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#player1 Stephen_Knapp Stephen Knapp
#player2 Jason Jason
>Stephen_Knapp: AQT 8G QAT +24 24
>Jason: DEGOSSY J5 DYES +29 29
#note Tough call. DOGEYS or GOYS (the sim leader) didn't score enough; I wanted a play where he could infer "I don't have an I and it's worth it to play my only S." Turns out those would've been hammered by his OX combo. As I figured, after playing off this E, it'd be another six racks before I could find one again.
>Stephen_Knapp: EOTX 5J .ETOX +26 50
>Jason: AGIOPST 4K PITA +31 60
>Stephen_Knapp: BOW 3J BOW +19 69
>Jason: BDGIORS 9F GIB +23 83
#note In hindsight, GOBS or BOGS. Why set up the S if I'm going to hoard it to bingo anyway?
>Stephen_Knapp: GIJS O1 JIGS +47 116
>Jason: ADDGORS 6F DODG. +15 98
#note I saw the possibility of plays like S(TO)OD *after* this turn, of course. Put down GOD at 2I until noticing it made OB#. "We're not playing Collins, Jason," I said when I picked it up. Knappster said he didn't notice and might've let it go.
>Stephen_Knapp: ELU H3 LEU. +6 122
>Jason: AIIORSW F4 WA.I +8 106
#note Now I'd seen the possibility of M3 plays, but missed S(TO)AI.
>Stephen_Knapp: ADEERSV 10H ADVERSE +76 198
#note Knappster reached for the blank slip until he realized he didn't need it. Understandable; he so seldom bingos naturally. :)
>Jason: IIMOORS 5B MOIR. +14 120
#note "Nice 20 point per turn average," I commented after confirming the score.
>Stephen_Knapp: ITUV L8 VI.TU +24 222
>Jason: ?AEINOS 13G AgONIES +75 195
#note Seeing the blank helped quell my frustration.
>Stephen_Knapp: AL M2 AL.. +26 248
>Jason: AEELLNT D1 TENA.LLE +70 265
#note "Don't block TENAILLE, don't block TENAILLE, don't block TENAILLE ... yes!" Back in the game.
>Stephen_Knapp: CEIMNOR 14A INCOMER +78 326
>Jason: AEENRTY 1B EN.REATY +83 348
#note "Don't block ENTREATY, don't block ENTREATY, don't block ENTREATY ... yes!" So thankful he missed INTERCOM, which I only noticed because he commented "we'll see how many triple-triples I missed" as he played INCOMER. Meanwhile, four naturals is about four times the number of naturals expected on an Idalski-Knapp board. The blank slip changed hands like 6-7 times in this game! "Gimme that; wait, I dont need it!"
>Stephen_Knapp: ?ENORUU 6A NU +10 336
#note Missing NU(M)EROUs, which loses to optimal play (although there's only one winning endgame and it's complicated) given what's in the bag. A few minutes before I'd asked director Jeff Fiszbein (wearing a SpongeBob costume) how I was supposed to take his rulings seriously while he wore that. Then I hear Knappster, sitting next to Chuck Armstrong, say "what's that, Chuck?" I jokingly called for the director. Jeff asked what was up and I said I thought the two of them might be in collusion. "Write bigger, Chuck, I can't read that," Knappster said. "Do you have an incident report form handy?" I asked. Then the four of us (including Carol) started laughing so much Jeff said we were having too much fun.
>Jason: HIKNOPR D12 HO.K +32 380
#note I was stunned Knappster was going for the bingo given the unseen pool to me. I assumed he'd missed his fish and even commented "well, I don't see how you can bingo." Knappster took a long time to play NU and I was taking a while. "You're still looking at those?" said Jeff, taking occasional passes around the room and lingering over some D-1 games. "Hey, if there's anything that sucks worse than my endgame, it's my pre-endgame, so I'm taking time!" I said. Missing both 40+ point plays (incl. KOPH, more on the other later), I decided the 30-some point play leaving one in the bag was best. Inputting Knappster's leave, a many-ply sim puts KHI at about 51% and HIK(E) around 47%, meaning my instinct to leave one was right.
>Stephen_Knapp: ?ACEORU 15G CAROUsE +79 415
#note When Jeff told me I had a five that played along row 15 and scored a ton I said "I did? I looked!" (What I should've done is go through all 15 combos of five including the K on my previous rack.) PINKO scores 62, is CP's pick, and was third on the sim inputting ?EORU, about 46% to KHI's ~51% and HIKE's ~47% This actually only wins 1/2 the time; if an F or N is in the bag it loses to PH(I)Z. mORCEAU at 11A wins 7/8. When Knappster put this down and said "Let's see if I can avoid the Z," it was a struggle to maintain my poker face.
>Jason: FFHINPR 8A FIF. +30 410
#note Jeff commented that after PINKO, he'd have bingoed out, so I'd have "lost anyway." "Except now I'm not losing," I said. Jeff was surprised at that comment, given the score and my rack. When he saw what Knappster's tile was, though, it made sense. Giiven the contents of the bag I had to find the one draw of four that won. If I'd played PINKO I would've lost by 55 (and, after drawing FFHZ while Knappster bingoed out, unleashed a string of expletives that would've made Marlon blush), instead I win by 54 (would've been 67 if I'd played the optimal endgame). Saved by my own incompetence. When I told Knappster that night I'd annotate this one, he said "I expect to see the word 'outplayed' in there." So there it is. :) What can I say? He definitely deserved to win.
>Stephen_Knapp: Z - +0 415
>Jason: HNPR A13 N.P +15 425
>Stephen_Knapp: Z - +0 415
>Jason: HR F1 .H +13 438
>Stephen_Knapp: Z - +0 415
>Jason: R 10H .......R +12 450
>Jason: R -- -12 438
>Stephen_Knapp: Z - +0 415
>Jason: R 8A ....R +11 449
>Jason: (Z) +20 469
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