| Player 1 |
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#player1 Chris_Cree Chris Cree
#player2 Jim_Burlant Jim Burlant
>Chris_Cree: KUY 8G YUK +20 20
>Jim_Burlant: EFHIRST J8 SHIFTER +78 78
#note Luck box! Only bingo.
>Chris_Cree: EUZ 11J .UZE +32 52
>Jim_Burlant: ACJOQST 15G QATS +53 131
#note More luck box. Quackle has a suggestion that's pretty interesting: 12H COTTA, which wins 2% less often and sims barely 5 points down. The only way I could see that backfiring is if he has an S and beats me to row 15 - given that I'm sitting on an S and only two are unseen, he's probably 15 - 20% to have one. Regardless, I autopiloted this and moved on. 73% to win.
>Chris_Cree: INNV 13I V.NIN +24 76
>Jim_Burlant: CGJOSTW L11 .O.C +30 161
#note Cute play. But, while this scores better than anything else that keeps the S, I really needed to turn more of the rack and sacrifice the S to clear the consonant overload. What surprises me is that this sims as well as it does because it really isn't a good play IMO. Championship Player say it wins 76-3/4%, which is not quite 3% and 4 points down on the best play. As I entered the rack in Quackle, I saw the play I should have made: N8 COWS, as it doesn't open any bingo lines, does a much better job clearing the consonant overload, and worst-case, it gives back no more than 48 points if he has HIW in his rack. Championship Player confirms it: COWS should have been the play.
>Chris_Cree: FOO 14L .OOF +20 96
>Jim_Burlant: GJRRSTW -GJRW +0 161
#note This is why I needed to look harder to unload the consonant overload on the last turn. It's either this or exchange 5, keeping RS. This worked out just fine.
>Chris_Cree: AY 15N YA +35 131
>Jim_Burlant: BENRSTU N5 BUNTERS +80 241
#note Q says BRUNETS N5 is a hair better; I chose this because I thought it reduced the likelihood of overlapping plays at O8. Whatever. As I was putting this down, I felt like I was on the verge of blowing Chris out. The exchange had gone exceedingly well and I was hitting one easy-to-find huge play after another. However, the complexion of the game was about to change very rapidly.
>Chris_Cree: ILNOOT O1 LOTION +27 158
>Jim_Burlant: DEGJMNN 2N J. +18 259
#note Board tunnel vision setting in. I was obsessed with taking out row 3 - as often as Chris has drawn bingoes off of 6-tile picks against me, I wanted to keep him from hitting an -EST or -ENT word. While I don't have any great scoring options, my best play is in a spot I didn't look at until the next turn: 10H DJIN 14, as it cleans out the consonant overload and leaves a decent GEMN.
>Chris_Cree: BEI 8L BI.E +27 185
>Jim_Burlant: DEGMNNR 10G DEN.M +12 271
#note I took a long time here. Once again, Quackle verifies I don't have any good scoring plays (7D DERM or GERM are the only plays I have available that score more than 14 points). I didn't like giving him a spot for an ER, ES, or ET word, but with the bag half empty and both blanks unseen, I felt like I needed to leave a decent combo (albeit one without vowels) and try again. Quackle says my best options are 9M DEN, 10I NIM (which I rejected due to lack of turnover), or 10H GRIN. If I had it to do again, maybe GUNMEN H7 to clear the rack? I dunno, nothing really jumps out at me as being a great choice. This is my 4th best option if Quackle is to be believed.
>Chris_Cree: DIIO 3K IDIO. +21 206
>Jim_Burlant: EGNPRRR K2 P.NGER +18 289
#note Yet again, nothing scores; this or K1 GRIPER are the only options available that score more than 14 points. Q says I should put the G in row 1 with GRIPER or better yet, play RIPER K2. Yes, I have the G to front hook RIPER, but with all the AE?? unseen, I didn't want to give him what he needed for an -AGE bingo on row 1. Given those options, this isn't bad, though for the life of me I don't know why I couldn't think of RINGER to unload 2 of the 3 R's. Play incorrectly scored as 16.
>Chris_Cree: EILX 11E ILEX +34 240
>Jim_Burlant: EELRRST M6 RE. +10 299
#note And if I'd thought of RINGER on the previous turn, I'd be about to go back up 131 with RESPELT down the D column. Instead, I now sit on my 4th straight rack where Quackle verifies that nothing scores. With 7 A's still unseen, I didn't mind leaving myself ELRST because I thought I had an excellent chance of hitting a SALTER 7 front-hooking ILEX on my next turn. Quackle disagrees, and says this is so-so. The duck thinks the best play is H7 LUREX. Given my limited options, I'm fine with this, even if Quackle isn't.
>Chris_Cree: EIW L1 WI.E +32 272
>Jim_Burlant: ELMRSTW D11 STREW +36 335
#note Since my last 4 turns had yielded a total of 58 points, and given that there was nowhere to play off MEW for 25 and keep ELST, turnover and maximizing score were the priorities in light of the unseen blanks. Quackle agrees - this is clearly best. And Chris's comment post-mortem summed it up: pointing at STREW, he said, "That play won you the game." And you'll see why in a second.
>Chris_Cree: ?AEGGIV 14A GAV. +16 288
#note His rack. He was going to put down GINGIVAE, which my play of STREW had blocked...and he never saw AGGrIEV(E). This cost him whatever chance he had at winning the game. AGGRIEVE wins 46% according to the duck, and his choice of 14A GAVE (his best non-bingo) wins 30.
>Jim_Burlant: AHLLMOP 15A OH +29 364
#note The leave is awkward, but with both blanks and a bunch of A's out (I assume Chris has to have at least one A and one of the blanks by now), I had to stop AGE bingos down the 3x3. This is definitely best.
>Chris_Cree: ??AAEGI 6D AlIEnAG. +63 351
#note If he had hit AGGRIEVE on his previous turn, he'd be sitting on the blank with me trailing by a handful of points and he'd have an almost guaranteed edge in the end game. Instead, his only bingos are a bunch of low 60's air balls - they don't score enough for him to be able to catch up. This is his best chioce and it only wins 20%.
>Jim_Burlant: AELLMPR 5D PALM +28 392
#note Statically this does poorly, as the kibbitzer thinks I should dick around and fish off an L for cheap. I'd rather play for points and put the game out of reach. This or LAMP are my best plays. I'd rather not give him the easy play at 4A with LAMP.
>Chris_Cree: AAADDTU 7B DADA +15 366
>Jim_Burlant: CELOR B4 COL.ER +11 403
>Jim_Burlant: (ATU) +6 409
#note Final score recorded as 407 - 366. Not horribly played on my end, but not perfect, either. While ZOIC wasn't as good as COWS would have been on that turn, that mistake came out in the wash; I probably don't hit 110 points across turns 3, 4, and 5 if I play COWS. But not getting the right amount of turnover on the four racks after BUNTERS really cost me. My own suboptimal play after BUNTERS (JO for 18 instead of DJ(I)N for 14, and especially PINGER instead of RINGER) made this game closer than it should have been. While I didn't miss any huge scoring plays, I still short-changed myself of a third bingo, and as a result I only won by 41 instead of the 80 that I should have.
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