Highlights
Curse of the West
December 12, Game 1, S1-0
In S1-0, Nakabayashi leads at 34,600 with Kondo, Uchikawa and Hagiwara all within a haneman away from 1st. With Uchikawa being the dealer, he has the most to gain with this hand. He starts out 4-shanten for chiitoi (5-shanten for a standard hand) with Kondo and Nakabayashi are at 2-shanten and 3-shanten respectively. Uchikawa draws a lot of pairs in the first row to get to iishanten by turn 6, matching the speed of Kondo. On turn 7, Nakabayashi gets to iishanten as well. On turn 8, Uchikawa gets to tenpai first by drawing an 8m dora pair and waiting on an 8s tanki. A turn later, Nakabayashi makes a call to get to tenpai on a 25s ryanmen.
In the middle of the second row, Uchikawa switches his wait to a west tanki.
Right after Uchikawa gets to tenpai, Hagiwara gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 258m wait, guaranteeing mangan minimum if he wins.
Immediately after, Kondo gets to tenpai and chases with a 14s ryanmen.
On the ippatsu draw, Uchikawa gets the green dragon. Both have been once-cut and are save against Hagiwara. However, neither of them are completely safe against Kondo. Since the green dragon is a yakuhai, it would be more expensive if Uchikawa deals in with it. Because of that, Uchikawa throws the cheaper west and switches to a green dragon tanki.
With the two riichi calls, Nakabayashi folds. Two turns after throwing the west, Uchikawa draws another west! With the missed win, Hiyoshi and Tsuchida yell in the commentary booth. Uchikawa, the man who dealt into Kurosawa’s suuankou tanki with the west, is cursed yet again by the west.
In the end, Kondo dealt into Hagiwara with the 2m, giving Hagiwara a Riichi/Pinfu/Aka 2 win for 8,000 plus a riichi stick.
Shortcut to Haneman
December 12, Game 1, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s30_p717
In S2-0, Uchikawa is in 3rd place is still recovering from the missed west win and lost dealership of the previous hand. Even so, the game isn’t over and there is still time to win. He starts out the hand 4-shanten for both chiitoi and a standard hand, lacking in value. Through the first row, Uchikawa draws multiple pairs, getting to iishanten by the end of the row, With all his pairs being simple tiles, he gets rid of his last terminal to confirm tanyao. The very next turn, he draws his sixth pair and throws the 3s, calling riichi on a 3p tanki.
Looking around the table, Hagiwara and Kondo are iishanten and Nakabayashi is iishanten. With close hands and good value, none of them fold right away. On the ippatsu draw, Uchikawa draws the 3s, another hand choosing the wrong tanki! With the feeling that he is truly curse, Uchikawa just keeps moving forward. In the middle of the second row, Nakabayashi challenges Uchikawa by getting to tenpai and waiting dama on a 7m/8m shanpon.
Soon after, Kondo calls pon on the south to get to tenpai on a 2s/5m shanpon.
Right after Kondo gets to tenpai, Uchikawa draws the 3p and wins the hand, finally giving him something good. Flipping two uradora, Uchikawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Chiitoi/Ura 2 for 3,000/6,000, putting him into 1st place.
Headbump
December 12, Game 2, E3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s80_p724
In E3-1, Yu is in 3rd place and 11,900 behind 2nd, while Hagiwara is 4,900 behind Yu. Yu starts out the hand 3-shanten with a pair of 1s dora and a red 5s, while Hagiwara is 3-shanten with a pair of white dragons and a single dora 1s. Around turn 4, Yu gets to iishanten with a bunch of kanchans. A few turns later, Yu draws another 1s dora. At the end of their respective first rows, both Hagiwara and Yu are iishanten. The first of the two to get to tenpai is Hagiwara, who calls riichi at the start of the second row on a white dragon/6s shanpon.
With many dora in hand, Yu pushes against the riichi. Throwing dangerous tiles, Yu is annoying stuck at iishanten for too long. At the end of the second row, Yu finally get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 6s kanchan.
On the ippatsu turn, Uchikawa is able to throw a safe 3s. On his next draw, he has no completely safe tiles. With the 9s and the 3s being safe against both players, the 6s becomes safe against any ryanmen waits. Because of this middle suji concept, Uchikawa throws the 6s.
At the same time, Hagiwara and Yu have the opportunity to win. However, because Yu is next in turn order, only Yu gets the win, headbumping Hagiwara. Yu wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 3/Aka 1 for 8,000+300 plus Hagiwara’s riichi stick, moving into 2nd place.
High-Speed Comeback
December 12, Game 2, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s30_p718
In S3-0, Uchikawa is the dealer, sitting 13,100 behind 3rd place Hagiwara. If Uchikawa doesn’t make progress this hand, it is very likely that he will finish in last. With his first draw, he creates a fifth pair to put him iishanten for chiitoi right away. On Uchikawa’s second draw, he gets a sixth pair and calls riichi on a 9p dora tanki.
Sitting in 3rd place and wanting to keep Uchikawa away, Hagiwara pushes his hand a bit. On turn 5, Hagiwara gets to iishanten. The very next turn, Hagiwara gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 6s kanchan.
Two players tsumogiri and two players folding. The first player to get their tile wins. Two 9p vs. three 6s. Through the second row, neither of them got what they wanted. With Kayamori drawing a 6s, it was 2 vs. 2. With a small chance to get to tenpai, Yu makes a chii, potentially shifting the fate of the wall. On Yu’s next draw, he draws a 6s. With that one chii, he saves Uchikawa from a deal-in. Two turns later, Kayamori draws the last 2s, killing Hagiwara’s hand. On Hagiwara’s draw, he gets the 9p and deals into Uchikawa. Getting two uradora, Uchikawa wins with Riichi/Chiitoi/Dora 2/Ura 2 for 18,000 plus Hagiwara’s riichi stick, putting him back into the mix.
Gyakuten
December 12, Game 2, S4-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s60_p724
In S4-2, Kayamori is in 2nd place, 5,500 behind 1st place Yu. With 1,600 in bonus sticks up for grabs, a 3/30 off of either Hagiwara or Uchikawa would tie her for 1st, with a tsumo or a direct hit giving her the sole lead. She starts out 3-shanten With a red 5s that is also the dora, giving her the value she needs to get to 1st. At the end of the first row, she goes back from 2-shanten to 3-shanten to aim for tanyao. On turn 7, she gets back to 2-shanten. In the middle of the row, she makes a call to get to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten. Around this time, Hagiwara get to tenpai on a 47m ryanmen. Soon after, Kayamori gets to tenpai on a 25m ryanmen. The very next turn, Kayamori draws the 2m, her very last winning tile, to win the hand. Kayamori wins with Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 1,000+200/2,000+200 plus a riichi stick, giving her 1st place by 2,300.
Big Ippatsu
December 13, Game 1, S1-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s50_p718
In S1-1, Matsumoto is the dealer in 4th place, 900 behind 3rd and 3,300 behind 2nd. He starts out 2-shanten with an ankou of easts and a red 5m. By turn 3, Matsumoto already has a chance to take tenpai, but instead chooses not to in order to use the red 5m. As Matsumoto wait for tenpai, his opponents start moving. With a call of the double south and a chii, Aki gets to tenpai on a 47m ryanmen.
Two turns later, Taro gets to tenpai and stays dama on a 3m kanchan.
Right after that, Matsumoto finally gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 4m kanchan. On his ippatsu draw, he finds the 4m and wins the hand. Matsumoto wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/East/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 6,000 all plus one riichi stick, putting him just 3,000 away from 1st.
Lots of Dora
December 13, Game 1, S1-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s10_p717
In S1-2, Taro is in 1st place, trying to keep 2nd place Matsumoto away. Matsumoto starts out 2-shanten with a pair of green dragons. Before Taro even has a chance to get his first draw, Matsumoto calls pon on the green dragon to get to iishanten. When Taro gets his first draw, he is 4-shanten with a pair of 1m dora and a red 5m. On turn 2, Taro draws a red 5p, bringing his total dora to 4. Before the end of the row, Taro is already iishanten. With a call, Matsumoto gets himself to tenpai and waits on a 36p ryanmen.
Soon after, Taro gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 1m/3p shanpon. The tiles in the wall favour Taro, with all his his 1m still in the wall and being first in turn order for headbump. Near the end of the hand, Hisato calls a chii to get to a 1s/7p shanpon tenpai, but his call just ends up shifting the wall to give Taro the winning 3p. Flipping one uradora, Taro wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 2/Aka 2/Ura 1 for 3,000+200/6,000+200, giving him the clear lead.
Furiten Riichi
December 13, Game 2, E3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-15_s90_p453
In E3-0, Ooi is the dealer in 3rd place and sitting 14,400 behind 1st place Katsumata. He starts out the hand 2-shanten, lacking any dora or clear value. On turn 3, Ooi draws a 4m to get to iishanten. On turn 4, Ooi discards a 4m to switch his 5m kanchan to a 4s kanchan. At the end of the first row, Ooi draws a red 5m, giving him a sanmenchan with a possibility of it being furiten. In the middle of the second row, Ooi fills in his 4s kanchan to get to tenpai. Though he discarded the 4m previously, Ooi still calls riichi on a furiten 147m wait, guaranteeing at least 5 han if he wins. In the middle of the third row, Ooi’s furiten riichi pays off when he draws the 7m to win the hand. Ooi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 1 for 4,000 all.
3s Ura
December 15, Game 1, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s10_p719
In E4-0, Maruyama is in 3rd place, 5,400 behind 2nd and 11,000 behind 1st. She starts out the hand 3-shanten for chiitoi (4-shanten for a standard hand) and lacking dora or clear value. Through the first row, Maruyama makes sequences of simples, getting to a perfect iishanten at the end of the row. If Maruyama can get the 8m, she would also ad sanshoku to her hand. The very next turn, Maruyama draws a red 5m and calls riichi on a 258m, guaranteed to be at least a mangan.
At the point of the riichi, Takizawa was iishanten holding a floating dora. With a small potential to pair up the dora for tenpai, Takizawa carefully pushes. Near the end of the second hand, Takizawa draws the white dragon dora and calls riichi on a 58p ryanmen.
Two turns after Takizawa’s riichi, Maruyama ends Takizawa’s threat by drawing the 2m to win the hand. Revealing the 2s as the uradora indicator, Maruyama’s pair of 3s becomes dora. Maruyama wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 3,000/6,000 plus Takizawa’s riichi stick, moving her into 1st place.
Headbump
December 15, Game 1, S2-1
In S2-1, Maruyama and Rumi are fighting for 1st place. With only 1,000 separating the two players, a winning hand could change the flow of the game. Both Maruyama and Rumi are iishanten from the start, with Rumi holding an isolated south dora. Through the first row, both of them aim for tanyao with a lot of sequences. At the end of the first row, Maruyama gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen.
Right after, Rumi has a chance to call riichi on a 7p kanchan, but rejects it, discarding her west pair to advance safely. At the start of the second row, Rumi draws a ryanmen to get to iishanten. A turn later, Rumi gets to tenpai and stays dama on a 36p nobetan. If Rumi can get the 3p, she would sanshoku to her hand.
Soon after, Takizawa discards the 3p trying to get to a ryanmen-sanmenchan iishanten.
Both Maruyama and Rumi call ron, but only one can win. Since Maruyama is next in turn order, Maruyama gets the win. Maruyama wins with Riichi/Pinfu/Tanyao for 5,800+300, taking the lead.
Rasumae
December 15, Game 1
In S3-0, Rumi is the dealer in 2nd place, sitting 2,600 behind 1st. Having won the previous hand, Rumi wants to continue the positive momentum. She start out the hand 3-shanten with two ryanmens and a red 5s. Creating an ankou and completing a ryanmen, Rumi gets to iishanten on turn 5. Near the middle of the second row, Rumi fills in a penchan and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen. With the dealer riichi, everyone folds. Giving Rumi time to tsumo. At the start of the third row, Rumi draws the red 5p to win the hand. Rumi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 2 for 4,000 all, moving into 1st place.
In S3-1, Rumi starts out 2-shanten for both chiitoi and a standard hand, holding a pair of green dragons. On turn 3, Rumi fills in a kanchan and breaks up a pair, confirming her pursuit of a standard hand. On turn 4, she gets to iishanten, though the 1p discarded on her very first turn may cause some furiten problems later. While Rumi waits at iishanten, Okada gets to iishanten as well. At the start of the second row, Okada draws a fourth 2m and calls kan. With the flip of the kandora, Rumi’s green dragon pair becomes dora. On the rinshan draw, Okada gets the green dragon. She discards it and Rumi calls pon, getting to tenpai on a furiten 147p wait. On Rumi’s very next turn, she finds the 7p, winning the hand. Rumi wins with Green Dragon/Dora 3 for 4,000+100 all, putting her above 60,000.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s20_p721
In S3-2, Rumi is now 29,800 ahead of 2nd place, but no lead is too big. She starts out with a 3-shanten hand with a pair of 4p dora, likely to be tanyao. She gets to 2-shanten by the end of the first row, though her two 69 ryanmens could cause issues for her tanyao. The second row isn’t much help to her and ends up helping last place Okada, who gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen.
Two turns after the riichi, Rumi gets to iishanten. Holding two dora, a red 5p and very little chance of losing 1st, Rumi pushes. In the middle of the third row, Rumi gets to tenpai and sits dama on a 47p ryanmen. If she can get the 4p or win by tsumo, she would win a haneman. On Rumi’s last draw, she draws the 4p and wins the hand. Rumi wins with Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 3/Aka 1 for 6,000+200 all plus Okada’s riichi stick, putting Rumi above 80,000.
Riichi, Riichi, Riichi Attempt
December 15, Game 1, S3-3
In S3-3, Takizawa is in 3rd place, trying to avoid 4th and chasing 2nd place Maruyama. With no dealership left, Takizawa only has two hand to overcome the 23,800 gap. From the start, Takizawa is 3-shanten with two red fives. Looking around the table, Maruyama is 3-shanten as well while Rumi and Okada are both 4-shanten. Everyone makes very good progress in the first row, with everyone getting to 2-shanten or better. The first player to get to tenpai is Maruyama, who does so near the middle of the second row. Despite holding two dora 4s, she chooses to stay dama on a yakuless 5p/4s shanpon. Soon after, Takizawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen, guarateed to be at least a mangan.
On the ippatsu turn, Maruyama improves her wait and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen.
Right after, Rumi completes a sequence and throws the 5m, trying to call riichi on a 36m ryanmen.
With all the action and the riichi calls, neither the commentators nor the graphics team realized that 5m is Takizawa’s winning tile and that the riichi doesn’t go through. With Takizawa’s ron, he gets the win with the ippatsu. Takizawa wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 12,000+900 plus a riichi stick, closing the gap on 3rd.
Takame
December 15, Game 2, E4-0
In E4-0, Sonoda is in 1st place and starts out with a pair of white dragons, a red 5p and a red 5m double dora. With his 3-shanten hand, he already has a clear path to mangan. To his left is 3rd place Hori, who also starts off 3-shanten with a probable tanyao hand. Both hands advance well, with both of them getting to iishanten in the first few turns. The first of the two to get to tenpai is Sonoda, who calls riichi on a 4m kanchan. Within the ippatsu turn, Hori fills in a 7m kanchan and calls riichi on a 69s ryanmen. If Hori gets the 6s, he would add tanyao and sanshoku to his hand. On Sonoda’s ippatsu draw, he picks up the 6s and deals into Hori. Hori wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Tanyao/Sanshoku for 12,000 plus Sonoda’s riichi stick. With the win, the two of them switch places and Hori takes the lead.
Naked Wait
December 15, Game 2, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s40_p715
In S1-0, Takamiya is in 2nd place, sitting at 25,000 and a mangan tsumo away from 1st place. To her right is 4th place dealer Matsugase, likely to be a bit more aggressive during his last dealership. Takamiya starts out chiitoi 2-shanten (3-shanten for a standard hand) with a pair of souths while Matsugase holds a chiitoi 3-shanten (4-shanten for a standard hand) with a red 5m. On turn 3, Takamiya calls pon on the 3p, confirming her standard hand. Right after, she calls pon on the 9s. Soon after, that, Takamiya calls pon on the 1m to get to iishanten, south pair still untouched. In the middle of the second row, Matsugase gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen.
Already holding fairly safe tiles, Takamiya is able to dodge Matsugase’s hand while maintaining hers. At the end of the second row, Matsugase discards the south and calls pon. With four calls, Takamiya now sits tenpai on a white dragon tanki.
On Takamiya’s next draw, she finds the last white dragon and wins the hand. Takamiya wins with Toitoi/South for 1,300/2,600 plus one riichi stick.
Killing the Riichi
December 15, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s40_p716
In S2-1, Takamiya is in 2nd place, 12,400 behind 1st place dealer Hori. With a haneman tsumo, she would move into top spot. To her right is Matsugase in 4th place, trying to recover after Takamiya ruined his riichi with a hadaka tanki. Takamiya starts out 3-shanten with two red fives while Matsugse is 3-shanten with a dora 7m. In the first row, Matsugase pairs up the 7m dora and Takamiya fills in some bad shapes. By the end of the row, both of them are 2-shanten. In the second row, Matsugase advances his hand quickly and, in the middle of the second row, calls riichi on a 2p/7m shanpon.
Within the ippatsu turn, Takamiya fills in a kanchan and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen, guaranteed to be at least a mangan. Approaching the middle of the third row, Takamiya draws a 3p and wins the hand. Takamiya wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 2/Ura 1 for 3,000+100/6,00+100 plus Matsugase’s riichi stick.
Jumping to S3-2, Takamiya is in 1st place, holding a 8,800 point lead over 2nd place Hori. Sitting in 4th place is Matsugase, 12,600 behind 3rd place Sonoda. Takamiya starts out the hand 4-shanten with a lot of bad shapes, though she holds a dora 6s. Matsugase, on the other hand, starts out 2-shanten with an ankou of easts, a pair of red dragons and a red 5s. Matsugase’s hand advances well, getting to iishanten on turn 3 after drawing a third red dragon. On turn 4, Matsugase pairs up his red 5s and gets to tenpai on a 5s/6m shanpon, staying dama. In the middle of the second row, Matsugase switches to a 6s dora kanchan and calls riichi.
By this point, Takamiya has already made a pon on the 2s and picked up another dora 6s. With her hand being iishanten, with good shapes and value, she pushes. Two turns after the riichi, Takamiya gets to tenpai on a furiten 369m wait, with the 36m giving her a yaku. The very next turn, Takamiya draws a third 6s and switches to a 47m nobetan, no longer in furiten. On Matsugase’s draw, he picks up the 4m and promptly deals into Takamiya. Takamiya wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 3 for 8,000+600 plus Matsugase’s riichi stick, the third time this game that Takamiya has ruined Matsugase’s riichi.
Going Positive
December 15, Game 2, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s10_p720
In S4-0, Sonoda is in 3rd place, 11,300 behind 2nd place Hori. With his three teammates all getting positive results, he wants to make it 4/4. To make the comeback, he would need a haneman tsumo or ron, or a 4/25 direct hit. His starting hand looks to have potential, being 2-shanten, primed for tanyao, holding a red 5s and ready to accept a 7m dora. On turn 4, Sonoda draws a 7m dora to get to iishanten. At the start of the second row, Sonoda draws a pair of 2s and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen. If Sonoda can find one more han, whether tsumo, ippatsu or ura, he would move into 1st. Near the end of the second row, Sonoda draws the 3p and finds the additional han he needed. Sonoda wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 3,000/6,000, finishing the game with a positive score.
Ippatsu Honda
December 16, Game 1
In E2-1, Honda is in 3rd place, 6,000 behind 1st and wanting to take the 3,300 in bonus sticks. He starts out the hand 4-shanten with a dora 3p for value. Around the table, we see both Uotani and Shiratori at 3-shanten, with Shiratori holding a pair of 3p dora. In the first row, we see each player advance by one step. In the middle of the second row, Shiratori gets to tenpai and stays dama on a 7m kanchan, guaranteed at least 5 han.
Two turns later, Uotani gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 6m kanchan.
On the ippatsu turn, Shiratori draws the 6m. Instead of keeping his wait to go for sanshoku (and dealing in), Shiraatori switches to a safer 3p/6m shanpon, staying dama.
Still within the ippatsu turn, Honda draws the 3s to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36m. At this point, three players are waiting on the 6m. On Honda’s ippatsu draw, Honda finds the 3m and wins the hand. Honda wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1 for 2,000+100/4,000+100 plus four riichi sticks, winning the equivalent of a haneman.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s70_p718
Moving to S1-0, Honda is the dealer and is holding a 10,700 lead over 2nd. Honda starts out 4-shanten with a red 5s. In the first row, he fills in a ryanmen, creates a pair and coverts two kanchans to ryanmens. Though he is still 2-shanten, the hand is now much more likely to be pinfu or, at bare minimum, have a good wait. In the second row, he connects and secure the 5s into a sequence to get to tenpai. With pinfu and red dora in hand, Honda calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen, guaranteed at least 3 han. On Honda’s ippatsu draw, he finds his winning 6m, adding two more han to his hand. Flipping one uradora, he successfully upgrades his hand to a haneman. Honda wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 6,000 all, putting him above 50,000.
What Could Have Been
December 16, Game 1, S3-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s80_p725
In S3-2, Mizuhara is the dealer in 2nd place and sitting 22,600 behind 1st place Honda. If she wants to have a chance at 1st place, it’s now or never. From the very start, Mizuhara is 3-shanten with all four of the west dora! On turn 2, she gets to 2-shanten. With many chances to get to tenpai, she calls kan!
With a flip of the kandora, the 8p becomes dora. With Mizuhara holding a pair of 8p, she already has 6 dora in her hand. With the rinshan draw, she gets to iishanten. Near the end of the first row, Mizuhara gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36p/8p wait.
With two 8p, one 6p and three 3p left in the wall, Mizuhara has 6 tiles that can get her to tenpai. Through the beginning of the second row, all of Mizuhara’s waits are still alive. Mizuhara draws the 9p, the 5p, neither of them are the pinzu she needs. Her winning tiles go down to 5 to 4 to 3 to 2. Mizuhara draws another pinzu, the 4p. Her winning chances go down to just the single 6p. Second last draw: red 5p. On her final draw, she gets…
… the 7p. The hand ends in a draw with Mizuhara the only on tenpai. A hand early to tenpai and with a wide wait just wasn’t meant to be.
Good, Better, Best
December 16, Game 2, E1-1
In E1-1, Setokuma is looking the get the 1,300 in bonus sticks now available from the exhaustive draw last hand. His starting hand is admirable, being 2-shanten with a red 5p. Through the first few turns, Setokuma kept drawing pinzu. The pinzu started to for sequences that started to become a straight. On turn 4, Setokuma gets to a 2p tanki. He chooses not to calls riichi in order to either to improve his tanki or have a chance to draw either the 3p or 1p, the two tiles left that give him a chance at ittsuu. On his very next turn, he draws the last 3p to get to tenpai. Calling riichi, he is guaranteed at least Riichi/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1, but his winning tile determines his hand’s final value
- Winning on the 7p keeps his hand at Riichi/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for a guaranteed mangan minimum and a very small chance at a haneman
- Winning on the 4p adds dora for Riichi/Pinfu/Dora 2/Aka 1 for a guaranteed mangan minimum with a decent chance at a haneman
- Winning on the 1p adds ittsu for Riichi/Pinfu/Ittsuu/Dora 1/Red Dora 1 for guaranteed haneman minimum
At the end of the second row, Ooi is out of safe tiles. With three 3p out, he chances the one-chance 1p and ends up dealing into Setokuma. Winning with the takame, Setokuma wins with Riichi/Pinfu/Ittsuu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 12,000+300 plus a riichi stick, moving into 1st place.
Revenge
December 16, Game 2, E3-0
In E3-0, Ooi is in 4th place after the present Saikyousen winner (Setokuma) hit a past Saikyousen winner (Ooi) with a dealer haneman. Being 13,000 behind 3rd place, Ooi is looking for revenge. His starting hand starts well enough, 2-shanten with a dora 6s and a red 5m. Looking across from him, Setokuma is 2-shanten as well. Very quickly, Setokuma’s hand develops and he ends up getting to tenpai on a 25m ryanmen on turn 4, calling riichi.
Ooi is iishanten at this point, likely to have a chance at a mangan hand. Ooi draws a safe tile during Setokuma’s ippatsu turn, providing some relief. The very next turn, Ooi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25s ryanmen, guaranteed to be at least a mangan.
However, there are more than two players at the table. Near the start of the second row, Uotani gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69s ryanmen.
On Setokuma draw, he draws and discards the 5s, dealing into Ooi. Ooi wins with Riichi/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 8,000 plus two riichi sticks, putting Ooi just 6,600 from 1st place.
KobaGo
December 16, Game 2
In S1-0, Kobayashi is the dealer in 4th place, 6,400 behind 3rd and 10,800 behind 1st. Kobayashi starts out 3-shanten with pairs of red dragon and white dragon. Within the first row, Kobayashi calls pon on both of these dragons, putting him tenpai on a 7m kanchan. With everyone else having slower hands, all of them are cautious and end up folding their hands. At the start of the third row, Kobayashi draws the 7m and wins the hand. Kobayashi wins with Red Dragon/White Dragon for 1,300 all.
In S1-1, Kobayashi is now 1,200 behind 3rd, 5,600 behind 1st. He starts out with a 2-shanten hand with an isolated red 5p. The first row is of little help, but he manages to draw a 6p on turn 6, getting him to iishanten with a ryanmen. On turn 8, Kobayashi fills in a kanchan to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen. A few turns later, Uotani would get to tenpai and call riichi on a 58m ryanmen. The 8m is one of Kobayashi’s safe tiles, while the 4p is one of Uotani’s safe tiles. Within Uotani’s ippatsu turn, Kobayashi draws his winning 7p, winning the hand. Kobayashi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 1 for 2,000+100 all plus Uotani’s riichi sticks, moving Kobayashi into 1st place.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s80_p726
In S1-2, Kobayashi holding a narrow 4,800 lead and is looking to extend it. Kobayashi starts out with a 3-shanten with a dora 5s and an isolated and out of place 1m dora. With his hand strongly leaning towards tanyao, he gets rid of his honour and the dora 1m on turn 3. On turn 4, Kobayashi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen, guaranteed to be at least a mangan. On Kobayashi’s ippatsu turn, he draws the 3s and wins the hand. Kobayashi wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 1 for 6,000+200 all.
In S1-3, Kobayashi determines that no lead is big enough. He starts out the hand 3-shanten, lacking value. In the first row, he creates an ankou of 4p, fills in a penchan and gets to iishanten on turn 4. Challenging him is Uotani who, with a pon of both the green dragon and the north, gets to tenpai in the first row on a 7s kanchan. At the end of the first row, Kobayashi gets to tenpai on a 4s kanchan, but he chooses to stay dama. The very next turn, Kobayashi draws the 6s dora and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen. On the ippatsu turn, Uotani discards the 4s while trying to maintain her tenpai and ends up dealing into Kobayashi. Kobayashi wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Dora 1 for 7,700+900, putting Kobayashi above 55,000.
In S1-4, Kobayashi got to tenpai on an atozuke 58p wait (with the 8p giving sanshoku) at the end of the second row. As hard as everyone tried to get to tenpai, the wall just wasn’t cooperating. In the end, the hand went to a draw with Kobayashi the only one tenpai.
In S1-5, Kobayashi is now 43,200 ahead of 2nd place. He starts out the hand 4-shanten with no dora or any guaranteed value. In the first row, Kobayashi creates some ryanmens, putting him 2-shanten at the end of the first row. Looking around the table, he is behind Ooi and Uotani in terms of progress, who are both iishanten. On turn 7, Kobayashi fills in a kanchan to get to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten. On turn 8, Kobayashi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen.
Having decent progress with their own hands, Uotani and Ooi both push a bit. Near the end of the second row, Uotani gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58p ryanmen.
Luckily for Ooi, he has some safe tiles that allow him to keep his progress. Near the middle of the third row, Ooi creates an ankou of 4p. With three ankous in his hand and a pair, he is iishanten for a potential suuankou. A turn later, Ooi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14p/8m wait.
With three players in riichi, there was no telling who would win. On Ooi’s ippatsu turn, he draws and discards the 7p and deals into Kobayashi. Kobayashi wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Ura 1 for 5,800+1,500 plus two riichi sticks, bringing Kobayashi’s score to a nice 69,200.
Closed Chanta
December 16, Game 2, S4-0
In S4-0, Setokuma is the dealer and sitting 36,700 behind 1st place Kobayashi. If he can replicate Kurosawa’s record-breaking South 4 performance, he may have a chance at 1st place. He starts out with a mess of a hand, being 5-shanten from kokushi, chiitoi and a standard hand. With almost every tile in the first row, Setokuma got closer to tenpai. He pairs of up an east, fills in a kanchan, makes the east an ankou and pairs up the red dragon. By the end of the row, Setokuma is iishanten, looking for a 9s to guarantee chanta. At the start of the second row, Setokuma draws the 9s and calls riichi on an 8m kanchan. Having thrown the 5m previously, the 8m is a suji trap. While trying to maintain her iishanten and holding no safer tiles, Uotani throws the 8m in the middle of the second row and deals into Setokuma. Setokuma wins the hand with Riichi/Chanta/East for 12,000, putting Setokuma over 40,000.
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