Thursday (February 6)

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Game 1

Sticks

February 6, Game 1, E1-1

In E1-1, Katsumata is the starting dealer and sitting tied for 1st place, 1,300 in bonuses sit in the pot.

Despite starting the hand at 4-shanten, Katsumata’s hand is quite strong with a pair of red dragons, a red 5m and a dora 6m. In the first row, Katsumata makes some pairs and calls pon on the red dragon, getting him to 2-shanten on turn 5.

At the start of the second row, Katsumata calls pon on the 6p to get to iishanten. In the third row, he completes a 567m sequence and gets to tenpai on a 1s/9p shanpon.

With this much time, though, his opponents have had time to build their own hands. Within the go-around, Sonoda gets to tenpai and calls riichi on an 8m kanchan.

Near the end of the hand, Katsumata ends the 3 vs. 3 battle by drawing the 9p and winning the hand. Katsumata wins with Red Dragon/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 2,600+100 all plus two riichi sticks.

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Double Riichi

February 6, Game 1, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4105

In E4-0, Shiratori is in 4th place, 11,400 behind 3rd place Kobayashi and 15,200 behind 2nd place dealer Sonoda.

With Shiratori’s 13 starting tiles, he already has five pairs, including the red dragon dora. Just one more pair will get him to tenpai. On his very first draw, he pairs up the 1s and calls a double riichi waiting on a white dragon tanki. A chance to be a zero to hero, just like that.

With little information, players are forced to push a little bit. Even if they were to fold, honours are prime material for fold. On turn 5, Sonoda discards the white dragon trying to push a bit and deals into Shiratori. Shiratori wins the hand with Double Riichi/Chiitoi/Dora 2 for 12,000, moving him up to 2nd place.

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Katsumata Continues

February 6, Game 1, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2603

In S3-0, Katsumata has a 13,500 lead over 2nd place dealer Kobayashi and wants to end any chance of anyone catching up.

Katsumata starts out the hand with four pairs. In his hand is a red 5p as part of a pair and a dora 3p sitting on its own. Within the first row, Katsumata pairs up the 7m and the 3p dora and gets to tenpai on a 9m tanki. Through the rest of the first row and through the second, Katsumata switches his tanki from a 9m to a south to a north. At the end of the second row, Shiratori draws and discards the north and deals into Katsumata. Katsumata wins the hand with Chiitoi/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 8,000.

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Results

Game 157

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Game 2

Houtei

February 6, Game 2, E1-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4106

In E1-1, Yu, Ooi and Katsumata are all tied for 2nd place after Futoshi was the only one tenpai in the first hand.

Both Yu and Ooi start out at 3-shanten, but Yu appears to have an advantage with better shapes and a connected dora 6m. By turn 4, Yu is already iishanten. As for Ooi, he is still at 2-shanten with no value by the end of the row.

In the second row, Yu’s ahdn stalls, still holding the same shapes as he had before. As for Ooi, he creates a 4s triplet and fills in a 7p penchan for iishanten. WIth a floating 6m, he has both felxibility and value.

At the start of the third row, Ooi draws a 5m to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen.

During the ippatsu round, Yu finally gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 2p kanchan.

With Ooi’s three winning tiles compared to Yu’s one winning tile in the wall, Ooi has the advantage. On the second-last tile in the wall, Futoshi draws the final 2p, ending Yu’s dreams. On Yu’s turn, he ends up drawing Ooi’s winning 4m and deals in. With his pairing being the uradora, Ooi wins the hand with Riichi/Houtei/Dora 1/Ura 2 for 8,000+300 plus a riichi stick.

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Escaping 4th

February 6, Game 2, S4-1

In S4-1, Yu is in 4th place and 8,100 behind 3rd place Katsumata. Like Hori on Tuesda, a 3/30 direct hit will put him ahead by 300, a mangan ron will put him ahead by 200, and a 3/40 tsumo will win put him ahead by 100.

Yu starts out the hand at 3-shanten with two completed souzu shapes, a secured red 5s and a pair of white dragon. With a path to honitsu, Yu can get to a mangan. On turn 3, Yu calls pon on the white dragon to get the ball rolling. With a 7s and a 4s dora draw through the rest of the row, Yu advances to iishanten.

Though it doesn’t fit in with a souzu honitsu, Yu’s lone red 5m can prove valuable. With the dora 4s now in his hand, he can use that 5m and still get to a mangan. At the start of the second row, Yu pairs up the 5m and gets to tenpai on a 7s/5m shanpon, any winning tile giving him 3rd place. Within the go-around, Yu calls a 456s chii to improve his wait to a 58s ryanmen. Soon after, Katsumata discards the 8s and deals into Yu. Yu wins the hand with White Dragon/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 8,000+300, finishing the game in 3rd.

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Results

Game 158

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