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#player1 Dan_Wachtell Dan Wachtell
#player2 Sean_Wrona Sean Wrona
>Dan_Wachtell: DHLNNRV -HLNNRV +0 0
>Sean_Wrona: ADNPSYZ 8H PANDY +30 30
#note As usual, I didn't see ZANY due to my tunnel vision. Is this too cute? Most of the possible ZANY plays sim better than this, but I think this setup is fine, right? The X is the only thing to worry about and if Dan does hit it I can still play ZAX and possibly crossword anyway...
24:03
>Dan_Wachtell: CDELNUY K6 CU.DLY +26 26
>Sean_Wrona: ?EFIOSZ I7 F.ZE +30 60
#note The idea of fishing with a Z is not something that remotely comes naturally to me. Quackle recommends 7H OF but I think with a lead I want to play it safe and dump the Z. Granted, come to think of it OF is probably safer, as bingos hooking FAZE will score much more... Still, I don't think this is necessarily an error.
21:40
>Dan_Wachtell: EEEILMN J8 .EEM +33 59
#note What I did not consider were crosswords and this one is awesome...
>Sean_Wrona: ?AIOORS 12D OORAlIS +69 129
>Dan_Wachtell: EILNRST E7 RETIN.LS +66 125
#note Missing ARIOSOS was more costly than I thought. Still I got the opportunity to play that oh so awesome hook later!
>Sean_Wrona: BDEIKOU D6 BEDU +18 147
#note I spent a LONG time trying to find a good way to block here and I definitely did not succeed. It's probably even easier for him to bingo after this play than before it because of the many hooks ER takes on either end... Is there a blocking play that is actually good? I couldn't find one. At least he would have bingoed either way... I probably should have gone for points, ignored the potential threat, and played BLOKE or something... No, after reviewing the many options I missed, D4 BIKED seems rather obvious. It doesn't block MUCH better but because of the K, it blocks a little better, but the scoring difference is the main thing. Again, if I'd seen it/thought of it, that's so obvious, but this is just a major defensive fail. Considering the rack he drew on the next turn, however, at least there was little I could have done.
15:43
>Dan_Wachtell: AEGILNR F2 REALIGN +70 195
>Sean_Wrona: AEEFIKO H11 F.AKE +33 180
#note FOLKIE, wow. I wouldn't have thought of that and then I would have doubted its validity (is it FOLKIE or FOLKY or both or neither?) But that is so much better than this...
14:49
>Dan_Wachtell: ?AAADGO 9G GA... +22 217
>Sean_Wrona: EIOOTUV 3A OUTVI. +18 198
#note 14:26
>Dan_Wachtell: ?AADMOR A1 AR.MA +30 247
#note TRAMROAD is a cool word... I wonder how many people would actually find it.
>Sean_Wrona: EEINOSW C12 WOE +22 220
#note Talk about being cute. I SO wanted to play WOORALIS that I didn't look for a higher-scoring place to play the same letters, hahaha... Also, OWE is probably much better than this because it gives me a potential bingo line, but I suppose that bingo line already exists regardless, and one danger with OWE instead of WOE is that it would be quite easy for him to shut that line down and not give me much in return. If he attempted to block the column B line after WOE, it would be somewhat hard for him to not give me something back... Obviously should have played WOVE regardless but was just preoccupied by that cool, shiny hook. At least this sims better than WIVE.
13:55
>Dan_Wachtell: ?DELOTX 15H .XTOLlED +98 345
#note Not much I can do about that...
>Sean_Wrona: CEINSTV B5 INVECTS +68 288
#note Yikes! This isn't a word? Having said that, considering invected and invective, this would be a pretty HARD challenge if you don't actually know it's phony.
13:10
>Dan_Wachtell: BHIINOW 14N HI +23 368
>Sean_Wrona: AAHIRSU F12 .AH +29 317
#note Even if I remembered SURAH (and I do remember SEEING it) I don't think that's worth doing since I need a bingo to win and this is the last S or blank...
12:50
>Dan_Wachtell: BGINORW A11 OWING +41 409
>Sean_Wrona: AEIRSTU 6K .UR +5 322
#note There are lots of things I could have done here. I think this is a fairly good one. The likeliest bingo spot besides what I just opened is probably row 2 so I decided getting rid of the R was probably necessary (as opposed to getting rid of the T, etc...) CURB was something to worry about a bit, but if he did play a crossword there, there's still a chance I could bingo on column O. I'm sure there were better fishes, but this is an okay one. The problem is that I'm not scoring enough probably...
>Dan_Wachtell: BINOPQR - +0 409
#note This play REALLY threw me. I knew the Q hadn't been played yet and I figured he was just passing in case he drew it, so I was rather flabbergasted to find that he had it on the next turn. I looked at my tracking and thought 'That can't be right'. Why would he pass? I just didn't figure it out. He told me afterward that he thought that his only chance of losing was if he made a play, emptied the bag, and I bingoed sticking him with the Q. That's extremely clever and he deserves to win for that. Quite possibly the cleverest or most inspired strategic play anyone has made against me in a live game, in fact... Of course he still probably could have outrun me with a CURB play regardless. Considering what's left in the bag it's EXTREMELY unlikely I'm going to bingo. I needed his N or R badly...
>Sean_Wrona: AEIJSTT D1 JI.E +44 366
#note Should I have responded to that by fishing again? Just play JO and FORCE him to take the last tile, especially because from my view there's still a risk that I could draw the Q? Come to think of it, that's probably the ONLY sort of move worth doing and this is a fail... You have to respond to quirky, inspired strategy with some of your own, right? Turn this game into a standoff?
Looking at the sim results, this was a clear error and forfeited the game. Yeah, I needed to fish. I probably needed to play JEU because that actually scores something, but JO might be better in a way because it forces him to take the last tile...
This was just giving up too easily, and as you'll see I had plenty of time. Is it remotely LIKELY I could have turned this into a win? No, but I certainly should have fought for it harder... This is probably a perfect example of my choking (i.e. why I am rarely if ever blown out by anyone but can never win the close games). STEEs fight to the end. I give up way too quickly. That's probably one of the main reasons I'm not a STEE now even if I play like one in most of my games (or at least I did this weekend, no comment on the Whitesboro March 1 tournament).
HUGE error that I only spent 20 seconds on this and went for points. My only justification is that I thought the game was over and I didn't really have a chance and his pass made me think that the Q was in the bag, which I guess is why I thought the game was over and decided to play for points. It rattled me when I saw that he had it at the end.
11:56
>Dan_Wachtell: BINOPQR N6 BORN +26 435
>Sean_Wrona: AEOSTT 2F .OTATES +9 375
#note Speaking of giving up, how about just going out rather than trying to close the deficit as much as possible as a truly great player would do?!?!?!
Okay, considering that he can't play his Q, is there any way I could possibly tip this and outscore him? I really don't think so. Gaining 49 points to tie it PLUS whatever he scores with his P and I seems basically impossible. I needed to bingo. JIVE essentially forfeited a game I had some chance of winning. Even though I had plenty more time to think, I was playing in a division where I was certainly not going to place, so once the game was already lost, I guess I just didn't care, but I SHOULD HAVE CARED. I need the practice of exploiting Q-sticks in case it can tip a game that I have an even stronger chance of winning...
Really, I'm happy the game was lost with JIVE and not with ROTATES. Not that I'm happy I lost at all. It seems like on ISC I have a reputation for fishing way too much (usually because I lack other ideas, NOT because I think it's the best play - I think I fish pretty well when it IS the best play), but in this tournament it seems I was actually going for points too much...
This was a very instructional game in terms of trying to make leave inferences. Sure, I failed, but in the long run I learned something from this game much like I learned something from the Tunnicliffe game, which SHOULD help later. (Not sure I learned anything from the Ben Schoenbrun game...) I had just never come across the strategy of passing WITH the Q (as opposed to the more standard strategy of passing to avoid it), but that is unbelievably clever. Major props.
>Sean_Wrona: (IPQ) +28 403
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