Thursday (April 17)

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Game 1

Haneman Start

April 17, Game 1, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5625

In E1-0, Yu is playing for the U-Next Pirates, hoping to win this game and get the team into 1st place overall.

Yu starts out the hand at 2-shanten with a floating red 5s. To his right, Kayamori is 2-shanten as well with a three-sided wait, a red 5p and a dora 6p. Within four turns, Kaymori gets to tenpai and calls riichi on the 369p three-sided wait.

For Yu, he is iishanten with a ryanmen and a three-sided wait. With the strong potential, Yu pushes. On turn 8, Yu forms a 567s sequence and calls riichi on a 258s wait, wanting the 8m for iipeikou. On his very next draw, Yu draws the ideal 8m and wins the hand. Yu wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Iipiekou/Aka 1 for 3,000/6,000 plus a riichi stick.

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Hisato Honitsu

April 17, Game 1, E3-1

In E3-1, Hisato is tied for 2nd place and 16,000 behind 1st place Yu. A riichi stick and a honba are in the pot.

Before Hisato even gets his first draw, he calls pon on the non-yakuhai north. Despite being 4-shanten, he looks to go for honitsu or a yakuhai so he can fully use his secured red 5p double dora. Within the first row, he gets rid of manzu or souzu and gets to 2-shanten with two ryanmens.

At the start of the second row, Hisato pairs up the white dragon for iishanten. On his next turn, he gets to tenpai and waits on a 69p ryanmen. Immediately after, Yu discards the 9p and deals into Hisato. Hisato wins the hand with Honitsu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 8,000+300 plus a riichi stick. With a direct hit off 1st place, Hisato moves up to 1st place.

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Dora Tanki

April 17, Game 1, S2-1

In S2-1, Kayamori is in 4th place and 7,300 behind 3rd place Hinata.

Kayamori starts out the hand with pairs of 7s, 3p, red dragon and 6p, putting her 2-shanten from seven pairs. In the first row, she pairs up the 2p and gets to iishanten.

Around the table, Yu has called pon on the green dragon and Hinata has many sequence candidates. After callsing a 789p chii near the end of the row, Yu is the first to tenpai and waits on a 7p kanchan. A turn later, he improves to a 47p ryanmen.

After a lot of waiting and shifting, Kayamori finally gets to tenpai in the third row and calls riichi on a south tanki.

When Yu draws the dora south, he is forced to fold. Right after that, Hinata gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen.

Unfortunately, Hinata draws the south on her ippatsu turn and deals into Kayamori. Kayamori wins the hand with Riichi/Chiitoi/Dora 2 for 8,000+300.

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Results

Game 13

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Game 2

Sanshoku

April 17, Game 2, E1-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5626

In E1-1, Yu is tied for 2nd place and 2,900 behind 1st place Ooi. After Yu’s win in the previous game to move the U-Next Pirates into 1st place, Yu wants to ride the wave of momentum in this game as well.

Yu starts out the hand at 4-shanten with a bunch of sequence candidates. In the first row, Yu makes a 789s sequence but is not able to do much else, only getting to 2-shanten.

As Yu tries to advance more, Ooi is already pushing pressure on the table having called pon on the green dragon and 1p in the first row. In the middle of the second row, Ooi calls an added kan on the green dragon and makes the 1s the new dora.

In the second row, Yu makes some good progress, making a 123s with the new dora and a 6788m shape to get to iishanten with pinfu guaranteed. At the start of the third row, Yu shifts the 789s shape into a 678s shape, giving a chance at a 678 sanshoku.

In the middle of the third row, Yu draws an 8p to create the 678p sequence and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen, wanting the 8m. On his very next draw, Yu draws the 8m and wins the hand. Even without the uradora, Yu wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Sanshoku/Dora 1 for an expensive 3,000+100/6,000+100 win.

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Sanshoku

April 17, Game 2, E2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s70_p2915

In E2-1, Yu is in 1st place and holding a 14,300 lead over 2nd place.

Yu starts out the hand at 3-shanten with sequences at centre stage again. The first row doesn’t do much but fill in a kanchan to create a 123s sequence and get to 2-shanten. However, the floating 6m in Yu’s hand has a chance to connect the 7m dora or create a sanshoku.

At the start of the second row, Yu draws a 5m to connect it, getting to iishanten and needing a 5s and 7m dora to complete the sanshoku.

As Yu waits, Daigo the dealer makes some good progress, getting to iishanten with a red 5p and a pair of green dragons.

At the start of the third row, Yu draws the 5s to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen, wanting the 7m for mangan minimum.

In the middle of the third row, Daigo calls riichi on a 6p kanchan. Unfortunately, none remain in the wall.

Two turns later, Yu draws the perfect 7m and wins the hand. Yu the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Sanshoku/Dora 1 for another 3,000+100/6,000+100 haneman plus a riichi stick, extending his lead even further.

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Tanyao

April 17, Game 2, E3-2

In E3-2, Ooi is in 3rd place and 100 behind 2nd place. 1,600 in bonuses will go to the next winner.

Before Ooi even gets his first draw, Date makes the first move by calling pon on the white dragon to get to 2-shanten, in line to get at least 3 han. When Ooi does get his first draw, he is already iishanten with a red 5p, a 58m ryanmen and a 2p kanchan. On turn 3, he creates a 33345p shape, guaranteeing him a good wait and a route to tanyao. On turn 5, he draws a fourth 3p, creating a triplet and a sequence. With that, he calls riichi and waits on a 58m ryanmen.

Back to Date, she has called a 789p chii and is sitting at iishanten. With her hand’s value, the value in the pot and no tiles to fold with, she simply pushes. In the middle of the second row, Date gets to tenpai and waits on a 47m ryanmen.

A few turns later, Ooi draws the 8m and wins the hand. Ooi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 2,000+200/4,000+200 plus a riichi stick, moving into 2nd place.

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Sanshoku

April 17, Game 2, E4-0

In E4-0, Yu has 50,400, just shy of double the score of 2nd place.

Yu starts out the hand at 2-shanten and is a 6s and 5m away from yet another sanshoku hand. The first row is a bust for that pursuit, but Yu does create a 789s sequence to get to iishanten.

Through much of the seqcond row, Yu is frustratingly drawing and discarding while Daigo gets good draw. In the middle of the second row, Daigo calls pon on the 8m and gets to tenpai on a 58p ryanmen. Though he has decent value with three han, none of his winning tiles remain in the wall.

At the end of the second row, Yu draws an additional 7s to create a 57s shape, reviving the sanshoku possibility. On his very next turn, he completes the 567m sequence and calls riichi on a 6s kanchan, guaranteed the sanshoku.

In the middle of the second row, Daigo revives his hand by shifting to a 36p ryanmen, but it’s too late. Immediately after, Yu draws the 6s and wins the hand. Yu wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Sanshoku for 2,000/4,000.

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Tanyao

April 17, Game 2, S2-1

In S2-1, Daigo is the dealer in 4th place, 3,900 behind 3rd place Date and 14,600 behind 2nd place Ooi. 1,300 is in the pot.

Daigo starts out the hand at 2-shanten with a red 5p and a route to tanyao. On turn 3, Daigo fills in the right side of a ryanmen, finishing a 678m sequence and guarantees the hand tanyao. As Daigo waits for tenpai, Yu is iishanten and a white dragon pon away from a decent tenpai. Near the end of the second row, yu calls a 789m chii for a 5m/white dragon tenpai, but is only allowed to win on the white dragon.

At the end of the row, Daigo gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 4p kanchan, all of them still in the wall. In the middle of the second row, Daigo draws the 4p and wins the hand. Daigo wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Aka 1 for 4,000+100 all plus a riichi stick, moving up to 2nd.

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Sanshoku

April 17, Game 2, S2-3

In S2-3, Daigo is still the dealer and 22,900 behind 1st place Yu.

Daigo starts out the hand 3-shanten for seven pairs and 5-shanten for a standard hand. The first row pushes him quite strongly towards a standard hand, forming a 123s sequence and a 567p sequence with the red 5p. By the end of the row, he is already iishanten.

In the second, he shifts his blocks towards the edges and giving him a chance at a 123 sanshoku, needing a 2m and a 3p. In the middle of the second row, Daigo fills in the 2m kanchan and calls riichi on a 3p penchan.

Though there are no 3p left in the wall, there’s a chance at someone will discard it. The likeliest of all the players is Ooi, who needs a win for the floundering Shibuya Abemas and holds a 233p shape. As the turns go on, his hand keeps on advancing. Then, in the middle of the third row, Ooi discards the 3p trying to call riichi and deals into Daigo. Daigo wins the hand with Riichi/Sanshoku/Aka 1 for 12,000+900.

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Sanshoku

April 17, Game 2, S2-4
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4612

In S2-4, Daigo has been on quite a roll with his dealership and is now a dealer mangan away from 1st place.

Daigo starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a floating 2p dora. The first row is effective in making lots of sequence shapes, but no sequences. He does draw a 3p to connect to the dora, at least.

In the first few turns of the second row, Daigo creates a 678p sequence and secures ryanmens, guaranteeing basically guaranteeing him pinfu by the middle of the row. With a red 5p draw, Daigo creates a 567p sequence and yet again has a chance to make a sanshoku, needing a 5m and a 7s.

Soon after, Date is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen.

With iishanten and very strong value, Daigo easily pushes with his extra honours. In the third row, he draws a 7s and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen, wanting the 5m. With the worst luck, 4th place Date draws and discards the red 5m and deals into Daigo in the worst way possible.

Daigo wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Sanshoku/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 18,000+1,200 plus Date’s riichi stick, pushing Daigo into 1st place.

Over the course of a single dealership, Daigo went up from 4th place to 1st place.

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Sanshoku

April 17, Game 2, S2-5

In S2-5, Date is deep in 4th place with -19,100. With the team aleady in dire straits, Date needs to get as many points as possible for the team.

Date starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a secured red 5m and a 6m away from a 456m iipeikou. On turn 5, she draws a 6s, putting yet another sanshoku chance this game. If she wants to get it, she needs to fill in a 5p kanchan and a 5s kanchan.

On turn 7, Date draws a 5p for iishanten. On turn 10, Date draws the 5s to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen, guaranteed sanshoku at least a mangan. One more han will bring her up to haneman.

Across from her, Daigo has four pairs and has some stray safe tiles he can throw to maintain his hand. After pairing up the 3s and 2s, Daigo gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 9p tanki.

At the start of the third row, Date draws the 3m and wins the hand. Date wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Sanshoku/Aka 1 for 3,000+500/6,000+500. It’s not enough to get out of the negatives, but it’s a much better place than where she was at the start of the hand.

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Yu Win

April 17, Game 2

In S3-0, Yu is the dealer and 4,200 behind 1st place Daigo.

Yu starts out the hand at 4-shanten with two ryanmens, a pair of souths and a floating red 5m double dora. The two ryanmens turn into a 456p and 678p sequence, going along with a 123m sequence for iishanten.

However, the one thing that still remains to be connected fully is the red 5m double dora. After some time waiting, Yu draws a 6m to connect it and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen.

Being the only player without a sanshoku, Ooi ends up moving towards it as the hand goes on. By the middle of the third row, Ooi gets to tenpai on a 4p kanchan, waiting dama with a 345 sanshoku guaranteed.

However, the sanshoku was not meant to be. On the second-last tile in the wall, Yu gets the 7m and wins the hand. Yu wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 4,000 all, retaking the lead.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5627

In S3-1, Yu starts out with pairs of 2m, 9m and 4p, but is also 2-shanten from a standard hand. The first row ends up providing him with a lot of pairs and overlapping shapes, allowing him to go either way. By turn 7, he has five pairs and decides to go straight ahead with pairs.

As is often the case, it takes a while to get that sixth pair for tenpai. But, at the start of the third row, Yu gets there and calls riichi on a 5m tanki, hoping to pair up that single 5m in his hand.

During the ippatsu round, Daigo gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 6p kanchan.

Two turns later, Daigo draws and discards the 5m and deals into Yu. Yu wins the hand with Riichi/Chiitoi/Aka 1 for 9,600+300 plus a riichi stick. With the direct hit off his rival, Yu is essentially in the clear with 72,700, holding a 33,600 lead over Daigo.

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But Yu isn’t done yet!

In S3-2, Yu is 4-shanten for a standard hand (3-shanten for seven pairs) with a 4m dora pair and a triplet of 9s. The first row makes a single 3s into a triplet and creates a 5s kanchan, getting him to iishanten.

Yu does a bit of shifting in the second row by securing the 4m pair and making the kanchan into a 58s ryanmen, but he doesn’t make much progress beyond it.

To his left, Daigo is still fighting. At the end of the second row, he gets to tenpai on a yakuless 1m tanki, but has a lot of ways to improve it. A turn later, he gets to a 47s ryanmen, but is furiten.

In the middle of the third row, Yu gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen, guaranteed at least 9,600+600 if he wins.

Breaking the ippatsu, Date calls a 345p chii for iishanten, looking for a potential sanshoku, the big theme of the day. A turn later, she forms a 345m sequence and waits on a 36s ryanmen, needing the 3s.

However, the push by Date shifts the wall in Yu’s favour. On Yu’s turn, he gets the 5s and wins the hand. Yu wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 2 for 4,000+200 all, bringing Yu up to 85,300.

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Results

Game 14

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Intro | Standings