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#player1 Beardo Beardo
#player2 Sneaky Sneaky
>Beardo: AACDRTW 8G CAW +16 16
#note Beardo: One of those opening racks with no clear-cut favorite. Q gives CAW a slight edge. Plus, I'm hoping that C eventually makes the board ugly.
>Sneaky: EFOPPSU 7H POUF +20 20
#note Beardo: I knew I shouldn't have used the phrase "Berofsky jinx" in my LJ precap, as Evan used it against me before the game. It wasn't that I was 0-4 (esp. since it's only 0-2 in tourneys), but that I was 0-4, -400s. I mean, in a four-game series Evan's obviously winning about three on average, two if I'm lucky, four if he is. But to be 0-4 without even getting close is a little discouraging. Not like I was all "Oh, I'm intimidated, Evan owns me." I mean, that's so pre-Albany.
#note Sneaky: Whoa, take it easy there, son. You don't want to blow all your prime material at the start. And for the rest of you still awake after his diatribe, POUF is a no-brainer.
>Beardo: AADELRT 9I LATERAD +67 83
#note Beardo: When I looked at an L for ADLRT, I thought "LATERAD." And yea, verily, it came to pass.
#note Sneaky: Yeah, Methuselah, just like it said in the Old Testament.
>Sneaky: EOOPSVW O3 SWOOPE. +51 71
#note Sneaky: It was between this and VOWE(D). The Q machine likes that, but I preferred to take points.
>Beardo: AHIJNRT 6N J. +25 108
#note Beardo: How did I miss H(A)J for 34 at N8? Oy.
#note Sneaky: There's no kvetching in Scrabble. I thought the beginner program engrained that notion. ;)
>Sneaky: INOOUVZ N2 ZOO +31 102
#note Sneaky: I was too focused on this or ZOON (had he not played the J there), but should have seen OUZO(S). Less points, but better rack cleaning.
>Beardo: ACHINRT M3 CHI +35 143
#note Beardo: OK, I'm up a decent amount, good leave and the board's starting to get ugly. So far, so good...
#note Sneaky: This board is starting to constrict in a hurry. I'm pretty much ready to rip out his beard one hair at a time.
>Sneaky: EIINOUV K5 UN.I. +16 118
#note Sneaky: Better than zero. Championship Player agrees again. Hmm, we'd make a good pairs team.
>Beardo: AINRRTY N8 R.Y +16 159
#note Beardo: When Knappster saw me Sunday morning, he asked if I beat Evan, because "he was talking about retiring last night." I laughed. "If he was, it was because he lost to Elaine the next round!" I said in rebuttal.
#note Sneaky: [Rolls eyes] Yeah, go ahead and bring up that disaster. It's a good thing we're not playing Collins, since he'd have TRINARY/OWLY#.
>Sneaky: AEEEIOV M7 AE.O +13 131
#note Sneaky: With this bag of crap, it's the best option.
>Beardo: AINNRTT L9 .TNA +14 173
#note Beardo: At dinner Sunday, Knappster asked if I got any new comments on the beard. I told him Elaine made a comment about George's beard and he pointed out mine, which she hadn't noticed. When asked, she said she liked it, but she didn't sound enthusiastic. "Evan made a comment," I said. Knappster gave me the set-up line I was hoping for: "Good or bad?" Said I: "I don't know. How would you interpret: 'You give people who have beards a bad name'?"
#note Sneaky: I'll give Weird Al the OK to cover the Bon Jovi hit. Now back to the game...
>Sneaky: EEEIIRV -EEIIV +0 131
#note Sneaky: [Buzz] Second on the countdown behind VEI(N). Makes sense now.
>Beardo: AEINRTY J9 .Y +13 186
#note Beardo: I've made the best play equity-wise and sim-wise four plays in a row. Somebody pinch me! (I've almost made up for missing HAJ.)
>Sneaky: EEGLNOR 11H GREE. +18 149
#note Beardo: As he put the G down, I was stunned he could block all the sevens and the bingos from the C. "I'm thinking: 'You stinker!'" I said after the game. "That's what you were thinking?" Evan asked. OK, maybe that was the G-rated version.
#note Sneaky: With no spot for the seven (well, duh), this was the best block. The duck places ENG/AE (10) and OGLE/AYE (11) ahead. C'mon, everyone knows defense wins championships.
>Beardo: AEEINRT I11 .E +2 188
#note Beardo: Somebody has to explain to me how Q puts six plays, including throwing back the E, ahead of this.
#note Sneaky: At this point, I'm pretty sure he has AEINRT or some other high-prob six-letter stem.
>Sneaky: DLMNOTU 13G MUD +17 166
#note Beardo: Pretty appropriate; that's what we're playing in by this point.
#note Sneaky: Better: MUD two spots to the right, same count. Best: UNMOLD/RED (18). Too focused on shorter words.
>Beardo: AEIINRT 14A INERTIA +72 260
#note Beardo: Thought I had three spots for it, missed the three-overlap play at 14G. Going for the "offsetting biggies" sequence.
#note Sneaky: Finally. I heard Chinese water torture is less excruciating than those last few turns.
>Sneaky: BLNNOTT A12 BL.N +27 193
#note Sneaky: The only play.
>Beardo: DFGGLSV C13 V.G +14 274
#note Beardo: When I had four consonants, I was a little worried. "(flip) Uh oh. (flip) Uh oh! (flip) Dammit! So much for the offsetting biggies; now Evan gets both spots." Again, I don't exchange when Q wants me to.
>Sneaky: EINOTTU 15E INTO +21 214
#note Beardo: When he put IN down, I thought the hammer was coming.
#note Sneaky: I need to score. And with all one-pointers, this works. But I did see DUETTINO# and RITENUTO#...fine, that's my last CSW comment.
>Beardo: DDEFGLS 4L D... +22 296
#note Sneaky: From this move, I swore he had one of the blanks.
>Sneaky: AEEETUV M12 EAVE +16 230
#note Sneaky: Have I told anyone how much I love vowels? Ducky boasts the cute VEE(N)A B11 (22) and UVEA/BE B9 (19). My choice is nowhere in the Top 10. If I had to pick between those two, I'd go with the latter since it opens things up.
>Beardo: DEFGKLS 15L K.FS +48 344
#note Beardo: Thanks for the E, Evan. Q gives me a 97.75% chance after this play and I'm feeling good.
>Sneaky: ?AAERTU B6 ARcUATE +64 294
#note Beardo: Ooh, he was supposed to do that with something like a blank and two S's, a blank and an S, both blanks. Now he's pulling seven tiles out of a 15-tile pool including ?SSX. Guess this won't be as easy as I thought.
#note Sneaky: Damn straight, pisher. You're gonna have to work for the W.
>Beardo: DEGHLOQ 9A Q.OD +15 359
#note Beardo: I went from more than nine minutes to less than five (maybe even four) here. And as soon as I hit "generate choices", the answer became clear, even though it was way down the list. Exchange, doofus! I'm lamenting that my only Q play doesn't score and gives up a potential monster S play, I'm lamenting Evan drawing seven of a 15-tile bag with four power tiles. Give myself a chance at some of it by throwing it all back but the E! So clear in hindsight. Q's top 10 plays are all exchanges, giving the E keep an 80% win chance. And, as it turns out, I'd have picked from a bag of ?BILRSTX, so there's almost no way an E keep doesn't win.
#note Sneaky: Wow, not what I was expecting. Let's see what lies ahead...
>Sneaky: EIIIMNS 14M .IE +24 318
#note Beardo: When Evan told me his leave in the post-mortem, I thought this was the play. But Q gives it less than an 18% chance, compared to MI(D)I for 8 at D7, which is greater than 35%.
#note Sneaky: It's analysis like this when I get the feeling Quackle may be 3.47MB short of a complete build file. Keep two Is but score the most by far.
>Beardo: EGHLLRT 6A G.THER +12 371
#note Beardo: Another play I agonized over, going down to about 1:30 (pretty scary with tiles in the bag, since I need time for endgames). I was looking for any decent two-tile play, couldn't find one. Eventually decided to go through the A, saw this didn't give up a big cheap X play and gave me a chance to go out next turn, so I went with it. Even though this and LATHER (which I saw as better shortly after I hit my clock) didn't register on Q's radar (18 equity points behind the leader), put it in sim and they jump up to 2-3 (GATHER, then LATHER), behind H(A)LT in that spot.
#note Sneaky: Thanks again, Q-bot. In this situation, you don't take any chances. Take out everything.
>Sneaky: ?IIMNSX A1 MIXIN. +51 369
#note Beardo: Best. Evan pointed out I blocked MINXISh (which plays if I play HALT; two plays in a row where playing suboptimally helped) and p(A)NMIXIS (or MAXIMINS).
#note Sneaky: Can't complain about the 2-tile draw. Figured he'd cover both spots, but naturally hoped he wouldn't.
>Beardo: BILLS G2 BILLS +19 390
#note Beardo: Thankfully that last vowel and the S was left for me. (Last five in the bag were ?BISX.) Whew! What a fun game.
#note Sneaky: I went down to the last few seconds looking for something through the E or a miracle DWS-DWS hooking the S on QUOD. No bingo, no miracle, no dice. A pleasant game to lose, since I had no business winning it. :)
>Beardo: (S?) +2 392
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