| Player 1 |
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#player1 Michael Michael
#player2 Josh Josh
>Michael: AEEOZ 8D ZOEAE +48 48
>Josh: CNRRSVY F7 V.RY +18 18
#note I considered G7 V(A)RY first and then F7 V(E)RY, and played too quickly and unfocusedly. I missed F7 N(E)RVY which seems like a good play too, and E7 C(O)RNY is what I saw right afterwards. The good thing about V(E)RY is that it seems to keep the board more open than N(E)RVY or C(O)RNY, which is already pretty necessary given Michael's lead. I don't know what to think here. I like my play.
>Michael: AEGU 6C AGUE +20 68
#note As opposed to this play, which I really don't like. Maybe it seemed necessary. Michael didn't know REVERY either.
>Josh: CEJNRRS 10B JERR. +31 49
#note Almost JERRYCANS! I didn't consider taking 13 less points with R(A)J here. I really don't see the sacrifice being worth it.
>Michael: ANTU B10 .AUNT +24 92
#note JUNTA.
>Josh: ACDEENS 7H DECANES +65 114
#note Chose this over the same thing two spots down because this reduces the chance of him bingoing to the S.
>Michael: CEEOO N2 COOEE. +20 112
>Josh: BEGHITX L3 HEXI.G +38 152
#note I also considered 7A HEX. The leave looked a bit worse and the probability of Michael capitalizing on the opening it would create seemed humongous. Although Michael can also score big by parallelling HEXI(N)G, I felt like I was securing the board a bit more against my opponent, with whom I am far more comfortable on a more closed board. I also considered phonying with H(AGUE) but thought better of it for some reason.
>Michael: AB K5 AB. +32 144
>Josh: BFLNPTT 12A P.TT +18 170
#note I liked BF synergy more than FP synergy here but the simulation thinks that this is misguided. I also liked keeping the b for another consonant dump at K4 forming B(ABA) if that needed to happen. I noticed this took out the possibility of STAR(G)A(Z)E(R)S and was sad for a few seconds.
>Michael: ANQR 14B .RANQ +34 178
>Josh: ABDFLNO C9 D.B.O. +30 200
#note I saw this kept FLAN at 5B for next turn and that it scored and jumped on it. I hadn't yet noticed that I could score well on column J. So J5 FO(C)AL is 32, it seems like quite a decent play. I'm not sure how to compare the benefits of the two plays. I preferred not opening lanes here so maybe even J4 FLO(C) is better than FOCAL. They both take out a prime 8 lane though... Anyways, not much wrong with what I played if anything.
>Michael: MY 15A MY +37 215
>Josh: AFKLNOT J4 FLO.K +33 233
#note Hey, this turned out well!
>Michael: ITW D3 TWI. +16 231
>Josh: AHNORRT 5D .NRO +24 257
#note Now I felt like I had to start worrying about the V being a gamechanger, but this play seemed to just have so much going for it. I don't see any other worthy options besides inventing a phony
>Michael: GIN J4 .....ING +20 251
#note *Start to worry about the possibility of FLOCKINGS being valid. (It is)
>Josh: AAHIRST 15D HAIRS +58 315
#note Also considered 15E AIRTH. It has its benefits, but I don't think it has 21 points worth of additional benefits. This was a lucky break!
>Michael: IP I9 PI +16 267
>Josh: AEFLMST H1 FLAMS +44 359
#note the word FESTAL was unfamiliar to me until this moment! It plays at 12H. I still didn't know about FLOCKINGS although it made sense. I did know that if I played this confidently Michael would not challenge unless by some amazing feat he knew from experience that INRO takes nothing.
>Michael: EILOSTU 14H OUTLIES +70 337
#note No blanks! I need to start worrying now... Given the fact that two blanks are yet to be seen, I think sacrificing 8 points to leave H14 as a lane open is a good idea here and gives Michael better chances. Which means I would probably play OUT(F)LIES instead of this.
>Josh: DEIOTVW 13M WO +22 381
#note I drew the V! Now this turn I was fixated on being able to outrun ANYTHING. That is when I thought I saw oUTLIvE B1 as a possibility in the pool that I had tracked. I didn't figure that there was, in fact, no T in the pool. So I went with a worst case scenario in which Michael scores +/- 65 points while making v(AGUE). I should have seen DILUvIA as Michael's best possible thing. I went with OUTLIVE and saw that with virtually any draw I could score a ton at O8 if I set myself up with 13M WO. It really seemed like a great option, as it also left one in the bag. I knew there were probably some bingos that played through the F, therefore playing something with V(AGUE) would lose some of the time. It would seem like I still made the right play, although the reasons for it were slightly misguided. It doesn't always win, but it seems like there are but a few scenarios where it doesn't, such as Michael bingoing with both blanks and me not drawing into a 6 at O8.
>Michael: DILU 11J .UILD +14 351
>Josh: ?DEEITV B2 EnDIVE +51 432
#note Even though it seemed that spread was going to matter a lot this tournament, I decided I wasn't sure enough of THIEVED to attempt it. 75 points of spread down the drain...
>Michael: ?AIN A1 uNAI +19 370
#note -3 to ANIS or AINS/FLOCKINGS.
>Michael: (T) +2 372
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