Friday (December 20)

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Game 1

Start the Sho

December 20, Game 1, E1-0

In E1-0, Shiratori is starting in the south seat and trying to help raise the Abemas out of 7th place.

Shiratori starts out the hand at 3-shanten, but lacks any value. In the first row, Shiratori drops honours and terminals to aim for tanyao, while holding a 9m in case he draws a dora 8m. By the end of the row, he is 2-shanten.

To his right, Setokuma is working on his honitsu hand. At the end of the first row, he creates a potential 147p three-sided wait with a chance at ittsuu, needing a 1p. At the end of the second row, Setokuma calls pon on the east and waits on the three-sided wait, with the ittsuu out giving a mangan.

At the start of the second row, the dealer Futoshi adds some more pressure by calling riichi and waiting on a 3m/9p shanpon.

During the ippatsu round, Shiratori gets to tenpai, but stays dama on the poor 4p wait. A turn later, he improves it and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen. Setokuma draws the dora 8m in the ippatsu round, but pushes it against the two riichi players. On Shiratori’s next draw, he gets the 3p and wins the hand. Shiratori wins with RIichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Tanyao for 2,000/4,000 plus a riichi stick.

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Raiden Retaliation

December 20, Game 1, E2-0

In E2-0, Setokuma is in 2nd place and chasing after 1st place Shiratori just 11,00 away.

Setokuma starts off at 2-shanten with a secured red 5p and needing a 2m or 4m to secured the dora 3m. On turn 4, he gets the 2m to gets to iishanten. A turn later, he draws the 8m and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins. Within the go-around, Shiratori discards the 8s and deals into Setokuma. Setokuma wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 8,000, switching placements with Shiratori.

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Tanki Time

December 20, Game 1, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4092

In S1-0, Shiratori is in 2nd place and just 1,000 behind 1st place Setokuma.

Sitting at 3-shanten with a pair of green dragons, Shiratori has a path to a quick and cheap hand. After creating two ryanmens, Shiratori calls pon on the green dragon in the middle of the first row to get to iishanten. Two turns later, Shiratori gets to tenpai and waits on a 4m tanki.

At the start of the second row, Shiratori improves to a 69s nobetan.

However, soon after, Futoshigets to tenpai as well and calls riichi on a wide 235s wait, wanting the 2s for the sanshoku and the mangan.

Drawing a 1p on the ippatsu round, Shiratori tries to trick the other players and wait on the 1p, a tile safe against Futoshi. Two turn later, Shiratori draws the 1p and wins the hand. Beating out the three-sided wait, Shiratori wins with Green Dragon only for 300/500 plus a riichi stick.

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Aki Action

December 20, Game 1, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2597

In S2-0, Aki is in 3rd place, 8,000 behind 2nd place Setokuma and 9,400 behind 1st place Shiratori. With a mangan tsumo or a haneman ron, she will move to the top.

Aki starts out the hand at 3-shanten, but lacks value. Through the first row, she draws a single dora south and gets to iishanten at the end of the first row. Holding onto the dora like her lover, she is rewarded as she pairs it up at the start of the second row. Getting to tenpai, she calls riichi and waits on a south/1p shanpon.

In the middle of the third row, Aki draws the south and wins the hand. Aki wins with Riichi/Tsumo/South/Dora 3 for 3,000/6,000, moving into 1st place with a little extra.

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Man

December 20, Game 1, S3-0

After getting hit with the dealer penalty, Shiratori is down from 1st to 3rd, sitting 16,00 behind 2nd place Setokuma and 8,600 behind 1st place Aki going into S3-0.

Before Shiratori gets his first draw, he calls pon on the green dragon. With his first discard, his hand is free of pinzu and souzu, giving him an easy path to a honitsu. On turn 5, he draws a 3m to get to iishanten. A turn later, a 9m pon puts him into tenpai and he waits on a 56m wait, ready for mangan

In the second row, Setokuma discards the 5m and deals into Shiratori. Shiratori wins the hand with Honitsu/Green Dragon/Dora 1 for 8,000.

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Spoiler

December 20, Game 1, S4-0

In S4-0, the fight for the top is close, with 1st place dealer Aki ahead of 2nd place Shiratori by just 600. At the bottom, 4th place Futoshi trails 3rd place Setokuma by 4,200. To move up a rank, Futoshi needs a 2/40 direct hit, a 3/30 tsumo or a 3/40 ron.

Futoshi starts out the hand at 4-shanten with a path to tanyao and a red 5s for value. Though good, he will need at least one more han to make any moves. In the first row, he discards the honours and cleans up his shapes to get to iishanten. With a 135m shape, he keeps his options open for either tanyao or the 2m dora.

On turn 8, Futoshi draws the dora 2m to get the extra value and advance to iishanten. With a 4m draw in the middle of the row, he shifts to tanyao as well and gives the possibility to open the hand. A few turns later, Futoshi calls pon on the 2s and waits on a 36s ryanmen, needing a tsumo or a direct hit for 3rd place.

Two turns into the third row, Futoshi draws the 6s to win the hand. Futoshi wins with Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 1,000/2,000, finishing in 3rd place.

However, his win has even bigger implications. With the top two players separated by 600 and 1st place Aki being the dealer, the dealer penalty means that Aki falls into 2nd place and Shiratori takes the game.

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Results

Game 111

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Game 2

Dama Drivens

December 20, Game 2, E1-0

In E1-0, Taro is playing for the Akasaka Drivens, trying to break his 2-game 4th streak.

Tarp starts out the hand by drawing the red 5s, joining his secured red 5p and getting him to 4-shanten. In the first row, he keeps with teh tanyao route and gets to iishanten by the end of the first row. Too his right, Honda matches his speed and waits iishanten with a dora 9m in hand.

On turn 8, Honda is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on an 8m kanchan.

With good value and few safe tiles in hand anyways, Taro keeps trudging forward. In the middle of the second row, Taro draws a red 5m to get to tenpai on a 7m kanchan. Soon after,he draws the 7m and wins the hand. Taro wins with Tsumo/Tanyao/Aka 3 for 2,000/4,000 plus a riichi stick.

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Shift Stick

December 20, Game 2, E4-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5092

In E4-2, Honda is in 3rd place 6,000 behind 2nd place Aki and 17,900 behind 1st place dealer Taro. two riichi sticks and two honba are in the pot.

Honda starts out the hand at 3-shanten for a pairs hand and 4-shanten for a standard hand. One of the pairs includes a red 5p for value. The first row gets him up to 2-shanten for both routes, not yet deciding which one to take. Around the table, both Matsumoto and Aki are iishanten as well.

In the second row, Honda draws a fifth pair to put him iishanten. At the end of the row, Honda fills in a ryanmen and chooses to shift to a standard hand. When all seemed to be going well, Aki scares the table with a riichi at the end of the second row, waiting on a 36s ryanmen.

Right after, Matsumoto chases with a 47m ryanmen.

Luckily for Honda, he gets to tenpai on his next draw and calls riichi on a 2s kanchan.

Sitting in a tough spot is Taro, needing to defend against three players. Going off of the early 4s by Aki and the 5s discards by Matsumoto and Honda, Taro discards the 2s and deals into Honda. Honda wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Iipeikou/Aka 1 for 8,000+600 plus four riichi sticks.

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Momentary Matsumoto

December 20, Game 2, S2-1

In S2-1, Matsumoto is in 4th place with no dealership left and 22,000 away from 3rd. Though getting his first 1st of the season seems unlikely, he can still do his best and get as many points for his team as he can.

Matsumoto start out with quite a messy 4-shanten hand with only kanchans. As Matsumoto works on improving those shapes, Honda gets aggressive with his calls. One after another, he calls the white dragon and the red dragon to get to iishanten. In the middle of the row, Honda draws a red 5s to fill in a ryanmen and waits on an 8m tanki. A turn later, he improves to a 58s nobetan.

A few turns later, Taro calls pon on the south and gets to tenpai on a 2p kanchan.

As his opponents go with their fast hands, Matsumoto lags behind at 2-shanten with no way to speed up. All he has to do is wait. During the time, Taro draws the dora 6p and breaks up his kanchan. Back to Matsumoto, the wall gifts him with perfect draws. At the start of his second row, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25s ryanmen. Two turns later, he draws the 5s and wins the hand. Matsumoto wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 2,000+100/4,000+100.

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Exciting Ending

December 20, Game 2

In S3-1, the fight for the top is tight, with 1st place Honda and 2nd place Aki separated by only 400. Seeing what the dealer penalty did in the first game, Aki wants to gain as many points as she can now to prevent that from happening again. 1,100 sits in the pot.

Aki starts out the hand with a green dragon triplet, a 123p sequence and a 9s dora to be 2-shanten. However, she still needs to find two more blocks. In the first row, she creates a 68m block and calls pon on the 9s to get to iishanten. Near the end of the row, she pairs up the 4p dora and gets to tenpai on a 7m kanchan.

Over the next few turns, she shifts her hand to improve even more. She switches to a 5m kanchan before finally settling on a 25m ryanmen.

Wanting to get in on all the action is Taro, sitting in 3rd place. Near the end of the second row, Taro gets to tenpai on a south/7s shanpon, only allowed to win on the south.

In the third row, 4th place Matsumoto draws and discards the 5m and deals into Aki. Aki wins the hand with Green Dragon/Dora 2 for 7,700+300 plus a riichi stick.

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In S3-2, Honda trails Aki by 8,600. A mangan ron would tie him with Aki, a 3/50 or 4/25 tsumo would let him surpass her.

From the very start, Honda has five pairs and has a chance to call a double riichi if he can get the sixth on his first draw. He doesn’t geet it, but he is still in a very good spot. Just three turns later, Honda pairs up the 5s and calls riichi on a 9p tanki.

Though his opponents get close, none of them are able to safely match his speed. At the start of the third row, Honda draws the last 9p in the wall and wins the hand. Honda wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Chiitoi for 1,600+200/3,200+200, moving ahead of Aki by 1,800.

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In S4-0, Honda is in 1st place and Aki is in 2nd place. The two players are separated by 1,800. Honda can win anything, Aki just needs two han.

Honda starts out the hand at 2-shanten with a red 5p in hand while Aki is at a distant 5-shanten with a red 5s. In the first row, Honda opens up his hand with a 234s ryanmen and forces his hand towards tanyao. Wanting to match this speed is Aki with a 234m chii. By the end of the first row, both players are iishanten, along with everyone else at the table.

At the start of the second row, everyone but Matsumoto gets to iishanten. Near the end of the row, Taro is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 6s/7s shanpon.

Within the ippatsu round, Honda gets to tenpai and waits on a 5m kanchan. A win this hand will win the game.

Two turns later, Taro draws and discards the 5m and deals into Honda. Honda wins the hand with Tanyao/Aka 1 for 2,000 plus a riichi stick for 1st place.

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Results

Game 112

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