Monday (March 2)

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Game 1

Date

March 2, Game 1, E4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p8558

In E4-1, Date is the dealer in 2nd place, just 800 behind 1st place Futoshi. A riichi stick and a honba are int he pot.

Date starts out the hand at 2-shanten with the ability to accept the 8p dora. On turn 5, she fills in that 8p kanchan and gets to iishanten, holding a wide acceptance. But, Takaki is the first to get to tenpai, waiting on a 58m ryanmen.

Within the go-around, Date gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen.

Though Shiratori was iishanten with two dora 8p in his hand, he folds by breaking the 8p pair. But in the process, he ends up tenpai on a 36s ryanmen.

On Date’s next turn, she draws the red 5m and wins the hand. Date wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 4,000+100 all plus a riichi stick.

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Shiratori

March 2, Game 1, S2-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p9045

In S2-2, Shiratori is the dealer in 4th place, 2,200 behind 3rd place Takaki, 6,700 behind 2nd place Futoshi and 19,300 behind 1st place Date. With three riichi sticks and two honba in the pot, it’s a great opportunity to close the gap. .

Shiratori starts out the hand at 4-shanten with a dora 7m as part of a ryanmen. In the first row, he creates a bunch of sequences and actually gets to iishanten before the row is done.

To his left, Takaki is also iishanten by the end of the first row. At the start of the second, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 4m/9s shanpon, set up with a suji trap on the 9s.

Two turns later, Futoshi chases with a 25s ryanmen.

Though he is faced with two riichi calls, Shiratori is able to push safely. At the end of the second row, he calls the third riichi and waits on a 36p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan and wants the 6p for an extra han. Two turns later, Futoshi discards the 6p and deals into Shiratori. Shiratori wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Iipeikou/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 12,000+600 plus three riichi sticks, mocing into 2nd place and within 1,700 of 1st.

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Takaki Time

March 2, Game 1, S2-4
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p9544

In S2-4, Takaki is in 3rd place, 15,700 behind 2nd place Date and 18,800 behind 1st place dealer Shiratori.

Takaki starts out the hand at 3-shanten with three ryanmens.By turn 3, he fills in two of them, including with a red 5s.

However, he is not the only one with a quick closed hand. At the end of the first row, Shiratori is the first to tenpai and waits on a 5m kanchan. A turn later, he improves to a 58m ryanmen and calls riichi.

Luckily for Takaki, he is able to continue pushing relatively safely. At the end of the second row, Takaki gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen. On Takaki’s last turn, he draws the 3s and wins the hand. Takaki wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 3,000+400/6,000+400 plus a riichi stick, having enough value to move into 1st place.

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Date

March 2, Game 1, S3-0
Video:

In S3-0, Date is in 2nd place, 1,900 behind 1st place Takaki.

Date starts out the hand at an annoying standard 5-shanten, 4-shanten for seven pairs. Though she makes a bunch of ryanmens in the first row, Date is still at 3-shanten by the end of it. At the start of the second row, Takaki is the first to tenpai, but he has no yaku with his 5/8s shanpon. Near the end of the second row, Date gets to tenpai and stays dama with a 5p kanchan, guaranteed at least a mangan. Two turns later, Takaki discards the 5p trying to improve to a ryanmen and deals into Date. Date wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 8,000, taking the lead going into the last hand.

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Results

Game 269

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Game 2

Takamiya

March 2, Game 2, E1-1

In the first hand, Takamiya the dealer called riichi, but failed to win. Now she tries to repeat it to take back her stick.

Takamiya starts out with a strong 2-shanten hand with three secured sequences and a red 5s. On turn 2, Takamiya gets to iishanten with a three-sided wait and a guaranteed good wait. On turn 5, Takamiya gets to tenpai and calls riichi on the 258s wait. Within the go-around, Kayamori discards the 2s trying to take iishanten and deals into Takamiya. Takamiya wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Aka 1 for 4,000+100 all plsu a riichi stick.

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Kayamori

March 2, Game 2, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p9545

In E2-0, Kayamori is in 4th place, 11,300 behind 3rd place Matsumoto and 23600 behind 2nd place dealer Sonoda.

Kayamori starts out the hand at an annoying 5-shanten. In the first row, she interestingly got a lot of pairs and got to chiitoi iishanten with a red 5p secured. Two turns into the second row, she shifts to a standard hand. Near the end of the row, Kayamori draws a red 5m for tenpai and calls riichi on a 5p/east shanpon. In the third row, he draws the east and wins the hand. To her surprise, the east triplet becomes the uradora! Kayamori wins with Riichi/Tsumo/East/Aka 2/Ura 3 for 4,000/8,000, a surprise move to 2nd place.

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Results

Game 270

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