Monday (November 17)

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Game 1

Hisato (Part 1)

November 17, Game 1

In E1-1, Hisato is the dealer in 1st place after winning a 1,000 all hand to start the game.

Hisato starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a secured red 5s and pair of norths. He creates some flexible shapes in the first row and gets to iishanten by turn 5. On turn 7, he makes a north triplet to widen his tile acceptance from 2 types to 14 types of tiles. On his next turn, Hisato draws fourth north and calls a concealed kan. Though neither the kandora nor the rinshan help, it does give him an opportunity for extra uradora.

In the middle of the second row, HIsato gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47m nobetan. In the third row, he draws the 7m and wins the hand. Hisato wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 1 with enough fu to give him a 4,000+100 all mangan.

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Jaga Stare (Part 1)

November 17, Game 1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p10522

In E3-0, Nakabayashi is the dealer in 2nd place and is 13,400 behind 1st place Hisato. He has been slowly climbing his way up, having already won the past two hands.

Nakabayashi starts off at a 4-shanten standard hand (3-shanten for pairs) with a pair of 7s dora and a secured red 5m. Nakabayashi’s hand moves quickly enough to get to a wide iishanten on turn 4, waiting on 10 types of tiles for tenpai, upgrading that number to 12 types on his next turn.

At the end of the first row, he is challenged by Hinata, who calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen with a mangan minimum hand.

On Nakabayashi’s next turn, he draws a third 7s dora, getting him to tenpai. He calls riichi and waits on a 14p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan. Two turns later, Hinata discards the 1p and deals in. Nakabayashi wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 3/Aka 1 for 12,000 plus a riichi stick, putting him just 400 from the lead.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p10523

In E3-1, Nakabayashi has enough blocks to be 3-shanten, but doesn’t have any completed groups of three. Throwing terminals to start, he does his best to shift to tanyao. Despite only getting to 2-shanten by the end of the first row, he has tanyao guaranteed.

In the second row, he completes a 234m sequence to secure the 4m dora. Two turns later, he fills in a 3p kanchan, getting him to tenpai. He calls riichi and waits on a 47s ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan yet again. Turns turns after that, he draws the 4s and wins the hand. Nakabayashi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1 for 4,000+100 all.

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Hisato (Part 2)

November 17, Game 1, E3-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p8529

In E3-2, Hisato is in 2nd place and 16,000 behind 1st place Nakabayashi, a surprising spot considering that he had gotten to 54,000 in East 1.

Hisato starts out the hand at 3-shanten with two penchans and a ryanmen. In the first row, Hisato shifts a lot of shapes into ryanmens. But, despite this increase in acceptance, he remains at 3-shanten at the end of the first row.

In the second row, Hisato creates a pair of 2s and fills in a 4m kanchan to secure a red 5m, getting him to iishanten with a fairly simple route to mangan.

Hisato’s opponents advance well as well, actually getting to tenpai before him. Hinata is the first to tenpai, but she sits with a yakuless tenpai on a 5m tanki, really wanting to improve the wait. At the end of the second row, Nakabayashi gets to tenpai on a 47m nobetan with two left in the wall. In the third row, he switches to a 36s nobetan, but none remain in the wall.

On Hinata’s turn, she gets the improvement and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen.

Back to Hisato, he finally gets to tenpai and calls riichi on the wide 369p wait, wanting the 36p for haneman. Within the go-around, Hinata discards the 6p and deals into Hisato. Hisato wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 3 for 12,000+600 plus one riichi stick, moving him within 2,400 behind 1st place.

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Jaga Stare (Part 2)

November 17, Game 1

In E4-1, Nakabayashi has a big score of 54,600, but he is in 2nd place and is 500 behind 1st place Hisato.

Nakabayashi starts off at 3-shanten with a connected dora 7s. Early on, Nakabayashi shifts his hand to tanyao, discarding his final terminal/honour on turn 3. By the end of the first row, Nakabayashi gets to iishanten.

In the second row, his hand stalls. He moves the hand around a lot, but he ends up going nowhere. At the end of the second row, he finally gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 3p kanchan

To his right, Hinata is the dealer and deep in the red. Wanting to climb out of the hole, Hinata pushes her ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten hand. In the middle of the third row, Hinata calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen, wanting the 7s for mangan minimum.

Despite having a ryanmen, Hinata has fewer winning tiles than Nakabayashi. Quite soon, Hinata’s waits are dead and Nakabayashi’s wait is only left at 3p. On Nakabayashi’s last draw, he gets the 3p and wins the hand. Nakabayashi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao/Dora 1 for 2,000+100/4,000+100 plus a riichi stick.

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In S1-1, Nakabayashi starts out at 2-shanten with a secured red 5m. His hand also ha a lot of manzu, needing only a 1m for a manzu straight. On turn 2, he secures a pair of 7s, getting him to iishanten with a guaranteed good wait. On turn 4, he draws the final 1m in the wall and gets to tenpai on a 25p ryanmen. He stays dama and is guaranteed a mangan. Within the go-around, Hisato discards the 2p and deals into Nakabayashi. Nakabayashi wins the hand with Pinfu/Ittsuu/Aka 1 for 8,000.

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Results

Game 105

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Game 2

KobaGo Ahead

November 17, Game 2, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p10524

In E4-0, Kobayashi is in 3rd place and is just 4,100 behind 1st place Ooi.

Kobayashi starts out with a strong 2-shanten hand with two red fives and a very likely tanyao. On turn 3, he draws a dora 7p, lining him up for mangan. On turn 8, he gets to a perfect iishanten. Soon after, Kobayashi calls pon on the 8m and gets to tenpai on a 258p wait. Immediately after, Ooi discards the 5p and deals into Kobayashi. Kobayashi wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 8,000.

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Nakada Kana

November 17, Game 2, S4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s80_p2422

In S4-1, Nakada is in 3rd place and is 3,000 behind 1st place Kobayashi. To finish the game in 1st place, he needs a 1/40 direct hit, a 2/40 tsumo or 3/20 tsumo, or a 2/50 or 3/25 ron.

Nakada starts out the hand 3-shanten with a pair of green dragons, a secured red 5p and a floating red 5m. If she can secure all that value, she has enough for 1st place. After making a triplet of 6s, Nakada calls pon on the green dragon to get to iishanten. However, her red 5m is still floating.

On turn 5, Nakada draws a 3m, getting her to tenpai on a 4m kanchan. She has a chance to call a concealed kan on the 6s, but chooses not to. On her next turn, she draws the 4m and wins the hand. Nakada wins with Green Dragon/Aka 2 for 1,300+100/2,600+100, giving her her third 1st place of the season.

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Results

Game 106

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