| Player 1 |
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#player1 Orry_Swift Orry Swift
#player2 Jim_Burlant Jim Burlant
>Orry_Swift: ACINOR 8G RACINO +18 18
>Jim_Burlant: EEEHIRS K4 SHEE.IER +94 94
#note CHEESIER also plays for 68, but this scores 94 and is clearly best.
>Orry_Swift: ABCEOOS M3 CABOOSE +85 103
>Jim_Burlant: EFHILNO J10 FOH +32 126
#note This scores 32, clears the heavy consonants and leaves a promising EILN. For reasons I can't understand, the duck thinks J5 OH is a smidge better than this. I realize this gives back an N hook (which I have in my rack) with 4 unseen, but really - how is OH better? I'd make this play again.
>Orry_Swift: AEGIMP L10 MAGPIE +35 138
>Jim_Burlant: AEIJLNY N4 LAY +33 159
#note I briefly considered JAY 7F but rejected it when I saw it only scored 22; with 34 available for this, it was too much to give up, especially if I could cash the J at one of the triples on the next turn. Q confirms my only row 14 option is JAIL, which is reckless with 2 S's still unseen. This is best. The game is a crapshoot, as I'm at 49-1/2% to win.
>Orry_Swift: DELNR 15H LEND.R +21 159
>Jim_Burlant: EIJKNNW 13G JINN +30 189
#note The rack problems start. The counters accumulate more quickly than I can unload them, and any unique bingo-prone consonants I can keep end up duplicating or triplicating on the next turn. While I can put points on the board, I'm not getting anywhere. As for this position, it's either this or WINE O1, and this isn't a good board for the J so I better unload it now. Q agrees - this is best, and I'm 54% to win.
>Orry_Swift: IPRT O1 TRIP +35 194
>Jim_Burlant: EEEKNRW J4 EEW +34 223
#note Bad timing: JINN blocked WEAKENER. It's this or EEEW, and with only 3 E's unseen I'm going to have to start treating mine like an endangered species. Q agrees: this is best, and it's 61% to win.
>Orry_Swift: FGU G7 F.UG +13 207
>Jim_Burlant: EEKMNRT I11 KE. +20 243
#note This wasn't bad by any means, but KE(N)T(E) in the same location for 2 more would have been slightly better since 4 T's were unseen. I5 MERC is also a good choice. If I had this turn to do again, KENTE would have been the play.
>Orry_Swift: IX F6 XI +30 237
#note This is a terrific play by Orry, as it opens up the E column for potential 2x2's and puts me on the defensive. This play really hurt me.
>Jim_Burlant: EMNQRTV E5 VERT +29 272
#note Prior to his play of XI, I had hoped he would exchange which I would counter, in turn, with an exchange of MQV or maybe MQVT since 4 T's were still unseen. Unfortunately, he's forced my hand and I absolutely must defend the E column. After grinding through racks for 6 turns and *finally* getting ENRT in my rack, it really hurt that I had no choice but to play off ERT and keep garbage. As ugly as the leave is, I can't forfeit 29 points and leave the E column open.
>Orry_Swift: ?AISTTZ 7E ...T +9 246
#note Actual rack - Orry told me after the game I blocked TZArIST.
>Jim_Burlant: BDEIMNQ 8A DEBI. +27 299
#note To this point I've made only one minor, "mistake", but this was where I lost the plot. Having somehow not drawn into QAT/QUAI/etc. on row 4, I instinctively gravitated to 8A and figured I should score 27 and draw 4 tiles to try again for a row 4 Q play. BIDET would have been a marginal improvement since it didn't float the E, but that still wouldn't have been right. What I failed to realize was that, even though the Z was still out, since I had both the Q and the B, 8A did not threaten more than routine 27 or 30-point plays, which meant that the real threat was row 4. Best here would have been BEDIM 4D, with DENIM 4D being a reasonable runner up. Not only would the 4D plays have taken out the VERT front hooks, but they would hae scored better than my play and set up QI G3 on the next turn. Given how things shook out, it's safe to say that missing BEDIM cost me the game.
>Orry_Swift: ?AISTTZ B7 S.IZA +34 280
#note I think this is his rack - he mentioned that he had fished the T and was shocked when he saw another T. He spent a long time here and he must have been debating about whether to pass up his bingo, since I don't believe for a second he'd have missed TRISTEZA. If I'd played BEDIM, he'd most likely be either be playing ZIT for 22 at G3 or, much more likely, ZITS somewhere else for mid 30's...
>Jim_Burlant: AALMNOQ 1M QA. +12 311
#note ...and in turn, if I found BEDIM I'd be playing QANAT 8A for 45 and would still be leading by a bingo. Instead, since I hamstrung myself on my last turn, and I was also shocked that yet again I had not drawn into a row-4 Q play despite good turnover I felt I should just use the Q to block row 1. I felt that if he didn't bingo this turn, he wasn't going to win the game since I was sure to block row 4 on the next turn. The duck's best play is counterintuitive to be sure, but it also makes a lot of sense: 4A ALAMO to draw 5 tiles (3 U's and both blanks are unseen) to set up a Q play at A1. In retrospect, that looks a lot better than what I did.
>Orry_Swift: ?AGIOTT 4A AGITaTO +73 353
#note Against a random rack, Orry wins barely 20%. Against my rack of AELMNOR, he's now winning 69% with this, his best bingo. AGITATO plays for more points on row 14, but he realized he had to deal with row 4. Had he played on row 14, he'd have lost the game:
>Jim_Burlant: AELMNOR A11 MANOR +28 339
#note As you can see, I somehow fished ER out of this pool, which meant that if I'd played ALAMO, I'd have had 3 more cracks at a U or blank for QUEAN A1 and I'd probably have had a slim lead. Instead, I'm left with the first of what was going to become way too many no-gos on this day. As for this turn I was too protective of the case E. I need to sacrifice it - either with AMOLE or H1 ENORM. No matter how you slice it, it's bleak. The consolation is that, given the next draw, nothing I did here would have mattered.
>Orry_Swift: DV C3 V.D +14 367
>Jim_Burlant: ?ELOUUW B13 OW +22 361
#note No clue. A6 WUD may be a hair better...but I was hooped no matter what I put down.
>Orry_Swift: ADNSTUY C10 ADUST +41 408
>Jim_Burlant: ?ELLOUU H1 LOUr +16 377
>Orry_Swift: NY 10B ..NY +16 424
>Orry_Swift: (ELU) +6 430
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