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#player1 Mike Mike
#player2 David David
>Mike: FGILOWY 8D FLOWY +36 36
#note I kept finding phonies with this rack; first GLOWY*, then FOILY*, then FOWLY*. Finally I settled on FLOWY...erm, make that FLOWY*. But it didn't even get held.
>David: ?AAAENR F3 pARAN.EA +61 61
#note This is probably why; there are no sevens with this rack.
>Mike: ADGIVVW -GIVVW +0 36
#note I don't remember this rack; it was something fairly hideous, something from which a leave like AD might be kept.
>David: ADEILTT 4A DILAT.TE +74 135
>Mike: ADHINOZ H1 HAZ. +48 84
#note Adding the D for 6 points winds up not making much of a difference; they come out virtually tied in the sim. At this early score, I need openings.
>David: DGHIT 5H DIGHT +38 173
#note Hey, that wasn't supposed to happen!
>Mike: BDIORSU A4 .RUID +21 105
#note Again, it was something like this (though if this is it exactly, something like L3 OUTBID might be better).
>David: EFNORSU L2 FOR.UNES +74 247
#note Sigh. Alright, how are we going to come back from this one?
>Mike: ABEOQSU 11D BOSQUE +42 147
#note Quackle likes other moves here, such as J2 QUAG, E1 QUOTA, or I1 OBA (the last of which I sort of like in hindsight). However, I still stand by my play. As I alluded to in an earlier game, my philosophy when behind is to keep scoring points. You're going to have to get lucky to win anyway; you might as well make sure that if you do, the score is close enough that the luck actually matters. OBA I can sort of see in this regard (if you hit a Q bingo, or a huge Q play followed by a bingo, you're in OK shape), but the others don't score enough. Reach for the ?JSSX still in the pool, and hope things work out.
>David: IKLO 12A KILO +34 281
>Mike: AEJOPRT M1 JAPE +41 188
#note This rack is inexact, but JAPE was clearly best.
>David: EU 1M .EU +30 311
>Mike: CEILORT B8 ELIC.TOR +77 265
#note Stroke of luck #1.
>David: BIIO 15A O.IBI +30 341
#note Though I'm back in it, David keeps scoring well; I'm going to need some more help.
>Mike: ?DEINNT 12G INTENDs +82 347
#note Stroke of luck #2. (Don't know why I passed up the extra point.)
>David: ASV J9 VAS. +27 368
>Mike: AAEGIXY 13A A.AXY +52 399
#note Stroke of luck #3! When showing the game to Sherrie afterwards, it was at this point she looked at me and said, "I hate you on David's behalf!"
>David: MR 2L ..RM +26 394
>Mike: EEGIOVW B1 VOG.E +20 419
#note Again, the rack is inexact. But I needed to leave just one in the bag, which was starting to look uncomfortably bingo-prone.
>David: EEOPRST K12 .E +2 396
#note David told me his rack here. He had the right idea (fish one, open a second lane), but according to Quackle this cannot win (for reasons that will soon become clear). L12 DE actually is 50% to win; I leave it as an exercise for the reader to determine what draws David can hit. Alright, dear reader, we've arrived at the critical position. Find the win!
>Mike: CEGIMNW M10 ME.IC +16 435
#note I had about 14 minutes left on my clock at this point (I play pretty fast normally, but this was a bit unusual; with all the bingos, it was a short game). I spent several minutes reverifying the tracking, making sure MEWING 14J still lost (it does, by 12), seeing that a 3-tile block wouldn't work (WISE M10, for example, loses to POSTERN at 14H), and trying other fruitless lines. With about two minutes to go, I saw MESIC. "Can that possibly be good?" I wondered. "Does it win? Okay, yes it does. Now, why would I have thought of that? Am I making it up?" I finally concluded two things; one, I wouldn't have come up with it unless it were good; and two, I couldn't win any other way. Quackle confirms what I suspected; this is the *only* winning play.
>David: ENOPRST - +0 396
#note David, who was down to about 1:30 himself, put me on hold for a few seconds, then almost resignedly challenged. As we walked over, I said, "I'm pretty sure I have to play it, and you have to challenge it, since neither of us is sure of it." Maybe it was unsportsmanlike of me, but I let out a bit of a fist pump upon seeing the screen turn green (the only time all tournament that happened, incidentally).
>Mike: GNW 6D GN.W +8 443
#note So of course I drop seven equity on the last play. But it didn't matter; the comeback was complete. (It may not be the biggest of my career - I seem to recall coming from ~160 back in Reno several years back. It's certainly the biggest I have record of.) Tough luck for David, who seems to have played a pretty good game.
>Mike: (ENOPRST) +18 461
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