| Player 1 |
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#player1 Jim_Burlant Jim Burlant
#player2 Bill_Clark Bill Clark
>Jim_Burlant: AACIIMR 8D AMICI +20 20
#note Or at 8H.
>Bill_Clark: EIOTY E8 .OIETY +22 22
>Jim_Burlant: ?AAAEOR D11 AA +10 30
#note Zyzzyva confirms with a quick search what I burned nearly 6 minutes of game time to figure out: there are no playable bingoes in this rack. This is a strong choice, but in retrospect it's not best because my AERO? leave is too vowel-heavy to justify giving up the 11 scoreboard points it gives up to the best play. This is the sim runner-up, winning 1.8% less often than AREA and simming 4-1/2 points down. Other options worth considering are 12B AORTAE and D10 AA.
>Bill_Clark: OOW C11 WOO +21 43
>Jim_Burlant: ?AENORV H3 AVERs.ON +64 94
#note I burned another huge chunk of time on this turn looking in vain for the D column that wasn't there. The downside to this position is that no choice really stands out; there are any number of bingoes available that score between 64, 65, and 66 points. Other options include OVERLAIN F2, G2 VERONICA, G3 NOVERCAL, 7H OVERRAN and G8 CONFERVA. I rejected the 7H plays (OVERran, etc.) because I didn't want to give easy points back at O8. I chose this for the board position - he can't hook it without an S, and it doesn't create any major hot spots. A sim indicates that the difference between all these plays is splitting hairs; the sim winner is G2 VERONi(C)A; this wins 0.3% less often at an equity deficit of not even 0.5 points. I'm exactly a 2-in-3 shot to win per the duck.
>Bill_Clark: HNO G8 .HON +24 67
>Jim_Burlant: ABLNOOT I9 BOO +22 116
#note Blocked. I was going to play LOBATION or OBLATION F3 until CHON blocked it. Obviously, an I9 play is the ticket; the only question is, which one? Ideally I'd want to play off BOLO, but that's a non-starter because it places the O at I12. As for BOOT/BOON, while they don't have vowel placement issues they still give back easy plays to H15. So after taking another couple of minutes here, I figured I'd leave myself an easy hook for the next turn. Q says I should play off the N as well; I'm fine with this. 68% to win.
>Bill_Clark: IOZ 6F ZO.I +33 100
>Jim_Burlant: ?AGLNTT J2 GANTLeT +79 195
#note For a change, a turn that was done in less than 30 seconds. The only other place this plays is at B5 for 66. This scores 79 and is best. While I had burned way too much time on my early racks (I was already under 14 minutes) I was still feeling confident about the game. The duck indicates I'm 88% to win, and with the blanks gone, at least I don't have to worry about any more turns taking me 5 minutes to find my best play, right?
>Bill_Clark: IS K5 IS +23 123
>Jim_Burlant: ABEENQR 12I NABE +18 213
#note Another difficult turn since nothing really stood out. I had more or less the right idea, but this was the wrong execution. There's no viable Q play, so the play was to take out the 12I hook I created with BOO. If I was going to play these letters, BANE or BEAN would have scored a few more points. Looking at the options, everything has some sort of baggage; like I said, I should have played for 20 instead of 18, but that's about all I did really wrong here. Also - on this turn, he interrupted me while I was tracking - something that came back to haunt me later. 86% to win.
>Bill_Clark: DES 4H .E.DS +22 145
>Jim_Burlant: EIQRTUW 3H .W. +19 232
#note Blocked again. This time my impending QUIET L1 was blocked, and I never saw QUBIT. That said, I thought it was worth a turn to fish and buld a rack. A sim agrees - this is best, but I'm still burning way too much time on these turns.
>Bill_Clark: DEIL 13J DELI +19 164
>Jim_Burlant: EGIQRTU D6 QU.G +17 249
#note Blocked for a third time. Now I was considering QUBIT and that got blocked. A sim can't decide whether this or K9 GREBE is best. Either one looks good. One option I never considered that also sims well is L1 QUE(S)T. Looking at QUEST, I don't like it - it only scores 27 and threatens to give back 39 or 42. Just shy of 93% to win.
>Bill_Clark: IJN B13 JIN +29 193
>Jim_Burlant: AEIRRTU 15A U.ITER +21 270
#note Excellent play by Bill - he has to open up and force me to defend. Prior to this, I was going to play TURRET 8J. His opening up here turned the momentum in his favor. By this time I was near 6 minutes. This is best.
>Bill_Clark: ADEIX 8J .AXIED +66 259
#note Ouch!
>Jim_Burlant: ACHLMRR N3 CHARM.R +16 286
#note Another turn on which I burned time. Quackle prefers N7 MERCH - I don't, since I don't want to give him an easy shot at O15. I put this down to kill bingoes down the N column and turn some tiles. By now I was under 4 minutes. Star plays in the sim are N7 MERCH and M6 CHIRM. Maybe CHIRM if I had this to do again. But things were about to get worse.
>Bill_Clark: KU 13E .UK +15 274
>Jim_Burlant: LPRSTTV -LPTV +0 286
#note Are you kidding me? All those E's unseen and I draw 6 consonants out of the bag? I insta-exchanged this, in no small part just to save time. I never even considered PST 10M; looking at it now, the LRTV leave seems like a recipe for losing. Why does Quackle think 5M VAT is such a good play? It's the only thing that outsims this. I'd make this play again. 57% to win.
>Bill_Clark: EG K8 .GE +4 278
>Jim_Burlant: EELRSTY 10K .YES +26 312
#note Not taking much time here since I was almost out. I slapped this down to score well while ensuring he couldn't hit a bingo down the O column. The duck feels my best play was a play I had originally considered before he put down AGE: SLY H13
>Bill_Clark: DEEFLPT J12 ..D +9 287
>Jim_Burlant: AEELPRT 14J .ELT +15 327
#note Took forever to come up with this and by now I was over on time since his earlier interruption meant my tracking was a mess and this game had gotten too close. Why not DELTA? Because I saw VEST O12 coming back for 40. This also took the bag down to 1. Best is apparently 7L ELM for 18. I'm still 75% to win or thereabouts.
>Bill_Clark: FLNPRSU H13 SUP +26 313
>Jim_Burlant: AEFLPRT B8 PELT +15 342
>Bill_Clark: EFNRV 5M V.R +6 319
>Jim_Burlant: AFR L1 ARF. +8 350
>Jim_Burlant: (EFN) +12 362
#note Unfortunately, the process of playing the game had gotten away from me. I was more than 3 minutes over on time. Also, I was so stunned by the turn of this game's events that I failed to notice that he had left an F in the bag - even though my tracking sheet had EFN circled on it. We didn't notice this until after the result slip was filled out (but not yet submitted) and we had deconstructed the board that he had left the F in the bag. My reaction upon seeing this: I told him I should have paid attention in the first place and it was my fault for not doing so, so I deserved the loss. So instead of getting 12 points for his EFN I only got 4 points for the EN in his rack. Between that and my time penalty, it lost me the game. Final score recorded as 314 - 319, Bill's win. Definitely at the top of the list of games I'd want back.
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