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#player1 Josh Josh
#player2 Mack Mack
>Josh: BDEMOW 8D WOMBED +36 36
>Mack: ABELMNO H3 BONEM.AL +63 63
>Josh: AEFIPST 10G F.EAPITS +67 103
>Mack: AADGLUX I3 AXAL +30 93
#note I hated this, but there aren't any great options here. I missed FAUX, which looks a tiny bit better. #findingsmall
>Josh: DEI 4H ..IDE +26 129
>Mack: CDGRUYZ K10 .UDGY +24 117
>Josh: EIINORR M8 IN.ERIOR +68 197
>Mack: CFGRRTZ 8K FR.TZ +54 171
>Josh: COW 15L C.OW +36 233
>Mack: ACGINRT E5 ARG.TIC +40 211
>Josh: S 4H .....S +14 247
>Mack: EIJKNOT D1 JOINT +42 253
#note Josh is clearly very close to something, probably to the G in PUDGY. I can't afford to sacrifice so much equity and block it with something like JOINDER, though since I'm already at a deficit as is. Putting the J in the triple line with JOINT is actually a good thing for me here, so that if Josh bingos to the G I can hopefully get something like JOKED or JERKS and stay in the game (since Josh's bingo won't score much more than like 60). JOINT is thus much better than D3 JOKE.
>Josh: INORSTU 13D ROUSTIN. +61 308
>Mack: ?EKQRVY 1D .ERKY +57 310
>Josh: HOP C2 PHO +32 340
>Mack: ?EILNQV M2 QI. +24 334
>Josh: GUV B1 VUG +31 371
>Mack: ?EEHLNV 14E EH +28 362
#note This seemed like the pivotal turn - EH scores much more than all my other reasonable options, but pretty much commits me to trying to outscore Josh without a bingo. If I feel I have a good chance to do so, I should play EH, but if I feel I need to bingo something like 12A NEVE is probably better. After EH, I'm only down 9, and Josh has no scoring tiles and is very unlikely to bingo himself (would have to be something like LUNACIES at 11A or something through the Z). If he doesn't have an I, he'll have a hard time blocking the N2 spot and ViN at N1 seemed like it would be enough for me to win. I also keep decent scoring plays at 15A using the V if I draw the S (or, in some situations, using the blank as an S). If Josh has the I I'm probably in trouble, but in situations where he doesn't I think I've got a good shot after EH. This seems like a much better gamble than NEVE, since I'm scoring 8 less and Josh should be able to play through the N at 12A while blocking my bingos and scoring decently. Or, worse, Josh might just bingo there and end the game on the spot. It's true that I still have N1 Hi after NEVE, but that gives back a lot more than ViN with plays like AS or ES and I'm also scoring 8 less with NEVE than EH, so I'm much less likely to outrun in that scenario. So I think EH is fine here.
>Josh: AEL O6 LA.E +13 384
>Mack: ?DEELNV N1 ViN +32 394
#note This looks quite strong, going up 10 and saving J3 LIED for next turn. ViN is definitely better than LIED first, since the Q is by far Josh's best scoring spot with the unseen pool and he can't really score much while blocking LIED after ViN. I feel like I very rarely lose after ViN unless Josh bingoes through the C in ARGOTIC, so I don't see a need to play 12A NEVE here and give Josh a much easier place to bingo. Champ likes NEVE best by a lot, but I'm good with ViN here.
>Josh: EINU K2 NU.IE +12 396
>Mack: ADEELST 15A LEADS +27 421
#note 11G EST is apparently 4 better. #endgamesmall
>Josh: ?AAEO 12J A.O.E +14 410
#note I didn't actually write down Josh's play here since I was nearly out of time, but I know he scored 14 and left 1 point in his rack, so it was probably this.
>Mack: ET F5 TE +11 432
>Mack: (A?) +2 434
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