Highlights
Monkey Magic
March, 4, Game 1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6055
In S2-0, Sarukawa is in 3rd place, 4,400 behind 2nd place dealer Date and 15,500 behind 1st place Okada.
Sarukawa starts out the hand with an extremely nice 2-shanten hand with two ryanmens and a likely tanyao. On turn 2, he fills in one of the to get to iishanten. For the rest of the first and much of the second row, Sarukawa widens his acceptance and even draws the red 5s for extra value, but is unable to get to tenpai. During this time, Okada makes a call to get to tenpai and waits on a north/2m shanpon.
After Okada gets to tenpai, Sarukawa finally gets to ready and waits dama on a 58p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan. On his next turn, he upgrades his hand to haneman by securing a 567 sanshoku. In the third row, Okada discards the 5p and deals into Sarukawa. Sarukawa wins the hand with Pinfu/Tanyao/Sanshoku/Iipeikou/Aka 2 for 12,000, moving into 1st place.
In S3-0, Sarukawa is now the dealer and holding a 7,600 lead over 2nd place Date.
Sarukawa starts out the hand by pairing up the east to get to 3-shanten. In the first row, Sarukawa keeps his hand closed even as the east is discarded. Has he keeps his hand hidden, he moves his hand towards a pinzu ittsuu. At the start of the second row, Sarukawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 5p kanchan. In the middle of the second row, Asami discards the 5p trying to accept the widest iishanten and deals into Sarukawa. Flipping one uradora, Sarukawa wins the hand with Riichi/Ittsuu/Ura 1 for 12,000.
No More Ura San
March 4, Game 1, S3-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3558
In S3-2, Date is in 2nd place, chasing after 1st place dealer Sarukawa who is 21,900 ahead.
Date starts out the hand 3-shanten with a single isolated dora white dragon for value. On turn 3, she pairs up the white dragon to get to 2-shanten. By the end of the row, Date is iishanten. In the second row, Date gets to tenpai calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if she wins. Two turns later, Sarukawa discards the 8s to pursue iishanten and deals into Date. With a flip of the uradora, the white dragon becomes double dora, making Date do a double take. Date wins the hand with Riichi/White Dragon/Dora 3/Ura 3 for 16,000+600 to move into 1st place.
Beast Mode
March 4, Game 1, S4-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6056
In S4-2, Sarukawa is in 2nd place, 11,300 behind 1st place Date. With 3 riichi sticks and 2 honba on the table, Sarukawa needs a 3/30 direct hit, a 3/50 tsumo or a mangan ron.
Sarukawa starts out the hand with an annoying 4-shanten hand with only a pair of white dragons for value. In the first row, Sarukawa sets his sights on a pinzu honitsu, getting rid of most of the souzu and manzu. By the end of the row, he is 2-shanten for chiitoi. If he can combine both, it would be enough. As Sarukawa waits for more pairs, dealer Okada gets to tenpai first and calls riichi on a 14p ryanmen, vying to steal 2nd place from Sarukawa.
With all the random honours in Sarukawa’s hand, he is able to advance his hand while staying safe. At the end of the second row, Sarukawa gets to tenpai and waits dama on a red dragon tanki.
Joining in for the pursuit to finish the game in 1st place is Date, who gets to tenpai on a 4m kanchan.
On Sarukawa’s next draw, he gets the red dragon and wins the hand. Sarukawa wins with Tsumo/Honitsu/Chiitoi for 3,000+200/6,000+200 plus four riichi sticks, taking the game and moving his team up into 7th place in the standings.
Shingo Go
March 4, Game 2
In E3-4, Hori is the dealer in 3rd place and 4,200 behind 1st. After the previous two hands went to a draw, there are now three riichi sticks and four honba on the table, giving the next winner exactly 4,200 in bonus sticks.
Hori starts out the hand 3-shanten with a pair of red dragons, giving him what seems to be an easy path to a quick yaku. However, we get a view of Futoshi’s hand which also has a red dragon pair. In the first row, Hori builds his other shapes as he looks for the red dragon to give him his yaku. At the start of the third row, Hori makes the bold choice to call pon on the 9m and get to tenpai on a red dragon/8s shanpon. While Hori waits, Futoshi makes big progress on the value side, calling pon on the 8p dora. A few turns later, Hori decides to discard his red dragon pair to aim for tanyao and ends up dealing into Hori. Hori wins the hand with Red Dragon only. With all the bonus sticks, his 1,500 hand adds 1,200 in honba and 3,000 in riichi sticks, giving him a total of 5,700 for the simple yakuhai win.
In E3-5, Hori starts out 3-shanten with the abillity to accept the 3s dora. In the first row, Hori shifts his hand towards tanyao and creates sequences. At the end of the row, Hori creates a 234m iipeikou to get to iishanten. Two turns later, Hori gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 3s kanchan.
In the middle of the second row, Takizawa gets to tenpai on a closed chanta hand and waits dama on a 1m/north shanpon.
Joining in right after, Futoshi calls riichi on a 6m/7m shanpon.
Whichever one of these three players wins will be 1st place. In the third row, Takizawa draws and discards the 3 sou and deals into Hori. Hori wins the hand with Tanyao/Iipeikou/Dora 1 for 7,700+1,500 plus one riichi stick, bringing Hori up to 38,300.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3045
In E3-6, Hori has two completed sequences, but sits 4-shanten. Through the first row, Hori is a manzu magnet. By the end of the first row, 11 of his 13 tiles are manzu and he sits 2-shanten for chinitsu. On turn 7, he adds yet another to get to iishanten. With a pon of the 1m soon after, Hori gets to tenpai on a 7m penchan.
To Hori’s right in 2nd place Daisuke aiming for chiitoi. In the middle of the second row, Daisuke gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a north dora tanki, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins.
Right after, Futoshi draws a pair of norths to get himself to chiitoi tenpai and calls riichi on a 6m tanki.
Hori is facing off against two players in riichi with no dora visible, but he keeps pushing with his mangan hand. On Futoshi’s ippatsu turn, he draws and discards the 7m and deals into Hori. Hori wins the hand with Chinitsu for 12,000+1,800 plus one riichi stick, bringing him above 50,000 and more than double 2nd place’s score.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3046
In E3-7, Hori is 4-shanten with both the red 5p and red 5s secured in his hand. Removing the stray honours and terminals in the first row, Hori gets to a very clean iishanten by turn 6, guaranteed to be at least a mangan when it gets to tenpai. On turn 7, Futoshi beats Hori to be the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen. Holding a pair of 9m dora, he is also guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins.
During the ippatsu round, Hori draws a 3s to complete a 345s iipeikou. With that draw, Hori is tenpai and waits on a 25p ryanmen. With the 2p being a safe tile against Futoshi, Hori’s chances of winning are quite high. Sure enough, Takizawa discards the 2p immediately after and deals into Hori. Hori wins the hand with Pinfu/Tanyao/Iipeikou/Aka 2 for 12,000+2,100 plus a riichi stick to bring Hori’s score up to a nice 69,200.
Double Riichi
March 5, Game 1, E2-0
In E2-0, Hinata is in 3rd place after her riichi didn’t convert. She sits 1,000 behind 2nd place Katsumata and 11,000 behind 1st place Honda.
When we take a look at Hinata’s first 13 tiles, she is already iishanten and need a 3s, 6s, green dragon or white dragon to get her to tenpai. On her very first draw, Hinata gets the 3s and calls a double riichi on a green dragon/white dragon shanpon.
With no reference for safety, all the player just play normally. On turn 3, Honda discards the white dragon and deals into Hinata. Hinata wins the hand with Double Riichi/White Dragon for 5,200.
Houtei
March 5, Game 1, S4-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5549
In S4-2, Nakabayashi is the dealer in 3rd place, 4,000 behind 2nd place Hinata and 5,100 behind 1st place Katsumata. With two riichi sticks and two honba on the table, a simple 2 han hand would be enough to move into top spot.
Nakabayashi starts out the hand 3-shanten, but lacking in value. He is able to progress his hand quickly in the first row, picking up sequences and making some ryanmens, but still has to value by the time he gets to iishanten. Around the same time, Hinata calls riichi on a valueless hand on a 7s kanchan.
With 3,600 in bonus sticks up for grabs and only one safe tile in hand, Nakabayashi pushes against the early riichi. On turn 8, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47m rynamen.
4 tiles for Nakabayashi, 3 tiles for Hinata. By their ippatsu turns are through, Hinata is down to 2 tiles. Turn by turn, the players show the tile to the camera. Fans are on the edge of their seats, knowing that a simple tile could determine the winner of the game. By the end of the second row, there is only one more 7s left in the wall and Nakabayashi is down to three winning tiles. On Honda’s last draw, he picks up the 7m, bringing Nakabayashi down to two. On Katsumata’s, he picks up the 7s to end Hinata’s hope. On Nakabayashi’s last draw, he gets the 7p and discards it. On Hinata’s last draw, the very last tile in the wall, she gets the 4m and deals into Nakabayashi. Flipping two uradora, Nakabayashi wins the hand with Riichi/Houtei/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 12,000+600 plus three riichi sticks, moving into the lead by 10,500.
Kuma Kuma Time
March 5, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s60_p2748
In E3-0, Setokuma is tied for 2nd place and 7,800 behind 1st place Aki. After Honda’s last place the previous game caused his team to fall into 9th place, it is up to Setokuma to help bring the team up.
Setokuma starts out the hand with a nice 3-shanten hand with a ryanmen and a secured 3p dora. In the first row, Setokuma makes a triplet of 2m and a pair of 9m to get to iishanten. On turn 7, he makes that 9m pair into a triplet and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen. During the ippatsu turn, Kobayashi draws the 3p dora to get to tenpai. Unforunately for him, he needs to discard the 4s to accept it. He discards it and deals into Setokuma. With a flip of the uradora, Setokuma’s 2m triplet becomes dora to instantly double the number of han in his hand and upgrade it to haneman. Setokuma wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Dora 1/Ura 3 for 18,000, taking the lead.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5057
In E3-1, Setokuma is already iishanten with his first draw, needing a 1m, 6m, 9m, 5p or 7p to get him to tenpai. His ideal draw would be the 7p, securing the 8p dora and giving him a 3-sided wait. Setokuma spends the first row simply drawing and discarding, sitting stuck at iishanten and giving his opponents a chance to catch up. On turn 6, iishanten Kobayashi calls a closed kan of the 6s to try to get to tenpai. The rinshan misses and the kandora flip makes the 8p worth double. Near the middle of the second row, Setokuma draws the 9m to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 7p kanchan. Two of them are the dora indicators, leaving two in the wall.
Two turns later, Ooi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69m ryanmen. With all the 9m in Setokuma’s hand, two of the 6m in Ooi’s hand and one of the in Aki’s hand, only one winning tile remains for Ooi.
The odds of winning are low for both of them, but all they need is one. In the middle of the third row, Ooi draws and discards the 7p and deals into Setokuma. With a flip of the uradora, the last 7p is the uradora indicator, making the 8p worth triple dora. Setokuma wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 2/Ura 1 for 12,000+300 plus one riichi stick, bringing Setokuma’s score up to 56,000.
Aki
March 5, Game 2, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2547
In S2-0, Aki is in 2nd place and 13,300 behind 1st place Setokuma. A haneman ron will get her close, a tsumo or a direct hit will put her in 1st.
Aki starts out the hand 3-shanten with three ryanmens but no value. On turn 2, she draws a red 5p to up the hand by one hand. Aki is only able to fill in one ryanmen by the end row, leaving her 2-shanten. At the same time, both Setokuma and Ooi have gotten to iishanten. On turn 7, Ooi is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen.
Still sitting at 2-shanten, Aki decides to half-fold in the middle of the second row by throwing her west pair. Even with many ways of being furiten, Aki is somehow able to advance her hand and avoid that roadblock. After creating a 567p iipeikou and create a ryanmen out of thin air, Aki gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen. During the ippatsu round, 4th place dealer Kobayashi discards the 3p trying to accept tenpai and deals into Aki. Flipping two uradora, Aki wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Iipeikou/Aka 1/Ura 2 for 12,000 plus one riichi stick, bringing her to within 300 of 1st place.
Kuma Kuma Time, Part 2
March 5, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5058
In S3-0, Setokuma is back in the dealer seat and holding a shrinking lead.
Setokuma starts out with a beautiful 2-shanten hand with a pair of 3s dora. On turn 2, he gets to iishanten. Making a triplet of 6p on his next draw, he widens the types of tiles he can be tenpai on from 2 to 7. On his next draw, he increases it further to 11 different tiles. At the end of the row, Setokuma gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins. Two turns later, Setokuma draws the 3s dora and wins the hand. Setokuma wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Dora 3 for a big 6,000 all, bringing his score up to 65,700.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s60_p2749
In S3-1, Setokuma starts out 3-shanten with a secured red 5s and a floating 3p dora. In the first row, he quickly draws the 4p to connect the dora and shifts the hand towards tanyao, getting to iishanten by turn 4. After quite a few turns of waiting, Setokuma fills in his last kanchan in the middle of the second row and waits dama on a 25p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan.
Immediately after, Ooi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 7s penchan.
Sitting far in 4th place is Kobayashi, iishanten with a wide acceptance. Near the end of the second row, he gets to tenpai on a 147s wait, but is furiten. He chooses to stay dama, hoping to either change the wait or draw one of the red fives for value.
On Setokuma’s draw, he picks up the 2p and wins the hand. Setokuma wins with Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 4,000+100 all plus one riichi stick.
By the end of the game, Setokuma reaches 90,500 to have the second-highest score so far this season, behind only Taro’s performance last week.
Dora Dora Dora Aka Aka
March 7, Game 1, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5550
In S1-0, Mizuhara is in 2nd place and 19,600 behind 1st place dealer Shiratori.
Mizuhara starts out the hand 2-shanten with a pair of 3p dora and a floating red 5m. In the first row, Mizuhara connects the floating red 5m with a 6m and gets herself to iishanten. As Mizuhara waits for tenpai, Shiratori makes a call on the green dragon to get to tenpai on a 5s/9p shanpon. A turn later, he improves his wait to a 47s ryanmen.
In the second row, Mizuhara draws a red 5p and pairs up the red dragon to potentially improve her hand’s value. In the middle of the second row, Daigo is the second to tenpai and calls riichi on a 124m wait.
During the ippatsu round, Mizuhara calls riichi on a 3p/red dragon shanpon. With a pair of red dragons in Daigo’s hand, Mizuhara can only win on the two 3p dora. At the start of the third row, Daigo draws and discards the 3p and deals into Mizuhara. Mizuhara wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 3/Aka 2 for 12,000.
Rinshan
March 7, Game 1, S3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6057
In S3-1, Sarukawa is in 3rd place, 19,500 behind 2nd place Mizuhara.
Sarukawa starts out the hand with an annoying 4-shanten hand with no value nor good waits. Getting rid of the terminals and honours in the first row, Sarukawa manages to get to iishanten by the end of it. With a chii a 234m chii at the start of the second row, Sarukawa gets to tenpai on a 25s ryanmen.
Near the end of the second row, last place dealer Daigo gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 6p kanchan. Though otherwise yakuless, any win is good for the last place Phoenix and there is always a chance at uradora.
After drawing a safe tile during the ippatsu turn, Sarukawa draws red 5m on his next draw. With four in his hand, he calls a concealed kan. With a flip of the kandora, Sarukawa’s 7s becomes dora. On his rinshan draw, he gets…
…the red 5s and wins the hand! With those lucky draws, his simple single han hand has upgraded to a mangan. Sarukawa wins the hand with Rinshan/Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 2,000+100/4,000+100 plus two riichi sticks.
MVP Race
March 7, Game 1, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5551
In S4-0, Mizuhara is in 2nd place and 2,600 behind 1st place Shiratori. To be the sole 1st place player, Mizuhara needs a 1,50 direct hit, a 2/40 tsumo or a 2/50 ron. Sitting 2nd place in the individual standings (trailing on her teammate Suzuki Yu), a win here could help her get her second MVP title.
Mizuhara starts out the hand 2-shanten with a connected red 5m, but lacks any clear yaku besides riichi. Drawing an 8p on turn 2, she creates a 789p sequence and presents the opportunity to go for a 789 sanshoku. Creating a 369m three-sided wait on turn 3, Mizuhara needs the 9m to guarantee a sanshoku tenpai. With a 9m draw on her very next turn, Mizuhara gets to tenpai and stays dama on a 7s penchan. At the end of the row, Mizuhara draws the 7s and wins the hand. Mizuhara wins with Tsumo/Sanshoku/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000, winning the game.
With the win, Mizuhara is now has a total of +303.5pts, just 38.0pts behind her teammate.
Ippatsu
March 7, Game 2, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4057
In E2-0, Matsumoto is the dealer in 2nd place, sitting in this season’s lucky south seat.
Matsumoto starts out the hand 2-shanten with a ryanmen and a pair of green dragons in hand. On turn 2, he pairs up the 1m to get to iishanten. Creating a 25s ryanmen on turn 3, he replaces the green dragon pair ot go for pinfu and potentially a 234 sanshoku. At the start of the second row, Matsumoto gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen, wanting the former for an extra two hand. On his very next draw, he gets the 2m and wins the hand. Matsumoto wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Sanshoku for 6,000 all.
Daisuke
March 7, Game 2, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6058
In S3-0, Daisuke is the dealer in 2nd place, 28,900 behind 1st place Matsumoto. He needs to more than double his current score and his dealership is the best time to do it.
Daisuke starts off with an amazing startin hand, 2-shanten with a triplet of red dragons, a triplet of the dora white dragon and two pinzu ryanmens. He has a clear path to a dealer haneman.
After a few souzu duds in his first few turns, Daisuke pairs up the souths to secure honitsu and advance to iishanten. With a 123p chii at the end of the row, Daisuke gets to tenpai on a 58p ryanmen. Holding 7 han guaranteed, a red 5p would upgrade his hand to a baiman and drawing it himself would immediately take him into 1st place. At the start of the third row, Daisuke draws the 8p and wins the hand. Daisuke wins with Honitsu/Red Dragon/White Dragon/Dora 3 for 6,000 all.
Kurosawa Calls
March 8, Game 1, E1-0
In E1-0, Kurosawa is in the west seat playing for Team Raiden. The team is in 6th place and holding a narrow 23.5pts lead over the 7th place Beast.
From the very start of the game, Kurosawa has a very impressive starting hand. Being 3-shanten for both a standard hand and chiitoi, she also has pairs of green dragon and red dragon, a lone white dragon and a connected red 5p. She skipped the first green dragon in true Kurosawa fashion, but there are benefits to be gained with calling.
After drawing the red 5s, Kurosawa calls pon on turn 4 to get to 2-shanten. With a 5 pin pon soon after, Kurosawa gets to iishanten. Kurosawa calling is rare, but calling twice is even more rare. As she waits for tenpai, Takamiya gets there first and calls riichi, throwing the 6s and waiting on a 58m ryanmen.
As Rumi defends by throwing the 6s, KUROSAWA MAKES A THIRD CALL, calling chii to get to tenpai on a 4s kanchan. Two turns later, Takamiya draws and discards the 4s and deals into Kurosawa. Kurosawa wins the hand with Green Dragon/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 8,000 plus Takamiya’s riichi stick.
Sticks
March 8, Game 1, E3-2
In E3-2, there are three riichi sticks and two honba on the table. Sitting in 3rd place is Taro, 6,000 behind 2nd place Takamiya and 13,000 behind 1st place Kurosawa.
Taro starts out with a good 2-shanten hand with a pair of easts and dora 1s (though he goes back a step to try to go for better shapes). In the middle of the first row, Taro calls pon on the east to secure his yaku and get to iishanten. Drawing a red 5m at the end of the first row, Taro gets to tenpai and waits on a 7p penchan. A few turns later, 1st place Kurosawa discards the 7p and deals into Taro. Taro wins the hand with East/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 8,000+600 plus three riichi sticks, catapulting him up to 1st place.
You Get A Haneman!
March 8, Game 2, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3560
In S1-0, Takamiya is in 2nd place and 2,300 away from 1st place Matsugase.
Takamiya starts out with a strong iishanten hand, holding a secured red 5s with a chance at tanyao and six different tiles away from getting to tenpai. On turn 3, Takamiya draw the red 5m and gets to tenpai on a 36m wait. However, she already has five out of the eight of them in her hand. Looking to improve the wait, she stays dama. A turn later, she switches to a 3p tanki with the option to turn it into a ryanmen with the right draw. As Takamiya looks to improve further, Futoshi gets to tenpai on turn 5 and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen.
During the ippatsu round, Takamiya greatly improves her wait and calls riichi on a 245m wait. On turn 8, Takamiya draws the 2m and wins the hand. Takamiya wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 2 for 3,000/6,000 plus one riichi stick, moving into 1st.
You Get A Haneman!
March 8, Game 2, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2050
In S2-0, Futoshi is the dealer in 3rd place, 8,500 behind 2nd place Matsugase and 12,200 behind 1st place Takamiya.
Futoshi starts out the hand 3-shanten with a floating 8s dora. In the firs three turns, Futoshi makes two ryanmens to get to 2-shanten. By the end of the row, he now has the 8s as part of a ryanmen and is almost guaranteed to have a good wait. Looking around the table, Hagiwara’s hand has quite a few manzu and has the potential to have an expensive closed flush. Near the end of the second row, Hagiwara gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 6m kanchan.
After a bit of rearranging, Futoshi finally gets to tenpai in the third row and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen, guaranteed at least three han. On his very next draw, Futoshi draws the 6p and wins the hand. Hitting the uradora, Futoshi upgrades his hand to a dealer haneman. Futoshi wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 6,000 all, jumping up to 1st place.
You Get A Haneman!
March 8, Game 2, S3-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2548
In S3-2, Matsugase is in 3rd place, 13,700 behind 2nd place Takamiya and 15,500 behind 1st place Futoshi. With a riichi stick and two honba on the table, a haneman tsumo would be enough to move into 1st place.
Matsugase starts out the hand by drawing the red 5p, sitting 3-shanten with a floating 7m dora as well. In the first row, Matsugase pairs up the 7m dora and advances to iishanten, waiting on 12 different tiles to get to tenpai. Soon after, Hagiwara gets to tenpai and waits on a yakuless 6s/9p shanpon. After a few turns of waiting for improvement, Hagiwara breaks his tenpai to widen his net. In the middle fo the third row, Matsugase gets to tenpai, throws the red 5p and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen.
During the ippatsu round, Hagiwara gets back to tenpai. With Matsugase throwig the red 5p as his riichi tile, Hagiwara takes advantage and calls riichi on the 8p suji.
On Matsugase’s ippatsu turn, he draws the last 1s in the wall and wins the hand. Matsugase wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 2 for 3,000+100/6,000+100 plus two riichi sticks to move into 1st place going into the last hand.
Futoshi Finish
March 8, Game 2, S4-0
In S4-0, Futoshi is in 2nd place after being passed by Matsugase in the previous hand. To make up the 2,300 deficit, Futoshi needs a 1/40 direct hit, a 2/30 tsumo or a 2/40 ron.
Futoshi starts out the hand 3-shanten with a hand that looks like tanyao, but lacks that second han to have enough value. In the first row, Futoshi continues to pursue the tanyao route and gets to 2-shanten by the end of the row. At the start of the second row, 4th place Hagiwara gets to a 14s ryanmen tenpai for three han and stays dama. After keeping that dama for a few turns, Hagiwara decides to switch to a riichi near the end of the second row, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins.
With that riichi call by Hagiwara, the win conditions have changed for Futoshi. Now Futoshi can win any direct hit or tsumo to move into 1st place. In addition, a 1/40 ron would put him tied for 1st place and anything more would make him the sole winner. During the ippatsu turn, Futoshi has a chance to get to tenpai. If he calls riichi, he meets the threshold to be the sole winner. However, it also puts him at risk of moving down and getting hit by Hagiwara. With not a single dora visible, it is possible that Hagiwara has a haneman hand and a deal-in would put Futoshi into 4th place. In addition, calling riichi and having only two players tenpai at the end would also put Futoshi just 300 short of 1st place.
Taking over a minute to decide, Futoshi decides to take the risk and aim for the top. Futoshi calls riichi and waits on a 47p ryanmen. In the middle of the third row, Hagiwara draws and discards the 4p and deals into Futoshi. Futoshi wins the hand with Riichi/Tanyao for 2,600 plus one riichi stick, enough to finish the game in 1st place and give the Drivens the daily double.
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