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#player1 Jason Jason
#player2 Jean_McArthur Jean McArthur
>Jason: EGINRUU 8G GURU +10 10
#note Internally debate between passing UU and playing GURU. Then Cahnmann and Cappelletto come to sit down next to us, and Cappelletto sits on my side. (Oh, fabulous.) Naturally, I make the wrong decision...
>Jean_McArthur: AENOORT I8 .ATOONER +60 60
#note ...and get whacked for it.
>Jason: EFIMNNU H12 MINE +44 54
#note Q rates this third behind FUMIE(R) and F(R)ENUM.
>Jean_McArthur: OW G13 WO +22 82
>Jason: EFNRTUU 10G FU.URE +11 65
#note Whiffing on FU(G)U is unbelievably embarrassing. I nearly passed FUU! (Yes, I've drawn 15 tiles, four of them U's, and have ensured I will draw the Q at an inopportune time.)
>Jean_McArthur: DFI L9 D.FI +16 98
>Jason: CENTTVZ 14D EVZ... +38 103
#note Man, if I'd had any other decent play at all, I would've liked to fish for ZONE/ZA for 65. But, at least I made the best play and didn't get a case of FPS.
>Jean_McArthur: IKT D11 TIK. +16 114
#note Played KITE, then changed her mind.
>Jason: ACMNOTT K10 .OM +24 127
#note I liked KITE better. TOMCAT's the best play and the cute A(U)T(U)MN is second. (P.S. The A was the first one I looked at.)
>Jean_McArthur: ACGILOT C6 COGITAL +66 180
#note Didn't even hold. My first thought wasn't "is that good?"; it was "There's 53 in the bag, including both blanks and all four S's?!?!?!" Yeah, that's why I need to challenge it off and give that all back to her.
>Jason: ACENTTY 8A CA.Y +42 169
>Jean_McArthur: AE E13 A.E +12 192
>Jason: BEINSTT B7 B.T +11 180
#note Wasn't 100% sure of BATT. Plus, I figure I'll block any C bingo that may triple.
>Jean_McArthur: AE D7 A.E +14 206
#note And my diffidence in fours knowledge whacks me upside the head again.
>Jason: BEHINST 11B B..H +18 198
#note WTH kind of word is HENBITS? (I hope Brian didn't see that...)
>Jean_McArthur: ?ADINQR -?A +0 206
>Jason: EGINSTT 12K ..G +6 204
#note FPS. Looked at all the letters that would go with EINSTT that wouldn't with EGINST (like O) and convinced myself that doing the unorthodox was right.
>Jean_McArthur: ADEIPRS K2 DIAPERS +76 282
>Jason: EINSSTT 4G INST.TES +68 272
#note Its anagram, TITANESS is two more. Thought sim would whack it down for slotting the S in the triple, but perhaps Q and X potential at 3G is worse.
>Jean_McArthur: AADELNS 2D SANDALE. +64 346
#note I held, half the time thinking: "Both blanks are STILL in the bag and I've drawn this sh*t?!?!?!"
>Jason: ADIIIWX 1A IXIA +39 311
>Jean_McArthur: N H1 N. +6 352
#note Misdiagnosed this situation. Figured she was super-close to bingoing; instead, just wanted to kill the spot. But, as I continued to draw the scant number of vowels available, I came to learn she drew none after SANDALED. Made me harken back to the Pratt endgame I blew in Petoskey. "No!" I thought. "This is different! You're not gonna blow this one!" Ha!
>Jason: DEILOQW J4 .OW +31 342
#note ...so, instead of playing QI(S), I decide to score and block. Interestingly, Q likes passing all seven, or leaving the E, giving both about a 20-percent win chance. (My play was given an 8-percent chance.) But pure math says if you pull seven tiles from a 20-tile bag with two blanks, you're gonna get at least one 59% of the time. Plus, I have to amuse she's got at least one given her last play. I can't see overcoming a 41+-point deficit with a random rack of the 15 unseen tiles. I just thought I had to score, block the best lane, and hope she didn't block QI(S)...
>Jean_McArthur: PY M3 Y.P +16 368
#note ...which she did. (Remember what I said about the Q coming back to bite me?)
>Jason: DEEILOQ N2 LO.E +17 359
#note I thought this was one of my best plays of the tourney. Reminded me of playing LoSS for 20-some in a pre-endgame to beat Carol Rav. This leaves one in the bag, gives myself as many chances as possible to draw the blank, sets up a big QI play that, if blocked (and she'll need to use the blank to do it), leaves potential for a 40-some point Q comeback at O5. Naturally, Q gives LI(LI)ED a better shot, about 23 percent to 13 percent, and ranks LOSE third. Say what??? Go seven-on-seven and dump the case I??? Is Q mad???
>Jean_McArthur: ??HLNRV O5 HeLVe +35 403
#note As she's debating between H?LV? and H?V?L, I look at the board and think: "Holy crap, the J's in the bag and she's gonna get stuck with it," followed by repeated telepathic pleas: "Hit your clock, hit your clock, hit your clock..." VaN, HiN, and HoN at O1 are the only plays that win 7/8 of the time.
>Jason: DEEIOQR O1 QI +35 394
#note Obviously best, but there's no urgency if she can't play (YO)N. Edit: No, it's not. I thought Q went mad telling me to play RODE, but that loses by 15 as opposed to QI, which loses by 16.
>Jean_McArthur: JNR 7B ...R +6 409
#note LOSE(R) for 10 is better. She's got about :08 left at this point, me 6-7 minutes.
>Jason: DEEOR 6J ..D +7 401
#note The most embarrassing part of the ensuing fiasco? That I can play ERODE here at 5D and be done with it all. But, I'm already looking at how to maximize each tile, one at a time; why would I be looking for out plays? Like a good boy, I scan the board, see no J play, scan the board again, find the best N play is six and the second-best is three, so I block the spot.
>Jean_McArthur: JN G2 .J.N +20 429
#note They needed a crane to pick up my jaw from the floor. When she grabbed both tiles, I thought "desperation phony." Turned a 24-point win into a 36-point loss by not playing RODE. Yep, a SIXTY-POINT endgame error that did not involve missing a bingo. *sigh* If only she'd played (WE)N first...
>Jean_McArthur: (EEOR) +8 437
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