Highlights
Takame
January 8, Game 1, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3541
In E4-0, Takizawa is in 2nd place and 28,200 behind 1st place Matsumoto. In order to catch, he needs to more than double his score.
Takizawa starts out the hand amazingly at iishanten with secured red 5p and a pair of red dragons. In the first row, he exchanges his kanchan for a ryanmen and increases his tile acceptance from 3 to 5 different tiles. On turn 7, he draws the 8p to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen, wanting the 8m to complete the 678m sanshoku. In the middle of the second row, he draws the 8m and wins the hand. Takizawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Sanshoku/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 3,000/6,000.
A Simple Shift
January 8, Game 1, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3542
In S1-0, everyone is trying their hardest to work their way up, including 1st place Matsumoto whose team is in the negatives.
At the start, we see Matsumoto at 3-shanten, Rumi at 4-shanten and Takizawa the dealer is at a distant 5-shanten. Despite their different starting points, all three of them manage to get to iishanten or close to it by the end of the first row. On turn 7, Matsumoto draws the 5m to be the first one to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69p ryanmen.
With everyone iishanten, they keep their options open, pushing while watching out for danger. In the middle of the third row, Takizawa fills in a kanchan and gets to tenpai. Avoiding dealing in, he discards the 5p and waits on a 6p tanki, sitting without a yaku.
With the 5p discard, Rumi has a chance to call pon for tenpai, but chooses not to. However, when Uotani discards the red 5p right after, she calls pon and waits on a 4p/6s wait.
Within two turns, Takizawa draws the 6p and wins the hand. With that single shift from Rumi, she moves the 6p winning tile from Matsumoto to the cheap hand of Takizawa. Takizawa wins the hand with Tsumo only for 500 all plus Matsumoto’s riichi stick, continuing Takizawa’s dealership.
Yakuman Tenpai???
January 8, Game 2, E3-2
In E3-2, Hisato is the dealer in 1st place, followed by Katsumata 7,000 behind him and Daigo who is 18,800 behind Katsumata.
At the start of the hand, Daigo is 2-shanten while everyone else is at 4-shanten. In the first row, Daigo advances to iishanten with a guaranteed mangan, Katsumata gets to 3-shanten and Hisato gets to chiitoi 2-shanten. Despite being the furthest from tenpai at the start of the row, Katsumata quickly advanced and got to tenpai first on turn 11, calling riichi on a 58p ryanmen.
At the start of the third row, Daigo gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen, guaranteed at least a haneman if he wins.
During the ippatsu round, Hisato makes a triplet and gets to iishanten. If he draws the 3s, 5m or red dragon, he would be tenpai for a potential suuankou yakuman. During the wait, Katsumata draws a fourth 2s and calls a closed kan, giving him an extra chance at uradora despite missing the kandora. On Hisato’s second-last draw, he gets the red dragon. Unfortunately, he will have to throw the 8p to take it. He throws the 8p and deals into Katsumata.
Katsumata wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 6,400+600 plus a riichi stick to move into 1st.
Final Tile
January 8, Game 2, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4038
In E4-0, the dealer Hinata is in last place, 2,000 behind 3rd place Daigo and 21,800 behind 2nd place Hisato. Hisato is also wanting to move ahead, sitting 8,000 behind 1st place Katsumata.
Hinata starts out the hand 3-shanten with two ryanmens and a secured red 5s. To her left, Hisato is 2-shanten to chiitoi (3-shanten for a standard hand). Very quickly, Hisato forms triplets to advance his hand. By the end of the row, Hisato has a choice of which tenpai to take. He can either choose to call riichi on a 69p ryanmen or a 7p/6s shanpon. Since the shanpon guarantees tanyao and adds a chance at sanankou, he takes the risk and calls riichi on the narrower wait.
Sitting at iishanten with good value, Hinata continues to push her hand. Just a few turns after Hisato, Hinata gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen. Guaranteed at least a haneman with either wait, winning on the 5p and getting one more han will give her a baiman. Hisato watches as the 6p and 9p gets discarded by other players (including himself). As the wall got shorter, it looked like Hisato might be safe. Then, on the very last tile, Hisato draws the 5p and deals into Hinata. Hinata wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Tanyao/Sanshoku/Iipeikou/Houtei/Aka 1 for a lofty 24,000 dealer baiman, bringing Hinata into 2nd place and Hisato into 4th.
Dora 3 vs. Aka 3
January 8, Game 2, S2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4528
In S2-1, Daigo is in 3rd place, 6,400 behind 2nd place Hinata and 19,500 behind 1st place Katsumata. With the Phoenix down in the negatives, he needs to do his part to get the team into a playoff spot.
Daigo starts out the hand at 2-shanten with the red 5m secured and the red 5s connected. Across the table from him is Hisato who is also 2-shanten and has a triplet of the 7m dora. Quickly, Hisato gets to tenpai on turn 5 and calls riichi on a 5p kanchan, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins.
Daigo is sitting iishanten at this point, but he has a penchan in hand and still missing his pair. After throwing the 9s and breaking the penchan at the end of the row to fold, Daigo immediately draws the 7s. Though unfortunate, he keeps going. After making some pairs and drawing the red 5p, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 3p/5p shanpon. With both players waiting on a 5p, there is a chance for one play to headbump the other. However, Daigo has the luck as he gets the 5p draw in the third row. Daigo wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 3 for 2,000+100/4,000+100 plus one riichi stick, moving into 2nd place.
Straight Ahead
January 9, Game 1, E3-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5530
In E3-2, Mizuhara has a narrow 1,400 lead over 2nd place dealer Setokuma.
Mizuhara starts out the hand 4-shanten with a secured red 5s and a path to tanyao. In the first row, she fills in a kanchan and converts another to get to 2-shanten by the end of it. In the second row, Mizuhara starts to rearrange her and to aim for better waits. As she shuffles and waits, Asami makes a call to get to tenpai on a 7s kanchan. Through the rest of the row, she converts her hand to an ittsuu iishanten and confirms her dependence on the 3p dora. On turn 12, she draws the dora 3p and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen, hoping for the 4p for the full straight. Drawing the dora on the ippatsu round, Asami folds her hand, giving Mizuhara time to win. A few turns later, Mizuhara draws the 4p she wants and wins the hand. Flipping one ura, Mizuhara wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Ittsuu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 4,000+200/8,000+200 plus one riichi stick, taking her above 50,000.
Final Pass
January 9, Game 1, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s60_p2490
In S4-0, the fight for 2nd place is close with only 800 separating 2nd place Asami and 3rd place Setokuma. Whichever one wins the hand will finish in 2nd spot.
The hand starts off with both Setokuma and Asami at 4-shanten. Neither of them have particularly good shapes nor the ability to call, so the wall will decide their fate. The first row gives more progress to Setokuma, filling in his penchan and giving him sequence candidates, but it also shifts Asami’s hand to tanyao to give her a chance to call. By the end of the row, Setokuma is iishanten and Asami is 3-shanten. In the second row, Asami makes two calls to be tenpai on an 8s/7p shanpon.
Within the round, Setokuma gets to tenpai on a 4m yakuless tenpai, but he stays dama. After a turn, he decides to do a tsumogiri riichi. The two of them battle it out through draws and discards, hoping to pick up their winning tile. At the start of the third row, Asami draws and drops the 4m and deals into Setokuma. Setokuma wins with Riichi only for 1,300, a small amount but it’s enough to move him into 2nd place for the extra points.
Shibukawa’s Strong Start
January 9, Game 2, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3030
In E1-0, it’s Shibukawa’s turn to try and get the team positive on the day after a tough loss by Uchikawa.
Shibukawa starts out the hand already 2-shanten with a likely tanyao hand. On turn 2, he fills in a 7p kanchan and gets to iishanten, looking to make any one of his pairs into a triplet. On turn 4, he converts his 8m pair to a 69m ryanmen, wanting the 6m for a 678 sanshoku. After creating a 3-sided wait in pinzu, Shibukawa draws the 6m in the middle of the second row and calls riichi on a 369p wait, needing either the 3p or 6p to get both tanyao and sanshoku. On his very next draw, he gets the 3p and wins the hand. Shibukawa wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Ittsuu for 3,000/6,000.
Shortcut to Haneman
January 9, Game 2, E4-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5531
In E4-2, 3rd place Kobayashi is starting his dealership and needing to close the 15,600 gap on 1st place.
Kobayashi starts out the hand 2-shanten for chiitoi (4-shanten for a standard hand) and holding a lone red 5s. On turn 2, he pairs up the 1p to get to iishanten. On his next draw, he pairs up the 3p for tenpai and calls riichi on a red 5s, hoping to win with two ura to get to haneman. At the end of the row, Kobayashi gets the 5s and wins the hand. With a flip of the uradora, Kobayashi’s 3p becomes dora and upgrades his hand to a dealer haneman. Kobayashi wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Chiitoi/Aka 1/Ura 2 for 6,000+200 all plus one riichi stick, easily moving into 1st place.
Climb Again
January 9, Game 2
In E4-3, Shibukawa is 10,200 behind 1st place after Kobayashi won a quick dealer haneman to take the spot from him.
Shibukawa starts out the hand 2-shanten for chiitoi (3-shanten for a standard hand) with not much in terms of value. In the first row, he starts to make sequences, getting to pinfu 2-shanten on turn 5. On turn 6, he confirms his pursuit for pinfu by breaking one of his pairs. In the middle of the second row, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58p ryanmen, hoping for the 8p for iipeikou. At the start of the third row, he gets the 5p, but is fine since it’s the red one. Shibukawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 1 for 1,300+300/1,600+300, cutting Kobayashi’s lead down to 1,200.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3031
In S1-0, Shibukawa starts out the hand 2-shanten, but is forced to wait since his shapes won’t allow him to call. In the first row, Taro makes to call to advance quickly, forcing Shibukawa to take action. At the end of the row, he forces his hand to tanyao to get to iishanten. In the second row, Shibukawa is the first to tenpai, but has a weak 5s/3s shanpon. After waiting dama a bit, Shibukawa switches to a 6m kanchan for iipeikou and calls riichi. Taro catches up to him a turn later to be tenpai on a 14m ryanmen, but his hopes are dashed when Shibukawa draws the 6m at the end of the row. Shibukawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Iipeikou for 2,000/4,000, moving back into 1st place.
Sanankou
January 11, Game 1, S1-4
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4039
In S1-4, Ooi is in 1st place and has a 16,500 lead over 2nd place dealer Kayamori. With the team close to 0.0pts and 4,200 in bonus points going to the next winner, Ooi wants to win this hand.
Ooi starts out the hand 2-shanten with a loosely connected 6m dora and almost guaranteed to be tanyao. On turn 2, he pairs up the 6m to secure it and on turn 3, he makes the 8p into a triplet to get to iishanten. On turn 4, he makes a triplet of 3p and stays dama on a 47s ryanmen. With sanankou already secured, he could potentially get a suuankou with a 5s or 6s and will be suuankou tanki tenpai with a 6m draw.
As Ooi waits, dealer Kayamori gets to tenpai on turn 8 and calls riichi on a 1s/9s shanpon, getting sanankou if she is able to draw either of them herself.
Before Kayamori can get another draw, Ooi gets the 7s and wins the hand. Ooi wins with Tsumo/Tanyao/Sanankou/Dora 2 for 3,000+400/6,000+400 plus four riichi sticks, bringing Ooi to 56,000.
6 Honba
January 11, Game 1, S4-6
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4040
In S4-6, Ooi is still in 1st place as the dealer, but Hagiwara is close behind him, trailing by just 6,800. With six honba and a riichi stick left over from the previous hand, Ooi wants to win to remove any doubt and get the team its third win in a row.
Ooi starts out the hand 4-shanten, but has a pair of easts to potentially quicken it and a lone red 5s for potential value. In the first row, he passes on the east discarded on turn 2, possibly to keep some safety in case of an early riichi. Through the rest of the row, he keeps closed and connects his shapes, including the red 5s, and gets to 2-shanten. In the second row, he fills in a ryanmen and makes the 9p a triplet to get to tenpai. Even though there is a risk of calls riichi while in 1st place (especially if he can just simply stay closed and declare noten to end the game), He pursues the points and calls riichi on the 47s ryanmen. On his very next draw, he gets the 4s and wins the hand. Ooi wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 4,000+600 all plus one riichi stick, taking him above 60,000, poised to get his best score of the season.
Drawing the Last
January 11, Game 2, E4-3
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5042
In E4-3, Kurosawa is the dealer in 1st place, but the lead is thin, just 10,800 from falling to the bottom.
Kurosawa starts out the hand at 4-shanten with no callable content. No matter, as Kurosawa is famous for never calling anyways. In the first row, she gets rid of her 9m pair to shift to tanyao, bus still has a 1m 3m shape to deal with. While Kurosawa is 2-shanten. Sonoda to her left is at a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten. On turn 8, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen.
Even though she is still 2-shanten, she is able to throw some safety tiles to keep her hand alive, including the 1m. At the end of the row, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen. In the middle of the third row, Sonoda draws a fourth 9p and calls a closed kan. Though the kan wasn’t helpful to Sonoda, Kurosawa’s 4s wait is now dora. As luck would have it, Kurosawa draws the 4s immediately after and wins the hand. Kurosawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Dora 1 for 2,000+300/4,000+300 plus one riichi stick.
Daigo Drive
January 11, Game 2
In S1-6, Daigo is in 2nd place and has 19,300 to go before catching up to 1st place Kurosawa. With the riichi stick in the pot and the six honba, a direct hit mangan would be enough to get to the top.
Daigo starts out the hand with a respectable 2-shanten with two ryanmens, but is lacking in value. A turn later, he fills in one of the ryanmens to get to iishanten. On turn 4, he simultaneously creates a 789m iipeikou and widens his tile acceptance. Filling in a 3m kanchan on his very next draw, he gets to tenpai, secures pinfu and calls riichi on a 25s ryanmen. In the second row, 3rd place Sonoda makes a call to get himself to tanyao tenpai and waits on a 369m wait, only able to win on the former two. On Kurosawa’s draw, she discards the 2s trying to keep her iishanten and deals into Daigo. Daigo wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Iipeikou/Ura 1 for 8,000+1,800 plus one riichi stick. With these perfect conditions, Daigo moves into 1st place.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4529
In S2-0, Daigo is now the dealer and starts with a less than ideal hand at 5-shanten for both the standard and chiitoi route. In the first row, the wall gifted him with sequences and tanyao tiles while he went through the standard honour and terminal discard procedure. At the start of the second row, he completes a 567p iipeikou to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen, hoping for the 4m for tanyao. On his next draw, he gets the takame 4m and wins the hand. Daigo wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Iipeikou/Ura 1 for 6,000 all, putting him above 50,000.
Finish
January 11, Game 2, S4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4530
In S4-1, Daigo is in 1st place and just a hand away from finishing the game in 1st. But first, he must contend against Kurosawa as the dealer in South 4.
Daigo starts out with a great 2-shanten hand with a pair of green dragons, a ryanmen and a connected red 5m. The first row gives him a 369p 3-sided wait as well as the opportunity to have a 456 sanshoku, needing a 6m and the right side of the 3-sided wait to work. On turn 8, he gets the 9p for tenpai. With the 456p secured, he calls riichi and waits on a 36m ryanmen, needing the 6m for sanshoku. Two turns later, he gets the 6m and wins the hand. Daigo wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 2,000+100/4,000+100 plus two riichi sticks, finishing the game with 66,900, the 4th-best score in the league so far this season.
Hori Heights
January 12, Game 1, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3032
In E1-0, Hori is the starting dealer and starts out with a 3-shanten hand with a secured dora 4m. In the first row, he draws a red 5m and pairs up the 5s. With pairs of both 5s and 6s, he can draw a 4s or 7s and have a chance at iipeikou. In the middle of the second row, after aiming for tanyao and switching out his 1p pair, Hori draws the 4s and stays dama on a 47s ryanmen. Both tiles will get him a mangan on ron, but a 4s tsumo would give him a haneman. Within the first go-around, Katsumata discards the 4s and deals into Hori. Hori wins the hand with Tanyao/Pinfu/Iipeikou/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 12,000.
3 Dora, 3 Players, 3 Riichi
January 12, Game 1, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2534
In S2-0, Katsumata, Sarukawa and Hisato are all chasing after 1st place Hori. With the game almost 3/4ths of the way through, good points now will put them in a good position going into the last quarter.
From the start, Katsumata leads the pack at 2-shanten, followed by Sarukawa and Hisato at 4-shanten. By turn 4, Katsumata is already tenpai and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen, hoping for the 3m for iipeikou.
By this point, both Hisato’s and Sarukawa’s hands have improved a lot. During the ippatsu round, Hisato makes a third concealed triplet to get to iishanten. For Sarukawa, he is 2-shanten with two ryanmens. At the end of the first row, Hisato draws a fourth 8m and calls kan, hoping to draw any of the eight different tiles to get him tenpai. The rinshan misses and the gives Katsumata at least one extra dora (5m). On turn 8, Hisato gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 36s ryanmen. After Katsumata discards the 6p and reducing his chances to develop suuankou, Hisato decides to call riichi.
By this point, Sarukawa is iishanten, but chooses not to push too hard. He breaks his 5p pair (which includes the red 5p) to shift to a weak iishanten. On Hisato’s ippatsu draw, he gets a fourth 8s and calls kan again. This time the kan is extremely successful, making his 8m kan into dora and giving him at least a haneman if he wins. At the start of the third row, Sarukawa manages to get to tenpai. With the three indicators and the chance to reveal uradora, he joins the fray and calls riichi on a 36s/4p wait.
Three players, three riichi calls, three dora indicators and a chance at three uradora. When Hisato picks up his tile, he gets the 6p, the tile that would have put him into suuankou tanki tenpai. Near the end of the hand, Katsumata ends the faceoff by drawing the 2m and winning the hand. With a flip of the uradora, Katsumata’s two 3s become dora and upgrades his hand to a haneman. Katsumata wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 2/Ura 2 for 3,000/6,000 plus two riichi sticks, bringing him up to 2nd place.
Monkey Magic
January 12, Game 1
In S3-0, Sarukawa is in last place after being passed during his dealership. He has two hands left to gain points and will need to double his score to even make it to 3rd.
Sarukawa starts out the hand 3-shanten with a secured 4s dora and good shapes. In the first row, he fills in a 3-sided wait and gives himself some sequence candidates. By the end of the row, he is iishanten and waiting on four different tiles to advance, half of them giving pinfu. On turn 9, he fills in his ryanmen and gets to tenpai. With no pinfu and no other yaku, he chooses to call riichi on the 2p kanchan and hope for ura. Though his riichi tile was called, it shifted the hand in his favour as he gets the 2p on his next draw. Flipping one uradora, Sarukawa wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6033
In S4-0, Sarukawa has only one more hand to make a difference. 1st place is within reach, just 6,400 separating Sarukawa and victory. He needs a 3/40 direct hit or 4/20 tsumo to take 1st place, or a 3/50 or 4/25 ron to tie.
Sarukawa starts out the hand 3-shanten with two ryanmens and both pinfu and tanyao potential. If he can call riichi and draw his winning tile himself, then he can win by 100. In his first few turns, he fills in both of his ryanmens and giving him a very wide iishanten. However, he will need to be selective in order to get the value he needs. On turn 6, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen. If he wins on the 1s, it will have to be by tsumo and hope for an uradora. If he calls ron on the 4s, he will need to get an uradora in that case as well. If he gets the 4s by tsumo, he will automatically win. After waiting more than a whole row, Sarukawa draws the exact tile he needs, the 4s, and wins the hand. Sarukawa wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao for 1,300/2,600, going from 4th to 1st and ending the game on top.
Beast Mode
January 12, Game 2, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6034
In E1-0, Sugawara is the starting dealer and riding high after Sarukawa’s comeback win the previous game.
Sugawara starts out with a good 2-shanten hand, though a bit lacking in value. On turn 2, she draws the 4s dora to get to iishanten. On turn 4, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 4m/9m shanpon. having thrown the 6m, she has a suji trap ready to catch anyone trying to fold. During the ippatsu round, Takamiya (who has a very good iishanten) draws and discards the 9m and deals into Sugawara. With the 4s also being uradora, Sugwara wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 12,000, a very quick and expensive start to the game.
Bounce Back
January 12, Game 2, E3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3543
In E3-0, Takamiya is deep in 4th place and has a long way to go, being 20,200 behind 3rd place Rumi and 23,900 behind 2nd place Shibukawa. With her dealership starting, she has the chance to close the gap.
Takamiya starts out the hand 3-shanten, lacking value and good shapes. The first row is spent getting rid of terminal and honours, swapping them for sequences. On turn 7, Takamiya gets to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten with pinfu guaranteed. If she gets both the 9p and the 9m, she will have a 789 sanshoku as well. A turn later, she gets the 9m and calls riichi on a 69p ryanmen, hoping to get the 9p for mangan minimum. In the third row, she draws the 9p and wins the hand. Flipping one uradora to upgrade the hand, Takamiya wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Sanshoku/Ura 1 for 6,000 all, catapulting her all the way up to 2nd place.
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