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#player1 Sam_Dick-Onuoha Sam Dick-Onuoha
#player2 Jim_Burlant Jim Burlant
>Sam_Dick-Onuoha: DEEY 8F EYED +16 16
>Jim_Burlant: AGLNRSS F6 GL.AN +12 12
#note Knowing Sam and his unorthodox playing style, and having kibbitzed a number of his games, I wouldn't have put it past him to have held the K on his opening play, and I think on some level I was trying to prevent him from scoring big down the E column with the K. Between that and wanting to set up a hook for the next turn so I could unload one of my dupe S's, this was what I came up with. Best is apparently 9E GRAN, and GNAR is also a strong choice.
>Sam_Dick-Onuoha: AEKNNST H8 .N +2 18
#note A guess at his rack.
>Jim_Burlant: BDEIRSS 11C DIBS +21 33
#note No bingoes play. I considered plays like 7H BID and BIS, but thought they both gave up too much in score and could backfire. 7H plays (BID, DIB, etc) had the same feel to me. I generally don't have a problem with telegraphing that I have a duplicated S in these situations. But a quirk of my own style is that, if I have to telegraph, I get adamant about not just floating the thing in space; I'll hook it so my opponent can't use it. I was a little leery about opening things up with this, but (a) this outscores everything except BIDES 11B (no need to play off the E here) and (b) forces him to play through and doesn't give up any easy hooks. I didn't really like this but none of my options really appealed to me. Since nothing really jumped out at me as superior, so I felt I might as well max out my poiints and leave myself ERS while I was doing so. Q says I should just play F6 GLEANS. I dunno.
>Sam_Dick-Onuoha: AEKNSTY D7 KYAN.TES +88 106
#note And off his one-tile fish he hits KYANITES through the I!!! Given where he placed his opening play, I can't say I was overly surprised to see the K come down when he bingoed.
>Jim_Burlant: ?AEEJRS 13C J.E +20 53
#note No bingoes play. Defensive liability or not, I'm just not going to break up AERS? for only a handful of extra points. Q agrees - this is best, and I'm nearly 37% to win.
>Sam_Dick-Onuoha: AEW B12 WAE +23 129
>Jim_Burlant: ?AEEHRS 7H HEARSEd +71 124
#note No bingoes play down the A column. Apparently, the bingoes are not best and C8 AHED is the sim winner. AHED ostensibly wins 37% if the sim is to be believed and this wins 0.8% less often and sims 2 points down. Q's preferred bingo is HEAVERS - it must think the Z is a bigger threat than I do. I don't like the vowel placement with HEAVERS. Pick your poison.
>Sam_Dick-Onuoha: ADGINOR 8A DOR. +24 153
#note Actual rack.
>Jim_Burlant: AAEFINU 6J FAUNAE +41 165
#note Oh, how I hoped he had floated an N (INFAUNAE) or a P (EPIFAUNA), but oh well - this is a nice consolation prize. The only question here is whether to play FAUNA or FAUNAE. Though E's are starting to get a bit scarce, I opted to play mine for the board position - if I play FAUNA and he hits a 6 that hooks it, that's 9 morepoints for the same play. Q says I should have kept the E. FAUNA wins 44.3%; this wins 43.75 and sims 0.8 points down.
>Sam_Dick-Onuoha: GOR 8M GOR +18 171
>Jim_Burlant: DEIIOPX A14 OX +29 194
#note You have to know it to play it. IXODID A3 winsthe sim, with this running a close second. If I had it to do again, I might play O2 PIXIE to unload the duplicated I's since a bunch are still unseen. I never saw PIXIE at the time for some reason. The game is still a crapshoot in Quackle's eyes - 49.8% to win.
>Sam_Dick-Onuoha: AMO 7A AMO. +21 192
>Jim_Burlant: DEHIIIP 10B PI. +14 208
#note I chose this over HIN because I saw remote possibilities of SH words on row 14 and wanted to preserve that. I don't really have any good options here - best if you believe Quackle is HIN 10B. 14D SHIP sims well (uh, no thanks), and I didn't know K5 PARDIE which sets up my H but also gives him good plays if he's got a W. Given those limitations I'm okay with this.
>Sam_Dick-Onuoha: EGIINNV K6 ..GININE +18 210
#note Actual rack. I certainly wish he'd found his best play here: O1 VENINE.
>Jim_Burlant: DEHIIPS J9 HIP +23 231
#note Not knowing that I had an 8, SHIPSIDE, available until he blocked it, I was still crestfallen to see ARGININE come down, as it blocked my intended play of H(AR)PIES K5 for 48. The only options I have that outscore this are HISPID and PISHED, which I didn't know. It doesn't matter - this is best, anyway and it's almost 64% to win. But the store clouds were brewing and these odds were going to take a dive within a short time.
>Sam_Dick-Onuoha: EIRVV O1 REVIV. +39 249
>Jim_Burlant: BCDEISU 13J C.BID +20 251
#note To this point I've played a pretty strong game but this play is absolutely putrid. I have no idea how I whiffed on all the good plays here - CUD L11, or even the simple 2L CUBE. Of all my choices, only 2L CUBE would have kept me in the game - this mistake combined with my next draw should have cost me the game. Thiis is mid pack, and the duck says CEDI L11 is best. That makes sense, as it scores nicely and sets me up for the S hook on row 15. CEDI wins 54%; this wins 44.
>Sam_Dick-Onuoha: ?CILORT 2H ChLORIT. +72 321
#note TRICOLOR scores 80 but this virtually kills me and I'm in real trouble: Sam is 89% to win with this choice and my next rack doesn't help me any.
>Jim_Burlant: EIOSUUW -IOUUW +0 251
#note While my last play didn't help me any, this draw was the last thing I needed. I saw SCOW, but didn't see at the time how I was going to get anywhere by keeping EIUU. The only benefit to that is if he doesn't bother to defend the southeast and I land the Q. But he's just drawn 7 tiles from a bag that had 17 tiles in it; post-mortem analysis says it's a 40% shot he's got the Q, so it's not a shoe-in for me to get it. The sim and championship player are divided here. The sim says it's either SCOW or a deep exchange. Championship player says H1 ECU is by far the best play I've got. Hmmm. Regardless, this worked out.
>Sam_Dick-Onuoha: AMOT 1J ATOM +18 339
>Jim_Burlant: AEEFOSZ 14M FEZ +41 292
#note Awesome draw!!!!!!! I saw I was sitting on the case A and that this set up a 33-point gimme on the next turn. The sim likes this but prefers other plays like 14N EF and 14M FE. Problem with those is that Sam can block those cheaply and qiuite easily. This one is impossible for him to do anything about if he doesn't ave the W. Q agrees - I'm still in the hole, but my winning chances are now back above 16%.
>Sam_Dick-Onuoha: LU N11 LU.. +5 344
>Jim_Burlant: AEIOSTW O14 .A +33 325
#note Championship Player indicates that this play or H2 COW both win 62.5%. COW has much better valuation than this, but the net effect is the same. With both those plays I lose if I draw the Q or one of the T's. Anything else in the bag I win.
>Sam_Dick-Onuoha: LOQRTTU 3J LOT +12 356
#note Sam does not have a win here.
>Jim_Burlant: EIOSTUW H1 S.OW +39 364
#note Right idea, wrong execution. I didn't realize until well after I'd hit my clock that COW H2 would have been the correct play to set up ETUIS 1D, which wins by `12 more points. At any rate, this is one of 4 winning plays I have. The other 3 are COW, L11 TUB, and 11M EL.
>Sam_Dick-Onuoha: QRTU 4N Q. +11 367
>Jim_Burlant: EITU 1D ETUI. +6 370
#note While I don't claim I played perfectly, my biggest accomplishment this game was staying calm and focused after the CEBID/CHLORITE sequence. Some fortuitous drawing on my end certainly helped, but I also was able to keep enough pressure on to perhaps alter his thinking. I'll take it.
>Jim_Burlant: (RTU) +6 376
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