Highlights
Making It Close
March 25, Game 2, S3-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2555
In S3-2, Matsugase is in 4th place and 11,100 behind 3rd place dealer Okada. With no dealership left, Matsugase has only to hands to save his team from a very precarious last place.
Matsugase starts out the hand 3-shanten with 8 pinzu tiles in hand. With no value or other good yaku to go for, a full flush seems to be the way to go. In the first row, he draws a ninth pinzu tile, but also draws a red 5m to be part of a ryanmen. Though not immediately expensive, the potential combinations with pinfu could bring his hand up to mangan. At the start of the second row, 1st place Nakabayashi shows his dominance on the table by calling riichi on a green dragon/3m shanpon.
During the ippatsu round, Matsugase draws a 10th pinzu to get to pinfu iishanten. Being close to tenpai with decent enough value, he pushes. A turn later, he draws an 11th. In the middle of the second row, he is met with a second challenge when Okada calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen
Near the end of the second row, Nakabayashi discards the 3p and gives Matsugase the option to call chii. If he does, he will be pursuing chinitsu and will eventually need to discard the dangerous red 5m. After 20 seconds of thinking, Matsugase takes the risk and calls chii. On his next draw, he gets a 1p discards the red 5m and waits on a very wide 235689p wait. Soon after, Nakabayashi draws and discards the 8p and deals into Matsugase. Matsugase wins the hand with Chinitsu only for 8,000+600 plus two riichi sticks. With the win, he puts himself into 3rd place and within a mangan away from 1st place.
Battle For 1st
March 25, Game 2, S4-0
In S4-0, the scores are close with 4th place and 1st place separated by only 7,300. With the scores so close, any player can take 1st place. Sitting at the top is Taro, holding a 2,700 lead over 2nd place dealer Nakabayashi.
At the start, Nakabayashi is 3-shanten with a bunch of edge shapes and Taro is 2-shanten with a pair of 8m dora. In the first row, Nakabayashi is able to convert those bad shapes while Taro isn’t able to get anywhere. In the second row, Nakabayashi draws a red 5p to fill in a kanchan and pairs up a lone 3s to get to tenpai. Nakabayashi calls riichi on a 3m penchan, having enough value to move into 1st place.
Sitting at iishanten with a guaranteed good wait, Taro’s prospects to push is good. He draws a safe tile on the ippatsu round, letting him avoid the potential bonus han. On his next turn, Taro gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen. During the ippatsu round, Taro draws the 3m and wins the hand. Taro wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Dora 2 for 2,000/4,000 plus one riichi stick, securing the win.
Dama
March 26, Game 1, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3564
In E1-0, Takamiya is the starting dealer and trying to avoid the negatives.
Takamiya starts out the hand chiitoi 3-shanten (4-shanten for a standard hand) with a pair of 8m dora and a connected red 5p. In the first row, Takamiya creates enough ryanmens to get to 2-shanten and guarantee a good wait at tenpai. In the second row, Takamiya draws a third 8m to get to iishanten and up her hand’s value. While she has the most value, all of her opponents have matched her speed at iishanten. At the start of the 3rd row, Daisuke calls a chii to be the first to tenpai and waits on a 5s kanchan.
Immediately after, Takamiya gets to tenpai on a 25s ryanmen. If she wins with the 2s or the red 5s, she will have a dealer haneman. Two turns later, Tojo draws and discards the 2s and deals into Takamiya. Takamiya wins with Tanyao/Iipekou/Dora 3/Aka 1 for 18,000.
Ippatsu
March 26, Game 1, E2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5064
In E2-1, Setokuma is the dealer and trying desperately to gain points for his team in their last day of the regular season. Currently, he is in 2nd place, 4,000 behind 1st place Takamiya.
Setokuma starts out the hand 3-shanten with a secured red 5m and a connected red 5s. In the first six turns, Setokuma moves his hand towards tanyao with all of his groups being sequences. By the end of the row, he is iishanten with a chance at iipeikou for he draws the 6m. Across the table from him, Daisuke is trying to get his own team into a playoff spot. Near the end of the second row, Daisuke gets to tenpai on a 3m kanchan, but sits yakuless, hoping to draw a 9s to upgrade his hand to a potential mangan.
At the end of the second row, Setokuma is still iishanten but now with a dora 4m to create a ryanmen. On Daisuke’s turn, he draws a 5m, a dangerous tile adjacent to the dora. With the 9s hope being unlikely anyways, he folds his hand. As Daisuke drops out, Tojo jumps in with a call and waits on a 14m ryanmen, only allowed to win with the 4m for tanyao.
After many turns of waiting for tenpai, Setokuma finally gets to tenpai in the third row and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen, guaranteed at least a haneman if he wins. Facing off against a dealer riichi with none of the dora visible, Tojo folds on the ippatsu turn. On Setokuma’s very next draw, he gets the 3m and wins the hand. Setokuma wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 2 for a big 8,000+100 all, bringing Setokuma up to over 60,000.
Yakuman Tenpai!?!
March 26, Game 1, S1-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3565
In S1-1, Takamiya is back in the dealer seat and in 2nd place, 24,400 behind 1st place Setokuma. To her left is Daisuke in 3rd place,
From the start, Takamiya is quite far from a standard hand and chiitoi, but she is just 3-shanten away from kokushi, needing a west, 1s, 1p and 9p to get there.
With no yakuman so far this season, fans watching at home and at Tokyo Dome City Hall and hoping to see one come to fruition. On turn 3, she draws a west to get to 2-shanten. On her next draw, she gets the 1s, quickly getting her to iishanten and needing both of the pinzu.
To both her left and right, players are challenging her kokushi. On turn 5, Setokuma discards the third 1p, leaving just one left for Takamiya. In the middle of the second row, Setokuma is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69m ryanmen.
During the ippatsu round, Takamiya does it. She draws the 9p. With kokushi tenpai and the 1p safe against Setokuma, the first yakuman of the season and a potential 1st place is within her grasp. All she needs is the one 1p. Watashi no 1p.
It may seems like a 1 vs. 1 game of roulette, but there is another player with a chance to win. Sitting in iishanten is Daisuke, needing to make a yakuhai triplet to make it all work out. At the end of the second row, Daisuke calls a chii to get to tenpai on an 8p/white dragon shanpon, only allowed to win on the later.
One player wants to extend their lead. One player wants to move into positive territory. One wants a yakuman. Only one can win. On Setokuma’s next draw, he draws the white dragon, forced to discard it and deals into Daisuke. Daisuke wins the hand with White Dragon/Dora 2/Aka 2 for 8,000+300 plus two riichi sticks, killing the yakuman hopes and kicking Takamiya off her dealership. A yakuman will have to wait another day.
To 1st
March 26, Game 1, S2-1
In S2-1, Takamiya is in 2nd place and 14,100 behind 1st place dealer Setokuma. With two riichi sticks and a honba in the pot, Takamiya can instantly move into 1st place with a haneman ron or a mangan tsumo.
Before Takamiya can even get her first draw, Setokuma shows aggression by calling a pon on the green dragon. When we do get to Takamiya, she is already iishanten with a red 5p, waiting on three different tiles to get to tenpai. In the first row, Setokuma continues to be aggressive with a second call. At the start of his second row, he gets to tenpai first and waits on a 2m dora kanchan.
By this point, Takamiya has improved to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten, guaranteed to have a mangan if she gets to tenpai. While Takamiya has positive prospects, Tojo adds another obstacle by calling riichi on a 3m/5s shanpon.
During the ippatsu round, Takamiya gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen. In the middle of the second row, Setokuma calls a concealed kan on the 6s. With the 4p being the kandora, it gives Takamiya an opportunity to get yet another dora. Soon after, Takamiya gets that 4p and wins the hand. Takamiya wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 2/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 3,000+100/6,000+100 plus three riichi sticks, moving into 1st place.
(As a note, one of the uradora that Takamiya flipped is the 6s, which Setokuma has a kan of. With that, the curry contest was activated, though nobody realized until after the interviews)
Hidden Triplet
March 26, Game 2, S1-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4558
In S1-2, Kayamori sit the dealer is 1st place, trying to get as many points for the team, grasping onto the small possibility of advancing to the semifinals.
Kayamori starts out the hand 4-shanten with a pair of souths with a lone 1p. On turn 3, she pairs up the dora up her hand’s value. By the end of the row, she has drawn a third south and gets to iishanten. At the start of second row, she calls pon on the 1p and gets to tenpai on a 25s ryanmen. Right after, Sarukawa discards the 2s trying to pursue a 678s sanshoku and deals into Kayamori. Kayamori wins the hand with South/Dora 3 for 8,000+600 plus one riichi stick.
Ura Ura
March 26, Game 2, S4-0
In S4-0, Kayamori is in 1st place and has more than double the score of 2nd place. Points are important.
Kayamori starts out the hand already 2-shanten with a red 5s connected to a dora 6s. On turn 5, she makes some progress by completing the ryanmen, leaving only the 3p kanchan and 7p penchan to be filled. On her next draw, she gets the 3p and calls riichi on a 7p penchan. In the middle of the second row, Kurosawa throws the suji 7p and deals into Kayamori. With a flip of the uradora, Kayamori’s west pair becomes dora to upgrade her hand to mangan. Kayamori wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 2 for 8,000.
Finishing the game with 62,100, she scores her best game of the season.
Quick Haneman
March 28, Game 1, E3-0
In E3-0, Matsumoto is in 3rd place and 3,200 behind 1st place Hisato as the east round is breezing by.
Matsumoto starts out the hand 2-shanten with a sequence-based hand. Tanyao is in sight, but he needs a 4m in order to confirm it. On turn 3, he pairs up the 8m and gets to iishanten, waiting to fill in a 7s kanchan and a 14m ryanmen. On turn 4, he draws the 7s kanchan and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen. On his very next draw, he gets the takame 4m and wins the hand. Matsumoto wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Ura 1 for 3,000/6,000.
This hand was part of the fastest east round in M-League history, with the start of the East 1 to the end of East 4 only lasting 11 minutes.
Pursuing MVP
March 28, Game 1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5559
In S2-0, Yu is in 4th place, 2,700 behind 3rd place Daigo, 10,000 behind 2nd place Hisato and 16,100 behind 1st place Matsumoto. With today being the last regular season day for the U-Next Pirates, this is Yu’s last chance to catch up to teammate Mizuhara.
Yu starts out the hand 3-shanten with the ability to accept the dora 8p. To his right, Hisato is 2-shanten with multiple sequence candidates. In the first row, Yu is able to create multiple sequence candidates and use a red 5s, but is still stuck at 3-shanten. At the same time, Hisato is iishanten having rejected a bad wait tenpai and looking for his last sequence. In the middle of the second row, Hisato gets to tenpai and calls riichi and waits on a 7p penchan.
During the ippatsu round, Yu advances to 2-shanten. With a safe 4p and some stray honours, Yu is able to maintain his shapes. At the start of the third row, Yu gets to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten. After swapping out his east pair of a 6m pair, Yu gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58p ryanmen. With only eight tiles left in the wall for him, it seems like Yu has little chance of winning. But, on the very last tile in the wall, Yu draws the 8p dora and wins the hand! Yu wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Haitei/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for a big 6,000 all plus one riichi stick, enough to catapult him into 1st place.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5560
In S3-0, Yu starts out by filling in a penchan to get to 4-shanten. With his hand being very flexible, he is able to get to 2-shanten at the end of the first row with a guaranteed pinfu. To his left and right, both Matsumoto and Hisato are iishanten. With a 567s chii in the middle of the second row, Hisato is the first to tenpai, waiting on an 8s kanchan. Though it’s a cheap 2-han hand, a win would be enough to kick Yu off his dealership.
Across from Yu is Daigo, trying to do well in the Phoenix’s last two games of the regular season. A few turns after, Hisato gets to tenpai, Daigo does too and calls riichi on a 6m kanchan.
With the riichi from Daigo, Hisato chooses to fold on the ippatsu turn. At the start of the third row, Matsumoto gets to tenpai on a 3m/6s shanpon, holding enough value to move into 1st place but with no yaku. Two turns later, he calls a chii to shift to tanyao and wait on a 4m kanchan.
Somehow, Yu is still iishanten despite the action on the table. With skillful avoidance, his options are still open while danger is around him. With a red 5m draw in the middle of the third row, Yu gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 36s ryanmen, guaranteed a mangan if he wins. Two turns later, Daigo draws and discards the 3s and deals into Yu. Yu wins the hand with Tanyao/Pinfu/Iipeikou/Aka 1 for 12,000 plus one riichi stick, taking Yu above 40,000.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s60_p2852
Jumping to S4-2, Yu is still in 1st place but final dealer Hisato is closely approaching, just 2,700 behind. With two riichi sticks and two honba in the pot, any win by Hisato will drop Yu a rank. If Yu manages to win, he will take the game and bring him one step closer to MVP. If he manages to win with at least a 2-han hand, he will take his team to above +800.0pts, the first team to ever get there.
From the very start, Yu has an auspicious starting hand, starting 2-shanten with a pair of red dragons ready to be called. Early on, Yu makes the call to get to iishanten. Also wanting a fast hand is dealer Hisato, making a chii to aim for tanyao. After his chii, Yu calls chii to get himself to tenpai on 69s ryanmen, the latter bringing Yu up to 2 han. The calls went back and forth. Before the row has even ended, Hisato has called three times is still not tenpai. For Matsumoto, he just pushes because there’s no risk of dropping far if he deals in. As Matsumoto advances to 2-shanten, he discards the 9s and deals into Yu. Yu wins the hand with Chanta/Red Dragon for 2,000+600 plus two riichi sticks.
With that, Yu wins the game. The Pirates push their score up to +800.3pts and Yu is now just 28.0pts behind his teammate Mizuhara.
Yu-niversal Acclaim
March 28, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5561
In E4-0, Yu is starting his first dealership in his last chance at the MVP award. Currently, he is in 3rd place, 2,400 behind 2nd place Takizawa and 14,600 behind 1st place Shiratori.
With three completed sequences, Yu starts out with a strong 3-shanten hand. In his first five turns, Yu tries to be as efficient as possible and is rewarded with a red 5m and a chance at iipeikou. On turn 6, he gets to tenpai. He has a choice between a 47p ryanmen (which guaranteed iipeikou) and a 47m ryanmen (which only wins iipeikou on a 7m). Since he sees three 6m, Yu calls riichi on the latter. Two turns later, Yu gets the takame 7m and wins the hand. Yu wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Iipeikou/Aka 1 for 6,000 all, his second dealer haneman in as many games.
In E4-1, Yu starts out with seven pinzu tiles and a handful of honours (including a west pair), coaxing him to go for a honitsu. From the start, he breaks his souzu block to confirm his pursuit. Draw after draw, Yu’s hand started to take shape and honitsu seemed inevitable. By turn 4, he is iishanten and still closed. At the start of the second row, he also gets to chiitoi iishanten. With 5 different tiles to get to tenpai and the ability to call, Yu’s prospects of winning keep growing. However, he is not the only one who wants to win. 2nd place Shiratori to Yu’s left is trying to get the Abemas out of the negatives in their final game of the season. In the middle of the second row, Shiratori throws the 7p and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen.
With the 7p being useful to Yu, he calls a chii and gets to tenpai on a 4p/west shanpon. At the end of the second row, Shiratori draws and discards the west and deals into Yu. Yu wins with Honitsu only for 3,900+300 plus one riichi stick, widening his lead over 2nd place.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5562
In E4-2, Yu starts off by drawing a dora 6p to get to a ryanmen-ryanmen-ryanmen 2-shanten. Yu doesn’t advance in the first row, but he does widen his tile acceptance. On turn 8, Yu gets to a perfect iishanten. A turn later, Yu gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen. Just two turns later, Yu gets the 7p and wins the hand. Yu wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 4,000+200 all. With the win, he has more than double the score of 2nd place.
In E4-3, Yu starts out 2-shanten for chiitoi (3-shanten for a standard hand) with pairs of 4s, 4m, 8m and 9p. In the first row, he makes a pair of 9m, but also upgrades the 4s and 9p into triplets. By turn 4, he is iishanten for a potential suuankou, needing a 4m, 8m or 9m draw for a yakuman chance tenpai.
As the turns go by, Yu keeps missing. Every time a manzu is drawn, Hiyoshi freaks out before before he realizes it’s not the one. At the end of the second row, Uotani discards the 9m. With time running out and no need to greed, Yu decides to call pon and wait on a 4m/8m shanpon. If he draws either of them, he will upgrade to a mangan.
Also seeing that time is running out, Uotani calls a pon on the 1p to advance her yakuless hand, wanting to get points if the hand goes to a draw. In the third row, 3rd place Takizawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen.
Unfortunately for Takizawa, he draws the 8m on his ippatsu turn and deals into Yu. Yu wins the hand with Toitoi for 3,900+900 plus one riichi stick, moving Yu above 60,000.
Yu would end up winning a mangan later in the game and finish with a 67,300 1st place. With his incredible performance today, he moves into 1st place in the MVP race with +437.7pts.
Katsu
March 29, Game 1, E1-0
In E1-0, Katsumata is the starting dealer and playing for the EX Furinkazan on the last day of the regular season. Katsumata sits 131.8pts behind Yu in the individual standings for the MVP spot. He needs two good 1sts today in order to take it.
Katsumata starts out the hand 4-shanten with pairs of east and west, as well as a connected dora 7m. In the first row, the honour pairs go untouched but Katsumata draws another 7m dora and a red 5m to get to 2-shanten. After connecting the red 5m and creating a 789m sequence, Katsumata gets to tenpai on turn 8 and calls riichi on an east/west shanpon. On his very next draw, he gets the west and wins the hand. Katsumata wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1.
Driving Forward
March 29, Game 1, E3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2052
In E3-0, Asami is playing for the Akasaka Drivens, hoping to get herself in the positives and the team in a stronger position going into the playoffs. She sits as the dealer in 2nd place, 6,700 behind 1st place Katsumata.
Asami starts out with a very strong starting hand, already iishanten with her first 13 tiles. She misses the double riichi, but has a path for value with her two win triplets and lots of manzu. In the first row, she gets herself to iishanten with a floating 6m needing to be connected. In the middle of the second row, she draws a 4m to get to tenpai on a 5m kanchan, waiting dama with mangan minimum. After a bunch of useless draws, Asami manages to draw a fourth south in the middle of the third row. Asami decides to call riichi and try her luck. On the rinshan draw, she get…
…the 5m and wins the hand! Asami wins with Rinshan/Tsumo/Honitsu/Dora 1 for 6,000 all and the lead.
Mata
March 29, Game 1, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2556
In S1-0, Katsumata is once again the dealer, but now trailing 1st place Asami by 13,500.
Katsumata starts out at 4-shanten with a pair of red dragons and a loosely connected 2p for value. On turn 2, he secures the 2p as part of a 234p sequence. By the end of the row, he has shifted to honitsu and added a second 2p dora and a pair of white dragons. With the value in his hand now, he has the makings of a dealer haneman. In the second row, he calls pon on the white dragon to get to iishanten. With a 7p pon two turns later, he gets to tenpai and waits on a 2p/red dragon shanpon.
To his left is Daisuke, playing for the 7th place Beast Japanext and trying to steal a playoff spot from the EX Furinkazan. After creating a 345s iipeikou and making a pair, Daisuke gets to tenpai and waits dama on a mangan minimum 3p kanchan.
One player is aiming for 1st, another is aiming to ruin their rival’s dealership. Near the end of the third row, Katsumata ends up the victor as he draws the red dragon. Katsumata wins with Honitsu/Red Dragon/White Dragon/Dora 2 for 6,000 all, moving into the top spot.
Double Riichi
March 29, Game 1, S1-1
In S1-1, Katsumata is still the dealer and looking to extend his lead over the rest of the pack.
From Katsumata’s first 13 tiles, he is already iishanten, waiting on 8 different tiles that will let him call a double riichi. On his first draw, he gets the 1m to give him that double riichi chance. With the east being useless in the south round, he chooses to call the double riichi on an east tanki instead of the 58m wait.
Though it’s a dealer riichi, his opponents choose not to fold, fighting against him. To his right, Hori has a lot of safe tiles that he can throw while advancing his own hand. By the end of the first row, Hori is iishanten. In the middle of the second, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen.
However, right after, Asami pushes the east while trying to accept iishanten and deals into Katsumata. Katsumata wins the hand with Double Riichi only for 3,900+300 plus Hori’s riichi stick.
Double Yakuman Tenpai???
March 29, Game 2, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3053
In S2-0, Hori is the dealer in 3rd place, a long ways away from 2nd place Asami and 1st place Katsumata.
With Hori’s first 14 tiles, his hand is full of honours and terminals. Though he is in a bad position for a standard hand, he is 3-shanten for both chiitoi and kokushi. If he can manage to get the yakuman, that would instantly put him into 1st place.
On turn 4, he draws the 9p to put him one step closer, needing only a 9s, 1m and red dragon for the yakuman. On turn 5, he draws a pair of wests. Though he had already given up on the chiitoi after breaking the 9m pair, he does have the possibility of going for shousuushii/daisuushii, tsuuiisou or even both. On turn 10, he pairs up the east. A turn later, he pairs up the white dragon. With five honour pairs, including all the winds, the stage is set for a double yakuman. One tile of each pair is still in the wall.
However, Hori isn’t the only person at the table who wants to win. Everyone at the table has been building their hand, looking to win 1st. At the end of the second row, Daisuke is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a haneman if he wins.
Immediately after, Katsumata gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 369s wait. During the ippatsu round, Hori makes the souths into a triplet to get to 2-shanten. Right after, Asami discards the whtie dragon to maintain her iishanten and Hori calls pon. He just needs two of the east, west and north to get the big 96,000.
As Hori reaches iishanten, Asami gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25s ryanmen.
Hori is facing off against three players in tenpai, but two of them are forced to discard even if they don’t want to. On the ippatsu turn, Hori draws the 2s. Though he avoids it, fans know the inevitable. On Daisuke’s turn, he draws and discards the east. At the same time, Hori gets to tenpai for the double yakuman and deals into Asami with the 2s.
Asami wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 8,000 plus one riichi stick, sinking Hori into the negatives.
Good Knight
March 29, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3054
In E3-1, Shibukawa is in 2nd place and 12,700 behind 1st place dealer Katsumata. With Katsumata only needing a 1st to take the MVP award, the Pirates are cheering on all of Katsumata’s opponents so that Yu can finish in 1st.
Shibukawa starts out with a 3-shanten hand with two ryanmens and a connected red 5m. In the first row, Shibukawa creates some good shapes to get to 2-shanten, ensuring a good wait when he gets to tenpai. In the second row, Shibukawa improves to iishanten with a wide potential. Though he has this wide potential for tenpai, Katsumata gets there first and waits on a 3m tanki.
Right after, Shibukawa gets to tenpai on a 356p three-sided wait. On his very next draw, Shibukawa draws the 5p and wins the hand. Shibukawa wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Aka 2/Ura 1 for 3,000+100/6,000+100, moving into 1st place.
Skipping to S1-1, Shibukawa is now the dealer and holding a 5,700 lead over 2nd place Katsumata. With the previous hand going to a draw, there are two riichi sticks and one honba in the pot.
Shibukawa starts out 3-shanten with three ryanmens in hand, but no value. In the first row, Shibukawa is able to fill in his only kanchan and then a ryanmen to advance to iishanten, guaranteed a pinfu. Everyone else around him is busy calling, speeding up their own hands. Asami is the first to tenpai, having called twice and is now waiting on a 58m ryanmen.
Two turns later, Shibukawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 67p wait. On his very next draw, he gets the 7p and wins the hand. Shibukawa wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo for 2,000+100 all plus the two riichi sticks, bringing him just shy of 50,000.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3055
In S1-2, Shibukawa’s starting hand is 3-shanten with a secured red 5p and a floating dora 1p. On turn 3, he forms a sequence on his own and gets to iishanten. On turn 5, Shibukawa gets to tenpai. He discards the dora 1p and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen, hoping for the latter for tanyao. For the third time so far this game, Shibukawa draws the 4s and wins on his ippatsu turn. Katsumata wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 1 for 6,000+200 all.
In S1-3, Shibukawa is 3-shanten with two dora 7p and a secured red 5m. In the first row, he builds enough ryanmens for a probably good wait, but is still stuck at 3-shanten. After filling in two of the ryanmens in the second row, Shibukawa fills in the third at the start of the third row and calls riichi on a 5p tanki. Two turns later, Shibukawa draws the 5p and wins the hand. Shibukawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 4,000+300 all, putting him above 80,000.
The Last Hand
March 29, Game 2, S4-0
In S4-0, it is the last hand of the regular season. The closest battle in this game’s standings is between 4th place dealer Asami and 3rd place Sarukawa, separated by 8,700. Though a win in this hand won’t put them into the playoffs, any points gained will reflect well on his overall record.
Sarukawa starts off the hand with a pair of souths and sitting 3-shanten. Sarukawa skips the first south, but calls on the second one to get himself to iishanten. To his left is Shibukawa with a triplet of green dragons. After a call in the middle of the second row, Shibukawa gets to tenpai on a red dragon tanki. Later on, Shibukawa gets to tenpai on a 14m ryanmen. At the end of the row, Shibukawa switches his tanki to a 14p ryanmen, then later a 25m nobetan. In the middle of the third row, Shibukawa draws and discards the 1m and deals into Sarukawa. Sarukawa wins the hand with South only for 1,000, ending the regular season.
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