Tuesday (January 14)

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Game 1

Sticks

January 14, Game 1, E3-4

In E3-4, Sonoda is in 2nd place and 2,000 behind 1st place Honda. The game thus far has all been all exhaustive draws. As a result, there are 5 riichi sticks and 4 honba in the pot, meaning that the next winner will get 6,200 in bonus points.

Before Sonoda even gets his first draw, Sonoda races with a pon of the west yakuhai. When we see his hand, we see that he is iishanten. On his next turn, he creates a 69p ryanmen, leaving him with a 69p ryanmen and a potential 245m three-sided wait. Within the next go-around, Sonoda calls the 789p sequence and gets to tenpai on the three-sided wait with 7 winning tiles left in the wall.

Before the row is done, Rumi discards the 2m and deals into Sonoda. Sonoda wins the hand with West for just 1,000, but gains 1,200 in honba and 5,000 in riichi sticks, leading to the single-han hand to be worth 7,200 total.

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Riichi For The Top

January 14, Game 1, E4-0

In E4-0, Takamiya is the dealer in 3rd place, 3000 behind 2nd place Honda and 8,200 behind 1st place Sonoda.

Takamiya starts out the hand 2-shanten with eight manzu tiles and a 3p penchan. Within the first row Takamiya pairs up the 2p and builds a bit in manzu, giving herself an option at a flush if her draws lead to it.

At the start of the second row, Takamiya draws a tenth manzu tile to get to iishanten, but the 2p pair seems to be firm. In the middle of the row, Takamiya gets to tenpai. Since she has ittsuu secured for decent value, she decides to call riichi and wait on a 25m ryanmen. Two turns later, she draws the 2m and wins the hand. Takamiya wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Ittsuu for 4,000 all, moving her into 1st place.

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Dama

January 14, Game 1, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5097

In S2-0, Honda is the dealer in 3rd place, 8,200 behind 2nd place Sonoda and 16,600 behind 1st place Takamiya.

Honda starts out the hand at 3-shanten with all but two of his tiles being either souzu or honours. However, on turn 2, Honda draws a 7m dora. On turn 3, Honda draws a 3s to get him just a 2s away from a souzu ittsuu. Through the rest of the row, he makes his west pair into a triplet and holds onto the 7m dora for as long as possible.

At the start of the second row, Honda pairs up the 7m to get to tenpai and waits dama on a 2s kanchan. Only one remains in the wall. As the second row becomes the third, Honda is left waiting and waiting. However, within the last go-around, Rumi draws and discards the last 2s and deals into Honda. Honda wins the hand with Ittsuu/Dora 2 for 12,000, emough to move into 2nd place.

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Flush

January 14, Game 1, S3-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2105

In S3-2, Sonoda is in 3rd place, 3,800 behind 2nd place Honda and 10,400 behind 1st place Takamiya. Sonoda only has two more hands to move into 1st place. 1,600 sits in the pot.

Sonoda starts out the hand at 4-shanten with no clear path at a hand nor value. However, as Sonoda goes through the latter parts of the second row, Sonoda seems to be picking up more and more manzu. By the end of the first row, he has ten of them (including the red 5m) in an iishanten hand.

At the start of the second row, Sonoda draws another manzu tile. With a 123m chii right after, he confirms his pursuit for a flush. With a 7m draw, Sonoda gets to tenpai and waits on a 14m ryanmen. Two turns later, Rumi draws and discards the 1m and deals into Sonoda. Sonoda wins the hand with Chinitsu/Aka 1 for 12,000+600 plus a riichi stick, jumping up to top spot.

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Results

Game 131

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Game 2

Ippatsu

January 14, Game 2, E2-0

In E2-0, Takizawa is tied of 3rd place and just 3,000 from 1st place.

Takizawa starts out the hand 4-shanten with with no value visible. The first row gives him some good progress to get him to iishanten, but the hand is still lacking value.

At the start of the second row, Takizawa shifts the hand to tanyao by shifting a 123m sequence to a 234m sequence. In the middle of the row, Takizawa draws a red 5p to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25s ryanmen. Within the go-around, Honda throws the 5s trying to call riichi and deals into Takizawa. Takizawa wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tanyao/Aka 1 for 8,000.

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Honda Dealership

January 14, Game 2, S1-0

In S1-0, Honda is the dealer in 4th place. Though he is at the bottom of the standings, a simple dealer mangan can put him into top spot.

Honda starts out the hand at 2-shanten with a few kanchans and not much in terms of value. 2nd place Takizawa, on the other hand, is already iishanten with his first draw with a dora 2m and a red 5p. It’s no surprise that within four turns, Takizawa is able to get to tenpai first and calls riichi on a 25s ryanmen.

Back to Honda, he sits iishanten with a secured red 5s. With few clues about what is safe, Honda keeps moving forward. At the start of the second row, Honda draws a 4s to complete a 456s iipeikou and calls riichi on a south/1s shanpon. Just two turns later, Honda draws the south and wins the hand. Honda wins with Riichi/Tsumo/South/Aka 1 for 4,000 all plus a riichi stick, moving him into 1st place.

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To 1st

January 14, Game 2, S2-1

In S2-1, Matsugase is the dealer in 2nd place and sitting 5,700 behind 1st place Taro.

WIth Matsugase’s first draw, he gets a dora 4s to put him iishanten. On his very next turn, he fills in a 3m penchan to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 5s kanchan.

The early dealer riichi makes it difficult for anyone to push given the bonus for a dealer winning. For those who did with to challenge authority, the wall didn’t provide much to advance with. All Matsugase can do is sit, watch and wait.

At the start of the third row, Matsugase draws the 5s and wins the hand. Hitting the uradora, Matsugase wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 4,000+100 all.

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Shortcut to Baiman

January 14, Game 2, S2-3
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2106

In S2-3, Taro is in 2nd place and 12,700 behind 1st place Matsugase. 2,900 in bonuses will go to the next winner.

Taro starts out the hand drawing a red 5s, putting him 2-away from seven pairs. To his right, Honda is 3-shanten with a pair of red dragons and a secured red 5p. In the first row, both players take one step closer to tenpai, with Taro making a green dragon pair and Honda completing a 345s sequence.

At the start of the second row, despite having no yaku secured, Honda calls pon on the west to speed up the hand and get to iishanten. A few turns later, Honda gets to tenpai and waits on a 5p/red dragon shanpon, only allowed to win on the red dragon.

Two turns later, Taro draws his sixth pair and calls riichi on a south tanki. He has 4 han in his hand and only needs one moer to get to a mangan.

Miraculously, on his very next draw, Taro gets the south and wins the hand. Hitting the uradora as well, Taro wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Chiitoi/Aka 1/Ura 2 for a big 4,000+300/8,000+300 baiman, plus two riichi sticks to catapult him into 1st place.

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Results

Game 132

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