| Player 1 |
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#player1 Matt_Canik Matt Canik
#player2 Jim_Burlant Jim Burlant
>Matt_Canik: AEINNSX 8D XENIA +40 40
#note Sims about a point over ANNEX
>Jim_Burlant: ?AIINNN E5 NIN. +8 8
#note Too bad he hadn't floated a C: CANNIKIN would have been rather cute given who I was playing. Q says I should take 7 more points and keep duplicated N's with 9C AIN. Eh. This left me with a more balanced combo than anything else I could find so I went with this.
>Matt_Canik: EHLNNOS D4 NOH +19 59
>Jim_Burlant: ?AAEINR 9F ANERgIA +65 73
#note This maxes out the points but the board position is utterly reckless. Much better would have been this same word at 7G for 1 less point. Can someone please explain how I never saw that?
>Matt_Canik: CELNSSZ K8 Z.NC +30 89
#note Yes, I do have the Z. No, I can't do anything about that spot. Guuhhh.
>Jim_Burlant: DEEITUW F2 WITED +35 108
#note Not great to keep the U, but 35 points is 35 points and the only plays that unload the U (UNAWED and ETUI C2 are the two best I have that do that) give up 15 scoreboard points. This is best. 47-1/2% to win.
>Matt_Canik: ELSSSTU 12H TUSSLES +82 171
#note Another triple-S rack!
>Jim_Burlant: AAEPTUU H12 .UTU +12 120
#note Matt: "Nice draw." No really good plays available; for reasons I can't explain I didn't like 11D TAUPE, 10E UP didn't appeal, so I figured I'd dump the U's and try again since I know Quackle doesn't seem to mind AAEP leaves. Best is apparently 10E UP if the duck is to be believed, but this worked out in style.
>Matt_Canik: EFGIRVY 10A VERIFY +39 210
#note VERIFY (39) and FIERY (41) were my two options here. VER(S)IFY (36) is also a decent play. VERIFY is winning a sim here.
>Jim_Burlant: AADEOPR 14H .APADERO +84 204
#note It doesn't get luckier than drawing DOR to AAEP and having two places to play TAPADERO. Back in the game, but Matt's still in the driver's seat; I'm only 31% to win in a short sim. The 4F placement, which scores 78, wins not quite 30
>Matt_Canik: CGLLORS C2 CLOG +21 231
#note Matt took forever here, as he was looking in vain for the A column defensive play he didn't have.
>Jim_Burlant: ABGIMOO C9 G.OOM +20 224
#note Pick your poison. Nothing defends the A column and the only plays dealing with O15 leave me with AGOO. Yuck. Q says I should play BROMO or BROOM; I'd rather get rid of the G since all the N's are out. I'm fine with this, even if the duck thinks I've left too many points on the board.
>Matt_Canik: AELRRSV M12 .V.R +14 245
#note This was a really hard turn. VAR(V)E and EVER are the only two plays that really make sense here. Holding the last S, I think I've got a really goodchance to get a bingo down after EVER. Sim agrees: 61.5%. But nonetheless, it has VARVE about 2.5 points ahead.
>Jim_Burlant: ?ABBFII D12 FIB +30 254
#note This is absurd! Matt and I both laughed as this came down. While this is obviously the correct play given my rack, it is just ludicrous that neither of us can do anything about either of those spots.
>Matt_Canik: AEJLRST O13 J.T +30 275
#note Okay I missed the AELRS bingo last turn, but surely I'll hit it here...
>Jim_Burlant: ?AABEIR A4 ABRAsI.E +89 343
#note This is the only A column bingo, and the only other bingoes are N5 ARABIZES and AMBARIES. I saw this and after making a token effort to look elsewhere slapped this down. Post-mortem, I wondered if I should have passed up the bingo in favor of ZAIRE 8K, which would have made this a much less interesting game in retrospect. Q indicates that I was right to bingo. This wins almost 87% and wins the sim; ZAIRE is the runner up, winning 82 and simming 8 points down.
>Matt_Canik: AEHLLRS 13C ..LL +6 281
#note I think I sort of need to fish here, but maybe I should just play L(EVER). I draw a playable bingo with D, E, I, M, T, U, W. That's 14/22 draws. Jim is likely to try and block something, though.
>Jim_Burlant: DEEEIPY 15J EYE. +21 364
#note Wow, there were some really difficult to spot plays here that I missed. B4 EYED/EYE score 33 and 28 respectively. This still helps me distance Matt, but still - every point counts. If you miss those, this is the best of the rest.
>Matt_Canik: AEHIRST 8K .AIRE +48 329
#note ZAIRE sims above bingoing with WATERISH, but (Z)A sims above both plays. Without the G or P, Jim is going to have a really touh time addressing that spot.
>Jim_Burlant: DDEIOOP 7M POD +21 385
#note Apparently I should play at G1 with DODO - that never occurred to me as I put down the knee-jerk play to block the relatively wide open 8's. The rest of his lines (rows 2, 3, and 4) are somewhat limited.
>Matt_Canik: AEGHOST 2E O. +5 334
#note Guessing from Jim's reaction to his draw that he doesn't have the Q. I can't find a single worthwhile fish here that gives me chances to bingo out. I decided to play OW and try to play for a Q-stick. It's a long shot, but I think it's the only shot I'd have. I'm hoping that he'll have the U, assume that he's safe if he draws the Q, and not notice the trap I'm setting. I can block N10 QIS next turn and stick him, saving my S for 15A. Again, this is a big long shot but I just can't find anything else.
>Jim_Burlant: DEIMOUW E13 .OW +10 395
#note Matt's play of OW initially puzzled me. When I double checked the tracking and saw the Q was still unseen and that I possessed the case I, it became obvious he was gambling that he could Q-stick me if I drew the Q. However, if he drew the Q, I saw QATS 15A coming back for 52 which would more or less even the game up and, depending on what else was in the bag, I might not be able to go out before him and could lose. I saw this, and, when I realized it put me up by 61 points, I felt that, even if I wound up with an unplayable Q, the board didn't look like it would allow him to make up the approximately 50 points he'd need to make up after I took an almost 70-point lead. I felt confident that I'd be able to slow play effectively enough to preserve the win. This doesn't even show up in the kibbitzer options, but this immediately vaults to the top of the sim. And, even against an inferred rack of AEGHKST, assuming I draw the Q, this is the best play I can make per the sim.
>Matt_Canik: AEGHQST 6D ...E +8 342
#note damnit all to hell
>Jim_Burlant: DEIKMTU 3E M.KED +23 418
#note But I catch on, and after initially putting down MIKED H2, change to this.
>Matt_Canik: AGHQST H3 .H +9 351
>Jim_Burlant: ITU 1D UT +8 426
#note Missing 7H TUI.
>Matt_Canik: AGQST 11E AS +21 372
>Jim_Burlant: I I2 I. +3 429
#note If I had drawn the Q, this would have been an incredibly interesting end game. Matt's first play from his rack of AGEHKST would have probably been a cheap 3-point OR(T) N7 to block my impending QI(S). However, a slick sequence was potentially available that would have possibly enabled me to unload the Q...if I disguised it effectively enough. Whether I would have thought of this over a live board with only 3 or 4 minutes on my clock is conjecture. Anyway, my best comeback to his Q block would have been OM E2, which would have put me up 66 points. He said he probably would have played AS 11E for 21, and my subsequent reply would have been (MI)D 3E for 6, with his remaining rack being EGHK. Since he undoubtedly recognizes the MID back hook I've set up, he either plays GED G1 or ED G2. In response I play TAE 7H to set up QI, which he can't block, and he can't go out.
>Jim_Burlant: (GQT) +26 455 |
