Monday (February 10)

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Game 1

Sarukawa

February 10, Game 1, E2-1

In E2-1, Sarukawa is the dealer in 1st place and holds an 8,700 lead over 2nd place Mizuhara.

Sarukawa starts off with a strong 3-shanten hand with a secured red 5s for value and very wide acceptace. By the end of the first row, Sarukawa gets to iishanten with pinfu almost guaranteed.

As Sarukawa waits in the second row, 2nd place Mizuhara looks to get her own iishanten to tenpai. In the middle of the row, Mizuhara makes a west triplet to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69s ryanmen.

During the ippatsu round, Sarukawa gets to tenpai, throws the 4m and chases with his own riichi, waiting on a 25p ryanmen.

Though Mizuhara starts out ahead with 5 winning tiles, they end up getting taken by Date to the point that she only gets down to one. For Sarukawa, he still maintains three winning tiles.

On Sarukawa’s second-last draw, he gets the 5p and wins the hand. Sarukawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 1 for 4,000+100 all plus a riichi stick.

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Date

February 10, Game 1, E2-3
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3609

In E2-3, Date is in 4th place, 900 behind 3rd place Taro and 5,400 behind 2nd place Mizuhara.

Date starts out with a very annoying 5-shanten hand with no good shapes at all. However, she does hold a dora 1p and a red 5s for potential value. In the first row, Date draws a red 5p to fill in a kanchan, pairs up the green dragon and calls pon to get to 2-shanten.

However, Date will need to contend with her friend and rival Mizuhara. After calling pon on the white dragon earlier to secure a yaku, Mizuhara gets to tenpai at the end of the row and waits on a 258s wait.

With Mizuhara’s discard, Date calls a 123m chii and gets to iishanten. In the middle of the second row, Date pairs up the 1p dora and gets to tenpai on a 4s kanchan, guaranteeing herself a mangan. Two turns later, Mizuhara discards the 4s and deals into Date. Date wins the hand with Green Dragon/Dora 2/Aka 2 for 8,000+900, moving her up to 2nd place.

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Quick Calls

February 10, Game 1, S1-2

In S1-2, Date is in 2nd place and 29,500 behind 1st place Sarukawa. A riichi stick and two honba sit in the pot.

From the very start f the game, Sarukawa calls pon on the green dragon to get himself to 3-shanten. . With his 1p discard, Date calls pon on the 1p and gets to 3-shanten. With an east, south and 9p pair, she has a clear route to toitoi and potentially honitsu.

One after another, Date calls pon on the south and the east for iishanten before Mizuhara even gets her first draw. With it comes around to Sarukawa, he calls a 789p chii for iishanten. On ihs next turn, he gets to 3-han tenpai and waits on a 5p kanchan.

On Date’s turn, she pairs up the 5p and waits on a 5p/9p shanpon.

Both Sarukawa and Date draw and discard, hoping for their winning tile. In the middle of the second row, Sarukawa draws another 4p dora and switches to a 5m/4p shanpon, guaranteed a mangan if he wins.

In the third row, Sarukawa draws and discards the 9p and deals into Date. Date wins the hand with Toitoi/Honitsu/South for 8,000+600 plus a riichi stick.

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Full Flush

February 10, Game 1, S2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5611

In S2-1, Mizuhara is in 4th place, 1,600 behind 3rd place Taro.

Mizuhara starts out the hand drawing a red 5s to make a triplet and get to 3-shanten. After drawing a few more souzu tiles, Mizuhara decides to call a 789s sequence in the middle of the first row and aim for either ittsuu or a flush. By the end of the first row, she is 2-shanten for the ittsuu and 3-shanten for the flush.

After filling in a 3s dora penchan in the middle of the second row, Mizuhara decides to go all-in on the flush. A few turns later, Mizuhara calls pon on the 5s, leaving the red 5s hidden in her hand. Getting a 1s on her next draw, Mizuhara gets to tenpai and waits on a 36s ryanmen. If she gets the 3s, she will have a baiman.

On Taro’s draw, he gets to tenpai on a 6p kanchan.

Right after, 1st place Sarukawa joins in on the challenge and calls riichi on a 6p/3s shanpon.

Though things get too dangerous for Taro, Mizuhara simply pushes her expensive hand against the dealer riichi. Around the start of the third row, Sarukawa draws and discards the 6s and deals into Mizuhara. Mizuhara wins the hand with Chinitsu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 12,000. With the direct hit off 1st, Mizuhara is now within 6,700 of top spot.

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To 1st

February 10, Game 1, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5612

In S4-0, Mizuhara is in 3rd place, 3,900 behind 2nd place Sarukawa and 5,800 behind 1st place dealer Date. To take sole top spot, Mizuhara needs a 3/40 direct hit, a 3/30 tsumo, or a 3/50 or 4/25 ron.

Mizuhara starts out the hand at 2-shanten, but lacking in value. She gets to iishanten on turn 2, but it’s still not worth much. Mizuhara’s drawing luck keeps going with a chance at tenpai on turn 3, but she rejects it to look for treasure.

On turn 4, she finds it: the 4p dora. With the 4p dora, she now has value. WIth a riichi, Mizuhara waits on a 3p kanchan. If she wins by ron, she will need an uradora for even 2nd place. But if she wins by tsumo, she will get 1st place.

Just two turns later, Mizuhara gets the 3p and wins the hand! Hitting the uradora for a little extra, Mizuhara wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000, taking the game.

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Results

Game 161

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Game 2

Takizawa

February 10, Game 2, E2-0

In E2-0, Takizawa is in 2nd place and 3,000 behind 1st place Sonoda.

Takizawa starts out the hand with very scattered standard 6-shanten hand with just a 9p pair. Even at its fastest, he needs to find five more pairs to get to tenpai for seven pairs. The distance that Takizawa starts at, though, means that it’s very easy for him to move forward. With some good draws, Takizawa manages to get to 3-shanten with two ryanmens at the end of the row.

Two turns into The second row, Takizawa fills in a ryanmen and pairs up the green dragon, getting to iishanten. However, right after, Nakabayashi draws the red 5p for tenpai and calls riichi on a south/7p shanpon.

Having held a safe tile, Takizawa is able to avoid the ippatsu round while maintaining his hand. Two turns later, Takizawa draws a third green dragon to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen. Two turns after that, Nakabayashi draws and discards the 2m and deals into Takizawa. With 9p pair being the uradora, Takizawa wins the hand with Riichi/Green Dragon/Ura 2 for 8,000 plus a riichi stick.

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Bounce Back

February 10, Game 2, E3-0

In E3-0, Nakabayashi is in 4th place after dealing into a mangan during his dealership.

Nakabayashi starts out the hand 4-shanten a few potential ryanmens. WIthin the first row, Nakabayashi draws a red 5s and makes even more sequence candidates, but he only gets to 3-shanten by the end of the row. He has six blocks and lacks a definitive pair, but his hand flexibility will make it easier to find.

In the second row, Nakabayashi fills in two ryanmens and gets to iishanten. However, he is met with a challenge when 2nd place Sonoda gets to tenpai and calls riichi on an 8p kanchan.

Through the first few turns of the riichi, Nakabayashi draws safe honours and terminals to maintian his hand. At the start of the third row, Nakabayashi draws the red 5p to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins.

On Sonoda’s second-last turn, he draws and discards the 4s and deals into Nakabayashi. Nakabayashi wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Aka 2/Ura 1 for 8,000 plus a riichi stick, boosting him up to 2nd place.

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Daisuke

February 10, Game 2, E4-0

In E4-0, Daisuke is in 3rd place, 1,000 behind 2nd place Nakabayashi and 11,000 behind 1st place Takizawa.

Daisuke starts out with a decent 3-shanten hand with a ryanmen and a 147m three-sided wait. Despite these good waits, Daisuke is unable to make any progress in his first few turns. Takizawa, on the other hand, took his 3-shanten start and got to tenpai by the middle of the first row. With his ready hand, he calls riichi and waits on a 14p ryanmen, wanting the 4p for mangan.

Making good progress and able to draw either useful tiles or relatively safe honours, Daisuke is able to keep going. In the middle of the second row, Daisuke gets to tenpai and calls riichi on his three-sided wait.

At the end of the second row, Takizawa draws and discards the 7m and deals into Daisuke. Daisuke wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 8,000 plus a riichi stick. WIth the direct hit off 1st place, Daisuke moves into 1st.

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Riichi Battle

February 10, Game 2, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3610

In S2-0, Takizawa is in 2nd place with his starting 25,000, sitting 10,900 behind 1st place Daisuke.

Takizawa starts out the hand at 3-shanten, the same distance as Daisuke and Nakabayashi. In the value department, Takizawa has the slight advantage with a connected dora 5s and a red 5p. In the speed department, dealer Nakabayashi has the advantage with his east pair. With a few good draws and a pon of the east, Nakabayashi is the first to tenpai and waits on a 4s kanchan.

Right after, 1st place Daisuke draws a 3p to complete a 123p iipeikou and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins.

Takizawa’s draw, he fills in an 8m kanchan and gets to iishanten. Lacking in safe tiles overall, Takizawa just pushes.

Within a few turns, Sonoda joins in and calls riichi on a 7m penchan, guaranteed a 789m sanshoku.

Two turns after Sonoda, Takizawa is finally gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 6p kanchan.

Though Nakabayashi folded at first and missed out on a 4s win, he manages to get back to tenpai soon after, improving to a 47s ryanmen.

In the middle of the second row, Sonoda draws and discards the last 6p and deals into Takizawa. Takizawa wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 5,2000 plus two riichi sticks.

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Message Received

February 10, Game 2, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3611

In S4-0, Takizawa is in 1st place and holds a narrow 900 lead over Daisuke. At the other end, Nakabayashi is in 3rd place and holding a 3,700 lead over 4th place dealer Sonoda. Both players are at risk of dropping a rank.

Takizawa starts out the hand drawing the red 5p to get to 4-shanten. For Nakabayashi, he is 3-shanten with a bunch of kanchans. Within the first few turns, Takizawa pairs up the south and calls pon on it, securing a quick yaku. At the start of the second row, he calls pon on the east and gets to iishanten. A turn later, he draws a 6p to complete a sequence and gets to tenpai for 3,900, waiting on a 7p kanchan.

For Nakabayashi, a 3,900 deal-in would drop him down to 4th place. With the 7p floating in his hand, he could be in trouble. As Nakabayashi pushes, he hand gets closer and closer to tenpai. At the end of the row, Nakabayashi has a chance to take tenpai on a very wide 2369m wait, but it would require throwing the 7p.

However, Nakabayashi took the time to see how dangerous the 7p is and decides to not take it, discarding the 2m instead.

Takizawa really wants to win the hand and finish the game in 1st. When Takizawa draws a regular 5p the first time, he decides to just toss it out. However, when a second one comes, he decides to intentionally cheapen his hand, cutting the red 5p for the regular 5p.

With this cut, Nakabayashi has been sent a message: my hand is cheap. For Nakabayashi, he wants the hand to end here as well, preserving his 3rd place and stopping Sonoda from making a comeback. Nakabayashi can’t afford to deal into a 3,900 hand, but can afford to deal into a 2,000 or 2,600 hand. Even if Nakabayashi lets the hand go to a draw, it could be dangerous with how close the scores are. By Takizawa cutting the red 5p, Takizawa is both telling him that he might have a wait around the 5p, and that a cheap deal-in is beneficial to both players.

Getting the message, Nakabayashi throws the 7p and deals into Takizawa.

Takizawa wins the hand with Double South for 2,000. With the win, Takizawa keeps his 1st place and Nakabayashi stays in 3rd place.

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Results

Game 162

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