| Player 1 |
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#player1 Jim_Burlant Jim Burlant
#player2 Carol_Kaplan Carol Kaplan
>Jim_Burlant: FKPQTUY -FPKQUTY +0 0
#note Sim prefers keeping QTU by a hair. I'm not too sure about that. Later in the game where the board isn't so bingo prone and a 50-point Q play might clinch the game, I'd consider holding QU. This early, I feel that it could be an albatross depending on what I draw and/or she puts down.
>Carol_Kaplan: EOPRSTU -EOPRS +0 0
>Jim_Burlant: AIIIRSU -IIU +0 0
#note Q says I should also throw the I back in, but it's style preference - this sims barely 1/2 point down on exchange IIIU.
>Carol_Kaplan: ?EHIMOT 8D HOMIEsT +80 80
#note Other options: 8B ETHMOId, 8D MOTHIEr. Q's preference is ETHMOID by a hair.
>Jim_Burlant: AAIRSTW H3 AWAIT.RS +65 65
#note Best. Other options are different placements of WISTARIA. While this gives up 2 scoreboard points to WISTARIA G7, vowel placement - not to mention opening up the triples - makes that too reckless of a choice. Might be worth it if, for argument's sake, it scored 77 to this choice's 65, but the 2 extra points aren't quite enough to justify the extra volatility.
>Carol_Kaplan: ANNOT 4H .ANTON +18 98
>Jim_Burlant: ELOOPRS 10A SPOOLER. +68 133
#note Luckbox! Best bingo is RESPOOL N2; wasn't sure enough about that particular anagram, so I played this. Also spaced on the back hook to WANTON. This was held, but released.
>Carol_Kaplan: AELO A6 ALOE. +15 113
>Jim_Burlant: BEGIUXY B2 BEIGY +51 184
#note Best. Dumps most of the garbage, scores 51, and I still have the X in reserve. Next best is IBEX B3, which scores 3 more but sims 5 points down.
>Carol_Kaplan: EIJRV 4A J.VIER +48 161
>Jim_Burlant: CIKRTUX J8 .UX +26 210
#note No real standouts but this is best. Other options worth considering are F3 CRUX, 3G RAKU, 3L TUCK.
>Carol_Kaplan: GIM K9 MIG +25 186
>Jim_Burlant: CDEIKRT C9 D.CKET +30 240
#note The 7 doesn't play, and the only 8's in this rack require an E or an L, so no bingos play. DAK G3 is a nice rack balancer - scores 26, keeps a dynamite combo, and I gave it serious consideration. But given this board it's too likely to result in a no-go (especially if she plays on row 5) , so I have no qualms about blowing this rack apart for 30 points. And I just didn't like the board with DICK 3L, which is Quackle's other preferred play. That said, this choice is needlessly volatile with SS? unseen and Carol having just opened up an S hook. COKED C9 would have scored identically and not played with fire on the triple line; I didn't see it.
>Carol_Kaplan: HNOS 15A NOSH +47 233
#note Just desserts.
>Jim_Burlant: DFFIIRU 12C .UFI +22 262
#note A fascinating position. I spent a couple of minutes on this turn weighing two choices: this play, and M2 FUNDI. FUNDI's appeal is that it sets up the other F for the next turn. However, extrapolating after that, I thought that could backfire as any play with the other F would then give too much back down the O column, so I opted for this. The sim makes clear why this was such a mental pingpong match: the two plays sim just about identically, with this winning by the narrowest of margins.
>Carol_Kaplan: OY 3L YO +19 252
#note Play incorrectly scored as 21.
>Jim_Burlant: ADFINPR 7C FAD +19 281
#note Another interesting decision with no easy answers. N1 plays (FAD, FID, etc.) do well statically but aren't quite as good dynamically. Sim prefers I3 NAIF, presumably to defend against something like GAZE or DAZE G3. I was dead set on unloading the F and the D. This is the bronze medalist, roughly 3 points down on I3 NAIF.
>Carol_Kaplan: OW 5K OW +23 275
>Jim_Burlant: EILNPRS 12H PILSNER +81 362
#note And after looking for the open E that wasn't there, I finally remember this is a 7 that doesn't need a second E. This wins 93% and is clearly the best play, but this game isn't over yet.
>Carol_Kaplan: EEGV N10 VE.GE +34 309
#note Terrific play by Carol - she has to open something up and force me to defend.
>Jim_Burlant: ?AABQUZ J12 .AB +11 373
#note What an awesome draw! The only thing less than perfect about this rack is the duplicated A instead of a D or an I which would have made this a no-brainer to play QADI 15L. Instead, I thought this was another head scratcher. After evaluating the pool, I didn't think it was time to worry about scoring - yet. With scads of high prob bingos in the pool that can hook VERGE, my first priority was to make sure that she couldn't do any serious damage on row 15. The problem I had with burning the blank with ZAs 15L or AdZ 15M was that, what if I guessed wrong and she hit something at 14A (ATTENDED, ATTAINED) for 85+? In those cases I might be in the position where, even with QU in my rack I have to dump the Q for chump change if I don't draw one of DNT and lose in a tight end game because I had to burn a turn only playing off one tile? I chose this because it killed her easiest line where she could still hit me hard while preserving all the ammunition for later if I needed it. Additionally this allowed me to draw a D or an I in case she managed to bingo at 14I. That said, I thought that the most probable case was that she would have something like ACDI or CDEI in her rack, she'd play for 41 on row 15 with CEDI or CADI, and I would in turn milk my Q and Z over the next two turns and distance her that way.
>Carol_Kaplan: CEINRTT 15L TERN +25 334
#note Carol told me after the game that this was her rack. Her best play is apparently on row 6, presumably for turnover to get at the blank. 15K INERT probalby looks best to counter my setup for the blank.
>Jim_Burlant: ?AALQUZ 15F AQUAs +44 417
#note Did this to set up the Z; why burn all the ammo with QUIZ 6F?
>Carol_Kaplan: CEIU F2 CU.IE +15 349
>Jim_Burlant: ADDILNZ F14 Z. +31 448
#note A1 ZA 37 saves 8 more spread points.
>Carol_Kaplan: ERT 6K RET +16 365
#note Final score recorded as 448 - 383.
>Carol_Kaplan: (ADDILN) +16 381 |
