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#player1 Akshay Bhandarkar Akshay
#player2 Peter Moses Peter
#title WESPAC 2017, Final Round 1
#description WESPAC 2017, Final Round 1
>Akshay: AAILNOU 8H AULOI +12 12
>Peter: EEGIRTT 9B TERGITE +62 62
#note AIGRETTE scores 18 more.
>Akshay: AACEGNO D7 AC.OGEN +26 38
#note GENOA scores more while limiting both scoring and bingo options, making it a substantially stronger option. While ACROGEN does leave the board more open, the sacrifice in points and leave and immediate options for your opponent outweigh the board openness.
>Peter: ADEIPWY C3 DEAWY +41 103
#note PEDWAY scores a bit more and makes scoring a bit more difficult, and is thus a preferable play.
>Akshay: AAINOUU 11C I.UANA +14 52
#note UNAU has a better valuation as it keeps around the same leave (AIO vs. OU) and creates some needed variance with the S hook in UNAUS that could easily incite point-sacrificing blocks. IGUANA again creates a more open board which is thematically beneficial, but also runs the risk of creating an exhausted board too quickly.
>Peter: HIPPRUV E4 PRUH +27 130
#note APPUI scores much more, is better defensively, and keeps a better leave. I'm guessing Peter just missed it.
>Akshay: AAEEOOU -AAEOOU +0 52
#note While the E is the best tile of the lot, there are already only 2 A in the bag, and this board is farely good for As, in terms of open bingo lines and scoring opportunities. In addition, the bag contains 18 vowels, 41 consonants, and 2 blanks, making an AE keep a slight benefit over E in this case. I slightly prefer AE, but I'm open to the notion of just E
>Peter: FHIKLPV 4A KL.P. +36 166
>Peter: FHIKLPV -- -36 130
#note An unfortunate word knowledge error, as Peter's nerves are unfortunately on display early. KIF, FLIP, and KIVA are all reasonable options. KLEPP* is best if it were a word.
>Akshay: ?ABENVX 13C A.NEX +40 92
#note IBEX scores less and creates an easy b13 overlap, but it's still best because of the difference in leave. ANV? is just so much better as a leave, as it's balanced and the blank helps the rack realize its bingo potential, whereas VB just destroys most of the bingo potential in that rack next turn. As a result, Quackle analysis has ANV? bingoing over twice as often as BV?, making IBEX a slightly stronger play.
>Peter: FHIKLPV 14F FILK +41 171
>Akshay: ?BDENUV 12H BUNDE +29 121
#note You can consider AVEL as a fake setup and just overall solid play here too, but BUNDE is fine as well, especially if you think Peter might not be certain of the hooks.
>Peter: AHPRSTV J10 VA.TS +32 203
#note SHIVA is also reasonable as it dramatically increases your bingo percentage next turn.
>Akshay: ??IIMNV B2 VIM +23 144
#note INcIVIsM scores 49 more points, and while you will bingo next turn extremely often, it's still slightly better to take the bingo now.
>Peter: FGHIMPR 15D GIF +18 221
#note FRIG is definitely reasonable and Quackle prefers it substantially, but it ultimately just comes down to your opinion of Akshay's range. I think GIF is solid if you're doing it because you think Akshay's range is strong, and there might be several indicators you can look for. However, Peter also probably blocks in this situation too much judging by other games, so I think this is arguable. In this case, Akshay has IN?? so this move looks like gold, but I am a bit skeptical it was made for the right reasons.
>Akshay: ??EEINN 4E .rEENINg +68 212
#note ABELE is better, as you will still inevitably bingo soon with INN??, and you're scoring 34 (as opposed to 68) points on a board where high scoring bingos are hard to come by.
>Peter: DEHJMPR G3 H.MP +15 236
#note I'm not sure whether JIMP or DEPERM is best, although this does preserve some J options and block some scoring options and keep a balanced rack while maintaining your lead.
>Akshay: BEEOORW F2 BO.ER +31 243
#note Nice overlap and good decision to keep the imbalanced leave given the pool.
>Peter: ADEIJOR 8A JA +29 265
#note EJIDO a4 is just a much stronger option, scoring an extra 19 points. DEIOR is not a very strong leave on this board (especially if you don't know BUNDED)
>Akshay: EILOOOW 15H OO +18 261
>Peter: ADEIORS 11J .ID +17 282
#note ROADIES is a missed bingo. I'm assuming it's because he's not sure of BUNDED, but this turns out to be devastating.
>Akshay: EILOSWZ J6 ZO. +32 293
#note My guess is that Akshay chose this over WIZ or WINZE because he wants to maintain an E and doesn't want to give back the scoring parallels WIZ offers. That being said, I do feel that WIZ is clearly a better play here.
>Peter: AEORSTT K2 TA.TO +21 303
#note OHO puts Akshay in a really uncomfortable situation, allowing you to bingo sometimes. Blocking plays are both low scoring and often give good scoring options back, and make it more likely that Akshay is stuck with the Q: you can cat and mouse comfortably.
>Akshay: EILSSTW H1 WIS. +27 320
#note WUS seems a bit stronger because of the extra points and better leave, while also drawing one less tile and hopefully avoiding the Q.
>Peter: EEOQRRS F8 Q. +11 314
>Akshay: DELLSTY A3 YELD +22 342
#note DELL in the same spot and other plays win 100% of the time, as here your main objectives are just to play endgames with the worst tiles and see if you win. After DELL you threaten CYST, YUS, TRY, and other plays that just give you too many options to outscore your opponent. After YELD you gie up ties with an R draw and barely win with a C draw. Other plays also win 100% of the time, albeit less comfortably.
>Peter: CEEORRS L2 ER.OS +22 336
#note OR and AIDER both create setups that tie the game, but don't win. I prefer OR slightly as it has a better chance of inducing errors (CERGES isn't as obvious so Akshay may try to block with ST, leading to a one point loss, whereas after AIDER he has to find ST 7g but that's a much easier find that he has to make after either play). ERGOS does force him to play ST to block REC, but as Peter I would expect Akshay to block that almost all of the time. I'm guessing he just missed the setups. It's also possible albeit unlikely that he really thought BUNDER* was a word. (If it's an adjective BUNDEST* would be a word, if it's a noun then BUNDES* is probably a word and he could have bingoed earlier.)
>Akshay: LRST M2 ST +13 355
#note TERTS is best and wins comfortably, but this gets the job done.
>Peter: CER M12 REC +19 355
>Peter: CER -- -19 336
#note No wins despite the R and L not having an out-in-one.
>Akshay: LR 12D .R +5 360
>Peter: CER 13A RE..... +14 350
>Akshay: L L11 ..L +4 364
#note Akshay perseveres.
>Akshay: (C) +6 370
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