| Player 1 |
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#player1 Steve_Grob Steve Grob
#player2 Joshua_Sokol Joshua Sokol
>Steve_Grob: DFIILVW H8 LIVID +22 22
>Joshua_Sokol: EEHIRST 12H .IETHERS +76 76
>Steve_Grob: AFNRRWX O8 FAWN. +33 55
>Joshua_Sokol: EEIORSU N10 OU.IE +23 99
>Steve_Grob: CLRRRTX M11 R.X +41 96
>Joshua_Sokol: DEILRRS 8D DRIL.ERS +61 160
#note Morris mentioned in live commentary that REDRIL(L)S would be something I would play since it takes a P. I was unfortunately not even 100% on DRILLERS, let alone REDRILLS and its P-hook, but I definitely would have considered playing that had I been aware of all this.
>Steve_Grob: ACKLRRT F6 TR.CK +23 119
>Joshua_Sokol: ?ABDIMN K4 IAMB. +18 178
#note kind of a low point in the tournament, although there were quite a few. I took forever here because there seemed there would be at least one playable bingo. I looked a long time for 9s through the R and E, and 8s through the E ending in -ED or something, and 8s with the S. Alas, I didn't know the best play here, BONDMAID, but I did know MANDIBl(E) and totally spaced on it because I wasn't looking to end in E and because it takes me a while to find words. I finally settled on this because it did nice things to the board, but I was certainly not happy with it. Ii didn't see N(I)MBI 11G either. N(I)MBI would have been better than MANDIBl(E), but this is a clear step behind playing the bingo.
>Steve_Grob: AAEELRT J5 LEA. +18 137
>Joshua_Sokol: ?DNOPVY 11C DOPY +35 213
>Steve_Grob: AEGNORT L1 ORANGE +29 166
>Joshua_Sokol: ?AENTVZ 1K Z.NAE +42 255
>Steve_Grob: EIJOSTY 10B JOY +37 203
>Joshua_Sokol: ?AMNTUV N1 .VAUNT +22 277
#note I was worried about all-consonant draws here since I'm defending my lead, so instead of playing the straightforward 12B VAU I decided I would block column N from any bad case scenarios but also prevent Steve from scoring huge on row 2 while opening more space up. I don't know if these things are really worth the sacrifice though. I missed C9 V(OD)UN which he just gave me, I think that's the right play.
>Steve_Grob: AEEISTU 12B EAU +22 225
>Joshua_Sokol: ?BEIMOU D6 OU. +4 281
#note He's given me a key to at least 35 points if I can only get a 4-letter word starting in B at A12. Since I don't have it now, I decide to block the biggest threat on the board (this reduces his bingo chances to a mere 0.6% next turn, and see if he can figure out how to set himself up next turn. The issue with this play is that it doesn't protect my bingo lead all that much. If he manages to get a bingo down, the game will be pretty close. However, with my blank I'm pretty confident that I can prevent him from getting one down, and worst case, I can just cash my B and hopefully outrun anything he's got. The absolute worst thing about this move though is that at any point he could play Q(U)A(R)E 7C and make an almost-unblockable setup for an S while scoring very nicely. Had I seen that possibility, I don't think I would have done this.
>Steve_Grob: EFGINST I11 F.G +14 239
>Joshua_Sokol: ?BEILMS 14C LIMBErS +74 355
#note and incredibly I draw LS and into two bingos that play on row C! This was dumb luck, and I felt overly fortunate here. I don't want to open a 3x3 however, so I decide to play it safe once more. wIMBLES and fIMBLES are a bit better
>Steve_Grob: EEHINST 15A THINE +36 275
>Joshua_Sokol: GINOOPT O4 POO +19 374
#note contrary to popular belief, this play does NOT win 100% of the time. It does indeed protect from Q(U)A(R)E and an unblockable out bingo, since it leaves two in the bag, but if Steve manages to get OuTSWEA(R) or lODESTA(R) down at 2E and then draws AC from the bag, he will win if he sees his incredible outplay.
To protect against this I need to play 4 tiles instead of 3 with something like POGO E3 or POON C3 and give up some spread to prevent the two losing scenarios from occurring.
>Steve_Grob: ?AEQSTW 7C Q.A.E +30 305
>Joshua_Sokol: ADEGINT A13 GI. +4 378
#note I'm sacrificing 18 points off of optimal play for the chance of surpassing optimal play. However this is silly since Steve might not have even seen what I was blocking. Clearly the stream and its commentators didn't either.
>Steve_Grob: ?COSTW I7 W.T +26 331
#note Quackle fails to solve this relatively simple endgame. The best play is CO(T) K10 to set up big plays at B4 next turn and protect against my block of TA(J) B8.
>Joshua_Sokol: ADENT K10 AT.END +14 392
>Joshua_Sokol: (COS?) +10 402
#note I end up lucking into a 71-point win, 2 points over optimal play, but I was being too fancy most of this game. |
