Thursday (December 12)

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Game 1

Pairs

December 12, Game 1, E4-1

In E4-1, Futoshi is in 3rd place in a close game, only 3,200 behind 1st place dealer Sugawara.

From the start, Futoshi has pairs of 1p, 4p, 9p and 2s, putting him 2-away from seven pairs. Also in his hand is a red 5m, ready to be paired up. On turn 3, Futoshi pairs up hte 2p to get to iishanten. On turn 8, Futoshi pairs up the 5m and calls riichi on a 1m tanki

Just two turns later, Honda discards the 1s trying to shift to tanyao and deals into Futoshi. Futoshi wins the hand with Riichi/Chiitoi/Aka 1 for 6,400+300, moving into the lead.

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Ippatsu

December 12, Game 1, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5090

In S1-0, Honda is in 4th place after dealing in the previous hand.

Honda starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a pair of souths and a red 5m for value. Within the first row, Futoshi makes some early moves by calling pon on the 1s and making a concealed kan of the white dragon. With the kandora flip, the 3m becomes the new dora, giving Honda an extra han. By the end of the first row, Futoshi and Okada are iishanten while Honda is 2-shanten.

In the second row, Honda advances to iishanten to match the other two. At the end of the second row, Okada is the first to tenpai as she calls riichi and waits on a 36m ryanmen.

During the ippatsu round, Honda gets to tenpai as well and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen. On Okada’s next draw, she draws and discards the 4m and deals into Honda. Honda wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 8,000 plus Okada’s riichi stick.

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Menchin

December 12, Game 1, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2099

In S2-0, Futoshi is in 1st place while both Honda and Sugawara are fast approaching.

Futoshi starts out the hand at 3-shanten with not much value to speak of. As the first row goes along, he starts to draw more and more pinzu, going from 8 tiles at the start of the row to 12 tiles at the end of the row.

At the start of the third row, Futoshi draws a 9p to get to tenpai and waits dama on a 36p ryanmen, guaranteed at least 7 han if he wins. Within the go-around, Okada discards the 3p and deals into Futoshi. Futoshi wins the hand with Chinitsu/Iipeikou for 12,000, boosting his score.

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Pairs

December 12, Game 1, S3-0

In S3-0, Honda is in 3rd place, 500 behind 2nd place Sugawara and 16,000 beind 1st place Futoshi.

Honda starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a dora red 5m. Though Honda started out with only two pairs at the start, the wall gifted him with many more. By turn 4, he has 4. A turn later, he has 5. And on turn 6, Honda has 6 pairs. Sitting tenpai, Honda calls riichi and waits on a 5m tanki.

Sitting in 4th place and unable to fold is Okada, needing to make the most out of her dealership. After doing so well and getting to iishanten, Okada draws a lone 5m in the middle of the third row. Needing to push, she tosses it out and deals into Honda. Honda wins the hand with Riichi/Chiitoi/Aka 1 for 6,400, moving Honda into 2nd.

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Results

Game 101

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Game 2

Nakada

December 12, Game 2, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6078

In E2-0, Nakada has the early lead after winning the first hand of the game.

Nakada starts off the hand at 4-shanten with a cluster of manzu, including a triplet of 2m. In the first row, she works to have three blocks in manzu, a ryanmen in souzu and a pair of 9s dora. By the end of the first row, she has a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten.

In the second row, she shifts towards a potential 456m iipeikou, needing only a 6m to complete it. In the middle of the row, Nakada draws the 6m and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if she wins.

Just two turns later, Taro chases and calls riichi on a 69s ryanmen.

At the start of the third row, Nakada draws a fourth 2m. Stopping herself before she discards it, she calls a concealed kan. With the kandora flip, the 6s in her hand becomes the new dora. Though the rinshan misses, she get the 8s on her next turn and wins the hand. Getting an uradora as well, Nakada wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 3/Ura 1 for 3,000/6,000 plus Taro’s riichi stick, taking her over 40,000.

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Ippatsu

December 12, Game 2, E3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3095

In E3-1, Shibukawa is in 4th place, 2,000 behind 3rd place Taro and 2,500 behind 2nd place Hagiwara. With 1,300 in bonuses in the wall, almost any win is enough to move into 2nd.

Shibukawa starts out the hand at 2-shanten with a red 5m as part of a 3445m shape. The first row gives him a 6p triplet to get him to iishanten with the flexible manzu shape intact. Though dealer Nakada is technically the first to tenpai (doing so early in the second row), she lacks a yaku with her 4m/7m shanpon. In the middle of the second row, Shibukawa draws a 5m and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen, wanting the 3m for iipeikou.

During the ippatsu round, Hagiwara gets to tenpai as well and chases with a white dragon tanki.

The riichi by Hagiwara is just a donation, though. On Shibukawa’s ippatsu draw, he gets the 6m and wins the hand. Hitting two uradora as well, Shibukawa wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Aka 1/Ura 2 for 3,000/6,000, putting him just 4,100 from 1st place.

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Ippatsu

December 12, Game 2, S1-0

In S1-0, Hagiwara is the dealer in 4th place and 4,400 behind 3rd place Taro.

From the start, Hagiwara is 3-shanten for both a standard hand pairs hand, holding a white dragon pair and a floating red 5m for value. In the first row, he makes the 9m into a triplet and draws a 7m to connect to the red 5m. By the end of the row, he is iishanten.

In the middle of the second row, Hagiwara draws a 6m to fill in the kanchan and calls riichi on a white dragon/2p shanpon. On his very next draw, he gets the 2p and wins the hand. Hagiwara wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Aka 1 for 4,000 all, firmly moving into 3rd.

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Sticks With It

December 12, Game 2, S2-4

In S2-4, the sticks are piling up. After the previous 3 hands went to a draw, there are now four riichi sticks and four honba in the pot. Whoever the next winner is will get 5,200 in bonus points.

Sitting in 3rd place is Hagiwara, 8,700 behind 2nd place Shibukawa and 8,900 behind 1st place Nakada.

Shibukawa starts out the hand at a nice 2-shanten, but the 9s triplet and 123s sequence is preventing him from going any faster. On turn 4, he fills in a 5p kanchan to get to iishanten, waiting on 10 different tiles to advance. On his very next turn, he draws a 3m to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 4m kanchan. Two remain in the wall.

With so many points in the pot (including Hagiwara’s riichi), there is incentive for players to push a bit harder. Making this push is dealer Shibukawa. Near the middle of the second row, Shibukawa gets to iishanten and has the option to open his tanyao only hand. With a 7m pon near the end of the row, Shibukawa gets to tenpai and waits on a 36s ryanmen.

Just a few turns later, Nakada discards the 4m and deals into Hagiwara. Hagiwara wins with Riichi only for 1,300+1,200, taking 4 riichi sticks with him. A hand normally worth 1,300 us multiplied many times over to be worth 6,5000.

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Fight

December 12, Game 2, S4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5091

In S4-1, the fight for the top is close. With 1st and 2nd separated by 1,800 and 1,300 sitting in the pot, any win by Shibukawa or Nakada will put them in 1st place.

Not to be forgotten, though is 3rd place Hagiwara, sitting 10,000 behind 2nd place Nakada and 11,800 behind 1st place Shibukawa. A haneman will put him into 1st place, while a mangan direct hit or tsumo will move him into 2nd.

Of course, with 4th place Taro being the final dealer, he can take the game wherever he wants.

At the start, Taro is slightly ahead at 3-shanten (while everyone else is at 4-shanten), but nobody in particular has the advantage. In the first row, Shibukawa forces his hand into tanyao, as well as Nakada. By the end of the first row, Shibukawa is ahead at iishanten.

In the second row, Nakada makes a lot of progress and forms some good shapes. With a 678s chii at the end of the second row, she gets to tenpai (after taking a bit of time to think about it) and waits on a 258m wait.

A few turns later, Shibukawa gets to tenpai and waits on a 2s/5m shanpon.

By this point, Taro is at iishanten and Hagiwara sits at a distant 3-shanten. With Taro as the dealer in last place, he has to push if he wants any chance of moving up. Though Hagiwara stopped pushing too much, a red 5s draw reinvigorated his chances. By the middle of the third row, Hagiwara gets to iishanten with a 2m dora and a red 5s in hand.

With a pon on the 9p soon after, Taro gets to a yakuless tenpai, hoping to hold it if the hand goes to a draw.

On Hagiwara’s next draw, he makes a triplet of the double south. With mangan in sight, he takes aim for a potential takeover. With a 234m chii, he gets to mangan tenpai and waits on a west tanki. Two remain in the wall.

On Hagiwara’s very next draw, he incredibly gets the west and wins the hand! With a Double South/Dora 1/Aka 1 win for 2,000+100/4,000+100 plus a riichi stick, Hagiwara finishes the game in 2nd place and moves Team Raiden back into positive position.

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Results

Game 102

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