Highlights
Quick and Valuable
January 23, Game 1, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s40_p730
In S4-0, Takizawa is in 3rd place and the last dealer, sitting 1,700 behind 2nd place Hinata and 3,400 behind 1st place Hori. Takizawa’s starting hand starts out extremely quick, being iishanten with his first draw with a dora 4m and pairs of green dragons and souths. On turn 2, Takizawa makes the south an ankou to get to tenpai on a 7m kanchan. On turn 3, Takizawa calls pon on the green dragon and discards the 8m, giving him a 36m nobetan wait. On Takizawa’s next draw, he improves to a 679p wait. With the wide wait, it was only a matter of time. Within the next go-around, Hori discards the 6p and deals into Takizawa. Takizawa wins the hand with South/Green Dragon/Dora 1 for 7,700, putting him in 1st place.
Chinitsu
January 23, Game 2, E3-4
In E3-4, Matsumoto is the dealer and starts out 3-shanten, with all but one of his tiles being either a manzu or honour. However, Matsumoto has his sights set higher. In the first row, he masks his push for chinitsu by discarding some of his honours. On turn 5, he opens his hand and gets to a chinitsu 2-shanten. At the end of the first row, Matsumoto is iishanten with any manzu but the 1m getting him to tenpai. On Matsumoto’s next draw, he gets the 2m and waits tenpai on a 6m kanchan. At the end of the second row, Hisato discards the 6m and deals into Matsumoto. Matsumoto wins with Chinitsu for 12,000+1,200.
Hidden Dora
January 24, Game 1, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-15_s90_p651
In E1-0, Maruyama starts out as the dealer, looking for her first 1st of the season. She starts out with an unfortunate 5-shanten hand, but she does have a red 5m for value. On turn 3, Maruyama draws a dora 6p to increase both value and tile acceptance. On turn 4, Maruyama draws another 6p dora, guaranteeing at least a mangan if she wins. On turn 5, Maruyama pairs up the double east, giving her a yakuhai option and putting her 2-shanten. By the end of the row, she is iishanten. In the second row, Maruyama calls pon on the east and gets to tenpai on a 2m/6p shanpon. A few turns later, Nakabayashi draws and discards a 2m and deals into Maruyama. Maruyama wins the hand with Double East/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 12,000.
Wide Wait
January 24, Game 1, E4-0
In E4-0, Nakabayashi is in 4th place, 11,800 behind 3rd place and 12,700 behind 2nd place. He starts out the hand 3-shanten with a red 5m and three ryanmens. In the first row, Nakabayashi fills two ryanmens and makes a pair, getting to iishanten. In the middle of the second row, Nakabayashi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a wide 2578m wait, with the 258m giving pinfu as well. In the ippatsu round, Honda discards the 2m as he gets to tenpai and deals into Nakabayashi. Flipping two uradora, Nakabayashi wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 1/Ura 2 for 18,000.
3s
January 24, Game 1, S3-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s60_p735
In S3-2, Kondo is in 3rd place, 11,700 behind 2nd place and 14,000 behind 1st place. Kondo starts out 3-shanten with no projected value whatsoever. Nakabayashi, on the other hand, has a quick hand with good value. On turn 5, Nakabayashi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on an 8s kanchan.
At this point, Kondo is 2-shanten for chiitoi, a decently slow hand for not much return. Even so, Kondo manages to advance safely. However, his pairs are near the edges, making them easy to call for toitoi. When the white dragon is discarded, Kondo calls pon to pursue a standard hand. After a call on the west, Kondo gets to tenpai on a 3p/8s shanpon. In the third row, Kondo draws a 5p and switches to a 4p dora kanchan. A turn later, Kondo draws a dangerous 5s and drops his tenpai.
In the go-around, Honda calls chii on the red 5s to get to tenpai on a 36s ryanmen.
As Kondo avoids the riichi, his hand shifts towards a souzu honitsu. He draws a fourth 2s, A turn later, he draws a 4s. Having previously discarded the 6s, taking a 36s ryanmen would mean being furiten. With the 5s guaranteed to be safe and giving a 3s kanchan, it would seem to be the best choice. However, Kondo chooses to go bold. Kondo reveals his four 2s and calls kan. With the kan, Kondo hopes to either draw his winning tile on the rinshan or wait in furiten. With Kondo’s rinshan draw, he finds…
… the 3s! From fold to furiten to finish, Kondo make the surprise win. Kondo wins the hand with Rinshan/Honitsu/White Dragon for 4,000+200 all plus three riichi sticks, moving Kondo into 1st place.
Ton Tanki
January 24, Game 2, S1-0
In S1-0, Hagiwara is in 3rd place, sitting 3,300 behind 2nd place and 3,500 behind 1st place. He starts out the hand 3-shanten with two 6m dora and pairs of the red and white dragons. On turn 2, Hagiwara draws a third white dragon. Soon after, Hagiwara calls pon on the red dragon to get to iishanten and confirm honitsu. By the end of the row, Hagiwara gets to tenpai and waits on an east tanki. Immediately after, Kayamori discards the east and deals into Hagiwara. Hagiwara wins the hand with Honitsu/Red Dragon/White Dragon/Dora 2 for 18,000, easily moving into 1st place.
Connect Four
January 24, Game 2, S4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s80_p731
in S4-1, Yu is in 2nd place and sitting 5,500 behind 1st place Hagiwara. With one honba and one riichi stick up for grabs, Yu has to win a 3/30 tsumo, a 3/40 indirect hit or a 2/30 direct hit for move into 1st.
Yu starts out the hand 3-shanten with a red 5p. With the ability to accept the 9m dora, Yu has a path to 1st place. On turn 4, Yu pairs up the double south, giving him a yaku and value option. When Hagiwara discards the south, Yu calls pon to get to 2-shanten. Filling in a kanchan, Yu gets to iishanten at the end of the first row. At the end of the second row, Yu draws a 6m and gets to tenpai on a 47p ryanmen, needing to draw it himself or hit Hagiwara directly. With a look around the table, the Yu still has all four 7p to hope for. On Yu’s very next draw, he finds one of those 7p and wins the hand. Yu wins with Double South/Aka 1 for 1,000+100/2,000+100 plus one riichi stick, taking 1st place.
With Yu’s win, it makes it 4 in a row for the U-Next Pirates, First, it was Mizuhara and Kobayashi getting back-to-back wins on Friday. Today, it was the UK (Yu/Kei) duo getting the back-to-back wins, making the four consecutive wins a team effort.
Gyakuten
January 26, Game 1, S4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s70_p725
In S4-1, Setokuma is in 4th place and trying to get his first 1st since October 13. Sitting 12,700 behind 1st place dealer Katsumata, Setokuma needs a haneman tsumo, a baiman indirect hit or a 3/50 or 4/25 direct hit. If Setokuma wants to move out of 4th, then all he needs is a mangan for at least 3rd.
Setokuma starts out 3-shanten with a pair of souths as its only value. He needs to confirm the south yakuhai and find some dora in order to move up. In the first row, Setokuma is just unable to find value. At the end of the first row, Setokuma adds a red 5m to his hand for some value, but is still stuck at 2-shanten. In the second row, Setokuma draws a 4m dora to get to iishanten, waiting on a 3s and 5p for a 345 sanshoku. As Setokuma waits, Katsumata the dealer gets to tenpai and waits with a 36m ryanmen.
A turn later, Setokuma draws the 6s. Though it kills his sanshoku, it does get him to tenpai. Setokuma chooses to call riichi on his 25p ryanmen, guaranteed at least 3 han. If Setokuma draws the winning tile himself, he will move into 2nd place. If he calls ron and finds an uradora, he will move into either 3rd or 2nd. However, if he calls ron off Katsumata and misses the extra han, Setokuma will stay in 4th.
Within the ippatsu turn, Takamiya gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 67p wait. With any win Takamiya will win the game.
With the riichi call from Takamiya, Setokuma’s winning conditions have changed. Now Setokuma only needs a mangan tsumo or a haneman indirect ron to move into 1st place. With this, Raiden fans are filled with hope. On Setokuma’s ippatsu draw, he confidently places his draw next his hand and reveals a 2p! With the big draw, Setokuma has done it. Setokuma wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 2,000+100/4,000+100 plus one riichi stick, finishing the game with 26,800 in 1st place, the second-lowest 1st place of all time.
Kurosawa
January 26, Game 2
In E4-0, Kurosawa is the dealer and sitting tied for 1st place with 27,200. She starts out the hand with a red 5p that is 3-shanten for both chiitoi and a standard hand. Looking around the table through the first row, we see Kurosawa making a few pairs, while Date quickly advances her hand. On turn 4, Date gets to tenpai and waits with a yakuless 6s/2m shanpon. A turn later, Date improves her wait and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen.
By this point, Kurosawa has five pairs and waiting for one more pair for tenpai. On turn 8, Kurosawa finds that sixth pair and calls riichi on a 2p tanki. Two turns later, Date draws and discards the 2p and deals into Kurosawa. Kurosawa wins the hand with Riichi/Chiitoi/Aka 1 for 9,600 plus a riichi stick.
In E4-1, Kurosawa starts out 3-shanten with a pair of green dragons. In the first row, Kurosawa creates a ryanmen in souzu and gets rid of her pair of green dragon to pursue pinfu and tanyao. By the end of the row, Kurosawa is iishanten. On turn 10, Kurosawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69m ryanmen (with 6m giving tanyao). Aki chases the riichi during the ippatsu round with a riichi of her own with a 36m ryanmen, but Kurosawa quickly kills it by drawing her winning 6m. Kurosawa wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao for 4,000+100 all plus Aki’s riichi stick, putting Kurosawa above 50,000.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s70_p726
In E4-2, Kurosawa has a substantial lead that could be bigger. She starts the hand off 2-shanten, though holds two penchans. In the first row, Kurosawa expands her option to improve, but is still 2-shanten with two penchans at the end of the row. In the second row, Kurosawa draws a red 5m and starts to break up a penchan when Date calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen.
With a less than efficient hand, Kurosawa throws safe tiles while somehow keeping 2-shanten. At the start of the third row, Kurosawa gets to iishanten for tanyao and throws the dangerous 8p. As the wall gets shorter and shorter, it looks like Kurosawa’s dealership will end. But, in the middle of the second row, Kurosawa draws a red 5s to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen. With only 9 tiles left to draw (2 tiles left for Kurosawa), Kurosawa has a small chance to win a big hand. On the ippatsu turn, Kurosawa draws the 3p and wins the hand. Kurosawa wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Tanyao/Aka 2 for 6,000+200 all plus Date’s riichi stick, putting Kurosawa above 70,000.
Aki Climb
January 26, Game 2, S3-0
In S3-0, Aki is in 4th place, 6,400 behind 3rd place and 11,900 behind 2nd place. After being at just 100 points a hand earlier, Aki is hoping to keep winning during her dealer turn. She starts out with a big 2-shanten with two ankous, two red fives, a pair of 7m and almost guaranteed to have tanyao. On turn 2, Aki pairs up the 5m, putting her iishanten for a mangan and 2-shanten for suuankou. On turn 3, Aki draws a 3s to connect the red 5s. On turn 5, Aki makes the 7m an ankou and gets to tenpai on a 4s kanchan, staying dama. If Aki can draw the 3s or 5s, she would be tenpai for a potential suuankou. If she can make the 5m an ankou, she would be tenpai for a suuankou tanki. Right after Aki gets to tenpai, Kurosawa discards the 4s and deals into Aki. Aki wins the hand with Tanyao/Sanankou/Aka 2 for 12,000, putting her in 2nd place.
Aki would go on to almost double her score and be around 30,000 by the end of her dealership.
Ura 2
January 27, Game 1, E2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s30_p723
In E2-, Okada is the dealer in 1st place, holding a slim 4,200 lead over her ex Shiratori. She starts out the hand 3-shanten with a red 5p and the ability to accept the 4p dora. On turn 3, she draws the 7p, the wrong side of the ryanmen but it does get her to iishanten. On turn 4, Okada gets to tenpai nd calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen. With a dealer riichi and not much to fight with, all three of her opponents end up either folding or making very weak pushes. In the middle of the third row, Okada finally draws the 4m and wins the hand. Flipping two uradora, Okada wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 1/Ura 2 for 6,000+100 all plus one riichi stick.
4,800 in Bonus Sticks
January 27, Game 1, E3-6
In E3-6, the bonus sticks have been piling up after three straight hands going to a draw. With all the draws, there are now three riichi sticks and six honba, adding up to 4,800 in bonuses.
Murakami is in last place in this hand, sitting 6,000 behind 3rd place and 8,800 behind 2nd place. He starts out the hand 3-shanten with a dora 5p and a likely tanyao. On turn 2, Murakami creates a 58s ryanmen to get to 2-shanten. On turn 4, he draws an 8s to get to iishanten. On Murakami’s next draw, he finds a 1p that kills his tanyao but widens his acceptance. A turn later, he pairs up the 5p dora and calls riichi on a 3s/5p shanpon. Two draws later, Murakami finds the 3s and wins the hand. Murakami wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 2 for 2,000+600/4,000+600 plus three riichi sticks, moving him into 2nd place.
Mangan-Mangan
January 27, Game 1, E4-2
In E4-2, Mizuhara is in 3rd place, 2,100 ahead of 4th and 20,100 behind 2nd. She starts out the hand 2-shanten with a pair of red dragons. The first few draws are frustratingly useless, but Mizuhara finally advances to iishanten at the end of the first row. With her current hand, she only needs a 3s to get a 234 sanshoku and a 2p for a 234p iipeikou. On her next draw, Mizuhara draws the red 5s. It’s not sanshoku, but it is value that gets her to tenpai. With a good 25p ryanmen wait, Mizuhara calls riichi and hopes to draw the 2p for maximum value. During the ippatsu round, Murakami discards the 2p and deals into Mizuhara. Mizuhara wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Iipeikou/Aka 1 for 8,000+600.
In S1-0, Mizuhara is now just 2,900 behind 2nd place. She starts out the hand 4-shanten with a dora 3m. To her left is Okada, sitting 3-shanten with a pair of red dragons and a connected 3m dora. Through the first row, Mizuhara slowly moves her hand towards a callable tanyao hand, holding the option of pinfu if she stays closed. By the end of the row, she is 2-shanten with two ryanmen. At the start of the second row, she makes a call to fill in a 7p kanchan to get to iishanten. A turn later, she calls chii with the 6m to get to tenpai on a 25s ryanmen.
Within a turn of Mizuhara getting to tenpai, Okada draws a third red dragon to get to tenpai on a 1p/8s shanpon.
Unfortunately for Okada, she ends up drawing the red 5s the very next turn. Wanting to keep her tenpai, she throws the red 5s and deals into Mizuhara. Mizuhara wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 8,000, moving into 2nd place.
Mangan
January 27, Game 1, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-15_s90_p673
In S2-0, Murakami is in 3rd place after being passed by Mizuhara. Looking around the table, everyone looks fast. Okada had a chance at double riichi but misses, Mizuhara makes a turn 1 green dragon pon and Murakami is 3-shanten with a dora 5m and two ryanmens. With almost every draw, Murakami advances his hand. By turn 3, Murakami is iishanten, waiting on 7 different tile to get him to tenpai. On turn 4, Murakami gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen. Even as Okada pushes, she can’t find any of her tenpai tiles. In the middle of the second row, Okada eventually folds. Near the middle of the third row, Murakami finally finds his winning 4s to win the hand. Flipping one uradora, Murakami wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000, putting him just 1,300 from 1st place.
Random Tanki
January 27, Game 1, S3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-15_s90_p674
In S3-1, the scores are close with 3rd palce Mizuhara just 3,200 behind 1st place Okada. With one riichi stick and one honba on the table, Mizuhara can move into 1st place with just two han. Mizuhara starts out the hand 3-shanten with a red 5m and a pair of souths, To her left is Okada who has a red 5s and is also 3-shanten. The first row provides both of them very good shapes, both getting to iishanten by the end of the row. For Mizuhara she already has her south ankou and is waiting on 11 different tiles for tenpai. For Okada, she is also waiting on 11 different tiles, with 6 of them giving a good wait. On turn 8, Okada is the first to tenpai, calling riichi on a 4p kanchan.
During the ippatsu turn, Mizuhara has a chance to take a 3m/4m shanpon, but taking it would mean accepting a bad wait and throwing the dora adjacent 7p. Mizuhara declines it and throws a 4m to stay iishanten. In the middle of the second row, Okada throws the 2m. With a call to fill in a kanchan, Mizuhara gets to tenpai and waits on that lonely 7p. Even with the bad wait, luck was on Mizuhara’s side. On Okada’s next draw, she draws and discards the 7p, dealing into Mizuhara. Mizuhara wins the hand with South/Aka 1 for 2,900+300 plus two riichi sticks, putting Mizuhara in 1st place.
Killing the Comeback
January 27, Game 1, S4-3
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s80_p732
In S4-3, Mizuhara is in 1st place, holding a 3,300 lead over 2nd place dealer Murakami and 6,200 lead ofver 3rd place Okada. With 1,900 in bonus stick available to the next winner, Mizuhara wants to win the next hand and end the game now. She starts out the hand 2-shanten, a good start save for the two penchans in her hand. To her right is the dealer Murakami, sitting 3-shanten with a pair of dora souths. If Murakami can make them a triplet, he will be guaranteed at least a dealer mangan. To Mizuhara’s left is Okada, pursuing a honitsu. In the first row, Mizuhara breaks her penchans in favour of better shapes while Murakami turns pairs into triplets. By the end of the first row, Murakami has two triplets and three pairs, putting him iishanten for toitoi and a potential suuankou yakuman. Around the same time, Okada and Mizuhara get to iishanten as well. Near the middle of the second row, Mizuhara is the first to tenpai, calling riichi on an 8s kanchan.
During the ippatsu turn, Murakami draws the 8s, killing his hand without even knowing it. Murakami manages to not discard it on his ippatsu turn, but Drivens fans know about the impending doom. When Okada discards the south dora, Murakami calls pon and discards the 8s.
With a ron, Mizuhara wins the hand with Riichi only for 1,300+900 plus one riichi stick. Though the hand is small, the implications are big. With the win, the U-Next Pirates have achieved 5 firsts in a row, a new team record and tying the league record.
To the Limit
January 27, Game 2
In E3-0, Taro is the dealer in 4th place, sitting 10,000 behind 3rd place and 15,700 behind 2nd place. Taro starts out the hand 2-shanten with three completed sequences and an embedded 3m dora. With three completed sequences, Taro just need to make one more block. On turn 3, he is iishanten with a 7s kanchan. On turn 4, he pairs up the 8s, improving to 8 different tiles for tenpai. On turn 7, Taro gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 2s kanchan. Near the end of the second row, Taro draws the 2s and wins the hand. Taro wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 4,000 all, putting him in 2nd place and 300 behind 1st place.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s80_p733
In E3-1, Kobayashi is in 3rd place, just 600 away from 1st place. He starts out the hand 3-shanten with an embedded 6m dora and paths to pinfu and tanyao. To his right is Taro, 4-shanten for both a standard hand and chiitoi. Both their hands move forward in the first row, though Taro’s draws were significantly better. Even though he only started with two pairs, he started drawing more pairs and those pairs became triplets. By the end of the first row, both Taro and Kobayashi are iishanten, with Taro iishanten for sanankou and 2-shanten for suuankou. On turn 7, Taro pairs up the 4m, needing only the 2s, 4s or 4m to get to suuankou tenpai. Soon after, Kobayashi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 3m/2p shanpon.
During the ippatsu turn, Taro draws the 2s! Unfortunately, his biggest chance is actually the biggest dud. In order to pursue the yakuman, Taro has to discard the 3m. As Taro places the 3m in his discard pile, he realizes that he has the shortest-lived yakuman tenpai.
With a ron by Kobayashi, he kills the yakuman chance. Kobayashi wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tanyao/Dora 1 for 8,000+300, moving into 1st place.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s10_p725
In E4-0, Taro is trying to recover after dealing into Kobayashi and losing his yakuman chance. Taro starts out the hand. 3-shanten with two ryanmens and a dora 3m. Looking around the table, Taro is behind Hori in terms of progress, with Hori being 2-shanten. On turn 5, Hori is already tenpai on an 8p tanki. A turn later, Hori improves his wait and calls riichi on a 4769m wait.
During the ippatsu turn, Taro pairs up the 3m to get to iishanten, waiting on 4 different tiles for tenpai. Looking to Taro’s right, Ooi is 2-shanten, but he has a lot more flexibility in his hand. In the second row, Ooi gets his hand to iishanten and then to tenpai, calling riichi on a 47p ryanmen.
During the ippatsu round, Taro has a chance to get to tenpai, but the shanpon would be a 3m/4m shanpon. But, the 3m is dora, making it difficult to change his hand for a better wait. With the opportunity to win with the dora, Taro chooses to call riichi on the 3m/4m shanpon. Two turns later, Hori draws and discards the 3m dora and deals into Taro. Killing the 4-sided wait with a shanpon, Taro wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 3 for 8,000 plus two riichi sticks, moving into 2nd place.
In S1-0, Hori the dealer is in 4th place, a dealer mangan away from 2nd and a dealer haneman away from 1st place. Hori starts out the hand with a strong 2-shanten with two completed sequences and two pairs. As we look around the table, Ooi’s hand catches our eye. In Ooi’s hand is pairs of white dragon, green dragon, north and south, as well as a stray red dragon and east. With 10/13 tiles being honours, he has a chance at tsuuiisou. In the first row, Ooi calls pon on the white dragon and the south to get to iishanten for haneman, 2-shanten for yakuman.
While everyone is focused on Ooi, Hori’s hand is moving well. Being iishanten and able to accept the dora, Hori waits on 5 different tiles to get him to tenpai. At the end of the second row, Hori finally gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen. On the ippatsu turn, Hori finds the 5m and wins the hand. Hori wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Iipeikou for 4,000 all, moving him into 2nd place.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s30_p724
In S1-1, Hori is 700 behind 1st place Kobayashi and starts out 3-shanten with the double dora 5s. To Hori’s right is Kobayashi, holdings pairs of south, east and north by turn 2. In the first row, Kobayashi calls pon on the east and pushes his hand towards honitsu (getting to 2-shanten) while Hori is stuck at 2-shanten with two kanchans (though he does draw another 5s dora for value). In the second row, Hori draws a third 5s dora while Kobayashi pairs and calls pon on the white dragon, getting him to iishanten. With a pon on the norths, Kobayashi gets to tenpai and waits on a 58m ryanmen.
Within the go-around, Hori gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen. If Hori draws the winning tile or finds one uradora, he will upgrade his hand to a haneman.
In the third row, Taro joins the fray and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen, making more than half of the manzu dangerous.
During Taro’s ippatsu round, Hori manages to draw his winning 4m and wins the hand. Hori wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 3/Aka 1 for 6,000+100 all plus a riichi stick, putting him close to 50,000.
South 4
January 27, Game 2
In S4-0, Ooi is the dealer in 4th place, 3,700 behind 3rd place Taro and 12,900 behind 2nd place Kobayashi. With a mangan tsumo, Ooi can go from losing points to gaining points this game.
Ooi starts out with a good starting hand, 2-shanten for chiitoi, holding a red 5p and a pair of white dragons. In the first row, he makes his 2p pair an ankou and uses the red 5p for a ryanmen. By the end of the first row, Ooi is also 2-shanten for a standard hand. In the second row, Ooi completes the 47p ryanmen to get to iishanten. In the middle of the second row, Ooi makes the white dragon a ankou and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen, hoping to draw the dora 4s to get to a mangan with a chance at haneman. Near the middle of the second row, Taro chases Ooi with a 47p ryanmen riichi, but Ooi quickly kills it by drawing the 7s. Ooi wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/White Dragon/Aka 1 for 4,000 all plus one riichi stick, enough to move into 2nd place.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s10_p726
In S4-1, Taro is in 4th place, 10,200 behind 3rd place Kobayashi and 14,300 behind 2nd place dealer Ooi. With a mangan tsumo, Taro will finish in 3rd. With a haneman tsumo, he will move into 2nd.
Taro starts out the hand 3-shanten, though holding a penchan and kanchan. On Taro’s left is Kobayashi, 3-shanten as well but with multiple ryanmens. Kobayashi starts out very quick, getting to iishanten by turn 3. However, Kobayashi would be stuck at iishanten for a while, allowing Taro to catch up. By the end of the first row, Taro is 2-shanten with tanyao almost guaranteed. Near the end of the second row, Taro is caught up, iishanten with a guaranteed tanyao and a chance at pinfu and iipeikou. On turn 12, Kobayashi finally gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen. With any win, Kobayashi will move into 2nd.
Within the ippatsu turn, Taro gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen. If Taro wants to move ahead in the standings, he will have to draw the 8m, the red 5m or hope for an extra han through ippatsu or ura.
Counting tiles, Kobayashi only has two tiles left, while Taro has two 8m and one red 5m, meaning that any winning tile Taro draws will move him ahead of Kobayashi. As the tiles went around, the tile count decreased. With an 8m draw from Ooi, it became 2 vs. 2. In the third row, Taro draws a fourth 3p, allowing him to call kan. The rinshan and the kandora miss, but it gives him a chance at uradora to upgrade to a haneman. With a draw of the 3m by Ooi, Kobayashi was down to one 3m. Then, in the middle of the third row, Taro draws the red 5m and wins the hand. Though the uradora misses, Taro has successfully escaped 4th. Taro wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Aka 1 for 2,000+100/4,000+100 plus one riichi stick, finishing the game in 3rd place.
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