| Player 1 |
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#player1 Jackson_Smylie Jackson Smylie
#player2 Joshua_Sokol Joshua Sokol
>Jackson_Smylie: ?DEFGOY 8H FOGEY +32 32
#note Josh: I wrote down ? here next to his play, presumably cause he took a while to play. Maybe he doubted FOGEY? Dunno. I think it was likely he held a blank.
Jackson will be providing some of his side of things this game.
>Joshua_Sokol: AEEIOOQ 7G QI +26 26
#note It seemed pretty close here between exchanging keeping E, exchanging keeping nothing, and playing QI. In these situations I tend to just take the points and hope for the best. I'm in trouble whatever I do for the most part and I have to make up for a really bad first draw.
>Jackson_Smylie: ?DIIOPZ J6 ZI. +33 65
>Joshua_Sokol: AEEINOO 6J .OEAE +16 42
#note at least I was able to make a play!
>Jackson_Smylie: ?DIOPTY 5K DOPY +37 102
#note cOPY(E)DIT plays here.
>Joshua_Sokol: IJNNOTU 4J JUT +30 72
>Jackson_Smylie: ?IRSTVW -II +0 102
#note I saw (PA)W but passed it up since it blocked the FOGEY hook, but missed PAWS somehow. Both plays are better than mine, I gotta score.
>Joshua_Sokol: DEINNOV K8 .NVOI +16 88
#note I considered this and DOVEN/DEVON 9K. I knew that Jackson had a very strong rack leave, so I doubted that putting the N on O9 would generally work out well for me. I still had him on a blank. I think I had to play this and hope I could respond or that he didn't hit anything. Another play perhaps worth considering is I9 (O)I for 3. No, just kidding, that would never help me win the game. If I block a bingo hooking (IF)S, I'm stuck with a worse rack 3 points later when Jackson is still relatively likely to have a bingo, and if he still has options to bingo next turn that I can't do anything about. He also doesn't need to to anything, he's in the lead. Maybe he'll make an error, but I can't even respond to that error. NEVI K9 is also an option.
>Jackson_Smylie: ?DIORST M8 SORTIeD +79 181
>Joshua_Sokol: ADEEEHN 14J HEA.ED +38 126
#note a simulation notes that playing HANDED, keeping EE here, competes fiercely with HEA(D)ED, mainly because of the consonant-heavy pool and because the lack of some fruitful comebacks that Jackson wouldn't have seen ripen on his rack, at 15H - 15L after an N is placed at 15L rather than an A.
>Jackson_Smylie: ?AAINNR 15H NAIRA +28 209
#note NIRvANA!!!!!!!!!! also rainband.
>Joshua_Sokol: BEEFKNN 15N FE +29 155
#note The only option that scores nearly as much as this is 12J B(I)K(I)E for 22, which sets up a useless S hook for me and a great one for Jackson, since there is no bingo to fear hooking (BIKIE)S, rather just a bunch of points. I need more than points at this point. No option scores enough while leaving anything decent, so hopefully I can draw into some firepower later on this game. Not this turn.
>Jackson_Smylie: ?EIINOU -III +0 209
>Joshua_Sokol: BEKNNWW 12J K.W. +22 177
#note In the game just prior to this one, Nigel Richards drew WW after a two-tile play and still won the game. Let's see if I can manage the same feat! This play is also very relevant to Nigel Richards in another way.
>Jackson_Smylie: ?EILMNV 14E VILE +11 220
#note Wanted to start closing things off, it may be hard to close the S hook here though.
>Joshua_Sokol: ABEINNW 13G AWN +17 194
#note If I want to pursue playing relatively conservatively despite being behind by a good amount, I could play INB(YE) and wait until I had much better stuff to open, if necessary. But I think INBYE just gives up too much points and this was a good opportunity to open a bingo line. (IF)S is already there and I can't use it. AWN creates a line that also works with a G, an A and a D as well as an S, so it increases my bingo% at least threefold.
>Jackson_Smylie: ?ABEGMN 12A BEAMiNG +82 302
#note ooh, this really really stung. No need to get results oriented though, as AWN will only very rarely allow Jackson to bingo when he couldn't already do so.
>Joshua_Sokol: BCEIMNO 11C MOB +28 222
#note This doesn't seem like a good play at first, but it has many benefits. It allows for plays hooking (IF)S next turn, unless Jackson overlaps, which might happen but he's far more likely to play through the B down. It cuts other scoring options for Jackson such as X plays on row 11. It also allows for some setups at 10B that will be difficult to block without opening the board. I was trying to think as many moves in advance as possible. Not many plays leave me with more options to come back and less options for Jackson to steal the game away than MOB. BON(A)CI on the other hand, at C9, allows the board to stay open a few more turns, but at some point I will not be able to win the game with just one bingo, especially after BON(A)CI. (B)OMB scores 2 more and takes out a scoring spot too, but the B is more a threat to Jackson than it is to me, and cheap comebacks are aplenty after BOMB. Maybe I should still play it though. COM(B)INE also jumps out as a play but it just doesn't leave any lanes open and Jackson is good enough to close anything I try to open after COM(B)INE. I think this was the right play, but things are looking really grim. It seems most experts would play BON(A)CI here.
>Jackson_Smylie: GIRRSSS A12 .RIG +21 323
#note It's really hard for me to lose the game at this point, SIGMAS might be a way to, though. I liked BRIG since, holding the final 3 hooks to IF, Josh may sacrifice equity to go for the S's, when in fact he will do that to no avail.
>Joshua_Sokol: AACEINU 10B CAN +21 243
#note Gotta hope for an S and two more consos at this point, looking quite grim.
>Jackson_Smylie: ILRSSST C9 R...LS +18 341
>Jackson_Smylie: ILRSSST -- -18 323
#note Didn't want to play LAMAS because of the U hook, and I see AMASS but pass it up since I don't want him knowing I have the final S. It is probably faulty logic, and much faultier logic to play RAMALS, when I could probably intuit RAMAL likely doesn't take an S. It was an unnecessary risk.
>Joshua_Sokol: AEEIPUU -AUIEUE +0 243
#note Unfortunately for me the move Jackson just made implies he has all of SSS on his rack and mostly consonants. Considering this I should think I need to just minimize spread loss at this point. Or maybe he doesn't have SSS, maybe that's what I need to hope.
>Jackson_Smylie: ILRSSST C9 L...S +16 339
#note .....And then I play LAMAS over AMASS. Don't ask me why!
>Joshua_Sokol: HOPRRUX 8A ROUX +65 308
#note Bad mistake, which actually gives me a chance to win the game. JSMY: I totally deserve that
>Jackson_Smylie: DILRSST 10K .I.L +9 348
#note If I don't draw a vowel I could be in trouble, but the VIRLS hook isn't going away. I am glad I playd it.
>Joshua_Sokol: AEEHPRU M2 ARE.. +25 333
#note Unfortunately for me I am very bad at calculating things in these scenarios. It seems I will have to bingo to win given Jackson's superior scoring options, but maybe there's a chance that I'll manage to outscore without a bingo while threatening one. This seemed to accomplish that, but maybe J2 HA(J) is better. Or maybe D5 EAU(X) is. I really don't know, but I'll guess that this is the right play to make all things considered.
>Jackson_Smylie: DERSSTU O8 DUST +23 371
#note Jackson chooses possibly the more dangerous route. At this point he seems to be trying to run me over time, staring at my clock while it's my turn and playing rather quickly. I was in a very serene state of mind this game, and it did not faze me, unfortunately for Jackson.
>Joshua_Sokol: EHINPTU N1 UH +20 353
#note Now that the sim in basically worthless despite certain statistics, I have a harder time knowing what I should have played here. What I do know is I missed something I needed to consider, D3 PHENI(X). That brings the score within two points and empties the bag. I know he has the S, so I need to hope for something that will win me the game, such as perhaps Jackson challenging PHENI(X) or messing up the endgame. If I see PHENI(X) though, I also see I8 (O)UT or 15A (G)UT, keeping PHENI(X) in hand but also fishing for ENCIPHE(R) A1 (which it would help if I knew) or PHELONI(A) 2F. But if I fish for 4, it would seem that PHENI(X) only wins when Jackson challenges, so perhaps there is a better fish to make with UT, i.e D6 TU(X) for 10. I played N1 UH because if Jackson does not have an A, which is more likely than usual given his vowel trouble implied by his last moves, I am threatening both a bingo on column A and a 40-point play at O1, one of which he will seek to block for few points. And even if he does have the A, a bingo is still threatened. Unfortunately the only thing it looks possible to draw into is INCEPTO(R), not that Jackson knows that for sure. It just makes it very difficult for me to win this game.
>Jackson_Smylie: AEEORST O1 TARE +27 398
#note Didn't really figure out whether TARO or TARE was better, I knew both would win. Q says TARO
>Joshua_Sokol: EILNPTT B4 PINT. +9 362
#note I held TARE for a minute and released, since I can't even win if by some bizarre feat TARE is not a word. This is -3 to just INT(O), keeping the P. Amazing that Jackson cannot go out with his tiles.
>Jackson_Smylie: CEOS 4A S.EC +18 416
#note I did his endgame for him in my head and I came up with the correct result, that (P)ECS and S(P)EC were equivalent in value. It's a good exercise because I'm not good enough at endgames yet. S(PINTO) is a word thoguh, and 3B SEC also has a total valuation of 4.
>Joshua_Sokol: ELT A1 LET. +12 374
#note I think I played reasonably well this game, but I'm sure there was somewhere where I could have improved my winning chances and changed the end result of the game. I'm just not there yet.
>Joshua_Sokol: (O) +2 376
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