Thursday (November 7)

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Game 1

Sugawara Standard

November 7, Game 1, E4-0

The game thus far has been relatively quiet, with the biggest point exchange being an exhaustive draw with only one person tenpai. Sitting in 3rd place is Sugawara, 2,500 behind 2nd place Futoshi and 4,800 behind 1st place Shiratori.

Sugawara starts out her dealership at 3-shanten with a dora 7m as part of a 789m sequence. With the terminal involved, she just has to wait and see what the wall gives. As she discards her honours, she starts to build ryanmens and fills in a 123m penchan. Creating a pair on turn 6, she gets to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten at the end of the first row.

On turn 7, Sugawara fills in one of them and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen. Two turns later, Sugawara draws the 6s and wins the hand. WIth the 6s also being the uradora, Sugawara wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 4,000 all, the first limit hand of the game.

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Futoshi Fighting

November 7, Game 1, S1-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2085

In S1-1, Futoshi is the dealer in 3rd place, 1,700 behind 2nd place Shiratori and 8,300 behind 1st place Sugawara.

Futoshi strats off at 3-shanten with a pair of white dragons and a 3m dora kanchan. In the first row, Futoshi fills in two kanchans and puts himself at iishanten, still looking to fill in the two shapes of value.

At the start of the second row, Okada is the first player to take action, calling riichi on a 3s kanchan with mangan minimum.

Futoshi tries to tread cafeully, maintaining his shapes while trying to avoid dealing in. With a 6m draw, he now has the ability to fill in a 5m kanchan instead.

In the middle of the second row, Shiratori joins in and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen. If the 3s is discarded, Okada will have seat priority.

After avoiding the ippatsu round, Futoshi draws the red 5m to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a whtie dragon/7m shanpon. Only a single white dragon remains in the wall.

In the middle of the third row, Shiratori draws and discards the last white dragon and deals into Futoshi. Futoshi wins the hand with Riichi/White Dragon/Aka 1 for 7,700+300 plus two riichi sticks, moving Futoshi into 1st place.

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Shiratori Skill

November 7, Game 1

In S3-1, Shiratori is the dealer in 3rd place 11,600 behind 2nd place Sugawara and 17,100 behind 1st place Futoshi. Two riichi sticks are in the pot after the previous hand went to a draw.

Shiratori starts off with a very strong 3-shanten hand, holding four ryanmens (including a red 5p connected to a dora 6p). Though Shiratori’s hand has lots of promise with another 6p and drawing a 4p, Futoshi is the one to make big progress first, calling pon on both the south and the 1m to aim for a manzu honitsu.

Seeing Futoshi speeding up, Shiratori starts to speed up himself. With a 567s chii, Shiratori gets to iishanten. He still needs to fill in a 36m ryanmen and 7p to fully utilize the extra dora. With a pon his 2m pair, he improves his waiting shape from three tiles to eight.

As Shiratori looks to get any of the tiles for tenpai, Futoshi gets to tenpai at the start of the second row and waits on a 7m/9m shanpon for mangan.

On Shiratori’s next draw, he pairs up the 5m and waits on a 7p kanchan for mangan as well. Right after, Sugawara discards the 7p and deals into Shiratori. Shiratori wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 12,000+300 plus two riichi sticks, moving Shiratori into 2nd place.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4082

In S3-2, Shiratori is now just 2,800 away from the lead.

Shiratori’s starting hand may seem far at 4-shanten, but he has three ryanmens and a dora 3s connected to a 1s. Within his first three turns, he makes two more ryanmens (including connecting the dora 3s with a 4s) to give him lots of options to choose from.

In the second row, he tries to resolve his ryanmens and find a pair. After drawing a 1p to create a 123p sequence, he pairs up the 6p to leave him with three solid ryanmens. A turn later, he creates a 567m sequence to get to iishanten.

Late in the second row, Sugawara is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen. Unfortunately, none remain in the wall.

In the third row, Shiratori finally gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25s ryanmen.

During the ippatsu round, Futoshi gets to tenpai and stays dama on a 6m kanchan, poised to get a haneman if he draws it himself.

On Shiratori’s second-last draw, he nabs the 5s and wins the hand. With the 5s also being the uradora, Shiratori wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 4,000+200 all plus a riichi stick, taking the lead.

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Full Flush

November 7, Game 1, S3-3

In S3-3, Sugawara is in 3rd place and has a long way to go, sitting 18,800 from 2nd place Futoshi. Though she does have the final dealership, it’s good to make progress now.

Sugawara starts off with two completed pinzu block and a 7p penchan. With a bunch of stray honours as well, the hand is primed for a pinzu honitsu. He first row is simply discarding manzu and souzu while drawing two more pinzu to support the hand. By the end of the first row, she is 2-shanten.

At the start of the second row, she speeds up the hand by calling a 456p chii, getting her to iishanten. With the 5p draw on her next turn not getting her to tenpai, she shifts into full flush mode, waiting on 2457p for tenpai. With a 234p chii near the end of the row, Sugawara gets to tenpai on the 7p penchan. Three remain in the wall.

Near the start of the third row, Sugawara draws the 7p and wins the hand. Sugawara wins with Chinitsu for 2,000+300/4,000+300, cutting the gap between her and Futoshi by more than half.

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Results

Game 61

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Game 2

Edging Ahead

November 7, Game 2, E1-2

In E1-2, Matsumoto is in 2nd place and 8,100 behind 1st place Sarukawa.

From the start, Matsumoto has a 123m sequence (including an extra 1m dora) and a 789m sequence completed. Holding a 3p penchan and an 8s kanchan, the hand looks like it could be a clear junchan hand. Within the first few turns, he calls a 123m chii to set him up for mangan and get him to iishanten. Calling the 8s soon after, Matsumoto gets to tenpai on a 3p penchan.

Immediately after, Taro draws and discards the 3p and deals into Matsumoto. Matsumoto wins the hand with Junchan/Dora 3 for 8,000+600, moving ahead of Sarukawa by 500.

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Taro Top

November 7, Game 2, E3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2086

In E3-0, Taro is the dealer in 4th place, 4,300 behind 3rd place Hori, 14,700 behind 2nd place Sarukawa and 17,800 behind 1st place Matsumoto.

Taro starts out the hand 3-shanten with three potential ryanmen candidates. With a bit of shifting, the hand could be tanyao. With a 3m and red 5m draw, Taro creates a potential 258m three-sided wait. He has a chance to be iishanten, but rejects it in favour of breaking the 3p penchan for better shapes and tanyao.

In the middle of the second row, Taro draws a 7p to connect to the floating 5p, getting him to a tanyao iishanten. With the right draws, he could even get a 567 sanshoku. Two turns later, Taro fills in the 6p kanchan and calls riichi on the 258m three-sided wait. Guaranteed at least a mangan, he will get at least a haneman with either the 2m or the 5m.

Incredibly, on Taro’s very next draw, he gets the 2m and wins the hand. Taro wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Sanshoku/Dora 1 for a big 8,000 all dealer baiman, teleporting him from 4th place to 1st.

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Taro Time

November 7, Game 2, S2-1

In S2-1, Taro holds onto a 12,600 lead and is looking to move the dealership away from 2nd Matsumoto.

Taro starts out with a very promising 2-shanten hand with pairs of the 6s dora and white dragon. Within the first few turns, Taro calls pon on the white dragon to get to iishanten. After the rest of the first row is a bust, Taro draws a red 5m to guarantee himself a mangan. Late in the second row, Taro gets to tenpai and waits on a 5p kanchan, improving a 25p ryanmen a turn later.

Within two turns, Hori gets to tenpai and waits on a 258m three-sided wait.

Though Hori’s wait seems wider, he only has one left compared to Taro’s five. A few turns later, Taro draws the 2p and wins the hand. Taro wins with White Dragon/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 2,000+100/4000+100 plus a riichi stick.

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Yes Yoshihiro

November 7, Game 2, S3-0

In S3-0, Matsumoto is in 2nd place with a 6,000 lead over 3rd place Sarukawa and sitting 26,000 behind 1st place Taro.

Matsumoto’s first draw gives him a 4m triplet to go along with his 8s triplet and get him 2-shanten. On turn 5, he fills in a ryanmen to get him to iishanten, looking to build off either the floating 7m dora or the 688p shape. A turn later, Matsumoto draws a 7p and calls riichi on a 58p ryanmen.

In the middle of the second row, Matsumoto draws the perfect tile, the red 5p, and wins the hand. Hitting the uradora as well, Matsumoto wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000.

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Results

Game 62

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