| Player 1 |
|
#player1 Jim_Burlant Jim Burlant
#player2 Laurie_Cohen Laurie Cohen
>Jim_Burlant: CHORRRT 8H TORCH +28 28
#note Couldn't remember if ROTCH was good, but it doesn't matter - this is best. 8H ROTCH sims roughly 1 point down.
>Laurie_Cohen: AENORTU K2 OUTRAN.E +70 70
#note The only other playable bingo here is K8 COURANTE, which needlessly opens up row 15 for a possible 3x3.
>Jim_Burlant: EEGJRRT 6J J.GER +31 59
#note Was nervous about the S hook down the O column but felt that any defensive advantage offered by JAG or JOG was more than offset by the inflexibility of the EERRT leave. This play wins the 2-ply sim, but not by a whole lot; 6J JAG and 2J JOG both sim within one point.
>Laurie_Cohen: KLYY 2J Y.LKY +46 116
>Jim_Burlant: AAEIRTT 1D ARIETTA +79 138
#note This also plays for cheap at 9B and 7B, but this is clearly best, and it wins 52%.
>Laurie_Cohen: DI M2 .ID +16 132
>Jim_Burlant: DDINOSW 9G DOW +24 162
#note Laurie's play of KID had me convinced she had pulled a fairly good post-bingo rack save for the 2 tiles she had just dumped off. After looking for the open E that wasn't there to make DOWNSIDE, all I saw was INDOWS; I couldn't think of DISOWN, which would have played at O4 for 50. DISOWN wins the sim. DOW is the second best choice, but it quite understandably gives up 14-1/2 points in the sim.
>Laurie_Cohen: CDEIT 2B CITED +35 167
>Jim_Burlant: BDFINSX O6 SIX +44 206
#note Quackle's preference is C2 INFIX for 30. I'd have been more inclined to do that if the O column weren't dangling so dangerously out there. SSS?? are unseen and she just turned 5 tiles. I figured that scoring 44 points and neutralizing the most dangerous line on the board were enough to justify the unbalanced leave. INFIX wins the sim, and this choice is a 4-point dog.
>Laurie_Cohen: IM 1N MI +19 186
>Jim_Burlant: BDFFNOU 10C BUFFO +24 230
#note E1 REBUFF wins, with this play the runner up, roughly 3 points down. I'm winning 64%...but that's about to change.
>Laurie_Cohen: EGIORTU 11G GOUTIER +71 257
#note Small consolation: if I put down REBUFF on the previous turn, she still gets this down, albeit for 69 instead of 71. This is the only playable bingo, and Laurie is now winning 54%.
>Jim_Burlant: DEEHNNN 12D NENE +14 244
#note Saw NENE at 12L and didn't like playing for 16 and giving back 40 or more if she had the Z. 11B NENE would have been the right choice - I missed it. It took me several minutes just to see NENE in this mess of letters. While her bingo coming off of her 2-tile dump didn't surprise me, it's fair to say I was rattled by watching her hit a bingo at the same time I had drawn yet another 3-of-a-kind rack for what seemed like the umpteenth time in barely 2 games. This wins 27%, with 11B NENE winning 33.
>Laurie_Cohen: AEOPRSV 4D OVERPAS. +82 339
#note Laurie's now winning 93%. I almost hadn't made it to club due to car trouble, and only got there because Laurie had given me a ride. When I saw my no-go rack, my comment to her was that, "Gee, maybe my car was an omen that I shouldn't have come to club today."
>Jim_Burlant: ADGHINN M9 DA.ING +20 264
#note Ok, the bingo doesn't play. Now what? The sim winner is 12I HAND, but I think that's misleading. I'm down 95 points and will not get anywhere by playing HAND and killing anything that would otherwise play on the right side of row 13. At this point my best bet is to trade points for an open board and cross my fingers that she can't hit anything good while I simultaneously draw into the miracle sequence that wins. Yes, it's low-probability. And 19 times in 20 what I'm doing here will explode the spread in her favor. But I'd rather make the low-percentage play than the no-percentage play, like HAND. I put this down knowing full well that DARING takes the back S. Quackle doesn't like this play, but as you'll see later, it decides the game.
>Laurie_Cohen: OW N9 OW +29 368
>Jim_Burlant: ??HIMNP B2 .HoMPINg +71 335
#note Normally I'd pass up the bingos here; with 2 blanks in my rack, the bingo would have to outscore the other available options by somewhere around 45 points for me to put it down. And in this position, PEH and HEP at L10 score 33 and 34...but, trailing by 104 points, can I really afford to pass up the bingo, especially if I have a horrible draw like VU? L10 PEH 34 wins, with this choice conceding 15 points. PEH ostensibly wins 16%, with this choice winning 9-1/2. But things are about to get interesting.
>Laurie_Cohen: AELN A7 LEAN +21 389
#note Laurie is still winning 79%.
>Jim_Burlant: AEELQSU 15G QUELEAS +110 445
#note LUCKBOX!!!! Laurie held this for a split second, then confirmed that she knew the play was good.
>Laurie_Cohen: AABIOSZ O10 AZO +19 408
#note Laurie cannot win this game now - completely unfathomable 2 turns ago when she had me down 368 - 264. Though 13C ZAS scores 28, this is best since it blocks my only out.
>Jim_Burlant: ELV 7A ..VE +11 456
>Laurie_Cohen: ABIS 13B BIAS +16 424
>Laurie_Cohen: (L) +2 426
|
