| Player 1 |
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#player1 David_Pearl David Pearl
#player2 Jim_Burlant Jim Burlant
>David_Pearl: BEO 8H OBE +10 10
#note Context: penultimate round. I have won 4 my first four and am now 12 - 8 with spread approaching +1000. If I win my final two games, I'll cash. But I definitely need to win out, since the payout is only 5 deep and there are still 3 or 4 players 2 games ahead of me.
>Jim_Burlant: ?DEIORU 9E DOURInE +67 67
#note Paralysis by 1000 choices. I opted for this because DOURINE only gave back the S hook where OUTRIDE in the same location also gave back R and S hooks. A sim thinks I should take the extra point and not worry so much about the back hooks.
>David_Pearl: ACDEI E6 CAD.IE +20 30
>Jim_Burlant: EHIIKNO 8A HIKE. +42 109
#note Prior to CADDIE I had expected to play ENOKI 8A, but this is even better - now I get to unload the H. This is best.
>David_Pearl: ADEINOT B8 .ODINATE +76 106
#note Other options for David are B8 IDEATION, B2 TAENIOID, 6D ACTIONED, and 6E CATENOID. It's ither IDEATION or this.
>Jim_Burlant: ABEIINO A12 OBIA +36 145
#note Best play. Nothing else worth consideration.
>David_Pearl: GLNOO 7H LOGON +19 125
>Jim_Burlant: ADEINRR 12E DRAINER +71 216
#note With LOGON blocking RANCIDER, this is my only bingo. I see that S hook at L12, but I have to play the bingo. 87% to win.
>David_Pearl: ENWZ H11 W.ZEN +51 176
>Jim_Burlant: EHMPTTV 6B VET.H +29 245
#note Still concerned about L12, but I don't really have the rack to deal with it; the only candidate play that does, 10I TEMPT, leaves HV and gives him an almost as juicy S hook down the O column. So VETCH it is. This is best.
>David_Pearl: AO 13G A.O +20 196
>Jim_Burlant: JMPTTUU C3 JUT. +22 267
#note Up to now the game has been straightforward, but this was the first of several positions that left me second guessing myself. I never saw 10I TUMP (the sim winner), and I debated between TRUMP K11 and JUTE C2. The strength of TRUMP is that it interferes with the obvious S hook at L12 and it clears more of the rack. But the N at H15 isn't the best bingo starting tile and I didn't like opening easy 5's for him to O15. Hence, this. In retrospect, I sure wish I played TRUMP:
>David_Pearl: ESTW L12 STEW +40 236
>Jim_Burlant: GIMOPTU 15L .IMP +33 300
#note This is the best scoring play I have, but apparently it's not best. Yeah, I know GOTU is no prize as leaves go, but I would have thought 33 points was worth it here. In the duck's eyes, I should dumping the rack down the L column with UMPING L3 for 26 or, if I want to really live dangerously, TUMPING L2. Not sure I like those plays because they give back too many easy hooks.
>David_Pearl: ISV 14E VIS. +12 248
>Jim_Burlant: GLLORTU 14K T.GU +21 321
#note Safe to say, David has another S. He told me post-mortem he had three of them in his rack when he played STEW. Anyway, this is another play where I don't agree with Quackle. David is obviously close and Quackle wants me to play D1 GROT for 27 points. I'd rather unload that U if I could and not give him row 1 to work with. This is the highest scoring play I have that accomplishes that, and it also blocks anything from N10. I'm still 80% to win; quackle thinks GROT wins 84. YMMV. Play incorrectly scored as 18.
>David_Pearl: ?ACGIRS L2 bRACI.GS +82 330
#note David is back in the game, but he's still only 37% to win.
>Jim_Burlant: AELLOPR 8L .LOP +21 342
#note No bingoes play. I considered a number of plays: ROPABLE 2H, LOP D2, and 8L GLOP. LOP in particular was tempting, but was too dangerous. With FFS unseen it gives him an easy 50+ if he has a junky rack with an F. Not to mention the S that's not in my rack. So, so much for LOP. ROPABLE is just as bad in its own way, so that ruled that out. Which left GLOP. I felt this left me a second workable bingo line while I was sitting on a promising rack. Championship Player and the sim are conflicted here, but both of their recommendations are reckless. The sim says ROPABLE 2H was the play, presumably to score 28 and jump into the bag and chase the Q and the X. Championship Player, OTOH, says I need to man up and play LOP. Pfft. GLOP it is, Quackle be damned.
>David_Pearl: EQUY 3I QUE.Y +54 384
>Jim_Burlant: AAELMRS J1 AM. +11 353
#note And now I throw gasoline on the fire. Again, just trying to keep the board alive for a winning out bingo. At this point I was oblivious to the unseen X, in which case I might have hedged my bets with AIM 10D. Best per the sim is apparenly 13A BAAL. Regardless, none of it would have made a difference except for spread:
>David_Pearl: FTX 10D F.XT +57 441
>Jim_Burlant: AAELNRS 1E ARSEN.L +21 374
#note Had I fished off with BAAL, I'd be bingoing out with AMARONES, which loses by 15. And even if I play AIM and block his X bomb, he then blocks my bingo line with something like FOXY and I can't make up the difference. I'm screwed.
>David_Pearl: EFLNRY C11 FEY +42 483
>Jim_Burlant: A A7 A. +5 379
#note F6 HA for 7, but whatever. I can't cash at this point so I go through the motions.
>Jim_Burlant: (LNR) +6 385 |
