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#player1 Ruth_Hamilton Ruth Hamilton
#player2 Jim_Burlant Jim Burlant
>Ruth_Hamilton: ACIRV 8D VARIC +28 28
>Ruth_Hamilton: ACIRV -- -28 0
#note This was my KOTH game for the Phoenix tournament. Entering this game I was one win up on Ruth, but courtesy of my being blown out in the previous round, Ruth now had me by roughly 25 spread points entering this round. I had to win the game to win the tournament. When I saw the v come down on 8D, I was very concerned as I looked to be facing an uphill battle from the word go given my opening rack. Fortunately for me, she must have conflated VARIA with VATIC and come up with this, momentarily forgetting VICAR. This was a huge break.
>Jim_Burlant: ACEIUWZ 8G WIZ +30 30
#note Not much else to consider here. This placement is best, at 55% winning chances.
>Ruth_Hamilton: ACIO I7 A.OIC +18 18
>Jim_Burlant: ACEEILU J2 ACULEI +14 44
#note Quackle prefers 9E CUE 12; I'm not sure I agree, since AEIL is WAY too prone to being vowel-overloaded. I considered A(C)ULEI 11H and this choice; I figured that the 11H placement might be vulnerable to AVION or something like that where this was a little less vulnerable. Plus, it turned the extra tile.
>Ruth_Hamilton: DIVV 10F VIV.D +24 42
>Jim_Burlant: ?ADEOQS 4I Q.OD +28 72
#note Great draw! After spending a few seconds looking for an bingo (there are none) the play was obvious. I briefly toyed with QUAD to set up the S but didn't want to telegraph the fact that I had an S. Interestingly, QUAD only trails in the SIM by < 2 points. Maybe against Quackle, but I wouldn't telegraph my only S to a human opponent.
>Ruth_Hamilton: MORRW 2I M.RROW +22 64
#note One other bit of luck for me: to this point none of my plays really suggest I'm close to a bingo. I have to wonder if Ruth would have made this play if, for argument's sake, I had fished off AER.
>Jim_Burlant: ?AEELOS 1C EnOLASE +72 144
#note Best, 80% winning chances.
>Ruth_Hamilton: ADH 1M HAD +31 95
>Jim_Burlant: ABIKLNU 3M BAL +32 176
#note Best, 81% winning chances. Wasn't thrilled about the leave but I dkdin't see anything else that appealed.
>Ruth_Hamilton: NOTU 11I .OUNT +17 112
>Jim_Burlant: DIKNPUX L9 PU.K +20 196
#note Didkn't know LINKUP. Wasn't sure about this choice, but felt that, given my lead I could handle any play like SOJA 8L. LINKUP O3 is the clear winner. (-19.0)
>Ruth_Hamilton: EFI 5H FI.E +29 141
>Jim_Burlant: ADINNSX 2E NIX +27 223
#note Best.
>Ruth_Hamilton: ABNOT 3B BATON +20 161
>Jim_Burlant: ADHNRSS 8L SHAD +39 262
#note After spending a few seconds looking for the open E that wasn't there, this was the obvious choice. This sims best, at 96% winning chances.
>Ruth_Hamilton: EFIST 13I FEIST +36 197
>Jim_Burlant: ?AINORS O8 .INOSAuR +77 339
#note When I drew AIO? to my last rack, it was all I could do to keep from tipping off that this draw clinched the tournament for me. It doesn't get much luckier than drawing into this rack with places on opposite ends of the board to play it. The sim winner is wARISON 4A. Why would I want to open up another triple line here? This choice sims second, at 99.86% winning chances.
>Ruth_Hamilton: GGUY F10 .UGGY +21 218
>Jim_Burlant: EEJMNOY 11D JE. +20 359
#note Probably should have played 6F JEE. However, this now eliminates any 8's from D3..
>Ruth_Hamilton: ENR 14I ERN +16 234
>Jim_Burlant: EEGMNOY 6C GENOME +16 375
#note This would have been a real exclamation point had I seen BOGEYMEN; the only 8 I saw was HEGEMONY, which didn't play. That said, I wasn't concerned about scoring in this position; I felt there was no need to do anything but shut down the easy bingo lines, which this play does.
>Ruth_Hamilton: ILPRT 14A TRIPL. +22 256
>Jim_Burlant: AEERTTY 15G TYEE +30 405
#note Not sure I have this rack written down correctly; I have Ruth going out for 5 points on the next turn but that is where the annotation stopped.
>Ruth_Hamilton: E D14 .E +5 261
>Ruth_Hamilton: (ART) +6 267
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