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#player1 Steve_Glass Steve Glass
#player2 Jim_Burlant Jim Burlant
>Steve_Glass: EEPPQTU -E +0 0
>Jim_Burlant: ADEJRYZ 8G JAY +26 26
>Steve_Glass: ?AENRTT J2 RATTENs +73 73
#note ANTEATER and ALTERANT score 74 at J8.
>Jim_Burlant: ?DEEORZ 4G ERO.iZED +86 112
#note 6D REZEROED scores 87, but the more defensive board position (taking out a 2x2 instead of opening one, and putting the Z where it's not so easy for Steve to score with it) makes this the better bingo. That said, bingoing was not best - DOZE I1 scores 49 and keeps ER?. This wins 1-1/2% less often than DOZE and sims roughly 5 points down.
>Steve_Glass: GHO 3M HOG +27 100
>Jim_Burlant: AEELNRS 5A LEANERS +66 178
#note Best bingo despite the multiple landmines created by the placement. Other bingo options are row 2 airballs 2D LEARNERS and 2E RELEARNS.
>Steve_Glass: AIIX 6A IXIA +58 158
>Jim_Burlant: CLNRSTV -CLNV +0 178
#note Really? VERT 6I and VEXT B4? Be serious, quackle! I don't care how many unique positive tiles those plays leave in the rack. It's just ridiculous to play for 7 points leaving 4 consonants (burning the R and the T to boot) or 14 points leaving 5. No thanks. While E4 VEST does score 19 ( enough to warrant serious consideration), I see two problems with it. Besides burning the S, it also gives back way too much with any collection of counters if Steve has an S (e.g.: BARFS, PELFS, HANKS, etc.). And if I put down VEST, even REGMA 8A could score 41 and leave me stuck with way too many consonants and no comeback. Given this, I'd make this exchange again.
>Steve_Glass: DEGOR A2 GOD..ER +33 191
>Jim_Burlant: BLMNRST C3 BR..L +16 194
#note Pretty impressive to draw 4 tiles from a pool that's 42% vowels and draw 4 consonants. For 16 points and 3 tiles turned I'll grind through this. This play is the right idea with the wrong execution, though. BLAIN (which I talked myself out of) is a little better due to leave considerations given that the board position is identical between the two plays.
>Steve_Glass: IK I3 K.I +25 216
>Jim_Burlant: EHMNOST 9F HOME +31 225
#note Best statically, but not not in the sim, where it gets pounded. 2L ETH or NTH are best here according to Quackle. Oh yeah - If I'd played BLAIN like I should have, I'd be sitting on THERMOS.
>Steve_Glass: AEMT 10F MEAT +46 262
>Jim_Burlant: ANSTTUV O1 VU. +21 246
#note Best despite the duplicated T's. I'm 40% to win.
>Steve_Glass: GIOY J10 YOGI +34 296
>Jim_Burlant: AAENSTT 13G SAN.TATE +70 316
#note Was wondering what to do with this until he put down YOGI, and auto-piloted this when I saw the I. Too bad - STAGNATE 12G also scores 70. The sim says these are identical plays; maybe, maybe not. I guess it depends on whether Steve is sitting on something ending in D, in which case this is better, as STAGNATE gives him a lot more points for it than this choice, or if Steve has IFW or the like in his rack, in which case STAGNATE is better. Whatever the case, for this game, STAGNATE would have been better.
>Steve_Glass: CEF H12 F.CE +39 335
#note Just desserts - what does he do with this if I find STAGNATE?
>Jim_Burlant: DDEOPTU O8 POUTED +40 356
#note Best. Post-mortem, Steve told me that after I put this down, he really thought I had him. I was feeling good about my chances, too. While I don't claim to have played perfectly to this point, I have played a reasonable game. Things were about to get much tougher.
>Steve_Glass: CILNOOP 12L PIN. +24 359
#note After Steve put down PINE, he grumbled audibly. Post-mortem, he explained that he realized he'd just whiffed on COLON 14J 51.
>Jim_Burlant: DENNUUW M9 UNW.. +9 365
#note As ugly as this rack is, there's no reason to exchange. With the Q still at large, I have the case U. I also have the case E. The sim makes it clear this is an excellent choice, though M1 UNHEWN wins 1% more than this and sims 1 point better. This balances the rack nicely, and I'd rather err on the side of rack balance and less exposure to this ghastly tile pool (3 tiles turned vs 4 with the Q and 4 I's still out). I'm 44% to win.
>Steve_Glass: CILOOQS 14J COL +35 394
>Jim_Burlant: DEFINOU N12 ..IF +14 379
#note Now I struggle. I'd already made the decision that, short of a game-saving defensive play or bingo, I was not going to play my E. And, with the Q out, I had also needed to hold the U, as I could potentially have QUOD N6 . So I didn't look for 15L ENUF. Also, what's the threat? SWAB 15L? QIS 7M? Something had to give, but I had no idea what. I figured I'd try to have my cake and eat it too by blocking a potental SWAB 15L and keep QUOD alive with this. This felt wrong when I put it down, but I had no idea what was right. Quackle likes FOU N6 18, though many-play eventually prefers N6 FEUD after a couple of thousand iiterations. Maybe I had to just go for rack balance and hope I threaded the needle for a row 15 bingo while he was hopefully saddled with the Q? I'm open to suggestions here.
>Steve_Glass: IQS 7M QIS +32 426
>Jim_Burlant: DENORUV 15E DUN. +5 384
#note I'd given up on the game since there was no V fish I could find. Steve was worried about a possible out bingo, but even if I'd managed to come up with a bingo rack, it wouldn't have been too hard to block. None of the bingos in this pool start with E, so all he has to do is cheaply block row 15 and I'm dead even if the bingo shows up in my rack. Since the only way I saw myself winning was if Steve fell asleep for 15 minutes, I just elected to set myself up to go out. FWIW, Q wants me to fish off the N. The S was in the bag, and Steve would have undoubtedly blocked OVERUSE with something like WEB (or even AE) on row 15 and won the game that way.
>Steve_Glass: AABIILW 5L AW +25 451
>Jim_Burlant: EORSV 14B ROVE +17 401
#note Missing VERSO/SERVO 14A.
>Steve_Glass: ABIIL 13A LAB +20 471
>Jim_Burlant: S L4 ..S +12 413
#note Scores 2 more at 6E. BRAIL instead of BLAIN, and STAGNATE instead of SANITATE led me into a late game that was beyond my comprehension. Sometimes all it takes is a minor mistake (or two), and that was the case here. I just didn't play well enough.
>Jim_Burlant: (II) +4 417
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