Tuesday (November 9)

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Game 1

Points

November 5, Game 1, E4-4
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s70_p2235

The first four hands of the game all went to a draw. As a result, there are now four riichi sticks and four honba going into E4-4. 1st and 4th are separated by just 3,000, with Beast X player Nakada Kana in the lead.

Nakada starts out with an annoying chiitoi 4-shanten hand (5-shanten for a standard hand) with no easy path to speed up the hand. On turn 2, she makes a pair of white dragons to give her access to the express lane. While holding the white dragon pair and waiting to call it, Nakada builds up the rest of her hand. By the end of the first row, she is 2-shanten with a few good shapes. At the start of the third row, she gets to iishanten.

While Nakada wants to get a quick open hand, Daigo builds his in silence. On turn 8, Daigo is the first to tenpai and waits dama on a 69p ryanmen.

Two turns later, Rumi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a green dragon tanki. With just one more han, Rumi would have a huge dealer haneman.

Seeing the danger on the table, Nakada knows that she has to make a move. At the end of the second row, Nakada calls a 567s chii and waits on a white dragon/3s shanpon, only allowed to win off the white dragon.

In the third row, Daigo draws the white dragon. With so much value on the table for the next winner, Daigo takes the risk and ends up dealing into Nakada. Nakada wins the hand with White Dragon only for 1,000, but adds 1,200 in honba and 5,000 in riichi sticks, giving her a total of 7,200 for the cheap hand.

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Tanyao

November 5, Game 1, S1-0

In S1-0, Daigo is in 4th place but within range of the higher ranks. He sits 2,200 behind 3rd place Rumi, 4,200 behind 2nd place Takamiya and 12,400 behind 1st place Nakada.

Daigo starts off with a 3-shanten hand with a pair of wests, a 123p sequence and a connected red 5s. In the first row, Daigo tosses exclusively terminals and honours and ends up creating a few sequence candidates. By his sixth discard, his hand has a lot of value with two 2p doras, and is much more flexible at 2-shanten, having the choice to go for pairs or standard or maybe even the rare ryanpeikou.

As Daigo continues to look for guidance from the wall, Rumi is the first to tenpai and waits on a 14s ryanmen.

Daigo keeps building and his hand advances to iishanten. Drawing the 6p in the second row, he replaces the west pair for a 6p pair and gives himself a callable tanyao.

Adding pressure to the table is Takamiya who gets to tenpai in the middle of the second row and calls riichi on a 3m kanchan.

With Takamiya’s discarded 5s, Daigo calls chii to get himself to tenpai and waits on a 3p kanchan. On Takamiya’s next draw, she draws and discards the 3p and deals into Daigo. Daigo wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 8,000 plus one riichi stick, moving into 2nd place.

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Tanyao

November 5, Game 1, S3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4580

In S3-1, Daigo is now just 3,400 behind 1st place dealer Nakada.

Daigo starts out with a chiitoi 4-shanten hand (standard 5-shanten) with a secured red 5p. In contrast, Takamiya to his left starts at 2-shanten and gets to iishanten on turn 1. With no clear way to open the hand, Daigo simply starts out by being efficient. In the first row, Daigo connects and secures the red 5m and by the end of the row, he is 2-shanten with a clear path to tanyao.

On turn 8, Daigo makes a 456p chii to secure the red 5p and get to iishanten. Soon after, Takamiya is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen.

During the ippatsu round, Daigo draws the red 5s double dora. Though it is big for value, it slows down his hand a bit. Balancing a fine line, Daigo plays safely against Takamiya while maintaining a chance to move ahead. On Takamiya’s second-last draw, she draws and discards the 6s. WIth a chii, Daigo gets to tenpai and waits on a 3s kanchan for mangan minimum. On Takamiya’s next draw, she drops the 3s and deals into Daigo. Daigo wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 8,300 plus one riichi stick, moving into 1st place.

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Results

Game 59

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Game 2

Katsumata

November 5, Game 2. E3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2590

In E3-1, Katsumata is in 2nd place and 3,000 behind 1st place dealer Hisato. A riichi stick and a honba are in the pot.

Before Katsumata can even get his first draw, dealer Hisato (who was just one away from seven pairs) starts calls the double east. When we do see Katsumata’s hand, we see that he has a fighting hand at 2-shanten with a pair of 1m dora and a loosely connected red 5p. Hisato keeps the pressure going with a 2m pon and then gets to tenpai soon after with a 5s kanchan.

Back with Katsumata, he sits iishanten and pairs up the 5p. Drawing a third 1m a turn later, Katsumata gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 2p kanchan.

In the second row, Katsumata draws and discards the 5p setting up a suji trap. A few turns later, Kayamori discards the 2p trying to defend and deals into Katsumata. Katsumata wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 3/Aka 1 for 8,000+300 plus a riichi stick, moving into 1st.

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Hisato

November 5, Game 2, S2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3590

In S2-1, Hisato is in 3rd place, 700 behind 2nd place dealer Sarukawa and 7,300 behind 1st place Katsumata. 1,300 in bonuses will go to the next winner.

Hisato starts off with a 4-shanten hand and a connected red 5m. The first row provides Hisato with a lot of good sequence groups, getting him to iishanten with pinfu guaranteed before the row is over.

To his left, 2nd place dealer Sarukawa has already called pon on the east and is also waiting at iishanten. Near the end of the second row, he is the first to tenpai and waits on a 69p ryanmen.

Immediately after, Hisato gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69p ryanmen as well. WIth both players waiting on the same wait, the chance for a headbump is there. If either Kayamori or Katsumata discard the winning tile, the Sarukawa will win.

However, there is little time to worry as Hisato draws the 6p on his ippatsu turn and wins the hand. Hisato wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 1 for 2,000+100/4,000+100 plus one riichi stci, moving Hisato into 1st place.

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Back To Top

November 5, Game 2, S3-0

In S3-0, Katsumata is chasing Hisato after Hisato passed him the previous hand. 4,100 separates the two players.

Katsumata starts off with a 4-shanten hand and a floating 8m dora. Because the hand is relatively cheap from the onset, Katsumata tries to play relatively defensive from the start while hedging for a potential tanyao out. By the end of the first row, he is 2-shanten for the tanyao with a ryanmen and two kanchans (and the 8m still floating).

At the start of the second row, Katsumata gets to iishanten and discards the 8m dora, allowing 1st place dealer Hisato to call pon and get to iishanten. On Kayamori’s draw in the middle of the second row, she draws the 8m dora and calls riichi on a 7s kanchan.

Two turns later, Katsumata gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 7p kanchan.

Soon after that, Hisato gets to tenpai on a 36p ryanmen.

WIth all of them having something to fight for, it is a battle of drawing and discarding. At the end of the second row Hisato draws and discards the 7p and deals into Katsumata. Katsumata wins the hand with Tanyao/Iipeikou for 2,600 plus Kayamori’s riichi stick. With the hit off his rival, Katsumata moves into 1st place by 2,100 going into the final hand.

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Results

Game 60

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