| Player 1 |
|
#player1 Jim_Burlant Jim Burlant
#player2 Josh_Sokol Josh Sokol
>Jim_Burlant: AABJRTY 8G JAY +26 26
#note The only mild "surprise" in the sim result is that JAB in the same location is virtually indistinguishable from this play atop a sim.
>Josh_Sokol: CEHINOT H3 INCHO.TE +64 64
#note Only bingo for Josh.
>Jim_Burlant: AABNRTW 4D BRAW. +20 46
#note Not much to choose from here. Outside of this the next best plays are G1 WAB and G10 BAWN, which open up way too much for too little gain in my leave. I also briefly considered JAW G8 but didn't like the consonant heavy ABNRT leave. This is best.
>Josh_Sokol: ?DELRSU J2 DUeLERS +77 141
#note Josh: E4 (R)UDERaLS! Rudimentary! My gameplan here was to fastplay, and it had already backfired by turn 4.
And I catch a huge break: E4 RUDERaLS scores 82 and would have prevented my comeback:
>Jim_Burlant: ADENOOT E4 .ATOONED +86 132
#note Only bingo.
>Josh_Sokol: EEEMOSV F9 EME +26 167
#note It's OK, I'm still in good shape, right? I just had a feeling something was wrong.
>Jim_Burlant: ADEGINY D8 YAG +29 161
#note No bingoes play. This is best - just shy of 40% to win.
>Josh_Sokol: EEIOSUV 5J .OUIE +10 177
#note I make my biggest mistake of the game right here, simply because I knew something was wrong, I must have missed a 2x2. But I forced myself to stop trying to find a post-scriptum bingo that I missed. I saw O(C)E(L)I* but somehow missed O(C)U(L)I even knowing I had a U to get rid of. This was nice and aggressive, but it really did not work out for me, and OCULI is totally fine.
>Jim_Burlant: DEILNOZ M1 LION.ZED +88 249
#note This plays at M4 for 79; I chose this because it scores 88. 'Nuff said. 80% to win...but not for long.
>Josh_Sokol: AERRSTV O5 STARVER +86 263
>Jim_Burlant: ABGGINT 1L B.AG +30 279
#note I initially put down BATING N10 but wasn't sure it was good. Not wanting to risk losing my turn, I opted for this to take the sure 30 points. While a sim suggests the difference between BATING and BLAG is stylistic preference, I sure wish I'd been more certain of my words:
Josh: I don't remember Jim putting down BATING. Maybe he started to put the B down or something, but I definitely did not see any tiles.
>Josh_Sokol: EHNOSTW N10 HOWES +53 316
#note Ouch!
Josh: I realized I was probably better off playing just HOW and keeping the killer ENST combination. As it stood I think this worked out best.
>Jim_Burlant: ?GIILNT 12F sILTING +71 350
#note Any number of options available - a zillion possible 7's at L7 like TILINGS (couldn't remember if it was good) and everything else I saw had vowel placement issues. A sim gives marginal preference to L7 TILINGs but I'm still in control: 62.8% to win.
Josh: that awful feeling when you know almost exactly what your opponent is thinking about, and it's just a matter of time before it hits you.
>Josh_Sokol: AKLNQST J11 L.NK +18 334
#note Josh told me during the post-mortem that he had considered LANK H12.
I think this was the right play, to set up QATS, and scoring plays making CLINK or PLINK (likely given that PPC remain in the pool) just give me more points. He will probably need to sacrifice a whole lot to block the spot if he does.
>Jim_Burlant: AEIIOUU H12 .UAU +12 362
#note In normal circumstances, my only debate would be whether to exchange 6 or 7 tiles out of this rack? However, his last play of LINK complicates things. He's clearly sitting on the case S and QX are unseen. If he hits a 40 or 50-point X or Q play on row 15 on the next turn, I may lose. I don't have the luxury of sitting this turn out by throwing back in. I have to limit his scoring threat to bingos while I clear the clunk. If my play of LUAU is simmed against a random rack, Quackle despises it. If I sim against QATS in Josh's rack (Josh told me afterwards he had QATS ready to go if I hadn't blocked), LUAU jumps to the top of a sim. Get rid of the U with Q unseen, you ask? Even if Josh has the X instead of the Q, I still have QI at I1 and 14L. I'd make this play again in this situation.
>Josh_Sokol: AAENQST 6C QA. +12 346
#note Quackle likes 6A QANA(T) here. I guess it sets up another potential lane, the board is dead and I sort of need to make something happen. I can also just hit (Q)IS for 36 and tie the game up perhaps.
>Jim_Burlant: EFIIOOX O13 FIX +46 408
#note It's this or FOX in the same location. I chose this because 2 I's and no O's are unseen. And duplicated O's aren't as bad as duplicated I's. A sim confirms this is best - 80% to win.
>Josh_Sokol: AEINRST 14A SANTERI. +70 416
#note Josh is doing what most of us (myself included) would have done by playing SANTERIA instead of ANTISERA. While it's normal practice to avoid placing vowels directly adjacent to premium spaces, Quackle says Josh should bingo with ANTISERA instead of this. While that also gives back potential plays like MOI 15A the hidden trap to putting the S there is illustrated by my comeback:
Josh: there was nothing hidden to me, I just saw SANTERI(A) and stopped looking, thinking this was it. I would have been able to figure out that ANTISER(A) was likely better. I can't have Jim play longer and threaten to go out. I can survive an overlap like MOI and come back with one of my own hooking onto LINK, or vice-versa.
>Jim_Burlant: EEFIOOT A8 FOOTIE. +33 441
#note What do I do with this if Josh plays ANTISERA? At any rate, this is best and it guarantees the win.
>Josh_Sokol: DIMPPRV E13 D.V +7 423
#note Jim didn't draw the C out of the bag until I put PIP 10J down. I still would have lost because he had 3 spots for it, no way to block two at once. I proceed to miss the rest of his outs and block C(E)E
>Jim_Burlant: CE 11A .EC +5 446
#note 11C CE(DE) scores 10 more.
Josh: EC(HE) actually I saw, but not 11C CE(DE)
Jim said something about missing new words. Ironic cause he missed the E hook on YAG :P
>Jim_Burlant: (IMPPR) +22 468
#note Josh: this was a very bad game 30 for me, had I won I had a good shot at cashing by winning my next game. I should have slowed down and found my better plays, even though my effort to time-rush was valiant.
|
