Monday (April 28)

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Game 1

Shibuya Start

April 28, Game 1, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s70_p2963

In E1-0, Ooi is playing for the Shibuya Abemas and is the starting dealer.

Ooi starts out at 3-shanten with a connected dora 5p for value and two ryanmens. The first row doesn’t really provide much for Ooi, giving him only terminals and honours to discard.

At the start of the second row, Ooi pairs up a lone east, giving him an option to open. When the east comes out soon after, he calls pon to get to iishanten. On his next turn, he draws the red 5p double dora, upping his hand to a potential mangan. With a west pon near the end of the row, Ooi gets to tenpai on a 14s ryanmen.

In the middle of the third row, Ooi draws the 4s and wins the hand. Ooi wins with Double East/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 4,000 all.

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Daigo

April 28, Game 1, E1-1

In E1-1, Daigo is in a three-way tie for 2nd place, sitting 16,000 behind 1st place dealer Ooi.

Daigo starts out the hand at 3-shanten with the west yakuhai being his only pair. The first row fills in a 7m penchan and makes a second pair with the 6p, getting him to 2-shanten with an easier path for calling.

Though calling the west would be the easy route, Daigo is able to draw a third west for a secured hidden yakuhai. For even more value, Daigo manages to pair up the green dragon dora at the end of the second row, potentially getting him to a mangan with a triplet.

At the start of the third row, he calls pon on the greend ragon and gets to tenpai on a 36s ryanmen.

Taking so long to even get to tenpai, other players have made a lot of progress as well. Near the middle of the third row, Takamiya gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 6p kanchan.

Two turns after that, Ooi joins in with a 47p ryanmen riichi.

On Daigo’s turn, he draws the 6s and wins the hand. Daigo wins with Green Dragon/West/Dora 3 for 2,000+100/4,000+100 plus two riichi sticks.

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Kurosawa

April 28, Game 1, E3-0

In E3-0, Kurosawa is in 3rd place, needing to make ground on the 14,000 deficit on 2nd place.

Kurosawa starts out with a very strong 2-shanten hand with a triplet of red dragons and three ryanmens. In the first row, she makes a 345s sequence involving the red 5s and gets to a perfect iishanten. At the start of the second row, she makes a 6s triplet and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen.

Two turns after calling riichi, Kurosawa draws the 5m and wins the hand. Hitting the uradora, Kurosawa wins with Riichi/Red Dragon/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000.

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Dora Aka Ura

April 28, Game 1, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5123

In S1-0, Kurosawa is in 3rd place and just 3,000 behind 1st place Ooi.

Kurosawa starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a secured red 5p. The first row easily gives her sequences and ryanmens, getting her to iishanten quite quickly. At the start of the second row, she creates a three-sided wait and discards her east pair to have a chance at tanyao. In the middle of the row, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 369p wait, wanting the 36p for tanyao.

In the third row, she draws the 9p and wins the hand. Though it isn’t the tile she wanted, she gets an uradora to balance it out, giving her Riichi/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000, moving into the lead.

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Results

Game 25

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Game 2

Shiratori Start

April 28, Game 2, E1-0

In E1-0, Shiratori is playing for the Shibuya Abemas and is in the starting west seat.

Shiratori starts off the hand at 3-shanten with a pair of wests. In the first row, Shiratori ends up pushing his hand to four pairs, moving away from a standard hand.

At the start of the second row, he makes a 5s pair and confirms his pursuit to chiitoi. A turn after that Shiratori gets to tenpai on a 1p tanki, switching and calling riichi on his next turn on a 5s tanki.

Across from him, Hisato is iishanten with a guaranteed good wait and very good value. After a bunch of pushing, drawing a red 5p and filling in a three-sided wait, Hisato get to tenpai in the third row on a 56s wait, guaranteed at least a dealer mangan if he wins.

Despite Shiratori having the worse wait, he manages to draw the 5s in the middle of the third row and wins the hand. Shiratori wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Chiitoi for 1,600/3,200 plus a riichi stick.

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Honda

April 28, Game 2, E3-1

In E3-1, Honda is in 3rd place, 3,000 behind 2nd place Takaki and 9,000 behind 1st place dealer Shiratori. A riichi stick and a honba are in the pot.

Honda starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a secured red 5m double dora. By the middle of the first row, Honda is already iishanten with a 34p block, a 7s pair and a white dragon pair. Over the next few turns he draws a second 4p, then a third 4p to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 7s/white dragon shanpon.

Two turns later, Honda draws the 7s and wins the hand. Honda wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 2,000+1000/4,000+100 plus a riichi stick.

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Takaki Tanyao

April 28, Game 2, S1-0

In S1-0, Takaki is in 2nd place and 6,800 behind 1st place Honda.

Takaki starts out the hand at 4-shanten, but is really likely to be tanyao with a red 5p and a dora 3m. In the first four turns, he builds his hand up to four pairs, ready to be called or shifted to a pairs hand.

In the second row, he draws a triplet of 6s and calls pon on the 5p, getting him to iishanten. Making a 4s triplet in the middle of the third row, Takaki gets to tenpai and waits on a 25m ryanmen.

Within the go-around, Shiratori gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47p wait.

With Shiratori in riichi and Takaki holding decent value with a good wait, both players push. Then, on Takaki’s second-last turn, he draws the 2m and wins the hand. Takaki wins with Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 1,300/2,600 plus a riichi stick, enough to move into 1st place by 700.

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Yaku Yaku

April 28, Game 2, S3-2

In S3-2, Shiratori is the dealer in 3rd place, 5,400 behind 2nd place Honda and 6,100 behind 1st place Takaki.

Shiratori starts out at 4-shanten with a red dragon pair and the ability to accept the 2m dora. On turn 2, he pairs up the green dragon and gives him another choice for yakuhai. Through the rest of the row, he makes a ryanmen and calls pon on the red dragon to get to 2-shanten.

At the start of the second row, he draws the 2m to fill in a kanchan and get to iishanten. With a 567p chii in the middle of the row, Shiratori gets to tenpai on a green dragon/5s shanpon.

To his right, Takaki is iishanten with a secured red 5p. Drawing a 2m dora to create a ryanmen and filling in a three-sided wait, Takaki gets to tenpai at the end of the second row and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen.

Two turn after that, Hisato calls a 678s chii and gets to tenpai on a 14m ryanmen. Though it’s the same wait as Takaki, Hisato is only allowed to win on the 4m and it must be tsumo or else he will be headbumped.

Around the middle of the third row, Takaki draws and discards the green dragon and deals into Shiratori. Shiratori wins the hand with Red Dragon/Green Dragon/Dora 1 for 5,800+600 plus a riichi stick.

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Takaki Time

April 28, Game 2

In S3-3, Takaki is in 3rd place, 6,700 behind 2nd place Honda and 8,700 behind 1st place dealer Shiratori.

Takaki starts out the hand at 2-shanten with an 8p in hand. To secure it, he needs to either pair it up or draw a 7p to make it part of a sequence. The only progress he makes in the first row is making a pair of green dragons. But, even as the green dragons are discarded, Takaki calls neither of them, effectively making it a dead pair. With his sights aimed for tanyao now, he discards the green dragon pair.

At the start of the second row, he pairs up the 8p and moves to iishanten.

Across from him, 2nd place Honda has a very good hand going at iishanten with a secured 345s iipeikou. In the middle of the row, he makes a pair of 1p to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen.

Seeing the need to speed up, Takaki calls pon on Honda’s discarded 3p, breaking the ippatsu and gets to tenpai on a 3m kanchan. On his next turn, he draws the 3m and wins the hand. Takaki wins with Tanyao/Dora 2 for 1,000+300/2,000+300.

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In S4-0, Takaki is now the dealer and just 500 behind 1st place Shiratori. He is also at risk in this close game, just 7,800 away from 4th place Hisato.

Takaki starts out the hand at 2-shanten, while Hisato is 4-shanten with pairs of west and white dragon. Fromt he start, much of the focus is on Hisato, who draws a red 5m and calls pon on the west, aiming for a manzu honitsu. At the end of the first row, he calls a 456m chii and gets to iishanten. With a north pon, Hisato is tenpai on a white dragon/2m shanpon. With a white dragon tsumo, Hisato will have 1st place.

Back to Takaki, he is iishanten with a 3p penchan and a 69p ryanmen. At the start of his second row, he replaces the penchan with a 4s triplet. Drawing an 8p and a red 5p to create a 5788p shape, Takaki gets to tenpai and stays dama on a 6p kanchan. Two turns later, Shiratori discards the 6p and deals into Takaki. Takaki wins the hand with Tanyao/Aka 1 for 3,900, moving into 1st place.

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Results

Game 26

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