Tuesday (March 11)

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Game 1

Sasaki Start

March 11, Game 1, E1-0

In E1-0, Hisato is playing for the Konami Mahjong Fight Club, trying to get the team back into the positives.

Hisato starts out the hand 2-shanten with three pairs and a 36m ryanmen. He has no value, but his shapes are good. On turn 3, Hisato draws a 6m to create the 456m sequence and get to iishanten.

While Hisato is off to a good start, Shibukawa is at a better spot, sitting iishanten with a pair of green dragons and a loosely-connected red 5p. On turn 4, he forms a 345p sequence and calls riichi on a green dragon/north shanpon.

During the ippatsu round, Hisato forms a 9p triplet and calls riichi on an 8m/8p shanpon. During the ippatsu round, Kayamori discards the 8p trying to take a god iishanten and deals into Hisato. Hisato wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Ura 1 for 5,200 plus a riichi stick.

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Kayamori

March 11, Game 1, E2-1

In E2-1, Kayamori is in 4th place, 5,200 behind 3rd place Katsumata and 6,200 behind 2nd place Shibukawa. Two riichi sticks and a honba sit in the pot.

Kayamori starts out the hand at 4-shanten with not much in terms of value. In the first row, she secures some sequence shapes and forms a red dragon pair out of nowhere, giving her an option to open.

In the second row, she pairs up the white dragn and forms a 123m sequence. Near the end of the row, she draws a third red dragon to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25s ryanmen.

Around the start of the third row, Kayamori gets the 2s and wins the hand. With the dragons and the tsumo, it gives just enough fu to round up to 40. Kayamori wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Red Dragon for 1,300+100/2,600+100 plus two riichi sticks, moving up to 2nd.

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Dama

March 11, Game 1, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4605

In S3-0, Kayamori is in 3rd place, 2,700 behind 2nd place Katsumata and 9,200 behind 1st place Hisato.

Kayamori starts off the hand in a good spot, sitting at 3-shanten with three ryanmens. All she needs to do is secure a pair and pinfu will be hers. On turn 2, she pairs up the 7s, but it overlaps with one of her ryanmens. Still, it’s good progress. Over the course of the first row, she ends up drawing towards a nice pinzu ittsuu. By the end of the row, she is iishanten and only a 2p away from the full straight.

As Kayamori looks for the 2p, Katsumata makes pairs, On turn 8, Katsumata discards the 2p to take tenpai and wait on a 7m tanki.

With the point difference, Kayamori chooses not to call chii. As luck would have it, Kayamori draws the 2p immediately after and waits dama on a 47m ryanmen, ready for a mangan. However, if the 7m comes out from either Hisato or Shibukawa, she will be headbumped.

However, it all hinges on Katsumata holding the 7m tanki. In the middle of the second row, he draws the 8m. Seeing it as a better wait, Katsumata discards the 7m trying to switch and deals into Kayamori. Kayamori wins the hand with Pinfu/Ittsuu/Dora 1 for 8,000, putting her just 1,200 behind 1st place Hisato.

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Close

March 11, Game 1, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3109

In S4-0, Shibukawa is in 3rd place, 9,100 behind 2nd place Kayamori and 10,300 behind 1st place Hisato. A mangan tsumo would be nice for 2nd place, but a haneman would be even better for 1st place.

Shibukawa starts out with an okay 3-shanten hand with a triplet of wests. Unfortunately, the west isn’t his seat wind. The first row provides him with connecting 7s and 8s pairs, giving the potential for iipeikou with two 6s or two 9s. By the end of the row, he is 2-shanten, but lacking in value.

In the second row, he draws a ssingle 9s and pairs up the 5m, getting to iishanten.

His hand may be iishanten, but his opponents are rushing. Kayamori has already called twice and 4th place dealer Katsumata has a nice iishanten hand as well. Near the end of the row, Katsumata is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen, holding enough value to overtake Shibukawa.

During the ippatsu round, Shibukawa makes a 7m triplet to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69s ryanmen. The conditions are rough, but the riichi stick from Katsumata does help. If Shibukawa draws the 6s and gets two uradora, or if he gets the 9s with one bonus han, he will take 1st place.

Immediately after, Katsumata discards the 6s. Though not quite the result he wants, Shibukawa calls ron. With the uradora, his 7s becomes the dora. Shibukawa wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Ura 2 for 8,000 plus a riichi stick. Though a good score, he falls just 100 short of 2nd place.

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Results

Game 195

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Game 2

50k

March 11, Game 2, E3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s70_p2781

In E3-1, Takamiya is the dealer in 1st place, holding a 13,500 lead over 2nd place. A riichi stick and a honba sit in the pot.

Takamiya starts out the hand at 4-shanten with a pair of red dragons, a connected 2m and a loosely-connected red 5s. The key things to completing this hand is a red dragon triplet and a 6s to create a 567s sequence. The first row goes well for Takamiya, drawing a pair of white dragons, getting a 3s as another potential connector red 5s connector, and calling a 234m sequence to get to iishanten. In the second row, Takamiya draws the red 5p, shifting to a 567p sequence and guaranteeing herself a mangan.

As she waits, Hori gets to iishanten as well, guaranteed a pinfu if he gets to a closed tenpai. In the middle of the row, he forms a 123s sequence and stays dama on a 58s ryanmen, wanting the 5s for iipeikou. At the start of the second row, he shifts to a 234s sequence to get tanyao and calls riichi on the 58s ryanmen. If the 5s comes, he will have at least a mangan.

Two turns later, Takaki gets to tenpai as well and waits on a 25s ryanmen.

As the wall shrinks, Hori draws and discards the 6s. Katsumata follows suit, allowing Takamiya to call a 567s chii and gets to tenpai on a white dragon/red dragon shanpon. Immediately after, Takaki drops the red dragon and deals into Takamiya. Takamiya wins the hand with Red Dragon/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 12,000+300 plus two riichi sticks, enough to get Takamiya to 50,800.

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Takaki

March 11, Game 2

In E4-3, Takaki is the dealer in 4th place, 8,000 behind 3rd place Katsumata and 9,900 behind 2nd place Hori. 1,900 in bonuses will go to the next winner.

Takaki starts off the hand with a good 3-shanten hand, holding a 258p three-sided wait and a triplet of 3m. In the first few turns, Takaki forms a 234s sequence and gets himself iishanten with a likely tanyao and a likely good wait. On his next turn, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on the 258p wait.

Across from him, Katsumata gets to iishanten during the ippatsu round and has a potential 369m three-sided wait for himself. On turn 8, he draws a 9m. It isn’t the ideal tenpai but he takes the 6s kanchan riichi, holding at least 5,200.

On turn 10, Katsumata draws and discards the 8p and deals into Takaki. Takaki wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Tanyao for 5,800+900 plus two riichi sticks, moving up to 3rd.

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In E4-4, Takaki can win any hand and get to 2nd place.

With his very first draw, Takaki gets the 9m dora to form a 789m sequence and gets to 2-shanten. WIth two ryanmens, his prospects look good. On his second draw, he forms a 678s sequence and gets to iishanten, still looking for a pair to get pinfu. It takes a bit, but Takaki is able to pair up the 6p at the end of the first row and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen.

Wanting revenge, Katsumata pushes with his 2-shanten hand. On turn 8, he gets to tenpai, discards the 9m dora and waits dama on a 36s ryanmen, a tile that is safe against Takaki.

Katsumata’s decision not to call riichi ends up being a wise one, as Takaki draws the 6m immediately after and wins the hand. Takaki wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1 for 2,600+400 all.

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Not Tanyao

March 11, Game 2, E4-6
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s70_p2782

In E4-6, Takamiya is still in 1st place, but Takaki has been on quite a streak and has shrunk her lead down to 13,500. If Takaki gets a dealer mangan, her lead will be overtaken.

Before Takamiya even has a chance to get her first draw, Katsumata calls pon on the white dragon to get his hand to 3-shanten. With a red 5p and a floating 3m, he has some decent value.

When we get to Takamiya, she is 3-shanten with a floating red 5s and a pair of norths.

In the first row, all attention is on Katsumata. Within a few draws, he pairs up the 3m dora, calls kan on the white dragon, and makes the red 5p into double dora with the kandora flip. By the middle of the first row, he has a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten.

Back to Takamiya, she has made some progress, but not as fast as Katsumata. She has a 557s shape and a 14m ryanmen, but no norths have come out. However, she has the option to go for a 567 sanshoku, needing a 6s and a 6m. At the end of the row, she draws a 6m for iishanten.

The first of the two to get to tenpai is Katsumata, who calls a 678m chii and gets to tenpai on a 47p ryanmen.

Immediately after, Takamiya calls a 567s chii and gets to tenpain on a 14m ryanmen.

In the second row, Hori discards the 1m (a tile safe against Katsumata and won’t deal into Takamiya if she has a tanyao hand) and ends up dealing into Takamiya. Takamiya wins the hand with Sanshoku/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 8,000+1,800.

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Hori Honitsu

March 11, Game 2, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3110

In S3-0, Hori is in 3rd place and 28,300 behind 2nd place Takaki. Though moving up a rank is unlikely, he wants to get as many points as possible to move his team up in the rankings.

Hori starts out the hand 2-shanten for a pairs hand, holding pairs of 8m, 5m, north and white dragon. If he pursues honitsu with it, he has routes for a mangan or even a haneman. On turn 2, he pairs up the south, getting him to iishanten.

Though chiitoi is nice, it can be restricting staying closed. When the white dragon comes out, Hori calls pon on the white dragon and aims for a triplets. With an 8m draw, he gets back to iishanten.

At the start of the second row, he pon on the south and gets to tenpai on a 5m/north shanpon, ready for a haneman.

Right after, Takamiya gets to tenpai and stays dama on a 5p dora tanki.

Two turns later, Takamiya draws the north. Wanting to keep her tenpai, she discards it and deals into Hori. Hori wins the hand with Toitoi/Honitsu/White Dragon/South for 12,000, putting him just a mangan tsumo away from 2nd place and a haneman tsumo away from 1st going into the final hand.

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Results

Game 196

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