Monday (December 22)

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Game 1

Ippatsu

December 22, Game 1, S1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p7034

In S1-0, Sonoda is the dealer in 3rd place, 7,600 behind 2nd place Yu and 16,200 behind 1st place Honda.

Sonoda starts off at 2-shanten with a red 5p. Within the first few turns, Sonoda shifts his hand towards tanyao, giving him the option to call. By the end of the first row, Sonoda is nearly guaranteed to be a good wait and wanting a 6p to secure both the red 5p and the good wait.

At the start of the second row, he completes a 678m sequence for iishanten. Two turns later, he draws the desired 6p and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins. On his very next turn, Sonoda draws the 5s and wins the hand. Sonoda wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 1 for 6,000 all.

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Shingo

December 22, Game 1, S2-3
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p8033

In S2-3, Hori is all the way down in 4th place, 16,600 behind 3rd place Yu. A riichi stick and a three honba are in the pot.

Hori starts out at an incredible iishanten, having 5 different tiles that will give him the double riichi. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get it. On turn 2, he guarantees himself a good wait. On turn 3, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a wide 147s three-sided wait, wanting a 4s or 7s for mangan minimum. On his very next turn, Hori draws the 4s and wins the hand. Hori wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1 for 3,000+100/6,000+100 plus one riichi stick, just enough to put him into 3rd place.

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Results

Game 165

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Game 2

Pairs

December 22, Game 2, E3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p10034

In E3-0, Kurosawa is in a 2nd place tie and is 10,000 behind 1st place Taro.

Kurosawa’s first draw gives her her fifth pair, putting her iishanten. On turn 2, Kurosawa pairs up the 7p and waits on a 2s tanki, staying dama. On turn 4, she draws a third white dragon and makes the interesting choice of discarding the 2s, losing tenpai.

At the start of the second row, Kurosawa draws a 3s. Seeing an opportunity for a suji trap, Kurosawa makes it her tanki and calls riichi. Just two turns later, Nakabayashi discards the 3s and deals into Kurosawa. With an uradora hit, Kurosawa wins the hand with Riichi/Chiitoi/Ura 2 for 8,000.

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Jaga

December 22, Game 2, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p10536

In E4-0, Nakabayashi is in 4th place, 10,000 behind 3rd place Okada, 18,000 behind 2nd place Kurosawa and 20,000 behind 1st place dealer Taro.

With Nakabayashi’s first draw, he makes a 3s triplet and gets to 3-shanten. With the red 5s and a red 5p double dora, he has the value to make a comeback. In the first row, he completes a 567s sequence and a 456p sequence, getting to iishanten. On turn 8, Nakabayashi completes a 789p sequence. Breaking his 3s triplet into a pair, Nakabayashi calls riichi on a 69m ryanmen. If he wins with tsumo, he will have a haneman.

Within the ippatsu round, dealer Taro chases with a 2m kanchan. With a pair of 5p in his hand, Taro has a chance to get a big hand as well.

In between the two of them, Okada is able to safely get to iishanten during the ippatsu round. After a bit of maneuvering even rejecting tenpai once, Okada gets to tenpai in the third row and calls riichi on a 3s penchan.

Towards the end of the hand, Taro discards the 6m and deals into Nakabayashi. Nakabayashi wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 8,000 plus two riichi sticks, moving him up to 3rd place and just 1,000 from 2nd.

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Stare

December 22, Game 2, S4-0

In S4-0, Nakabayashi is in 4th place, 2,400 behind 3rd place, 9,200 behind 2nd place dealer Taro and 14,000 behind 1st place Kurosawa. A 2/40 ron would be enough for Nakabayashi to move up to 3rd place. To move up to 2nd, he would need a 3/40 direct hit, a 3/50 or 4/25 tsumo, or a haneman ron. And for an even bigger win, a haneman direct hit off Kurosawa or a baiman win would be enough for 1st.

Nakabayashi starts off at 4-shanten with a secured red 5s. After creating a pair of 1s, a 789m sequence and a 3m kanchan shape, Nakabayashi gets to iishanten at the end of the first row. Towards the end of the second row, Nakabayashi calls riichi on a 1s/2s shanpon. With 2/40 confirmed, he has enough for at least 3rd. For 2nd, he needs an ura with either the tsumo or the Taro direct hit.

Sitting iishanten, Taro is relieved when he pairs up the dangerous 7m, allowing him to switch out his safe 8p pair. After drawing some safe terminals and honours, Taro gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a wide 147s three-sided wait.

And right after, Kurosawa gets to tenpai and stays dama on a 25p/5s wait.

On Nakabayashi’s next draw, he gets the 1s and wins the hand. With an uradora hit, Nakabayashi wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000 plus a riichi stick, finishing in 2nd place.

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Results

Game 166

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