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#player1 Mike_Early Mike Early
#player2 Jim_Burlant Jim Burlant
>Mike_Early: DFNOU 8D FOUND +26 26
>Jim_Burlant: CDFINRT E7 C.NFIT +22 22
#note Spent a couple of minutes here as all I'd initially found were CURF F7 and FUNDIC F7. Neither of those plays sat right with me. Then I found this. None of the other choices leaves such a potent combination that I should give up significant points for it. In this case, when in doubt, take the points. Q agrees - this is best. CURF is a respectable second.
>Mike_Early: AEEILMT G4 MELA.ITE +62 88
#note Only bingo for Mike.
>Jim_Burlant: ADIRSTT 5B TARDI.ST +68 90
#note My only bingoes are the anagram of this word, STRIATED 5A, and this. STRIATED and this score identically; this doesn't play with fire and slot the 3x3. 'Nuff said. 42% to win.
>Mike_Early: ?QSVVWX -?QS +0 88
>Jim_Burlant: EENNOOU 4G .OUE +12 102
#note Neither of us drew particularly well after our bingoes. Best is apparently H1 NONES for 23. I would have thought for sure that Quackle would have preferred anything as an alternative to the EOU leave, even if it meant keeping duplicated N's. NONES win a little more than 46%, and this wins 44-1/2 and sims 3-1/2 points down.
>Mike_Early: HSTUY 13C TUSHY +42 130
>Jim_Burlant: AEINNOR 12C IN.O +19 121
#note An annoying rack - T's all over the place and not one of them in the right place to bingo. This is best. 40% to win.
>Mike_Early: DGOPY 3I PODGY +40 170
>Jim_Burlant: ?AAEENR L3 .AdARENE +68 189
#note Other bingo options are 14G ANEARED and B3 ANTEATER for cheap. This is my best bingo. Right around 51% to win in a short sim.
>Mike_Early: EHOP K8 HOPE +29 199
>Jim_Burlant: BEEJNSW 12H JEWS +32 221
#note Board vision failure. At the time I didn't mind burning the S because this board really didn't have any juicy S hooks beyond this (the hook on FOUND is there, but I'm not particularly worried about it). And I rejected JOE J2 because it saddled me with the W. This scores well, but I'm really shortchanging myself here. Why? NEW(FOUND) scores 45 at 8A and gives me 3 cracks at an O for a 54-point JO 2J on the next turn.
>Mike_Early: IM 6L .I +2 201
#note Mike had made a coffeehousing comment earlier that made it clear he had the M.
>Jim_Burlant: ABDEENO 4A BANE +26 247
#note To block or not to block? I can't muck up the N column without giving him a wide-open run at the O column. The only O8 play I saw was HEDON, which leaves an unbalanced ABEE with a bunch of A's and E's still unseen. And ABODE/ADOBE at M10 don't help me either. I know he's got the M, but I figured that if he hits down the N column, that would give me counterplay either at O1 or O8. Given that, I felt the best option was to max out the points and give myself a chance to stay in the game after he hit. Q agrees with me - this is best. BOA 4C is also a strong choice.
>Mike_Early: ?EIMORW N4 WOMbIER +80 281
#note M8 WORMIEr scores 92.
>Jim_Burlant: ADEEIOX O1 AIDE +24 271
#note I burned a lot of time on this turn. I rejected AXED M10 because it left me without consonants and opened up plays at O10 for L, S, and T hooks that weren't in my rack, and he'd just drawn 7 tiles. WAX J12 also occurred to me, but that still left me vowel overloaded and didn't do anything about O1 or O8. I thought of O1 EIDE to set up OX N1 on the next turn. Though the board wasn't bingo prone, I still couldn't wrap my arms around burning both my E's with only 1 unseen and probably in his rack. And - maybe it was wishful thinking? - I convinced myself that, with A being the most probable tile in the pool, I'd draw the A for AX on the next turn. Q likes 14F OE (reckless, even if I do have the X), and 9B OXEN (never saw it, and it doesn't defend any of the hot spots). This and EIDE O1 are very close, with EIDE winning 30.41% as the sim bronze medalist, and this winning 30.11% with identical equity. Maybe EIDE if I had to do this one again...maybe not. It's not an easy choice, even with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight.
>Mike_Early: AZ N1 ZA +37 318
#note Ouch!
>Jim_Burlant: EGORTVX I11 V.X +21 292
#note Saw this and didn't look for anything else. Apparently VERB A1 is a bit better. I liked setting up the T hook on VEX. Regardless, it's bleak no matter how you slice it. VERB wins 17.2%; this wins a little over 15% and sims roughly 2-1/2 points down.
>Mike_Early: AILR M10 ARIL +14 332
>Jim_Burlant: EGGKORT 6B EGG +20 312
#note Now that there's a T hook down the O column, this doesn't open anything that isn't already there and gives me more options on the next turn. The sim takes a while to sort itself out, but Q eventually agrees with me: this is best. O10 TOKER - the sim's other favorite - is idiotic, as it will gift wrap him the win if he has the S.
>Mike_Early: BLO O10 LOB +15 347
>Jim_Burlant: EKOQRRT A6 TOKER +33 345
#note Seeing the Q in my rack, I thought for sure this game was a lost cause. Quackle thinks this play shouldn't win at all and that KERB A1 has a 1 in 16 chance of winning. Scored as 30; corrected on the recount. But watch what happens:
>Mike_Early: ACILNSV 14J VACS +22 369
#note Unless he's mistracked, Mike needs to realize I'm sitting on QRU and his first priority must be to stop me from playing my Q. If he does that, he can run up spread. Instead, he costs himself the game. VAC(ATE) should have been his play.
>Jim_Burlant: QRU B2 QU... +28 373
>Mike_Early: ILN O7 IN +13 382
>Jim_Burlant: R 5N .R +8 381
#note When the game ended, the score was originally 382 - 380, Mike's win. The recount revealed that I'd misscored my TOKER play as 30, not 33. When the recount was finished, I was utterly shocked - OMG, I won!
>Jim_Burlant: (L) +2 383
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