row with three pairs, he gets to six pairs in the middle of the second row and waits dama on an 8m tanki, Unfortunately, there are no more 8m left in the wall.

In the go-around, Daisuke gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 147m three-sided wait. Though it’s wide, only a single 7m remains in the wall.

In the meantime, Hisato switchest to an 8s tanki, then a 5p tanki (after drawing the red 5p) to avoid the riichi.

With Hisato’s discarded 8s, Kayamori makes a chii and gets to tenpai on a 3s kanchan.

In the middle of the third row, Hisato draws the 5p and wins the hand. Hisato wins with Tsumo/Chiitoi/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 3,000/6,000 plus a riichi stick, taking his score up to 62,200.

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Results

Game 14

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Table A, Game 2

Matsumoto

September 22, Table A, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p9056

In E2-2, Matsumoto is in 2nd place, 20,100 behind 1st place dealer Katsumata. Matsumoto starts out iishanten with his first draw. On his second turn, he gets himself to a guaranteed good wait, waiting on six different tiles for tenpai. He reduces that count to five the next turn, but he opens up the possibility of a 456 sanshoku. At the end of the row, he creates a 456s sequence and calls riichi on a 47p/2s wait, with the 4p giving him a sanshoku.

With only two winning tiles left in the wall, his odds of winning aren’t that good. And going into the third row, he is just down to a single winning tile in the wall. Then, in the middle of the third row, Katsumata discards the 2s to keep his iishanten and deals into Matsumoto. Though it’s not sanshoku, the flip makes up for it as his three 7p become the uradora. Matsumoto wins the hand with Riichi/Tanyao/Aka 1/Ura 3 for 12,000+600. With the direct hit, Matsumoto moves into 1st place.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p9057

In E4-1, Matsumoto is now the dealer and starts by drawing a red 5s to go along with the red 5m in his hand. Despite this value, neither of them are secured and he sits at 3-shanten. Within the firs tthree turns, he gets to iishanten with the red 5m isolated and needing the 4s to get a scure the red 5s and have a good wait.

At the start of the second row, Matsumoto gets that 4s, throws the red 5m and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen.

Two turns later, Kurosawa throws the red 5p and calls riichi, upgrading the 6p kanchan wait to a 69p ryanmen. If she gets the 9p, she will add chanta to her hand for mangan minimum.

Around the start of the third row, all of Kurosawa’s winning tiles are taken, making it a waiting game for Matsumoto, hoping either he or Kurosawa draws his winning tile. On Kurosawa’s final draw, she gets the 4s and deals into Matsumoto. And as the flip does so frequently, his 9p triplet becomes the uradora and gives him an unexpected mangan. Matsumoto wins with Riichi/Aka 1/Ura 3 for 12,000+300 plus a riichi stick, lifting his score up to 60,400.

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Results

Game 15

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Table B, Game 2

Yes She Kana

September 22, Table B, Game 2

In E1-0, Nakada starts off in the west seat and starts off 5-shanten for a standard hand, 4-shanten for seven pairs. In the first row, Nakada makes a 123p sequence and a 789m sequence, getting her to 2-shanten.

Around the table, though, Takizawa has better value and Sano has already made a call for iishanten. At the start of the second row, Sano gets to tenpai and waits on a 69s nobetan.

Within the go-around, Nakada gets to iishanten. On her next turn, Nakada gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58p ryanmen. Two turns later, Nakada draws the 5p and wins the hand. With the 5p being the uradora, Nakada wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p11075

In E2-0, Nakada starts out at 5-shanten with no value. In the first row, she makes four ryanmens and draws a red 5m, getting her to 3-shanten with a good wait basically guaranteed.

To her left, dealer Nakabayashi is also iishanten. With a green dragon pon, Nakabayashi gets to tenpai on a 2m/3m shanpon.

In the middle of the second row, Takizawa calls pon on the north dora yakuhai to get to iishanten for mangan minimum. At the end of the row, he gets to a 58s ryanmen.

At this point, Nakada is iishanten with a three-sided wait. To get the most value, she needs to get the 6m to complete a 567m sequence (securing the red 5m). Two turns into the third row, she gets the 6m for tenpai and calls riichi on a 258s three-sided wait. On her very next draw, Nakada gets the red 5s and wins the hand. Nakada wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Aka 2/Ura 1 for 3,000/6,000.

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Results

Game 16

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