Thursday (December 19)

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Game 1

Stick Around

December 19, Game 1, E4-2

In E4-2, Takaki is the dealer in 1st place and holds a 3,400 lead over 2nd place Daisuke. WIth four riichi sticks and two honba in the pot, the next winner will have a big bonus of 4,600.

Takaki starts out the hand 2-shanten with two ryanmens and a hand destined to have sequences. On turn 3, he converts a kanchan into a ryanmen to be guaranteed pinfu. On turn 6, he fills draws a 9m to fill in one ryanmen. On his next draw, he gets a 5s to fill in another and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen. On his ippatsu turn, Takaki draws the 6m and wins the hand. Hitting the uradora, Takaki wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Ura 1 for 4,000+200 all plus four riichi sticks, pushing him to exactly 45,000.

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Stick Together

December 19, Game 1, E4-4

In E4-2, Daisuke is in 2nd place and chasing after the far away Takaki. 2,600 in bonuses await the next winner.

Before even getting is first draw, Daisuke calls pon on the white dragon to get to 4-shanten. With a pair of 2s dora in his hand and the bonuses in the pot, his aggression is merited. Lter in the row, he calls a 567p chii to continue his advance. Before the row is done, Daisuke is tenpai on a 6s kanchan, holding the red 5s to upgrade it to a mangan.

In the middle of the second row, Daisuke draws the 6s and wins the hand. Daisuke wins with White Dragon/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 2,000+400/4,000+400 plus two riichi sticks

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50K Phoenix

December 19, Game 1, S1-0

In S1-0, Takaki is still in 1st place, but his lead over 2nd place Daisuke has shrunk down to 8,800.

Takaki starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a very likely tanyao. To his right, Hori is at 3-shanten as well with three ryanmens and the red 5m double dora. In the first row, Takaki is only able to get to 2-shanten, but has opened up the route to pinfu. Hori is similarly stuck at 2-shanten with his double dora still hanging.

In the second row, Takaki gets himself to a perfect iishanten while Hori connects the double dora with a 4m. In the middle of the row, Takaki is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen.

During the ippatsu round, Hori chases and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins.

Just two turns later, Takaki draws the 4p and wins the hand. Takaki wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Dora 1 for 8,000. With Hori’s riichi stick, it takes Takaki’s score to 50,100.

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Hori Happenings

December 19, Game 1, S2-3

In S2-3, Hori is in 4th place and chasing after 3rd place Daisuke who is 9,600 ahead of him. A riichi stick and three honba are in the pot.

From the very start, Hori is 2-shanten, but lacking in value. On turn 2, he draws a 7m to set up a 789m iipeikou. On turn 3, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 7m penchan, iipeikou guaranteed.

At the start of the second row, Hori draws the 7m and wins the hand. Getting an uradora, Hori wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Iipeikou/Ura 1 for 2,000+300/4,000+300 plus a riichi stick, moving into 3rd place.

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Ura 4

December 19, Game 1, S3-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3098

In S3-2, Hori is now in 2nd place and sitting 22,800 behind 1st place Takaki. If he can take strong advantage of his dealership like Shibukawa did on Monday, he may have a chance at 1st place.

Hori starts out the hand 2-shanten for both a pairs and standard hand, holding pairs of 6p, 8p, 9p and 5m (including the red 5m). In the first row, Hori draws a third 8p and a dora 5p, leading him to shift towards the standard route. By turn 4, he has a perfect iishanten.

As Hori waits, Takaki also has a strong hand to pursue. Sitting iishanten as well, he has a green dragon triplet in hand for value and yaku. With a 234p chii near the middle of the second row, Takaki is the first to tenpai and waits on a 5m kanchan.

Right after, Hori draws the third 5m to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen.

On Hori’s very next turn, he draws the fourth 5m, letting him call kan and deny Takaki his waits. Though neither the kandora nor the rinshan help, it does give him an extra chance at uradora.

Just two turns later, Hori draw the 4p and wins the hand. With the uradora flip, his 5m quad becomes uradora and his han count instantly doubles. Hori wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 2/Ura 4 for 8,000+200 all, rocketing him up to 1st place.

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Takizawa Time

December 19, Game 1, S3-4

In S3-4, Takizawa is in 3rd place, 3,200 ahead of 4th place Daisuke and 26,600 behind 2nd place Takaki. WIth 2nd place so far and no dealership left, his best course of action is to win as many points and try to separate himself from Daisuke.

Takizawa starts out the hand at 4-shanten with a bunch of good shapes, a floating 2p dora and a connected red 5p.

Though nice, Takaki’s is even nicer at iishanten with 12 different tiles that will get him to tenpai. On turn 3, Takaki gets to tenpai on a 6s kanchan, but stays dama. On his next turn, he “improves” the wait and calls riichi on a 58s/1p wait. Unfortunately, only one winning tile remains in the wall for him.

Just two turns after the riichi, Hori gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 58m ryanmen.

Soon after that, Daisuke gets to tenpai on a 58s ryanmen. With two yakuhai calls and a pair of 2p dora, Daisuke is set for a mangan. Unfortunately, he will lose on ron because Takaki’s wait overlaps.

While all this was going on, Takizawa patiently built his hand, creating sequences and loosely connecting the dora 2p. Right after Daisuke gets to tenpai, Takizawa calls riichi and waits on a 3p kanchan.

Four players in tenpai, but only one can win. In the middle of the second row, Daisuke draws and discards the 3p and deals into Takizawa. Getting an uradora, Takizawa wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 8,000+1,200, essentially securing 3rd place for Takizawa.

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Takaki Towards

December 19, Game 1, S4-0

In S4-0, Takaki is the dealer in 4th place, 13,400 behind 1st place Hori. To move into top spot, Takaki needs a 3/40 direct hit, a mangan tsumo or a haneman ron.

Takaki starts out the hand with a decent 3-shanten hand with a connected 6p for value. In the first row, Takaki fails to draw good tiles, leaving him stuck at 3-shanten. Causing troubles for him are Daisuke and Takizawa, with Daisuke calling two dragons and Takizawa calling pon on the west and getting to tenpai on an 8s kanchan.

In the second row, Takaki does well to advance and gets to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten. When Takizawa draws a south, he decides to fold his hand and kill any chance of Daisuke potentially having a double south. Soon after, Takizawa pairs up the south and returns to iishanten.

With nowhere to go but up, Takaki keeps pushing, even throwing a red 5s. For Takizawa, a 3p draw ends his pursuits, avoiding what looks to be a pinzu honitsu for Daisuke.

WIth few tiles left in the wall, Takaki gets to tenpai on his second-last draw and waits dama on a 69m ryanmen. Immediately after, Daisuke calls an added kan on the green dragon. With the kandora flip, Takaki’s 9s becomes dora. To make matters worse for Daisuke, he draws the 9m as the rinshan. Discarding it, Daisuke deals into Takaki. Takaki wins the hand with Pinfu/Dora 2 for 5,800. Though it’s not the big hand that Takaki wants, it puts him within 7,600 of 1st place.

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Spoiler

December 19, Game 1, S4-1

In S4-1, the fight for the top is hot, with 1st place Hori ahead of 2nd place dealer Takaki by only 7,600. Sitting at the bottom of the standings with no chance of moving up is Daisuke. Though going up in rank is very unlikely, he can still gain points for the team and try to save face, whil also having the opportunity to play spoiler.

Daisuke starts out the hand already at 2-shanten with a loosely connected dora 3p and red 5s, as well as a pair of souths. On turn 2, Daisuke fills in a 4s kanchan to secure the red 5s. To try to use the souths and potentially increase future efficiency, Daisuke starts to break up a penchan. The gamble works, as he is able to pair up the 7s and make a triplet of souths. With that south draw, Daisuke gets to mangan tenpai and waits dama on a 2p kanchan.

To his left, Takaki is still trying for 1st place. Calling pon on the 9s in the first row, Takaki aims for a souzu honitsu. After a bit of fiddling and a lot of waiting, Takaki finally gets to tenpai in the middle of the second row and waits on a 3s kanchan.

Though winning a hand is one way to move into 1st, there is another. Soon after Takaki gets to tenpai, Hori discards the 2p and deals in to Daisuke with big consequences. Daisuke wins the hand with Double South/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 8,000+300. With that big deal-in from Hori, it moves Hori down to 2nd place and gives Takaki the win by 700 furthering the rise of the Phoenix.

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Results

Game 109

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Game 2

Date

December 19, Game 2, E3-0

In E3-0, the scores are close. Sitting tied for 3rd place are Date and Okada, both sitting just 2600 behind 1st place Daigo.

Date starts out the hand at 4-shanten with only three blocks secured. Sarukawa, on the other hand is 2-shanten with five blocks in sight. In the first row, Date does well to make a 2p triplet and a pair of 4m, but is still missing a block and sits at 2-shanten. For Sarukawa, he is iishanten with tanyao almost guaranteed, a good chance at pinfu and will have a good wait however he gets to tenpai.

In the middle of the second row, Sarukawa is indeed the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a wide 369p wait.

At this point, Date has a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten, but lacks value. During the ippatsu round, Date gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69s ryanmen. On her very next draw, she gets the 9s and wins the hand. With the 9s also being the uradora, Date wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Ura 1 for an unexpected 2,000/4,000 plus a riichi stick, taking the lead.

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Okada

December 19, Game 2, E4-0

In E4-0, Okada is the dealer in 4th place, less than 1,000 behind the middle two players and 11,000 behind 1st place Date. WIth a dealership, a mangan is enough for top spot.

With Okada’s very first draw, she is iishanten with a secured dora 4m and has 10 different tiles that can get her to tenpai. On turn 4, she pairs up the 2p and calls riichi on a 2p/4p shanpon, guaranteed at least 7,700 if she wins.

Try as they might, her opponents have trouble trying to fight against the dealer riichi. Lacking in fighting material, the only thing left to decides is if Okada can get her winning tile.

It takes a while, but on Okada’s second-last draw, she gets the 2p and wins the hand. Okada wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Dora 1 for 4,000 all, taking 1st place from Date.

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Date

December 19, Game 2, S3-0

In S3-0, Date is in 2nd place and trailing 1st place Okada by 1,800.

Date starts off the hand at 3-shanten with a connected dora 4s and a likely tanyao. With almost every draw, she finds something useful. After starting out with just a single 5m, Date is able to create a 567m sequence by turn 3. On turn 4, she draws a 3p to guarantee pinfu and improve her iishanten. On turn 5, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 258p three-sided wait, guaranteed at least a mangan if she wins.

Within the go-around, Daigo throws the 2p trying to call riichi and ends up dealing into Date. Date wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1 for 8,000, holding a 6,200 lead going into South 4.

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Okada

December 19, Game 2

In S4-1, Okada is the dealer in 2nd place and sitting 4,200 behind 1st place Date. Looking for her first 1st of the season, a win in this hand could be the key to getting that 1st.

Okada starts out with a good 2-shanten hand with tanyao in view and a red 5m likely to be used. On turn 4, Okada calls a 234s chii and gets herself to iishanten. Though it takes a bit of waiting, OKada manages to call pon on the 8m in the second row and gets to tenpai on a 6m kanchan. For it to be enough, she needs to win by direct hit or tsumo.

A few turns after Okada gets to tenpai, Daigo gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen. Needing a mangan direct hit or a haneman tsumo, Daigo needs to either get one more han with the direct hit or get two more han with a tsumo to raise his rank.

At the start of the third row, Okada gets the 6m and wins the hand. Okada wins with Tanyao/Aka 1 for 1,000+100 all plus a riichi stick, moving her into the lead.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s70_p2437

Though Okada has taken the lead, the game does not stop even as she is 1st place by 1,200. She must keep moving forward.

Okada starts out the hand at 4-shanten with a bunch of messy shapes, but that doesn’t faze her. With every single draw that she gets, she moves forward a step. Making sequences from weak shapes, things the wall seems to be gifting her with success. By turn 5, Okada is tenpai and she calls riichi on a 3p/9p shanpon.

Wanting the 1st place almost as badly as Okada is Date, needing any win to take over. Though she goes back a step initially to avoid the ippatsu, her hand starts to reform into a tanyao. With a 345s chii at the end of the first row, Date gets to iishanten. Just a turn later, Date is tenpai on a 69s ryanmen, only allowed to win on the 6s. Unfortunately, on her very next draw, she draws and discards the 9p and deals into Okada.

With Okada’s 3p pair being the uradora, Okada wins the hand with Riichi/Ura 2 for 7,700+600, a big hit off her biggest rival. With the win, the lead by Okada is now at 17,800, a very difficult amount to overcome.

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Date

December 19, Game 2, S4-3
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3600

In S4-3, Date is in 2nd place and 17,800 behind 1st place Okada. Though very difficult to overcome it is not impossible. With a haneman direct hit or tsumo, or a sanbaiman ron, Date can finish the game in 1st place.

With Date’s initial 13 tiles, she is already tenpai and waiting on the 8s! If she can get the 8s she can win with a huge chiihou, getting a yakuman and taking 1st place in an instant. On her first draw, she gets…

…the 1s. It’s not a chiihou, but she is still tenpai.

From here, she has a choice. If she takes the double riichi, her path to a haneman will be very difficult and will be up to the whims of the live wall and the uradora.

Not wanting to settle for 2nd place, Date decides to simply discard the 1s, hoping to draw better shapes.

On her next draw, Date discards the 9s to take a wider pinzu shape. On turn 4, Date draws the 6s.

With this draw, she is tenpai, but her value is still not quite enough. Though it is wider, the Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 1 is not enough and will be very difficult to get a haneman with.

Seeing a path to a 678 sanshoku, Date discards the 2p, taking a 58s ryanmen tenpai. Though she has the ability to win if trouble arises, her true goal is to get the haneman and win the game.

At the start of the second row, Date has a choice to switch to a north tanki, but declines it. On her very next turn she draws another north. If she had taken the north tanki and called riichi, she would have gotten a Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 1st place. However, there is still a chance for her to win.

Just a turn later, Date draws a 6m. Shifting her 789m sequence to a 678m sequence, she both guarantees tanyao and gives herself a chance at a 678 sanshoku. With the value in hand, Date decides to call riichi and wait on the 58s ryanmen. If she draws the 8s, she will win instantly. If she draws the 5s, she will need one more han to win.

Just two turns later, Date draws the perfect 8s and wins the hand! With Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Sanshoku/Aka 1, Date wins with 3,000+300/6,000+300, moving ahead of Okada by 1,4000 and taking the game.

Though so close, Okada is left waiting for another day to get her first win.

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Results

Game 110

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Intro | Standings