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#player1 Jim_Burlant Jim Burlant
#player2 Chris_Guilbert Chris Guilbert
>Jim_Burlant: DEEEHOY 8H EYED +16 16
#note Considered EYED 8F but didn't like the K front hook it gave back. EYE was a consideration but I didn't think it worth 4 points to keep DEHO instead of EHO. I then saw 8H EYE but didn't like the R, N, and D hooks down the K column that it gave back. Thus, this choice. Apparently the duck thinks I should keep the D and play 8F EYE. Whatever.
>Chris_Guilbert: OPU 7G UPO +17 17
>Jim_Burlant: EGHIORY 9E YOGH +21 37
#note A very early omen that this was going to be a struggle: out of a bag of 79 tiles, I get rid of a Y and get the other one right back. As for this position, it's either this or K8 DOGY. Either is as good as the other.
>Chris_Guilbert: AFO 10D OAF +32 49
>Jim_Burlant: EIIIPRV K4 VIRI. +18 55
#note Ugh. So fixated on cleaning this out ASAP that I never looked for my best play. VIPER 8A scores 39. While my choice's EIP leave is vastly superior to VIPER's II, that doesn't excuse giving up 21 scoreboard points to do it. Maybe 10 to clear out one of the duplicated I's (or 14 with VIPER opening up a 3x3), but not 21.
>Chris_Guilbert: BGIN 11B BING +30 79
>Jim_Burlant: ABEEINP 12A BINE +30 85
#note With no L available for PLEBEIAN, this was a straightforward choice, and at least I got this one right. BANE in the same location is also a very strong choice because there are still 7 A's as opposed to 5 I's still unseen.
>Chris_Guilbert: ORW A12 .ROW +27 106
>Jim_Burlant: AACEIPT 4F CAPTI.E +34 119
#note The only 8's in this rack are HEPATICA and CAPITATE/APATETIC, and none of them play. This is best.
>Chris_Guilbert: EELO H1 ELO.E +21 127
>Jim_Burlant: ADILNSS M3 ISLANDS +85 204
#note You gotta know it to play it. WINDLASS (p > 18000) scores 92 on row 15. This is the only other bingo.
>Chris_Guilbert: ?AEIIKT 2D TAIl.IKE +73 200
#note Best bingo for Chris.
>Jim_Burlant: EEMMSUW 3C MEW +23 227
#note It's either this or N6 WE. I saw WE...no thanks. I'm fine with this.
>Chris_Guilbert: CGL C9 CL..G +29 229
>Jim_Burlant: AEFMRSU 1K FEMUR +38 265
#note I considered 3 plays: FEUAR 1A, FEUAR 1K, and FEMUR 1K. I chose this word over FEUAR because i didn't like leaving myself without vowels when the pool was 2 or 3 vowels too light for this many consonants. I played at 1K because I wanted to stop something like AXION/OXTER for 62. Well, that, and I spaced on the U front hook on TE; I only saw the A. Duh. FEMUR plays at 1A for 43.
>Chris_Guilbert: TX D2 ..XT +22 251
>Jim_Burlant: ADHNQST 5B QA.S +26 291
#note I considered three plays: QI F1, QATS 6A and QATS 5B. With 20 tiles in the bag, if the unseen pool still had 8 or 9 E's I might play QI F1 to fish for an E if I was feeling lucky. I rejected QI here because the ADHNST leave was too consonant heavy for me to consider a one-tile fish with only 3 E's unseen (and 1 or 2 possibly in his rack). QATS 6A unloaded a fourth tile, but this game was too close to score 27 and give back so many easy 36 - 42-point plays. I hated burning the S and keeping 4 consonants with a pool that only had a 4-vowel surplus, but this was the only reasonable choice. This was best. To this point, I've played to my normal standard: one whiffed intermediate play (VIRID), and FEMUR for 38 could be chalked up to stylistic preference. But I've made no major mistakes otherwise. That said, the ensuing turns are where I felt like I started to lose the plot.
>Chris_Guilbert: J E1 J.. +13 264
>Jim_Burlant: DHNOTTU J8 .TH +14 305
#note I never saw my only decent scoring play that unloads a duplicated T (THROAT 6I 25). But, with S? unseen and Chris presumably close, I'm not sure I like THROAT even if I do see it. And HO N6/OH N5 were non-starters for obvious reasons. I don't feel like Quackle's choices are particularly helpful here: THROAT is dangerous given the unseen SZ, ROTUND O1 gives up an easy ROTUNDAS 27 if he's got garbage plus AS in his rack. Maybe RUTH or ROUTH O1 to turn a few more tiles and chase the blank, or UNTO L9.
>Chris_Guilbert: DZ C5 .DZ +23 287
>Jim_Burlant: ADNORTU B14 DO +17 322
#note This was the other play I puzzled over. He's still close to bingoing and I thought I should keep the rack together to counter the bingo he would hopefully put down at L9 or N9. I didn't like DUD 8M because I thought it opened more easy possibilities for bingoesthan were already there (even a 60-point air ball could win the game for him). This was the highest scoring play I could find that didn't play at N6 and give him cheapies down the O column. The duck is emphatic - regardless of whether he has S? - my best play here is to maximize tile turnover. Against a random rack it likes OUTRAN at N9/K10 or AROUND K10. Against an inferred S?, it likes K10 OUTRAN but doesn't like the others as much. To some degree the turnover plays make sense. If he doesn't have the S or blank, I maximize my chances at getting one or both of them. However, I don't understand why 18-point rack dumps are advisable if I assume S? are in his rack. Regardless of what's right, there's a good chance this play cost me whatever remaining chance I had at this game. OUTRAN/AROUND win roughly 60%; this wins 50. From this point on, I can't win the game.
>Chris_Guilbert: ELO K10 OLE +11 298
>Jim_Burlant: ANNRSTU L10 NAN +18 340
#note And, had I played DUD, I'd be playing NONARTS 13H...
>Chris_Guilbert: ?AEEINR O1 .EtAINER +74 372
#note Which he would be countering with a RETAINER bingo...
>Jim_Burlant: ARRSTUV B1 VAS +21 361
#note ...and he would have gotten enough points from my rack of ARV to win by 3! Chris told me post-mortem that he didn't pick up the blank until after he played OLE. Drawing 2 when I played DO left the blank as one of ten remaining tiles in the bag. If I play AROUND or OUTRAN and draw 4 more tiles, I have a 40% chance of drawing the blank. Given the rest of his racks, whoever got the blank was probably going to win. Between ETH/DO, I left enough tiles unturned that I didn't maximize my chances to win.
>Chris_Guilbert: AOTU 13L OUTA +12 384
>Chris_Guilbert: (RRTU) +8 392
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