Thursday (March 12)

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Game 1

Dora Dora Aka Aka

March 12, Game 1, E2-0

In E2-0, Hori is in 4th place after losing a riichi and dealing into Nagai’s 1,300 hand.

Hori starts out with a very nice 3-shanten hand with a pair of west yakuhai dora and a bunch of ryanmens, basically guaranteeing him a good wait. On turns 2 and 3, he turns a single 5p into a triplet with the red 5p, getting him to iishanten. On turn 4, Hori gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen, guaranteed at least 5 han. At the end of the row, Nagai discards the 1s trying to keep his ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten and deals into Hori. Hori wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 2/Aka 2 for 8,000, going from 4th to 1st and Nagai from 1st to 4th.

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Ooi Ending

March 12, Game 1, S4-1

In S4-1, the scores are tight with 1st place dealer Hori just 8,300 ahead of 4th place Nagai. It’s anyone’s game. Ooi is in 3rd place and just 2,000 behind Hori. With a riichi stick and a honba in the pot, any hand would be enough to win.

Ooi starts out the hand at 4-shanten with a secured red 5s and a single white dragon dora. In the first row, Ooi advances to 2-shanten with a penchan, kanchan and ryanmen left. Though he makes a green dragon pair at the end of the row, two have already been cut, so he cuts it as well.

In the second row, Ooi switches the penchan for a kanchan and the other kanchan for a ryanmen. In the middle of the row, he fills in the kanchan to get to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten. At the end of the row, Ooi gets to tenpai and stays dama on a 14s ryanmen.

Two turns later, Hori gets to tenpai on a 4m kanchan.

After a pon of the red dragon, Futoshi gets to tenpai on a 6m kanchan. With a 567 sanshoku and a red 5p secured as well, a win here would give him the win.

Towards the end of the hand, Futoshi discards the 4s and deals into Ooi. Ooi wins the hand with Pinfu/Aka 1 for 2,000+300 plus a riichi stick, finishing the game in 1st.

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Results

Game 281

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Game 2

Shiratori

March 12, Game 2, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p9049

In E1-0, Shiratori starts out with a strong 2-shanten hand with a pair of 5m dora, a red 5p and a pair of easts.

Within the first go-around, Shiratori calls pon on the east for iishanten. Unfortunately, the rest of the row is an exercise of drawing an discarding. But, at the start of the second row, he fills in a 4p kanchan and gets to tenpai on a 3m penchan, guaranteed a mangan.

Sonoda looks to have a good 2-shanten hand with two ryanmens, a red dragon triplet and a secured dora 5m. However, he has a lone 3m, Shiratori’s winning tile. Luckily, he draws a second 3m to make a pair.

Near the end of the row, Shiratori draws a fourth 7s, allowing him to call a concealed kan. To everyone’s surprise, the 7s becomes the new dora, pushing his hand from 4 han to 8 han. But, there is a competitor as Sonoda gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 47m ryanmen.

In the middle of the third row, Shiratori draws the 3m and wins the hand. Shiratori wins with East/Dora 6/Aka 1 for a cool 4,000/8,000 baiman.

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Aki

March 12, Game 2, E3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p7562

In E3-1, Aki is in 2nd place, 16,000 behind 1st place Shiratori.

Aki starts out the hand at 3-shanten with three ryanmens. In the first row, she fills in a ryanmen, gets a red 5m and creates another ryanmen, guaranteeing a good wait. In the middle of the second row, Aki gets to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten.

Soon after, though, Shiratori fills in a 2s kanchan and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen.

At the start of the third row, Aki gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69s ryanmen. On her very next turn, Aki draws the 9s and wins the hand. With an uradora hit, Aki wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 3,000+100/6,000+100.

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Sonoda Spring

March 12, Game 2, S1-0

In S1-0, Sonoda is in 3rd place, 24,400 behind 2nd place Shiratori.

Sonoda starts out the hand at 4-shanten with a secured red 5s. In the first row, he adds a ryanmen and a three-sided wait to the hand, getting to 2-shanten. In the second row, he fills in the ryanmen, leaving only a 468p shape and the three-sided wait in souzu. Near the end of the row, he draws the red 5p to complete a sequence and calls riichi on a 147s wait. On his very next draw, he gets the 1s and wins the hand. Sonoda wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 2 for 3,000/6,000, closing the gap on 2nd and 1st.

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Sticks

March 12, Game 2, S3-5

For four of the past five hands, nobody won. With all the failed riichi calls, there are now 4 riichi sticks in the pot. Along with the honba, the next winner will get 5,500 in bonuses. Sitting in 1st place and at greatest risk of losing her position is Aki, just 3,100 ahead of 2nd place.

Aki starts out the hand at 3-shanten with two ryanmens in hand. By turn 5, she gets to iishanten. But, across from her, 4th place dealer Akutsu gets to tenpai first and calls riichi on a 3p kanchan.

On Aki’s next turn, he fills in a 2p kanchan and calld riichi on a 36m ryanmen. With a 456p sequence and a 456s sequence, she just needs a 6m to add sanshoku. In the middle of the second row, Aki draws the 3m and wins the hand. Aki wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu for 700+500/1,300+500 plus five riichi sticks, a 2,700 hand boosted to 9,200.

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Results

Game 282

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