Tuesday (December 3)

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Game 1

Honda Highlight

December 3, Game 1, E1-0

In E1-0, Honda is playing for Team Raiden, hoping to lead the team into the positives.

Before Honda gets his first darw, Takamiya calls a pon on the green dragon to get to 2-shanten. When we do get to Honda’s hand, we can see that he is 4-shanten with a pair of 2p doras and a connected red 5s. In the first row, he pairs up the east, sets himself up for a 369s three-sided wait and calls pon on the east to secure a yaku. By the end of the row, he is iishanten with a guaranteed good wait.

To his left, Takamiya is pursuing a souzu honitsu. At the start of the second row, Takamiya calls a 678s chii and gets to tenpai on a north tanki.

With Takamiya’s discarded 6m, Honda calls a chii himself and gets to tenpai on a 369s wait, guaranteed a mangan if he wins.

In the middle of the row, Takamiya switches to a better south tanki, but she is still behind in the count (having only 2 in the wall compared to Honda’s 4).

At the start of the third row, Honda draws the 9s and wins the hand. Honda wins with East/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000.

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Mostly Green

December 3, Game 1, S2-0

In S2-0, Taro is the dealer in 2nd place, 800 behind 1st place Honda.

Taro starts off the hand at 3-shanten and leaning towards tanyao. However, as the turns go on, he starts to draw more souzu and honours. By the end of the row, he is 2-shanten with a green dragon triplet and a route to honitsu.

In the second row, Taro makes a triplet 8s and 2s to get to iishanten and confirms his pursuit for a honitsu. Near the end of the row, Takamiya gets to tenpai, but has no yaku with a 4s kanchan.

When the 6s comes out from Kobayashi, Taro calls chii and gets to tenpai on a 34s wait. With a 4s win, he would have a mangan.

With the aggression by Taro, Takamiya decides to call a tsumogiri riichi on her 4s kanchan. However, Takamiya would end up drawing the 3s on her ippatsu turn and deal into Taro. Taro wins the hand with Honitsu/Green Dragon for 7,700 plus a riichi stick.

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Raiden Response

December 3, Game 1, S2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5085

In S2-1, Honda is in 2nd place after just being passed by 1st dealer Taro. 7,900 separates the two rivals.

Honda starts out the hand at 3-shanten with two ryanmens and a floating red 5p. The first row provides Honda with sequence candidates, but fail to connect the red 5p. To aim for something more, Honda rejects an iishanten by discarding the 1m, aiming to connect the red 5p and potentially get tanyao.

At the start of the second row, Honda breaks his north pair to aim for the extra value. In the middle of the row, he draws a 3p to potentially use with the red 5p and advances to iishanten.

Sitting in 4th place, Takamiya is trying to get a big chinitsu. Near the end of the second row, Takamiya gets to tenpai on a 1p tanki. A few turns later, Takamiya improves to a 258p wait. However, only one remains in the wall.

Back to Honda, a 7p draw widens Honda’s potential efficiency. Near the middle of the second row, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 6p kanchan (with it being nakasuji due to a 3p and 9p discard).

Defending against Honda, Taro discards the 9p. To break the ippatsu and remain safe, Takamiya calls a chii and switches to a 369p wait. However, the call only shifts the wall in Honda’s favour as he draws the 6p on his next turn. Honda wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 2,000+100/4,000+100.

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Taro Top

December 3, Game 1, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2095

In S4-0, Taro is in 2nd place and 9,700 behind 1st place Honda. To finish the game in 1st, Taro needs a 3/40 direct hit, a mangan tsumo or a haneman ron.

Taro starts out with a pretty good starting hand at 2-shanten with a secured red 5p for value, but needs a bit more to get to a mangan. For Honda, he is also 2-shanten and has a pair of easts. Though he skipped the pon off the first east, Honda calls the second one to get to iishanten. With a chii a few turns later, Honda is tenpai on a 25s ryanmen.

Back to Taro, he has three completed sequences and a pair, but lacks that fourth group. On turn 3, he discards the 9p, but ends up drawing the 8p on his very next tunr. A turn later, he draws the 7p. Though it would have been a win if he had kept the 9p, it wouldn’t have been enough anyways. Taking the tenpai that he has, Taro calls a furiten riichi and waits on a 369p three-sided wait. With the 3p dora, he will have enough. With the other two tiles, he will need to get one more han. Either way, he needs to win by tsumo to win.

On Taro’s ippatsu draw, he manages to get the perfect dora 3p and wins the hand! Taro wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 3,000/6,000, getting his fifth win of the season.

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Results

Game 91

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Game 2

Tanki

December 3, Game 2, E1-1

In E1-1, Sonoda remains the dealer after being the only one tenpai in the first hand of the game. A riichi stick and a honba are in the pot.

Sonoda starts out the hand filling in an 8m kanchan to get to 4-shanten. Also in his hand is the red 5p double dora, offering some good value. The sequences in Sonoda’s hand develop quickly, but he is missing a pair. To his left, Nakabayashi move forward quicker with a pon of the green dragon. With a 678m chii, Nakabayashi is the first ot tenpai and waits on a 3p kanchan.

At the end of the first row, Sonoda makes his fourth sequence and waits on a yakuless 9p wait. At the start of the second row, he draws a 2p and decides to call riichi on a 2p tanki. In the middle of the row, Kurosawa draws and discards the 2p trying to maintain iishanten and deals into Sonoda. Sonoda wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 7,700+300 plus a riichi stick.

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Speedy Celeb

December 3, Game 2, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5086

In E2-0, Kurosawa is in 4th place, 8,000 behind 3rd place dealer Hisato, 15,300 behind 2nd place Nakabayashi and 18,700 behind 1st place Sonoda.

With Kurosawa first draw, she fills in a 6p kanchan and gets to iishanten with a good wait guaranteed. On turn 2, she makes a pair of 7m, securing both pinfu and tanyao and getting her to tenpai. With a riichi, she waits on a 25s ryanmen for mangan minimum. If she wins on the red 5s double dora, she will have a haneman.

Across from Kurosawa is Sonoda, who has a decently fast hand as well. After maneuvering around Kurosawa’s hand, Sonoda gets to tenpai near the end of the second row and calls riichi on a 5s dora kanchan.

At the start of the third row, Kurosawa draws the perfect tile: the red 5s. Adding an uradora for the extra hit, Kurosawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 2/Ura 1 for a big 4,000/8,000 baiman plus Sonoda’s riichi stick. In an instant, Kurosawa goes from 4th place to 1st place.

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Riichi Battle

December 3, Game 2, E4-0

In E4-0, Sonoda is in 1st place and holding a narrow 700 lead over 2nd place Kurosawa.

Sonoda starts out with a valuable 2-shanten hand with two 7m doras and two red fives, guaranteeing him at least a mangan if he wins. In the first row, he advances to iishanten, but doesn’t have a good wait confirmed. At the same time, both Hisato and Kurosawa are at iishanten as well.

At the start of the second row, Sonoda has a chance to call riichi on a 6m kanchan, but it’s quite weak with it being so close to the dora and with one already discarded. Instead, he discards one of his 7m doras to guarantee himself a good wait if he gets to tenpai.

Right after, Kurosawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a red dragon tanki.

During the ippatsu round, Sonoda gets his good wait tenpai and calls riichi on a 45m wait.

After avoiding the ippatsu round, Hisato is the third to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen.

Three players in riichi, only one can win. At the start of the third row, Sonoda draws the 4m and wins the hand. Sonoda wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 2,000/4,000 plus the two riichi sticks, taking Sonoda above 40,000.

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Silent Killer

December 3, Game 2, S2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5087

In S2-1, Kurosawa is in 2nd place and 13,700 behind 1st place Sonoda. 1,300 in bonuses will go to the next winner.

Kurosawa starts out at 3-shanten with nine manzu tiles. In the first row, she adds one more manzu tile to the count and confirms her flush pursuit by breaking her 1p pair.

In the second row, Kurosawa patiently waits for manzu tiles to come since Hisato won’t give her any. As she waits, Nakabayashi tries to rush a tanyao hand. With a 2m pon, he gets to iishanten. Two turns later, Nakabayashi gets to tenpai and waits on a 58p ryanmen. Six winning tiles remain in the wall.

Back to Kurosawa, she is get to 13 manzu tiles at the end of the second row, but is still iishanten. For Nakabayashi, his winning tiles are quickly being gobbled up, now down to just two. At the start of the third row, Kurosawa finally gets to tenpai and waits on a 7m, ready for at least a haneman.

Immediately after, Nakabayashi draws the 7m. Taking no time, he simply discards it and deals into Kurosawa.

Kurosawa wins the hand with Chinitsu/Iipeikou for 12,000+300 plus a riichi stick, bringing Kurosawa within 400 of 1st place and Nakabayashi down to 4th.

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Kanchan Kei

December 3, Game 2, S4-0

In S4-0, Nakabayashi is the dealer in 4th place after dealing into Kurosawa’s haneman two hands earlier. Sitting 3,000 behind 3rd place Hisato, Nakabayashi needs at least a 2/40 hand to move up in placement.

Nakabayashis starts out the hand 4-shanten for seven pairs (5-shanten for a standard hand) with only a lone white dragon dora for potential value. The first row isn’t much help for Nakabayashi, only gettin him one step closer and still holding the single white dragon. However, routes to pinfu and tanyao seem a bit clearer.

In the second row, Nakabayashi draws some middle tiles to move hiim closer to tanyao. In the middle of the second row, Sonoda is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 7s kanchan. With his hand, a win would win him the game.

For Hisato, who had been tenpai with no yaku for a few turns, he choses to fold since dealing in could potentially drop him into 4th. If Nakabayashi wins the hand, at least there will be another one after.

Back to Nakabayashi, he fills in a 3m kanchan at the end of the second row to get to iishanten. A turn later, Nakabayashi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 3p kanchan. Two turns later, Sonoda draws and discards the 3p and deals into Sonoda. Getting the uradora, Nakabayashi wins the hand with Riichi/Tanyao/Ura 1 for 7,700 plus Sonoda’s riichi stick, moving Nakabayashi into 3rd place.

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Results

Game 92

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