Friday (April 18)

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Game 1

Ura Ura

April 18, Game 1, E1-0

In E1-0, Futoshi is playing for the Akasaka Drivens, hoping to make back some ground from the dominant U-Next Pirates.

Futoshi starts out the hand at 4-shanten, but is looking pretty good for sequences. In the first row, he forms both sequences and ryanmens to get to 2-shanten with a likely pinfu.

At the start of the second row, he forms a 258m three-sided wait to guarantee pinfu and get to iishanten. A turn later, he draws an 8m and calls riichi on a 69p ryanmen. A few turns later, Kurosawa discards the one-chance 9p and deals into Futoshi. With the uradora flip, Futoshi’s 1p pair becomes the new dora and upgrades his hand to a mangan. Futoshi wins with Riichi/Pinfu/Ura 2 for 8,000, taking the early lead.

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Takame

April 18, Game 1, E3-0

In E3-0, Kurosawa is in 4th place, 3,400 behind 3rd place Shiratori and 5,700 behind 2nd place Mizuhara.

Kurosawa startws out the hand at 2-shanten with a 258p three-sided wait and a secured dora 6p. In the first few turns, Kurosawa draws a 2p to complete the pinzu shape and puts her focus on her 6778s shape, hoping to form sequences and maybe even an iipeikou shape. On turn 5, she draws a 6s and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen, wanting the 8s for iipeikou and mangan minimum.

As the turns go by, Kurosawa is having trouble getting her winning tile. At the same time, none of the players have enough to fully push, leaving Kurosawa time to draw more. Then, on Kurosawa’s second-last draw, she gets the ideal 8s and wins the hand. Kurosawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Iipeikou/Dora 1 for 2,000/4,000, moving up to 2nd.

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Flush

April 18, Game 1, S1-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2129

In S1-1, Futoshi is in 4th place, but he is just 5,100 from 1st place.

From the very start, Futoshi has 10 manzu tiles with a secured red 5m, pushing him towards chinitsu even with his souzu ryanmen. On turn 3, Futoshi calls a 456m chii and breaks his souzu ryanmen for 2-shanten. Before the row is done, futoshi calls a 234m chii for iishanten.

In the middle of the second row, Futoshi makes a 123m sequence and gets to tenpai on a 47m ryanmen. However, none of them remain in the wall.

As the turns go along, Futoshi keeps hoping, but it will hever come. However, he can still win if he shifts his hand. In the middle of the third row, Futoshi draws an 8m and switches to a 58m wait which still has two left in the wall. On his very next turn, Futoshi draws the 5m and wins the hand. Futoshi wins with Chinitsu/Aka 1 for 3,000+100/6,000+100, easily moving up to 1st place.

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Out Of 4th

April 18, Game 1, S2-0

In S2-0, Mizuhara is in 4th place, 6,300 behind 3rd place dealer Shiratori and 6,700 behind 2nd place Kurosawa.

Mizuhara starts out the hand at 2-shanten with a red 5s connected to a 7s. On turn 3, Mizuhara draws another 5s, essentially securing the red 5s. On turn 4, she draws a 6s, making extra sure that it’s secured. With a dora 8s draw on turn 5 to create a 678s sequence, Mizuhara gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen.

Despite having four winning tiles left in the wall so early, none of them show up at all in the second row, either by her or drawn by other people. In the meantime, Futoshi keeps building his strong hand with two red fives. At the start of the third row, Futoshi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69p/5m wait.

However, his stick is just a donation. On Mizuhara’s next turn, she gets the 5m and wins the hand. Mizuhara wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 2,000/4,000 plus a riichi stick, moving into 2nd.

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Sticks

April 18, Game 1, S4-2

In S4-2, Futoshi is in 1st place and holding a 4,000 lead over 2nd place Mizuhara. With three riichi sticks and two honba in the pot, his lead is very fragile and anyone could take it away from him in this final hand.

Futoshi starts out the hand at 2-shanten with a secured red 5s and a pair of souths. Making the souths into a triplet is key for going for a fast hand. Near the end of the first row, Futoshi gets a head start by calling a 567p chii before securing the souths, getting to iishanten. Soon after, he is able to call pon on the souths and waits on a 36m ryanmen.

Within a few turns, Shiratori gets to tenpai for chiitoi and waits on a 4s tanki. If he draws it himself, he would go from 4th to 1st place, a big comeback for the struggling team.

Also looking to take the game is Mizuhara, who can win anything and take the game. Having already made a 7s pon, she sits iishanten. However, a stray 3m sits in her hand. In the second row, she calls pon on the 8p and discards the 3m trying to take tenpai, dealing into Futoshi. Futoshi wins the hand with South/Aka 1 for 2,000+600 plus three riichi sticks, finishing the game in top spot.

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Results

Game 15

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Game 2

Ippatsu

April 18, Game 2, E2-1

In E2-1, Matsumoto is in 1st place with a narrow 900 lead. He needs to win this game for the team.

Matsumoto starts out with a decent 4-shanten hand with three ryanmens and a floating 1p dora. Though Matsumoto does a pretty good job of forming those sequences and connecting the 1p dora (getting to iishanten by the middle of his first row), Taro is challenging him with a pon on both the double east and the south. In Taro’s second row, he is the first to tenpai on a 5p/4m shanpon, but none remain. A few turns later, Taro switches to a 47p ryanmen.

Back to Matsumoto, he is lloking to fill in a 3p penchan and a 69s ryanmen. On his next draw, he gets the 3p penchan and calls riichi on the ryanmen. Within the go-around Taro draws and discards a 6s and deals into Matsumoto. Matsumoto wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Dora 1 for 8,000+300.

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Dama

April 18, Game 2, S2-0

In S2-0, Taro is the dealer in 4th place, 9,700 behind 3rd place Setokuma and 17,400 behind 2nd place Nakabayashi.

Taro starts out the hand at a messy 4-shanten, but does have a pair of 1s dora for value. The first row is mainly spent getting rid of terminals and honours. With a 3s kanchan fill on at the end of the row, he gets to 2-shanten. In the second row, he forms a 789m sequence for iishanten.

Around the table, Matsumoto is technically the first to tenpai, but he has no yaku with his 4m wait.

Near the end of the row, Taro draws a pivotal red 5s, creating a 147s three-sided wait and guaranteeing him pinfu.

Two turns later, Setokuma gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen.

After pushing a few turns, Taro gets to tenpai in the middle of the third row and waits dama on a 147s three-sided wait, guarnateed at least a dealer mangan in he wins. With the 7s being a safe tile against Setokuma, his chances seem good.

A few turns later, Matsumoto calls a 234p chii and gets to tenpai on a 25p ryanmen.

On Nakabayashi’s turn, he draws a 7s. Holding iishanten and the 7s being safe against Setokuma, Nakabayashi pushes and ends up dealing into Taro’s deadly dama. Taro wins the hand with Pinfu/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 12,000 plus a riichi stick. With the direct hit, it moves Taro up to 2nd place.

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Out Of 4th

April 18, Game 2, S2-2

In S2-2, Nakabayashi is in 4th place, 3,300 behind 3rd place Setokuma and 11,600 behind 2nd place dealer Taro.

Nakabayashi starts out the hand by filling in a 3p penchan to get to 2-shanten. Though it is sequence-based, the west yakuhai pair in his hand stops it from being pinfu. To his right, Setokuma is also 2-shanten with two 2s dora as part of a 1223s shape. By turn 2, Nakabayashi is iishanten and looking to fill in a 3s kanchan for tenpai. On turn 4, Setokuma draws a 4s for iishanten as well. At the end of the first row, Setokuma is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 3s wait.

Within the ippatsu round, Nakabayashi draws the 3s to fill his kanchan and calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen. Two turns later, Nakabayashi draws the 5m and wins the hand. Hitting the uradora, Nakabayashi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 2,000+200/4,000+200.

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Up

April 18, Game 2, S3-0

In S3-0, Setokuma is in 4th place and 7,300 behind 3rd place Taro and 9,500 behind 2nd place Nakabayashi.

Setokuam is blessed with a valuable starting hand, holding a pair of 3p dora and a secured red 5m. However, there’s no clear yaku except for riichi. On turn 3, he is gifted with a red dragon pair, giving him an option to call. Within the go-around he calls pon on the red dragon and gets to iishanten. With a 9p triplet near the end of the row, he gets to tenpai on a 36m ryanmen.

Two turns into the second row, Setokuma draws the 6m and wins the hand. Setokuma wins with Red Dragon/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 8,000, moving into 2nd place.

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Results

Game 16

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