Tuesday (February 11)

---

Game 1

Ooi Opening

February 11, Game 1, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s70_p2650

In E1-0, Ooi is the dealer to start the game, trying to continue the Abemas’ good fortunes.

Ooi starts out the hand filling in a 3m kanchan to get to 2-shanten. He has sequence candidates, but most of them hinge on filling in kanchans. On turn 2, he draws a 6p to connect to a 7p dora, shifting the 8p kanchan into a 58p ryanmen. A turn later, he fills in a ryanmen to get to iishanten. The rest of the row, he look to fill in the 8m kanchan left in his hand.

At the start of the second row, Ooi draws the 8m and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen.

Even though he has a dealer riichi, Ooi won’t go unchallenged. During the ippatsu round, Matsugase gets to tenpai and chases on a 6m kanchan.

In the middle of the second row, Ooi draws the 3s and wins the hand. Ooi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 4,000 all plus a riichi stick, taking the early lead.

---

Kuma Kuma Time

February 11, Game 1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5104

In E4-0, Setokuma is in 4th place, but only 3,000 behind 2nd place and 12,200 behind 1st place.

Setokuma starts out the hand 3-shanten with a triplet of 9m. The first few turns give him some progress, but the shapes are less than ideal, especially the 3p penchan. On turn 5, Setokuma draws a fourth 9m, but he doesn’t call kan right away.

On his next draw, he creates a 47s ryanmen for iishanten. With a chance to draw to tenpai, Setokuma decides to call a concealed kan. With the flip, his 7s becomes dora. With the 4s rinshan draw, Setokuma gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 3p penchan. Having discarded the 6p earlier, the 3p suji is now juicier.

It takes a bit of time, but the 3p eventually comes out from Matsugase at the end of the second row, dealing into Setokuma. With the 3s pair becoming the uradora, Setokuma wins with Riichi/Dora 1/Ura 2 for 12,000, coming within 200 for 1st.

---

Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s70_p2652

Jumping to S1-0, Setokuma has dropped a bit, but is still 1,500 from 1st place Ooi.

From the start, Setokuma is 3-shanten with a pair of yakuhai norths. If he can call pon on them, he will have a yaku and a path to mangan. Setokuma does well to build sequences in the first row, getting himself to iishanten by the end of it, still waiting for those norths.

Looking around the table, Ooi is stilling with a perfect iishanten and Matsugase is ready to sprint with his hidden green dragon triplet. By turn 8, Matsugase is also iishanten.

The first of the three to get to tenpai is Setokuma, who calls a 234p chii and waits on a north/4s shanpon, only allowed to win on the north.

With a 5s pon soon after, Matsugase gets to tenpai as well and waits on a 47m ryanmen.

Two turns later, Ooi joins in and calls riichi on 36m ryanmen.

The only one not yet in tenpai is Daigo. However, he has a path to a mangan with his pinzu honitsu. At the end of the row, he calls a chii to advance his hand. WIth the north not fitting well in his hand and having no safe tiles, Daigo pushes the north and deals into Setokuma. Setokuma wins the hand with North/Dora 3 for 8,000 plus a riichi stick, moving into 1st.

---

Matsugase Movement

February 11, Game 1

In S2-0, Matsugase is in 4th place and 10,500 behind 3rd place dealer Daigo.

Matsugase starts out the hand 3-shanten with a connected dora 7s. To his left, dealer Daigo has pairs of west, white dragon and 7m. In the first row, both players quickly get to iishanten, Daigo with pairs and Matsugase with sequences. On turn 8, Daigo is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 7s dora tanki.

Immediately after, Matsugase chases with a 69p ryanmen, wanting the 9p for mangan.

At the start of the third row, Daigo draws and discards the 9p and deals into Matsugase. Matsugase wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Iipeikou/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 8,000 plus a riichi stick. With the direct hit, Matsugase moves up to 3rd.

---

Moving to S3-1, Matsugase is now the dealer and 8,800 behind 2nd place Ooi. A riichi stick and a honba sit in the middle.

Matsugase starts out with a decent 3-shanten hand, holding a triplet of 1p and pairs of south and 6p. In the first row, Matsugase makes a potential 7s pair and calls pon on the south, getting him to iishanten. At the end of the row, Matsugase secures a 2m pair and gives himself a chance at toitoi.

At the start of the second row, Matsugase calls pon on the 6p and gets to tenpai on a 6p/7s shanpon.

A few turns later, Setokuma gets to tenpai on a 58m ryanmen, waiting dama to catch someone by surprise.

In the middle of the third row, Ooi discards the 7s and deals into Matsugase. Matsugase wins the hand with Toitoi/South for 7,700+300 plus a riichi stick, moving up to 2nd.

---

Escaping 4th

February 11, Game 1, S4-3

In S4-3, Daigo is in 4th place and 7,300 behind 3rd place Ooi. With a riichi stick and three honba on the table, Daigo needs a 2/40 direct hit, a 3/40 or 4/20 tsumo, or a 3/50 or 4/25 ron.

Daigo starts out the hand at a strong 2-shanten hand with two ryanmens. However, he lacks value besides pinfu. In order to move up, he needs at least one more han. On turn 2, he fills in one of the ryanmens to get to iishanten, still loking for value and a pair. After a few turns of waiting, Daigo manages to draw the red 5p on turn 5, solving both his pair problem and his value problem. With a riichi Daigo waits on a 58s ryanmen. With a direct hit or tsumo, it is enough, with a ron, he needs one more hand. 7 winning tiles remain in the wall.

On his very next turn, Daigo manages to get the 5s and wins the hand. Daigo wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000, finishing the game in 3rd.

---

Results

Game 163

---

Game 2

Aki Activate

February 11, Game 2, E1-0

In E1-0, Aki starts in the north seat, trying to make up some more ground on the 6th place Shibuya Abemas.

Aki starts out at 3-shanten with few good shapes in hand. With every draw she gets, she advances one step, filling in an 8p kanchan, creating a new 8p kanchan, then filling in a 2m kanchan. By turn 4, Aki is tenpai and calls riichi on the 8p kanchan, holding a juicy chanta for a mangan guaranteed.

Late in the second row, Hagiwara discards the 8p trying to take iishanten and deals into Aki. Aki wins the hand with Riichi/Chanta/Iipeikou for 8,000.

---

Full Flush

February 11, Game 2, E2-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4107

In E2-2, Shiratori is in 2nd place having won the previous hand and sits 5,200 behind 1st place Aki.

Shiratori starts out the hand at 3-shanten with four potential souzu blocks. Naturally, Shiratori leaned towards the flush, which is especially good with the 5s in his hand being dora. To mask it, Shiratori started off by discarding two honours before discarding the lone off-suit 3m. With a 789s chii in the middle of the first row, Shiratori gets to tenpai on a white dragon tanki. Two turns later, Shiratori improves the hand drastically and waits on a 147s wait, guaranteed a haneman if he wins.

Two turns later, Hagiwara discards the 7s and deals into Shiratori. Shiratori wins the hand with Chinitsu/Dora 1 for 18,000+600, easily moving into top spot.

---

Phoenix Fights

February 11, Game 2, E3-0

In E3-0, Kayamori is the dealer in 2nd place, 15,400 behind 1st place Shiratori.

Kayamori starts out the hand at 4-shanten, but has a pair of green dragons and two ryanmens. The first row doesn’t provide Kayamori with much support and only gets her to 3-shanten, but the 4m dora draw can give her some potential value.

The second row, on the other hand, starts to give her progress. By the middle of the row, Kayamori is already iishanten. A turn later, Kayamori gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 5m kanchan. Only the single red 5s remains int he wall.

On Kayamori’s second-last draw, she manages to pluck the red 5m from the wall and wins the hand. Kayamori wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 4,000 all, moving ahead of Shiratori by 700.

---

Hagiwara

February 11, Game 2, E3-1

In E3-1, Hagiwara is suffering with -10,400 before the game is even halfway done. Any points are good points.

Hagiwara starts out the hand at 3-shanten with two ryanmens and two kanchans. In the first row, Hagiwara fills in both ryanmens (including drawing the dora 4m to complete a 456m sequence) and gets to iishanten, leaving him with a 3s and an 8s kanchan.

In the second row, Hagiwara draws the 3s and calls riichi on an 8s kanchan, guaranteed only two han so far. At the end of the row, Hagiwara draws the 8s and wins the hand. Hitting the uradora as well, Hagiwara wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 2,000+100/4,000+100.

---

Cygnus Competes

February 11, Game 1, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4108

In E4-0, Shiratori is in 1st place, but sits only 1,300 ahead of 2nd place Kayamori.

Shiratori starts out the hand at 4-shanten with a pair of green dragons for a quick yaku. In the first row, Shiratori doesn’t do much except call pon the green dragon at the end of the row, getting him to 2-shanten. Hagiwara technically gets to tenpai first around that time, but he is yakuless with no 4m remainin in the wall.

At the start of the second row, Shiratori calls pon on the 4p dora and gets to iishanten. WIth a 567p chii soon after, Shiratori gets to tenpai on a 4s kanchan.

With the danger of the dora pon, Hagiwara eventually folds, leaving Shiratori to find his winning tile. Right when it seemed like all was lost, Shiratori draws the very last tile in the wall and gets the 4s, winning the hand! Shiratori wins with Green Dragon/Haitei/Dora 3/Aka 1 for 3,000/6,000, pushing him above 50,000.

---

Ippatsu

February 11, Game 1, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2604

In S1-0, Aki is in in 3rd place, 22,200 behind 2nd place Kayamori and 19,900 ahead of 4th place Hagiwara. A win here would give her some good progress to getting a positive score this game.

Aki starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a secured red 5m. The first row provides Aki with decent manzu shapes and a triplet of 5p. At the end of the row, she starts to dismantle her souzu penchan shape.

In terms of progress, it’s a battle between Aki and 4th place Hagiwara, both players sitting iishanten. On turn 8, Hagiwara forms a ryanmen to guarantee a good wait. A turn later, Hagiwara gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen.

During the ippatsu round, Aki gets to tenpai and waits dama on a green dragon tanki. A turn later, she improves to a 34p wait and calls riichi, guaranteed at least a mangan if she wins. On her ippatsu draw, she gets the 4p and wins the hand. Aki wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Iipeikou/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000 plus a riichi stick, cutting the gap on Kayamori to 6,200.

---

Consolation

February 11, Game 1, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5105

In S4-0, Hagiwara is in 4th place and has no hope at moving up, sitting 37,900 behind 3rd place dealer Aki. Even so, points are improtant in the long run and any points won here could be the difference between advancing to the playoffs or being eliminated.

Hagiwara starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a secured dora 2m and a path to pinfu, tanyao, or both. In the first row, Hagiwara forms a 3m pair and gets to 2-shanten and guarantees himself at least tanyao if he wins.

To his left, Aki is pushing her own good hand. Around the start of the second row Aki gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 3m kanchan for mangan minimum. A turn later, she decides to call riichi, with one more han giving her a dealer haneman. Unfortunately, none remain in the wall.

As Hagiwara tries to push while staying safe, Hagiwara confirms his ryanmen shapes and basically guarantees pinfu for the hand. Two turns into the third row, Hagiwara finally advances to iishanten. A turn later, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen. He only has three draws remaining.

On his first draw, he gets the 2p. A miss. On his next, a 6s. Another miss. Then, on his very last draw, the very last tile in the wall, Hagiwara draws the 8s and wins the hand! Hagiwara wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Haitei/Dora 1 for 3,000/6,000 plus a riichi stick to end the game.

Though he finishes with -100, the win in the last hand gains the team 13.0pts that they would have otherwise lost.

---

Results

Game 164

---

Intro | Standings