Tuesday (November 26)

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Game 1

Sugawara Start

November 26, Game 1, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6073

In E1-0, Sugawara is playing for the Beast X, which is currently going 6 games without gaining any points.

Sugawara starts out the hand with pairs of the dora 5p (including the red 5p), the 5s, north and green dragon. With a red 5m as well, the hand has a chance to be a valuable one, whether going with the pairs route or the standard route. On turn 2, Sugawara calls pon on the green dragon to get to 2-shanten. At the start of the second row, Sugawara calls pon on the norths and gets to iishanten.

As Sugawara waits, Shibukawa gets to tenpai first and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen.

After Honda called a chii and discarded the 7p, Sugawara calls a 567p chii and waits on a 4m kanchan.

Soon after, Ooi gets to tenpai as well and waits on a 3m kanchan.

On Sugawara’s next draw, she gets the 4m and wins the hand. Sugawara wins with Green Dragon/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 2,000/4,000 plus Shibukawa’s riichi stick.

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Ooi Overtakes

November 26, Game 1, S1-3
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4086

In S1-3, Ooi is in 3rd place, 600 behind 2nd place Sugawara and 2,000 behind 1st place Shibukawa. With the riichi stick and three honba, Ooi can win anything and move into 1st place.

Ooi starts off with a 3-shanten hand with three ryanmens and a dora 2m. In the first row, he pairs up the 4p and fills in the 6s side of a 69s ryanmen to get confirm tanyao. By turn 4, he is iishanten, wanting to fill in a kanchan for optimal value. At the end of the row, Ooi fills in a ryanmen instead, but still calls riichi and waits on a 3s kanchan.

Two turns later, Sugawara discards the 3s trying to call riichi and deals into Ooi. Ooi wins the hand with Riichi/Tanyao/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 8,000+900 plus a riichi stick.

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Shibukawa Sights

November 26, Game 1, S4-0

In S4-0, Shibukawa is in 2nd place, 6,200 ahead of 3rd place Sugawara and 5,600 behind 1st place Ooi. For Shibukawa to take 1st place, he needs a 2/50 or 3/25 direct hit, a 3/30 tsumo, or a 3/50 or 4/25 ron.

Shibukawa starts out the hand 3-shanten with a secured red 5p for value. In the first few turns, her draws a 4m and a red 5m for a good shape and makes potential sequences in pinzu. By the end of the first row, Shibukawa is iishanten.

At the start of the second row, Shibukawa completes a 456m sequence and has a few choices for tenpai. If Shibukawa waits on a 6p kanchan, he will be guaranteed 1st place if he wins. However, with the 36p ryanmen, he has a lower chance of falling into 3rd place and would only need a single extra han (whether ippatsu or uradora) to get 1st. An 8m/7p shanpon also exists, but doesn’t really provide any advantages besides being a diverse wait. In any case, a direct hit or tsumo will give him 1st place.

Eyeing the wider tsumo potential and lower chance of falling into 3rd, Shibukawa calls riichi and waits on the 36p ryanmen.

Across the table, a lone 6p sits precariously in Sugawara’s hand. On turn 8, Sugawara discards the 6p and deals into Shibukawa. Unfortunately, the uradora doesn’t hit, leaving Shibukawa with a Riichi/Aka 2 hand for 5,200. Shibukawa finishes the game in 2nd place, just 400 shy of 1st.

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Results

Game 83

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Game 2

Hagiwara Hit

November 26, Game 2, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s70_p2332

In E2-0, Hagiwara is tied for 2nd place and 3,600 behind 1st place Shibukawa.

Hagiwara starts out the hand filling in a penchan to get to 2-shanten. With three ryanmens in hand, his path has been carved out for him. All he has to do is wait.

Daisuke, on the other hand, has a bit more control over his hand with a pair of red dragons. On turn 3, he calls pon to advance to iishanten. Soon after, he gets to tenpai and waits on a 36m ryanmen. With a 3m win, he would add sanshoku and upgrade his hand to a mangan.

Back to Hagiwara, he has two ryanmens left waiting to be filled. In the middle of the second row, Hagiwara finally gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58p ryanmen. Two turns later, Daisuke draws and discards the 5p and deals into Hagiwara. Hitting the uradora, Hagiwara wins with Riichi/Pinfu/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 8,000, moving into 1st.

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Shibuya Suffering

November 26, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6074

Playing for the Shibuya Abemas in the second game is Matsumoto Yoshihiro, who is currently without a 1st place despite playing 11 games so far this season. After Ooi’s win in the previous game, Matsumoto hopes that momentum carries over to him. So far, things haven’t gone as well as he had hoped, dealing in while in riichi during E1-0, then losing his riichi in E3-0.

In E4-0, Matsumoto is in 3rd place, 3,400 ahead of 4th place Daisuke and 7,600 behind 2nd place Shibukawa.

Matsumoto starts out the hand with an annoying 5-shanten hand with no value whatsoever. To his left, Daisuke is at 3-shanten with a clear path to tanyao and a connected red 5p. In the first row, Daisuke draws quite a few useful tiles while remaining closed. With a red 5s draw on turn 5, Daisuke is the first to tenpai and stays dama on a 7m kanchan. A turn later, he switches to an 8m/7p shanpon to secure sanshoku and a mangan.

Back to Matsumoto, things are going a bit better. Having picked up a pair of green dragons and some sequence candidates, Matsumoto gets to 3-shanten at the end of the first row. In the second row, his hand starts to shift more to the edge, giving the potential for both a 789 sanshoku and chanta.

In the middle of the second row, Daisuke decides to stop being quiet and calls riichi on his 8m /7p shanpon. WIth the riichi, he guarantees himself a haneman.

During the ippatsu round, Matsumoto draws a 9s to complete a 789s sequence. Unfortunately, the 889m shape in his hand spells disaster. Even as Matsumoto tries to step back by discarding his green dragon pair, he ends up drawing a 9p to push him to an even more valuable junchan. At the start of the third row, Matsumoto draws a 7m, leading him towards tragedy.

Joining in on the fun, 1st place dealer Hagiwara gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 3m kanchan.

In the middle of the third row, Matsumoto draws another 9p. From his point of view, he has the potential for a Riichi/Pinfu/Junchan/Sanshoku, with one more han being a baiman, enough for 1st place. But as the audience, we only see death. Taking the chance at glory, Matsumoto discards the 8m and tries to call riichi, but ends up dealing into Daisuke.

Daisuke wins the hand with Riichi/Tanyao/Sanshoku/Aka 2 for 12,000 plus Hagiwara’s riichi stick, pushing Matsumoto deep into 4th.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3092

In S1-0, Matsumoto is now in 4th place and 19,600 from 3rd place Shibukawa.

Matsumoto starts out with a slightly better hand than last time, sitting 3-shanten from seven pairs (4-shanten for a standard hand) with a floating red 5p. His rival Shibukawa, however, is in a bit of a beeter position at a standard 3-shanten.

The first row goes quite well for Matsumoto, giving him a triplet of 7s and a red 5m as part of a ryanmen. By the end of the row, he is iishanten. For Shibukawa, he gets to a perfect iishanten before the end of the first row with tanyao secured. If he gets the 2p, he will also have a 234 sanshoku.

On turn 8, Matsumoto is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen. Two remain in the wall.

Near the end of the second row, Shibukawa chases and waits on a 25p ryanmen, wanting that 2p for mangan minimum.

Tragically for Matsumoto, things continue to not go his way. In the middle of the third row, Matsumoto draws and discards the 2p and deals into Shibukawa.

With an uradora hit, Shibukawa wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Tanyao/Sanshoku/Ura 1 for 12,000 plus Matsumoto’s riichi stick. The win pushes Shibukawa into 1st place and Matsumoto into the negatives.

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South 4

November 26, Game 2, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s70_p2333

In S4-0, Shibukawa is in 2nd place and just 2,300 behind 1st place dealer Hagiwara. With a 1/40 direct hit, a 1/50 or 2/30 tsumo, or a 2/40 ron, he can get the 1st place comeback that he missed in the previous game.

Shibukawa starts out the hand at 4-shanten with no easy yaku to go for, but does have a connected 1m dora for value. Shibukawa makes a good amount of progress in the first row, making sequences and sequence candidates. By the end of the first row, he is iishanten and waiting on 7 different tiles for tenpai.

At the start of the second row, Shibukawa fills in a 3m penchan to secure the dora and get to tenpai. With a riichi, Shibukawa waits on a 56s wait and 1st place within reach.

Duringt he ippatsu round, Daisuke calls pon on the double south and gets to tenpai on a 6m kanchan. Holding onto a mangan, a tsumo win and getting Shibukawa’s riichi stick would put Daisuke into 1st place by just 700.

Two players in tenpai, two players with 1st place within their grasps. Then, in the middle of the second row, Shibukawa draws the 6s and wins the hand. Shibukawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1 for 1000/2,000, taking the game.

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Results

Game 84

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