Highlights
Early Lead
December 19, Game 1, E1-1
In E1-1, Rumi is the dealer in 1st place after being the only person tenpai the previous hand. She starts out the hand 2-shanten with a pair of easts. On turn 2, she fills in a kanchan to get to iishanten. The rest of the first row, however, provides her with no help, leaving her iishanten and allowing Shibukawa to get to iishanten as well. In the middle of the second row, Rumi draws a third east to get the double east and calls riichi on a 69m ryanmen. With everyone else slowing down their hand to proceed safely, Rumi has more time to draw her winning tile. In the third row, Rumi draws a fourth east and calls a closed kan. The rinshan and kandora miss, but she is now guaranteed at least a mangan if she wins. On Rumi’s very next turn, she finds the 9m and wins the hand. Rumi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Double East/Ura 1 for 4,000+100 all plus one riichi stick, putting her above 40,000
Riichi Battle and Yakuman Chance?
December 19, Game 1, E1-3
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s10_p721
In E1-3, Rumi is in 1st place, with Shibukawa and Kurosawa 26,200 behind her and Murakami 1,000 behind them. As we look around the table, Rumi starts outs 2-shanten with Murakami and Shibukawa not far behind at 3-shanten. In the first row, Rumi fills in a kanchan, Murakami makes ryanmens, Kurosawa gains value and Shibukawa creates pairs. By the end of the row, Shibukawa is 2-shanten wile everyone else is iishanten. The first player to get to tenpai is Murakami, who calls riichi near the middle of the second row on a 69p ryanmen.
At the end of the second row, Rumi is the next to get to tenpai, calling riichi on a 47p ryanmen.
Within the ippatsu turn, Kurosawa pairs up the 7p dora and calls the third riichi, waiting on a 36m ryanmen.
Just a turn earlier, Shibukawa wast iishanten with two ankous and three pairs. If he can just create one more ankou, he would be tenpai for suuankou. On his next turn, during both Kurosawa’s and Rumi’s ippatsu turns, Shibukawa draws a third 9s. Simultaneously, a miracle and a tragedy were unfolding.
Shibukawa has a chance for a suuankou tenpai, a potentially huge hand against the player who had put him at -47,600 in November. However, the tragedy is that he would need to throw the red 5s to get there, dealing into Murakami. Even if he were to take just the sanankou, he would still need to throw the 3s, which deals into Kurosawa. Seconds pass. 10 second. 20 seconds. 30 seconds. More than a minute passes. Shibukawa things hard about the situation. He is facing three riichi calls but has a chance to make it big. After 90 seconds of thinking, Shibukawa makes the riichi call and throws the red 5s.
As he places the tile into his discards, Murakami calls ron and reveals his hand. Murakami wins with Riichi/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 8,000+900 plus three riichi sticks.
Moving Up
December 19, Game 1, S3-0
In S3-0, Kurosawa is in 3rd place, 6,500 behind 2nd and 28,700 behind 1st. Starting her last dealership, it’s now or never if she wants to get 1st. She starts out the hand drawing an ankou of 4m to get to 3-shanten. Her hand is cleared for tanyao, but she is lacking other value. On turn 5, she draws an ankou of 3p to get to iishanten, though she still lacks other value. On turn 7, Kurosawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen. Near the end of the second row, Kurosawa draws the 8m to win the hand. Flipping one uradora, Kurosawa wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Ura 1 for 4,000 all, putting her above 30,000 in 2nd place.
Hadaka Tanki
December 19, Game 1, S3-1
In S3-1, Kurosawa is the dealer and 12,700 behind 1st place. She starts out 2-shanten and begins by throwing the 9s. When the 9s is discarded, Murakami calls pon. As we take a look at his hand, we can see that he is now 3-shanten for chinitsu with a red dora. When Shibukawa discards the 1s on his first turn, Murakami makes a second call, putting him 2-shanten. When Rumi discards the 7s on her first turn, Murakami makes a third call for iishanten. With a discard of the 8s, Murakami makes a fourth call, putting him tenpai on a 3s tanki.
With four calls, it was clear to everyone that Murakami was waiting for a honitsu or chinitsu, meaning that all they had to do is avoid throwing dangerous souzu or honours. When Murakami makes a tsumogiri discard of the 5s, Kurosawa calls chii. Since she knows that an 8s tanki is impossible, she comfortably discards the 8s and waits tenpai on a 25p ryanmen (with the 2m also giving sanshoku).
On Kurosawa’s next draw, she gets the 6s. With three visible to her, she discards it comfortably as well. She draws the west and discards the west, a tile previously discarded. Murakami draws and discards the 2s, the right suit but wrong number. On Murakami’s next draw, he draws and discards the red 5p.
With a ron, Kurosawa has successfully beat the chinitsu. Kurosawa wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 5,800+300.
Assist
December 19, Game 1, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s20_p722
In S4-0, Rumi is 11,800 ahead of 2nd place Kurosawa, while 3rd place Murakami is 12,000 ahead of 4th place dealer Shibukawa. Not wanting to be passed, both Murakami and Rumi have incentive to win the hand.At the start, Rumi is 4-shanten with a dora 9p and Murakami is 4-shanten with a hand heavily leaning towards junchan. With each of Murakami’s draws, he gets closer to junchan. When Murakami calls chii on the 8p, he gets to 2-shanten.
With that terminal chii, Murakami is letting the table know that he is going for a junchan or chanta hand. Soon after, Murakami calls pon on the 1s.
This provides Rumi with a ton of information. With those two calls, Rumi knows that the maximum value of Murakami’s hand is a mangan (a theoretical Junchan/Dora 3). Since Rumi is sitting to Murakami’s left, she has the ability to feed him sequences. Rumi discards the 3m, trying to get him to call a 123m sequence. Rumi discards an 8m next, trying for the 789m. Rumi tries the 9m and Murakami calls chii, putting him tenpai on an 8s kanchan. On Rumi’s next turn, she discards the 8s and deals into Murakami.
Murakami wins the hand with Junchan/Sanshoku/Dora 1 for 8,000. With the win, Murakami gets some needed points and Rumi keeps 1st place, a transaction that benefits both players.
Ippatsu
December 19, Game 2, S3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s70_p719
In S3-1, Hagiwara is in 4th place, just 6,700 behind. His dealership has just passed, giving him effectively only two hands to take top spot. However, the scores are close and there are 1,300 in bonus sticks on the table. Sitting without a 1st place for the past 14 months, he really wants to win. He starts out with a big 2-shanten, missing only the 6p and 9p for an ittsuu. On turn 3, Hagiwara draws a 9p to get him iishanten. He keeps his hand flexible, not securing the ittsuu and allowing him to get sequences elsewhere. On turn 5, Hagiwara draws a 3s, giving him the option for sanshoku. If Hagiwara draws the 3s, 5s or 6p, he would have a chance at ittsuu. If he draws the 4s, 1p or 2p, he would have a chance at a 345 sanshoku. In the middle of the second row, Hagiwara draws the 1p and calls riichi on a 4s kanchan, guaranteed to have sanshoku. On Hagiwara’s ippatsu turn, he draws the 4s and wins the hand. Hagiwara wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Sanshoku for 2,000+100/4,000+100 plus one riichi stick. In just one hand, Hagiwara moves from 4th to 1st.
Hagiwara would go on to win the next hand, ending the game and winning his first game since October 5, 2021.
Teacher and Student
December 20, Game 1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-15_s90_p491
In E1-1, Yu is sitting to Uotani’s left, his mahjong student in his younger years. Yu starts out 2-shanten with an isolated 8m dora. On turn 2, Yu gets to iishanten. On turn 6, Yu draws a red 5p and discards the 8m dora, widening his acceptance. At the start of the second row, Yu gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen. On the ippatsu draw, Yu finds the 1m and wins the hand. Yu wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Aka 1 for 2,000+100/4,000+100
In E2-0, Uotani is sitting to Yu’s right, her mahjong teacher in her younger years. Uotani starts out 3-shanten with a pair of green dragons and a dora 9s. On turn 2, she pairs up the 9s dora to increase her hand’s value. On turn 3, she pairs up the 4m, giving her four pairs. Two turns later, she pairs up the west to get to chiitoi iishanten. Near the end of the row, Uotani is tenpai and calls riichi on an east tanki. Within the ippatsu turn, Yu makes a call to get to tenpai on a 25s. Soon after, Hinata gets to iishanten. To push her hand forward, Hinata discards the east and ends up dealing into Uotani. Uotani wins the hand with Riichi/Chiitoi/Dora 2 for 8,000.
Dora Ankou
December 20, Game 1, S3-0
In S3-0, Hinata is in 4th place, 5,300 behind 3rd and 13,300 behind 1st. With no dealer turn, she only has a short amount of time to maintain her 100% 4th place avoidance rate. Like a Christmas present, Hinata starts out 2-shanten with a pair of dora red dragons. On turn 2, she draws a third red dragon, giving her a yaku and puts her iishanten for a mangan minimum hand. On turn 4, Hinata gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 58m ryanmen. Before the end of the first row, Takizawa discards the 8m and deals into Hinata. Hinata wins the hand with Red Dragon/Dora 3 for 8,000, putting her into 3rd place and just 5,300 from 1st.
South 4
December 20, Game 1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s40_p717
In S4-0, the scores are as follows:
25,400
14,700
29,200
30,700
For Takizawa, he needs to get a haneman or a mangan direct hit to come out of 4th. For Hinata, she needs a 3/50 win or a 3/30 tsumo. Yu can win any 1/50 or better hand to win the game.
With the stage set, anticipation sets in. At the start, Uotani is 3-shanten with an ittsuu leaning hand, Hinata is 3-shanten for chiitoi with a single 2m dora, Takizawa is 2-shanten for a possible 678 sanshoku and Yu is 3-shanten with a red 5m. Through the first few turns, Takizawa’s 678 sanshoku looks more and more likely. On turn 3, he gets to iishanten, needing a 6p and an 8m for two more han. For Uotani, she moves her own hand away from ittsuu for a standard pinfu, getting to iishanten on turn 5. At the start of the second row, Uotani gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 3m kanchan, guaranteed at least 7,700 if she wins.
Within the ippatsu turn, Takizawa draws the 8m and calls riichi, waiting on a 69p ryanmen.
The dynamic has changed. With Uotani’s riichi, a mangan tsumo is enough for Takizawa to move into 3rd. If Takizawa is able to draw the 6p himself, it would give him a haneman and give him enough points to rocket up to 1st place. With a chance at one of the biggest comebacks in M-League history, Konami fans were on the edge of their seats. Three tiles in the wall that can give him 1st place. On Takizawa’s ippatsu turn, he draws the 9p.
Though drawing his winning tile on the ippatsu turn is nice, it’s the wrong tile. If Takizawa chooses to take the win, he would get Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu for 4/20. not enough for a mangan. He would need to rely on uradora to move into 3rd place. Furthermore, their biggest rivals in the standings are the U-Next Pirates one rank below them. If Takizawa were to tsumo this, Yu would move into 1st place, widening their game rank even further (the oka/uma difference between 1st and 3rd is larger than that of 2nd and 4th), and even further if Takizawa doesn’t get the uradora. This difference would be enough for the Pirates to move ahead of Konami. Considering all those factors and the chance at 1st place, Takizawa declines the ippatsu tsumo, putting himself in permanent furiten and all his hopes in the three 6p in the wall.
On Uotani’s next draw, she draws and discards the 6p, a gut punch to everyone who wants to see Takizawa make a comeback. Still, there are still two left for Takizawa. Knowing that there will either be another hand or Takizawa would push Uotani below him, Yu folds. Takizawa’s winning 6p goes down to one. Hinata dodges the riichi calls and getting to iishanten herself, but ends up folding. On Takizawa’s second last draw, he gets the 5p. On Takizawa’s last draw he gets… the south. The hand ends up in a draw with Takizawa and Uotani tenpai, giving everyone another chance at glory.
South 4, Honba 1
Two riichi sticks on the table
23,900
15,200
27,700
31,200
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s60_p725
In S4-1, the conditions for Hinata and Yu have stayed the same, but Takizawa’s life has been made easier. A mangan off either Yu or Uotani will move him in 2nd place. A 3 han direct hit off Hinata is enough for 3rd. A mangan tsumo would put him into 3rd and a haneman tsumo would put him into 1st.
From the start, nobody starts out with anything particularly desirable. Hinata is 3-shanten for chiitoi and everyone else just has bad shapes. At the start, Uotani’s hand advances the fastest, getting to iishanten on turn 5. For Takizawa, his hand has no value, so he aims for a honitsu, making it clear in his discards. In the second row, Hinata draws pairs, getting to chiitoi iishanten at the end of the second row. With Yu being iishanten is well, it is only a matter of time before someone gets to tenpai. At the start of the second row, Hinata gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 9p tanki. With the 2p discard, Takizawa calls chii. On Hinata’s next draw, she draws a 4p. With pinzu looking very dangerous against Takizawa, Hinata folds her tenpai.
Approaching the middle of the second row, Yu makes a call to get to a yakuless 258m sanmenchan. He would later change this to a flexible tanki wait.
Right after, Uotani gets to tenpai on a 25s ryanmen, holding pinfu and staying dama. Both Yu and Uotani are lucky to not draw any dangerous pinzu, allowing them to keep their tenpai. On Uotani’s last draw, she gets the west. The west is dangerous against Takizawa, but she will lose 1st place in the case that Yu is the only one tenpai or if Uotani’s three other opponents are tenpai with her being noten. With no more draws for herself and 3 tiles left in the wall, Uotani decides to call riichi, a high risk but high reward call.
Hinata folds safely, staying noten. Takizawa’s hand wasn’t close to tenpai, so he folds as well. On Yu’s draw, he switches his tanki and throws the south, a safe tile against Uotani. The hand ends in a draw with Uotani the only one tenpai.
South 4, Honba 2
Three riichi sticks on the table
22,400
13,700
29,200
31,700
In S4-2, the win conditions remain the same. Yu can win any hand, Hinata needs a 3 han tsumo, Takizawa needs a mangan for 3rd and a haneman tsumo for 1st.
Uotani starts out the hand 4-shanten with a green dragon and a red 5p. Hinata is 4-shanten with a 9m ankou. Takizawa is 5-shanten with an isolated 3s. Yu is 3-shanten with a ryanmen, penchan and kanchan. The first row was filled with honours and terminals with people paring down their hands. A the end of the first row, everyone but Hinata is 2-shanten. Around the start of the second row, both Uotani and Yu advance to iishanten. In the middle of the second row, Yu fills in a 7s kanchan to get to tenpai on a 25p ryanmen, staying dama.
After Yu gets to tenpai, Takizawa improves his hand by creating a second ryanmen. Near the end of the second row, Uotani calls a chii to get to tenpai on a 1p/green dragon shanpon, with the green dragon being the only tile to give a yaku.
After Uotani gets to tenpai, Taizawa fills in a kanchan to get to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten. At the start of the third row, Takizawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen.
Takizawa’s hand currently has 3 han confirmed (Riichi/Pinfu/Dora 1). If he wins by tsumo, the riichi sticks and honba will be enough to put him into 3rd. If Hinata discards it, he will also move into 3rd. If either Yu or Uotani discard it, he will have to hope for uradora. With neither Yu nor Uotani showing any signs of folding, it is anyone’s game. In the middle of the third row, Uotani draws the 3s dora and drops out of tenpai. On her next draw, she draws the green dragon and gets back to tenpai, this time on a 369s sanmenchan.
On Yu’s last draw, he draws the 4m. To maintain tenpai and a chance at winning, Yu discards it. Here, Takizawa has yet another choice, paralleling that of S4-0. If Takizawa calls ron here, he would need to hope for uradora. However, he would move into 2nd place if it works out. Furthermore, there is absolutely no risk of Yu moving into 1st place. With these factors in mind, Takizawa calls ron. Takizawa flips the uradora and the new dora is…
…the 5s. An unfortunate miss but a skillful gamble. Takizawa wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Dora 1 for 3,900+600 plus three riichi sticks, ending a tense all-last.
Theft
December 20, Game 2, E3-0
In E3-0, Hisato is in the lead and the dealer, 5,200 ahead of 3rd place Kayamori and 11,400 ahead of 4th place Matsumoto. Hisato starts out the hand 3-shanten with bad shapes while Kayamori and Matsumoto are both 3-shanten as well. All three of them advance quickly with all of them getting to iishanten on turn 4. Near the middle of the second row, Kayamori gets to tenpai first, calling riichi on a 25m ryanmen with a guaranteed mangan.
Hisato draws a dangerous 9s on the ippatsu turn, forcing him to go back a bit and drop his white dragon pair. With three of Kayamori’s waits in Hisato’s hand and two of her waits in discards, Kayamori only has 3 tiles left. Near the end of the second row, Matsumoto draws a 6s to secure a 567 sanshoku. Discarding the 8m, Matsumoto waits dama on a 9m tanki.
With Hisato holding two of Matsumoto’s 9m, it leaves only one left in the wall. On Hisato’s draw right after Matsumoto’s tenpai, Hisato draws the last 9m and gets to tenpai. Hisato calls riichi on a 69p ryanmen, lacking any other han besides the riichi. On Hisato’s ippatsu draw, he finds the 9p and wins the hand. Hisato wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo for 2,000 all plus Kayamori’s riichi stick, extending his lead.
3s
December 20, Game 2, E3-2
In E3-2, 2nd place Nakabayashi is 12,200 behind 1st place Hisato, while 4th place Matsumoto is 5,200 behind 3rd place Kayamori. With 1,600 in bonus sticks on the table, the winner of this hand will make some good progress. Nakabayashi starts out 4-shanten with a pair of white dragons, a red 5s and a west dora. Matsumoto, on the other hand, is 3-shanten for chiitoi with no value to speak of. In the first row, Matsumoto creates many sequences and draws a red 5m, putting him iishanten at the end of the first row. At the same time, Nakabayashi is stuck at 3-shanten despite his ryanmens. At the start of the third row, Matsumoto gets to tenpai and stays dama on a 4m, holding enough value to pass Kayamori.
In the middle of the second row, Nakabayashi finally gets to 2-shanten. Since there is no riichi on the table, Nakabayashi doesn’t have much reason to play defensively. At the end of the second row, Nakabayashi is iishanten. In the middle of the third row, Nakabayashi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen. During the ippatsu turn, Matsumoto draws the 3s. Because his hand is strong and his placement, Matsumoto pushes the 3s and ends up dealing in. Flipping two uradora, Nakabayashi wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Iipeikou/Aka 1/Ura 2 for 12,000+600 plus a riichi stick, taking the lead.
Comeback
December 20, Game 2
In S2-0, Matsumoto is in 4th place, after winning 5,200 the hand before, Matsumoto looks to continue the momentum during his dealership. Matsumoto starts out 3-shanten with a ryanmen, two kanchans and a penchan. On turn 3, Matsumoto draws the dora 9s to complete his ryanmen and get to iishanten. At the same time, he converts one of his pairs into a ryanmen. On turn 4, Matsumoto fills his penchan to get to iishanten. On turn 5, he fills in his last kanchan and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen. In the middle of the second row, Matsumoto draws the red 5p and wins the hand. Matsumoto wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 4,000 all, putting him just 700 from 3rd place.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s50_p719
In S2-1, Matsumoto starts out 3-shanten with only one ryanmen. To his right is Hisato, who starts out with an ankou of white dragon doras and two red fives, guaranteed at least 6 han.
On turn 3, he completes the ryanmen. On turn 4, he gets to iishanten. At the end of the row, Matsumoto draws a pair and calls riichi on a 3s kanchan.
At the end of the row, Kayamori gets to an atozuke red dragon/9m shanpon. At the start of the second row, Hisato draws a fourth white dragon. A turn later, Hisato gets to tenpai and calls a closed kan on the white dragon. Hisato rinshan draw misses but he is still tenpai on a 6p kanchan. Kayamori draws the 6p right after and folds her hand, choosing not to challenge the danger on the table. On Hisato’s next draw, Hisato gets rid of his red 5p and switches to a 69p ryanmen, calling riichi for haneman minimum.
It is a battle between the two riichi players. An expensive hand vs. the dealer. On Hisato’s ippatsu draw, Hisato draws the 3s and deals into Matsumoto, losing his monster hand. Matsumoto wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 1/Ura 2 for 12,000+300 plus Hisatori’s riichi stick, putting Matsumoto 2,600 of 1st place.
100 Points
December 20, Game 2, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s40_p718
In S4-0, Hisato is in 4th place, 10,700 behind 3rd place Kayamori, 16,900 behind 2nd place Hisato and 19,500 behind 1st place Nakabayashi. Unless Hisato can get a 3/50 direct hit off of Kayamori, Hisato will need a haneman to move up in placement. Hisato starts out 4-shanten with a single green dragon for value. To his left is Matsumoto, sitting 3-shanten with all but one of his tiles being a souzu or an honour. In the first row, Matsumoto calls pon on the 9s and creates an ankou of norths, putting him tenpai on a 2s kanchan at the end of the row. At the start of the second row, Matsumoto creates an ankou of 5s and switches to a 14s ryanmen wait.
The start of the second row is kind to Matsumoto’s opponents as well. On Hisato’s draw, he pairs up the green dragon to give him value. On Nakabayashi’s draw, he fills in a kanchan for tenpai and tosses the green dragon, calling riichi on a 69s ryanmen.
The riichi call by Nakabayashi makes a world of difference to Hisato. With the green dragon discard, Hisato calls pon to secure a yaku and advance his hand. With a guaranteed mangan in hand and the extra riichi stick, Hisato can now get a direct hit off of Matsumoto to take 3rd by 100 points. With a chii off of Matsumoto, Hisato gets to tenpai on a 69m ryanmen. In the middle of the second row, Matsumoto draws and discards the 9m and deals into Hisato. From the 3s ron by Matsumoto to kill Hisato’s monster hand, Hisato now has his revenge. Hisato wins the hand with Green Dragon/Dora 3 for 8,000 plus Nakabayashi’s riichi stick, having just enough to move into 3rd place and pushing Matsumoto into 4th place.
Junchan
December 22, Game 1, E3-2
In E3-2, Mizuhara is in 4th place and 16,600 behind 3rd place after twice trying to call riichi and dealing in. Wanting to maintain her position near the top of the individual standings, she needs to get moving. She starts out 4-shanten with a 7p penchan, a 9m pair and a 123m sequence. On turn 3, Mizuhara gets to 2-shanten with a clear path to junchan. By the end of the row, Mizuhara is iishanten. In the second row, she adds the dora 7m to her hand to increase its value. Near the end of the row, she gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 9p tanki, sitting with a guaranteed mangan. A few turns later, Mizuhara draws the 9p and wins the hand. Mizuhara wins with Junchan/Dora 1 for 2,000/4,000.
Double Furiten
December 22, Game 2
In E3-1, Ooi is in 3rd place and 2,600 behind 1st. He starts out the hand 3-shanten, lacking value and dora. In the first row, Ooi fills in a kanchan and creates a sanmenchan, getting to 2-shanten on turn 4. On turn 5, he fills the sanmenchan for iishanten. At the start of the second row, Ooi draws a 1s and has a chance to take a 2s kanchan tenpai. Because it’s a bad wait with no value, he throws the 1s. On the very next turn, he draws the 2s! He holds onto the 2s and sits annoyed with his furiten 14s wait. The very next turn, Ooi draws the 4s and wins the hand. Ooi wins with Tsumo/Pinfu for 400+100/700+100.
In E4-0, Ooi is the dealer and sitting just 300 away from 1st. He starts out 4-shanten with nothing too noteworthy. While Ooi works on filling and converting his kanchans, Honda pushes his hand forward quickly, getting to iishanten on turn 4. On turn 6, Honda gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen.
On the ippatsu turn, Ooi gets to iishanten. Now with a dora 8m and a path to tanyao, Ooi advances by breaking his south pair. A turn later, Ooi calls chii to get to tenpai on a 3m kanchan. Through much of the second and third row, Ooi fruitlessly draws and discards his tiles. On Ooi’s second-last draw, he switches to a 369m sanmenchan. This is a risk, as he is both furiten because of his previously-discarded 9m and only having a yaku if he draws the 36m. On Ooi’s next turn, he finds the 6m and wins the hand. Ooi wins with Tanyao/Dora 1 for 1,000 all plus Honda’s riichi stick, taking the lead.
Separating From the Pack
December 22, Game 2
In S2-2, 4th and 1st are separated by only 6,000, with Hori sitting just 4,600 from 1st. He starts out big, 2-shanten with an ankou of green dragons and a pair of 5s doras (including the red 5s). By turn 3, Hori has two ryanmens. At the start of the second row, Hori calls chii to get to iishanten. Near the end of the row, Hori draws one more 5s to increase his tile acceptance. A turn later, Hori gets to tenpai on a 34s wait. Soon after that, Honda throws the 4s trying to call riichi and ends up dealing into Hori. Hori wins the hand with Green Dragon/Dora 3/Aka 1 for 8,000+600, moving into 1st.
After winning a 1 han hand in S3-0, Hori continued his dealership in S3-1. He starts out again with a pair of doras (this time white dragons) at 3-shanten. At the start of the second row, Hori gets to iishanten, still waiting for a yaku or a chance to pon the white dragon. Soon after, Kobayashi discards the white dragon as he gets to iishanten and Hori calls pon to get to a 4m kanchan tenpai.
Despite the visible dealer mangan, Hori’s opponents are still able to push their hands. At the start of the third row, Honda gets to tenpai and stays dama on a yakuless 2m wait.
On Kobayashi’s draw, he gets to tenpai as well, calling riichi on a 14s ryanmen.
As if he was waiting for Kobayashi to call riichi, Hori is able to draw the 4m on his draw and win the hand. Hori wins with White Dragon/Dora 3 for 4,000+100 all plus Kobayashi’s riichi stick.
Dama Sanmenchan
December 23, Game 1, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s40_p719
In E4-0, Takamiya is in 1st place and wanting to move the game along. She starts off by drawing a second 3m dora and putting her 3-shanten. In the first row, she fills in kanchans and moves her hand towards pinfu. By turn 5, Takamiya is iishanten. In the middle of the third row, Takamiya discards a penchan and goes back a shanten. Soon after, she gets back to iishanten after drawing a red 5s. On her next draw, she creates a sanmenchan to get to tenpai on a 369m. She stays dama, hoping to hit someone with her mangan minimum hand. With Takamiya’s discard of the 7p, Uotani calls chii to advance to iishanten and throws the 9m, dealing into Takamiya. Takamiya wins the hand with Pinfu/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 8,000.
The Gamble
December 23, Game 1, S4-0
In S4-0, Uotani is in 4th place and 7,500 behind 3rd place Sonoda. She needs a 3/30 direct hit, a 3/50 tsumo or an indirect ron to escape 4th. She starts out with a big iishanten, guaranteed tanyao in its current state and has a chance to accept a 3m dora. Unfortunately, Riichi/Tanyao/Dora 1 is not enough unless she can tsumo it. With only four different tiles that can get her hand to tenpai, Uotani’s searches for ways to increase her hand’s value. On turn 4, she creates a 14s ryanmen, losing the guaranteed tanyao, but also has the chance to get both iipeikou and tanyao with the 4s. On turn 5, Uotani draws the 3m and calls riichi.
With her hand, she really needs the 4s. If she gets the 1s by ron or tsumo, she would need to bet on uradora to win. If she calls ron on the 4s, she would move into 3rd place, 2nd if it is off Matsugase. The ideal scenario for her is drawing the 4s, giving her a haneman and moving into 2nd, getting a baiman if the wall gives her two uradora.
Just a turn before her, Takamiya got to tenpai on a 5p/7m shanpon, yakuless but with two dora and a chance at sanankou.
Looking around the table, we see a 1s in Sonoda’s hand and one in Matsugase’s. With one 4s in Uotani’s hand, Uotani has ideal three 4s and two 1s that may be useful if timed properly. On Matsugase’s draw on the ippatsu, he draws the 1s, bringing the 1s count down to one. Matsugase draws a 4s, bring them down to two. Sonoda draws a 4s, bring it down to one and one before the wall is halfway through. In the middle of the second row, Matsugase draws the last 4s, killing Uotani’s dreams of a takame comeback. At the end of the row, Takamiya draws and discards the 1s.
If Uotani were to take it, she would need to bet on the uradora. To her, none of her other winning tiles are visibile, meaning that they could still be in the wall, she chooses to reject the 1s and hope to tsumo the 4s.
With the rejected tsumo, fans collectively felt a small bit of pain knowing that Uotani is hoping for something that can’t happen anymore. First was Takizawa, now it’s Uotani. With each tile, we waited for the inevitable end. When the hand did go to a draw, Uotani was the only one tenpai and the game ended.
To 50k in Two Hand
December 23, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-15_s90_p513
In E2-0, Tojo is tied for 2nd place and wanting to avenge Uotani’s 4th. She starts out with a very nice 2-shanten with a red 5m and an isolated 8p. On turn 2, she draws a 6p to get to iishanten. Later in the row, she draws a 4p, increasing her potential tile acceptance. At the start of the second row, Tojo draws the 5p. She throws the 8p dora calling riichi on a 36m ryanmen for mangan minimum.
At the time of the riichi, Date is iishanten with tanyao and holding a red 5p. With no safe tiles on hand, she pushes. At the end of the row, Date draws a 5m to create an iipeikou and get to tenpai. She calls riichi and waits on a 47s ryanmen for mangan minimum.
In the middle of the third row, Katsumata joins the fray and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen.
With three people in riichi with 9 tiles in the wall, there was no telling where this hand was going. On Tojo’s second-last draw, she finds the 3m and wins the hand. Tojo wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000 plus two riichi sticks, putting her up to 35,000.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s60_p726
In E3-0, Tojo is the dealer and starts out 3-shanten with an isolated 1s dora and two red fives. In the first row, her hand shifts towards tanyao and creates more sequences. By turn 5, Tojo is iishanten and determines that the 1s is slowing her down. At the start of the second row, Tojo gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen. Her hand is at least 5 han on a 6s ron, 6 han on a 6s tsumo, 7 han on a 3s ron (due to a 345 sanshoku) and 8 han on a 3s tsumo. Three turns later, Tojo draws the 6s and wins the hand. Tojo wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 2/Ura 1 for 6,000 all, bringing her score up to 53,000, more than doubling her score in just two hands.
Explosion
December 23, Game 2, E3-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s40_p720
In E3-2, Date is in 2nd place and try to catch up to Tojo, 30,000 ahead of her. She starts out 3-shanten, though lacking dora or value. In the first row, she gets rid of her penchan and moves towards tanyao. At the end of the row, she draws the dora 4m and sits iishanten, guaranteed a good wait. In the middle of the second row, Date creates an ankou of 3p to get to iishanten. A turn later, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69s ryanmen. At the start of the third row, she draws a 6s and wins the hand.
However, as she tries to reveal her hand, her hand breaks apart and tiles slide across the table!
After taking a few seconds to gather her tiles and line them up again, she checks the uradora. Revealing the 2p as the indicator, her 3p ankou becomes dora! With an explosion in her hand and an explosion in value, Date wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Ura 3 for 3,000+200/6,000+200 plus a riichi stick, reducing the gap to just over 10,000.
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