Monday (March 3)

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Game 1

Shibukawa

March 3, Game 1, E2-1

In E2-1, Shibukawa is tied for 3rd place and 3,000 behind 1st place Hisato. A riichi stick and a honba are in the pot.

Shibukawa starts out the hand with a messy 4-shanten hand full of bad shapes, but he does have a pair of red dragons for potential opening. Shibukawa doesn’t get much progress in the first few turns, getting only to 3-shanten on turn 4. On turn 5, Hisato puts pressure on the table by calling riichi and waiting on a 2p kanchan.

To avoid the riichi, Shibukawa breaks his red dragon pair. Over the next few turns, he discards terminals and honours while advancing his hand. On turn 8, Shibukawa draws a 2p, filling in a kanchan and getting to iishanten. After drawing a red 5s and completing a ryanmen, Shibukawa gets to tenpai on turn 10 and calls riichi on a 5s/7m shanpon.

With each player having only one winning tile left in the wall, it gives time for Hagiwara to get to tenpai. After many turns, Hagiwara is able to call pon on the 5p dora and gets to tenpai on a 3s kanchan. Though he has no yaku and is in furiten, he has a chance to get the nice 1,000 at a draw.

Then, on Shibukawa’s last draw, the third-last tile in the wall, Shibukawa gets the 7m and wins the hand. Shibukawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 2,000+100/4,000+100 plus two riichi sticks, moving into 1st place.

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Strike Like Lightning

March 3, Game 1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5108

In S2-0, Hagiwara is the dealer in 4th place, 4,000 behind 3rd place Hisato, 9,000 behind 2nd place Matsumoto and 9,800 behind 1st place Shibukawa.

Hagiwara starts out the hand at a cool 2-shanten hand with two red fives and a pair of 2p dora, set up for at least a mangan. In the frst row, Hagiwara shifts his hand to tanyao and gets to iishanten at the end of the first row.

On turn 7, Hagiwara completes a sequence and gets to tenpai on a 5m kanchan, staying dama for mangan minimum. A turn later, Hagiwara switches his wait to a 7m kanchan.

Immediately after, Matsumoto calls a concealed kan of the 5m. Perfect timing by Hagiwara.

On Shibukawa’s turn, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen.

Then, right after Shibukawa’s riichi, Hagiwara draws the 7m and wins the hand. Hagiwara wins with Tsumo/Tanyao/Dora 2/Aka 2 for 6,000 all plus a riichi stick, moving up from 4th to 1st.

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In S2-1, Hagiwara starts out the hand 4-shanten and lacking in value. With a 2p dora draw and some sequence forming, Hagiwara gets to iishanten and needs a 3p to secure the dora.

At the start of the second row, Shibukawa does the first action and calls riichi on a 3p kanchan, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins.

Having held a safe honour, Hagiwara is able to avoid the ippatsu round. On his next turn, Hagiwara draws the 3p and calls riichi on a 2s/5s shanpon. Two turns later, Shibukawa draws and discards the red 5s and deals into Hagiwara. Getting an uradora, Hagiwara wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 12,000+300 plus a riichi stick.

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Hisato Hopes

March 3, Game 1, S4-2

In S4-2, Hisato the final dealer and just 400 behind 2nd place Matsumoto. Two riichi sticks and two honba are in the pot.

Hisato starts the hand out at 3-shanten. Though he doesn’t have value, the value in the pot is still worth a lot. The first row provides Hisato with ryanmens and a 4s triplet, getting him to iishanten before the end of the first row.

In the second row, Hisato makes a 36m m ryanmen, but the 6m he discarded on turn 6 could cause furiten problems. A turn later, he draws a fourth 1p and calls a concealed kan. Drawing a 6m with the rinshan, Hisato gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen.

In the third row, Shibukawa calls a 345m chii on the dora 5m and gets to tenpai on a south/white dragon shanpon. If he wins on the white dragon, he will have a haneman an will finish the game in 2nd place. A single white dragon remains in the wall.

Two turns later, Hisato draws the 4p and wins the hand. Hisato wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1 for 4,000+200 all plus two riichi stick, moving up to a solid 2nd place.

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Results

Game 185

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Game 2

Dama

March 3, Game 2, E4-0

In E4-0, Hori is 1st place, but 4th place is still within a mangan.

Hori starts out the hand drawing the 6m dora to connect to the red 5m and get to 2-shanten. With a clear path to tanyao, Hori discards his terminals and honours. At the end of the first row, Hori fills in a 5s kanchan and gets to tenpai on a 6p kanchan, waiting dama with 5,200. Within the go-around, Takizawa discards the 6p and deals into Hori. Hori wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 5,200.

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Ooi Opportunity

March 3, Game 2, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4111

In S2-0, Ooi is in 3rd place and 3,800 behind 2nd place Setokuma. Ooi starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a pair of souths and a loosely-connected red 5m. Very early on, Setokuma calls a 678p chii for sanshoku and gets to tenpai on a 7m kanchan.

Back to Ooi, he has already called pon on the easts and is aiming for a souzu honitsu. In the middle of the second row, he calls pon on the south and gets to iishanten. With a 5s draw, Ooi gets to tenpai on a 5s/8s shanpon.

A few turns later, Setokuma draws a west. Not wanting to deal into the honitsu, he takes a step back and discards his 9m pair. Within the go-around, Setokuma calls a 678m chii and switches to the west tanki.

Back to Ooi, Ooi switches his wait to a 36s ryanmen, wanting to get the 6s for mangan. When Setokuma draws a 2s, he is forced to fold. A couple of turns later, Ooi draws the ideal 6s and wins the hand. Ooi wins with South/Honitsu/Dora 1 for 2,000/4,000, moving up to 2nd.

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Bear Strike

March 3, Game 2, S3-0

In S3-0, Setokuma is in 3rd place and 6,200 behind 2nd place Ooi.

Setokuma starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a floating dora white dragon. The first row provides Setokuma with some sequence candidates, but not much to go forward with. At the end of the row, Setokuma’s patience is rewarded as he pairs up the white dragon for 2-shanten.

Through much of the second row, Setokuma is unable to make any progress. However, at the end of the second row, he fills in an 8s kanchan and gets to iishanten.

At the start of the third row, Setokuma gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 3m/white dragon shanpon. Within the go-around, Takizawa discards the 3m and deals into Setokuma. Setokuma wins with hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Dora 2 for 8,000 moving up to 2nd.

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Results

Game 186

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