Game #9
Akasaka
Drivens
U-Next Pirates
Team Raiden
Sega Sammy
Phoenix
Dama Mangan
May 12, Game 1, E1-0
In E1-0, Setokuma is playing for the Team Raiden in the final week of the finals, starting in the west seat.
Setokuma starts out the hand at 4-shanten with not much value to speak of. As is often the case, Setokuma spends the first row exchanging terminals and honours for simple tiles. In the process, he draws a red 5p and creates a 345p iipeikou. By the end of the first row, he is 2-shanten with both pairs and standard possible.
At the start of the second row, he pairs up the 6m to connect to his 7m pair. If he draws either the 5m or 8m, he will be tenpai for the rare ryanpeikou. In the middle of the second row, he makes a 7p pair for seven pairs tenpai. With the potential to improve, Setokuma chooses to stay dama on a 9m tanki.
At the end of the second row, Setokuma draws an 8m and switches his wait, staying dama on a 58m ryanmen. If he wins on the 8m he will have the ryanpeikou.
In the third row, Futoshi discards the 5m trying to keep iishanten and deals into Setokuma. Setokuma wins the hand with Pinfu/Tanyao/Iipeikou/Aka 1 for 8,000.
Calls
May 12, Game 1, E2-0
In E2-0, Mizuhara is the dealer tied for 2nd place, 8,000 behind 1st place Setokuma.
Mizuhara starts out the hand at 3-shanten, but has two kanchans and two penchans. In the first row, Mizuhara switches a penchan for a green dragon pair, then adds a white dragon pair for additional potential. At the start of the second row, she calls both the white and green dragon for iishanten.
To her left, Futoshi is iishanten with a guaranteed good wait. In the middle of the row, he calls a 678m sequence and gets to tenpai on a 25s ryanmen.
Back to Mizuhara, she has a 113m shape, giving her an option to call pon or chii to complete it. While waiting for the opportunity, Setokuma is the next to tenpai and waits dama on a 14p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins. If he draws the 4p, he will have a haneman.
Back to Mizuhara, she now has shifted from a 113m group to a 557p group, leaving the 1m as a pair. Unfortunately, she ends up drawing the 2m in the middle of the third row. Despite the unfortunate draw, she is able to call pon on the 1m right after and get to tenpai on a 3s penchan. On her very last turn, she gets the 3s and wins the hand. Mizuhara wins with White Dragon/Green Dragon/Dora 1 for 2,600 all.
Forward Driven
May 12, Game 1
In E4-0, Futoshi is in 4th place and 13,500 behind 3rd place dealer Genta.
Futoshi starts out with a decent starting hand with a triplet of 1p and pairs of red dragon and 8m. On turn 2, he draws a third 8m to make it a triplet. At the end of the row, he pairs up the east for 2-shanten.
At the start of the second row, he calls pon on the red dragon to confirm his pursuit for a standard hand and get to iishanten. At the end of the row, he pairs up the north and gets to tenpai on an east/north shanpon. If he draws the east himself, he will have a haneman.
Within the go-around, Genta gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 1247m wait. Though it is wide, only two winning tiles remain in the wall, the same as Futoshi.
As the wall got shorter, Mizuhara’s safe tiles got fewer. On her second-last turn, she is out. With the east being safe against the dealer riichi, she tosses it and ends up dealing into Futoshi. Futoshi wins the hand with Toitoi/East/Red Dragon for 8,000 plus a riichi stick.
In S1-0, Futoshi is now the dealer, sitting 3,500 behind 3rd place Genta and 9,500 behind 2nd place Mizuhara.
Futoshi starts out the hand at 3-shanten, holding some potential good shapes. His first few turns provided him with simple tiles, naturally leaning towards tanyao. On turn 5, he draws a red 5p. On his next draw, he draws a 3p to create a 23457p shape, missing only a 6p to create two sequences.
At the start of the second row, Futoshi draws that 6p and calls riichi on a 69m ryanmen, wanting the 6m for mangan minimum.
Immediately after, Mizuhara draws the 6m to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen.
Though Mizuhara had taken one of Futoshi’s 6m, Futoshi still has the advantage with four winning tiles compared to Mizuhara’s two. Near the middle of the third row, Mizuhara draws and discards the 9m and deals into Futoshi. Hitting the uradora, Futoshi wins with Riichi/Pinfu/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 8,000 plus a riichi stick, moving Futoshi into 2nd and Mizuhara down to 4th.
Kuma Kuma Time
May 12, Game 1, S1-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5129
In S1-1, Setokuma is still in 1st place, but his small 2,400 lead is being threatened by the fast-approaching dealer Futoshi.
Setokuma starts out 3-shanten with a red 5p and a dora 3p. However, he has a pair of 1m that is keeping him closed. Even as he watches Futoshi call the red dragon and build quickly, Setokuma can’t do anything but wait for his tiles to come. Setokuma does an okay job to create two ryanmens and get to 2-shanten by the end of the row, but he still has the 1m pair keeping him closed.
The first player to tenpai is Mizuhara, who calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen.
Within the go-around, Futoshi calls a 789m chii and gets to tenpai on a 36m ryanmen.
When it gets back around to Setokuma, he completes a 234s sequence for iishanten. He doesn’t want to push too hard agains the riichi, so he breaks his 1m pair a turn later. As he does this, he ends up forming a 123p sequence and ends up getting back to iishanten. Near the end of the row, he makes a 345m sequence and calls riichi on a 58p ryanmen.
On his next draw, Setokuma draws the 8p and wins the hand. With the 8p also being the uradora, Setokuma wins with Riichi/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 3,000+100/6,000+100 plus a riichi stick, taking Setokuma up to 46,600.
Dama Mangan
May 12, Game 1, S4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4622
In S4-1, Genta is the final dealer in 3rd place, 5,100 behind 2nd place Futoshi and 19,500 behind 1st place Setokuma. He has already won a hand to keep his dealership and is looking to rise even higher.
Genta starts out with a good amount of value, holding a red 5m, a red 5p and a lone dora east. Unfortunately, he only has two pairs and is 6-away from a standard hand. All he can do is wait.
He discards most of his terminals and honours in the first row (including the east dora) and builds connecting shapes for the red fives. By the end of the first row, he is 2-shanten and just a 4m away from completing a 345m iipeikou.
The first few turns of the second row are a bust, but he does end up filling in a 7s kanchan on turn 10 to get to iishanten. A turn later, he draws the 4m and stays dama on a 47p ryanmen. If he wins by ron, he will have a mangan. If he darws it himself, it gets upgraded to a haneman and he takes 1st place.
At the start of the third row, Setokuma calls a 789p chii and discards the 7p trying to take tenpai, only to end up dealing into Genta. Genta wins the hand with Pinfu/Tanyao/Iipeikou/Aka 2 for 12,000+300. With the direct hit off 1st place, Genta moves into the lead.
Recovery
May 12, Game 1, S4-2
In S4-2, Setokuma is down to 2nd place after dealing into Genta’s dealer mangan. With two honba, Setokuma needs a 2/30 direct hit, a 2/50 or 3/25 tsumo, or a 3/40 ron for 1st place.
Setokuma is gifted with a pair of 1p dora and a pair of souths in his starting hand, already guaranteed 3 han. On turn 2, he fills in an 8m kanchan for 2-shanten. On turn 3, he creates a 36m ryanmen for iishanten. Within the go-around he calls pon on the south and gets to tenpai on a 36m ryanmen.
With the 3/30 tenpai, he can win by tsumo or direct hit for 1st place. Towards the end of the first row, Genta discards the 3m and deals into Setokuma. Setokuma wins the hand with South/Dora 2 for 3,900+600, giving Team Raiden their fourth win of the finals.
Final Scores
Standings
With Team Raiden getting 1st place and the U-Next Pirates geting 4th place, there is a big shift in the battle for 3rd place. The swing is 99.1pts in Team Raiden’s favour, meaning that another 1st/4th could put the team into 3rd place overall by the end of the day.
For the 1st place battle, the Sega Sammy Phoenix narrowly beat the Akasaka Drivens to keep their top position, increasing the lead slightly to 26.8pts.
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