Saki 188: Resolution

I wrote something below but it contains spoilers so don't read it before reading the chapter!

Enjoy:

Saki ch188 (Mega)
Saki ch188 (Mediafire)

By the way, I'm working on the last two chapters of Saki Biyori but didn't have time to finish them. They'll be done in a week or so I hope. Sorry for the wait.



Spoilers for the chapter

The final scores should be:
Senriyama 120600
Shindouji 117500
Himematsu 116800
Usuzan 45100

So assuming there are no hidden riichi sticks involved, Senriyama should be the winner of this match and take 5th place overall! I guess that's the result most readers expected? It was either Senriyama or Himematsu anyway. Now we can finally head to the long-awaited final!!!

To expand a little on what Himeko says in page 11:

If a round ends with no one winning the "normal" way (after all tiles from the wall have been drawn), a player not in tenpai must always say "noten" but a player in tenpai can choose whether to say "tenpai" or "noten".

The tenpai/noten announcements must be made starting from the East player (the dealer), and then in order South, West and North. Kyouko (the dealer) would have to make her announcement first, without knowing if Ryuuka is in tenpai or not.

If Kyouko says "tenpai", the match would go to the bonus round where she would get hit by Himeko's Sanbaiman and finish 3rd (if Himeko wins by tsumo, Kyouko would have to pay double because she is the dealer).

If Kyouko says "noten", the match ends right there. However, if Ryuuka was in tenpai, given the current scores, Himematsu would get overtaken by Senriyama and finish 2nd (regardless of what the other two players say). Still, that's better than being 3rd.

Himeko's Sanbaiman is not enough for her to take 1st place unless Ryuuka was the only player in South 4 not in tenpai. In that case, Ryuuka would have to pay 3000 points (1000 to each player) and her score would get low enough to get overtaken by Himeko in the bonus round.

So the "normal" conditions for Himeko to win the match are:
1) South 4 ends without a winner (unlikely).
2) Kyouko announces "tenpai" at the end of South 4 (stupid so she won't say it).
3) Kyouko, Sawaya and Himeko are all in tenpai but Ryuuka is not (unlikely).

On the other hand, if the round ends without a winner because everyone's first discard is the same wind tile (as it happens in the chapter), then according to the Interhigh rules, the match goes to the bonus round automatically.