Friday (November 8)

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Game 1

Takaki Time

November 8, Game 1

In E2-0, Takaki is in 2nd place, 4,600 behind 1st place dealer Setokuma.

Takaki starts off with pairs of 9m, 7p and 7s, putting him 3-shanten for both chiitoi and a standard hand. After drawing a third 7s and then a 7m to create a 799m shape, the hand leaned more toward standard. Drawing a 6m on turn 5, his hand has an out for tanyao.

Though Takaki’s hand looks nice, Setokuma’s is looking much better. On turn 6, Setokuma calls riichi and waits on a 3s kanchan, guaranteed at least a dealer mangan if he wins.

During the ippatsu turn, Takaki gets to iishanten. With no safe tiles, Takaki keeps pushing forward by discarding his 9m pair in pursuit of tanyao. Two turns later, Takaki discards the 3m dora while calling riichi and waits on a 36s ryanmen. If Kobayashi or Aki discards the 3s, then Setokuma would get priority.

On Takaki’s ippatsu turn, he draws the 6s and wins the hand. HItting the uradora, Takaki wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Tanyao/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4581

In E3-0, Takaki is now the dealer with a 9,400 lead over 2nd place Setokuma.

Takaki starts off with a messy 3-shanten hand with no good shapes. In the first row, he manages to fill in a 7p penchan and a 2s kanchan to get him to iishanten. He has a chance to take a yakuless 3p tenpai, but reject it in search of better shapes.

In the second row, he creates a 1234567s shape, putting him an 8s and 9s away from ittsuu. Near the end of the row, he draws the 9s and calls riichi on an 8s kanchan. On his ippatsu draw he gets the 8s and wins the hand. Takaki wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Ittsuu for 4,000 all, bringing his score up to 46,000.

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Riichi Battle

November 8, Game 1, S1-0

In S1-0, Aki is in 4th place, 7,200 behind 3rd place Setokuma and 10,000 behind 2nd place Kobayashi.

Aki starts out the hand at 4-shanten with two penchans and a floating red 5s. The first row fills in the 7m penchan and gives a 3s to connect to the red 5s. By the end of the row, she is iishanten.

Sitting to Aki’s right is dealer Kobayashi. With a tanyao hand, he has much more flexibility and better shapes. In the middle of the second row, Kobayashi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 2p/2m shanpon.

Back with Aki, she chooses to fold with the ippatsu turn, but still has some routes to get back. At the end of the row, the discards her 89p shape to safely get back to iishanten.

At the start of the third row, Setokuma is the second to tenpai and calls riichi on a 4m kanchan. Unforunately, none remain in the wall.

In the middle of the third row, Aki manages to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14m/9s wait. During the ippatsu round, Setokuma draws and discards the 1m and deals into Aki. Aki wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 8,000. Taking Kobayashi and Setokuma’s riichi sticks, Aki gets just enough to move into 2nd place.

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Close Kobayashi

November 8, Game 1, S4-0

In S4-0, Kobayashi is in 2nd place, holding a 1,800 lead over 3rd place Setokuma and 20,600 behind 1st place Takaki. Any win will get keep him positive, but he needs at least a haneman direct hit or a sanbaiman to get to 1st.

Kobayashi starts out the hand creating a triplet of 3m dora to get him to 2-shanten. WIth a pair of green dragons and a connected red 5s, he has the potential for both speed and value. On turn 2, he adds onto the potential value by pairing up the souths. On turn 3, he creates a 147s three-sided wait and gets to iishanten, aiming for his final shape to be that or the shanpon of the souths and green dragon.

Though things are looking up for Kobayashi, 3rd place Setokuma might have something to say about it. On turn 4, Setokuma gets himself to tenpai and calls riichi on a 9s/9p shanpon, guaranteed 2nd place however he wins.

With Setokuma’s riichi stick, Kobayashi can now win a baiman tsumo and move into 1st place. With the good shape in his hand, Kobayashi simply pushes. At the end of his first row, he draws a fourth 3m. With the potential for extra dora and a baiman within reach, Kobayashi calls a concealed kan.

WIth his rinshan draw, he draws the south, getting him to tenpai. He calls riichi and waits on a 147s three-sided wait.

In the middle of second row, Kobayashi draws the 7s. With five han already secured, he just needs the south triplet or the 3m quad to be the uradora and he will take the game. With the flip…

…Kobayashi only hits a 6s dora. Though it’s not the baiman he wants, it does let him win with Riichi/Tsumo/Double South/Aka 1/Ura 1 for a 3,000/6,000 haneman plus one riichi stick, securing a solid 2nd place.

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Results

Game 63

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Game 2

Phoenix Flow

November 8, Game 2, E2-1

Daigo is sitting in 3rd place, 1,300 behind 2nd place Aki and 8,000 behind 1st place Nakabayashi.

Daigo starts off with a 3-shanten tanyao hand with a floating dora 8m. In the Daigo draws a 7m to connect to the dora and creates a 678p sequence. By the end of the first row, he is iishanten and guaranteed pinfu.

Two turns into the second row, Daigo get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69m ryanmen, wanting the 6m for tanyao.

A few turns later, Nakabayashi calls a chii to get to tenpai on a 3p kanchan.

Turns out, the chii shifted the wall in Daigo’s favour. At the end of the second row, Daigo draws the 9m and wins the hand. Daigo wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 2,000+100/4,000+100, giving Daigo the lead.

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Tanki

November 8, Game 2, S2-1

In S2-1, Nakabayashi is the dealer in 3rd place, 4,300 behind 2nd place Aki and 8,300 behind 1st place Daigo. 1,300 is up for grabs for the next winner.

Nakabayashi starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a secured red 5m and a floating south dora. In the first row, Nakabayashi leans heavily towards his manzu blocks and aims for tanyao at the same time. By turn 5, he is iishanten with three overlapping manzu blocks and a pair.

In the middle of the second row, Nakabayashi draws the red 5p and stays dama on a 36m wait. Whether with the 3m or 6m, he is guaranteed a mangan on ron and a haneman on tsumo.

Going into the third row, Nakabayashi draws a green dragon. With one already discarded, Nakabayashi switches to the trickier green dragon tanki even though it reduces the hand’s value a bit.

Two turns later, Aki challenges the table with a 36p ryanmen riichi.

However, the riichi becomes a donation as Nakabayashi draws the green dragon near the end of the hand and wins. Nakabayashi wins with Tsumo/Iipeikou/Aka 2 for 4,000+100 all plus two riichi sticks, moving into 1st place.

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Raiden Rising

November 8, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5081

In S3-3, Kurosawa is in 4th place and 17,500 behind 3rd place dealer Aki.

Kurosawa starts out the hand 2-shanten with a 3s penchan, a 7p kanchan and a 69s ryanmen. The fourth block is a 456p sequence, with the 5p also being the dora. On turn 2, Kurosawa draws another 5p dora to shift the kanchan to a 47p ryanmen. On her next draw, she draws a 7p to get to iishanten. WIth a 3s draw on turn 4, Kurosawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69s ryanmen .

In the middle of the second row, Aki discards the 9s trying to get rid of an extra pair and deals into Kurosawa. WIth the 5p also being the uradora, Kurosawa wins with Riichi/Pinfu/Dora 2/Aka 2 for 12,000+900, pushing Kurosawa up to 3rd place.

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In S4-0, Kurosawa is the last dealer, sitting 9,600 behind 2nd place Daigo and 16,700 behind 1st place Nakabayashi.

Though Kurosawa fills in a 6m kanchan on her first turn, she still sits at 4-shanten with no easy way to tenpai. After taking a “wait and see” approach in the first row, she builds connected pairs which could become sequences. By the end of the row, she is 2-shanten.

At the start of the second row she draws a 2s to put her just another 2s away from iipeikou. After drawing a 5p in the middle of the row, she abandons the iipeikou to aim for a 567 sanshoku.

To her right, Daigo has already called once and is at iishanten. WIth one more call, he gets himself to tenpai and waits on a 58m/4s wait.

On Kurosawa’s turn, she fills in the 6p kanchan and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen. If she wins on the 5s, she will have mangan.

During the ippatsu round, Daigo draws the dora 1p and is forced to fold. Kurosawa is denied an ippatsu draw because of Aki calling chii, but it gives Kurosawa the 8s draw to win the hand. Kurosawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Ura 1 for 2,600 all, pushing her into 2nd place.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5082

In S4-1, Kurosawa is in 2nd place and just 6,300 behind. Just one more step from moving into 1st place.

Kurosawa’s 3-shanten starting hand is comprised of a connected red 5p and dora 4s, giving her good value. Very quickly, Kurosawa’s hand takes shape. With a bunch of pinzu draws, she ends up with a 345p and 456p sequence, moving her to iishanten on turn 4 with tanyao guaranteed. At the end of the second row, she creates a 47m ryanmen to go along with her 36m ryanmen. With her current hand, she has the makings of a mangan with a chance at a haneman if the 456 sanshoku takes shape.

In the middle of the second row, Kurosawa gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 36s ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if she wins. Immediately after, Daigo discards the 6s and deals into Kurosawa. Kurosawa wins the hand with Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 12,000+300, bringing her up to 40,600 and into 1st place.

In just three hands, Kurosawa went from the bottom to the top.

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Results

Game 64

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Intro | Standings