Strategy Small
4C LA(V) +24
Quackle goes haywire in the pre-endgame, but 4C TAV appears to have the best win chance. 7C GAP has the best equity as well as a better win chance than LAV. #strategysmall
Carl Johnson vs. Alec Sjoholm (Game 33634)
Strategy Medium
B1 DOM +33
hoping to beat him to ADAMSITE here. I didn't see another 3x3 after this. Apparently it's better to allow way more 3x3s with HOM. Crazy plan. However, EDAMAMES, ADAMANTS, ADAMANCE and ADAMANCY are all words too. #strategymedium (?)
Stefan Fatsis vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 37390)
Strategy Medium
H1 FAINE +35
B10 FAN(J)ET is best equity but I don't think it's quite enough for a response to exchange 2. J14 FA is probably a bit better. #strategymedium
Joshua Castellano vs. Mina Le (Game 34680)
Strategy Large
H1 COM(A) +24
I was trying to block row 1 bings, but with both blanks unseen I think I just have to try to go for my own bingo. 13E SITCOM and 14B (TE)LOMIC both look good here to dig for a blank. It's likely he has one, but I think turnover could be important here with so few tiles left to dig for the other. #strategylarge
Joshua Castellano vs. Cedric Lewis (Game 38280)
Tactics Small
A12 (P)OND +21
POND has the high valuation, but N5 ADORNS wins more often, because it blocks the lanes on columns L and N without opening an easy lane on column O. #tacticssmall
Alec Sjoholm vs. Betty Cornelison (Game 33768)
Tactics Medium
C1 PU(B) +7
I overestimated how big this spot I was setting up was, his average goes waaaay up. making this lane probahbly helps me a bit, I end up bingoing as much after PUB as u fishes like PIU, but yeah PUB just gives him a much bigger spot on a subpar scoring board. PIU or PRAUS seem okay here. I would probably do PIU. #tacticsmedium
Josh Greenway vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 35366)
Knowledge Medium
8A CICERON(E) +89
so many bingos here, too bad he blocked the 2x2s. I wasn't sure enough of CROCEINE, thought it might just be CICERONE, but I saw ENCHORIC too before he blocked! Just not CORNICHE. Learn dem anagram pairs bro #knowledgemedium
Joshua Sokol vs. Sinna Vijayakumar (Game 33174)
Strategy Medium
A12 AGUE +22
playing on the 7 row makes a lot of sense here to block X plays like RAX 7K and J/X plays making IKAT. I like 7K GAT upon reflection. I now misread my pevious indicated score of 389 as 387, so 409. instead of 417. #strategymedium
Avery Mojica vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 38198)
Strategy Medium
12G WOKEST +33
i saw the only bingo here, 10E NETWOrKS. the main reason i didn't want to play it is that i might be down if he bingoes to DIGHTS afterwards, with an uglyish board. i thought i could take points, keep the blank, and draw some more of the good stuff in the bag? tough choice, but WOKEST does sim just above NETWORKS by win %! 12L WOKS though is the top play, which takes out that lane as well but keeps a better leave for bingoing next turn. oops. -6 #strategymedium
Cesar Del Solar vs. David Pearl (Game 35443)
Knowledge Small
B1 HOY +32
figured I missed a play or two here. Saw LYTHE# though, so I didn't technically miss a thing. Just had no idea if it was good. It was between 11D HEY and this, seemed like a coin flip so I went with the play I was most comfy with. It is indeed a coin flip. LYTHE# is best, 8K. #knowledgesmall
Andrew Golding vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 37153)
Strategy Medium
J12 (A)DZ +33
Seemed a worthwhile gamble; if Tim doesn't have an E or blank it's just so annoying. Quackle slightly prefers M8 PEZANT, 2A PATZER, and 13J GATED. PEZANT opens two lines at once on a board without many good ones; PATZER creates a moderately annoying threat on column A. Marlon noted that GATED sets up both ZAG and ZIT as potential overlaps on row 11, which I didn't consider. All three plays draw more tiles towards a blank with both unseen than ADZ does. Upgrading this from small to #strategymedium. 11:14
Will Anderson vs. Tim Weiss (Game 33171)
Strategy Medium
9C JA(I) +18
I have to leave one in the bag here. 14A (T)IP is best because it sets up D12 JAIL to outrun any bing winning everytime according the Championship Player. This is almost as good. #strategymedium
Robert Linn vs. Joshua Castellano (Game 31572)
Strategy Large
M3 VAN +22
I should probably leave the 3 row open, it's hard for him to close. I hated all my options - DAV(E)N? that puts pressure on at least, it's probably better than VAN. I was kinda hoping he wouldn't have a good TAGS block, but he can always do a mediocre one from the G in KLEAGLES or with ETA, and then I have to bingo on some terrible marginal lane. I think I got too obsessed with staying in bingo range, DAVEN isn't likely to win but at least I will be able to have a place to bingo. I think B4 ADD is good as well, keeping the 3 row and 13 rows open. either one of those seem way better than VAN #strategylarge
Jackson Smylie vs. Kenji Matsumoto (Game 33162)
Vision Medium
11K FOOD +29
i deserved to draw another I. i recognized here that i was in trouble, and i took a deep breath to calm down, i spent about a minute before looking at the board again -- then i still was unable to find a spot for IDIOM even though i saw it on my rack. sigh. it's the best play here, at 11J. -4 #focus #visionmedium
Mina Le vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 35123)
Strategy Large
F10 G(A)DJE +20
i don't know if this is an overreaction. do i just play Z(A)G? GADJE sacrifices a lot of points but gets rid of some ugliness. CDEJT doesn't strike me as an appetizing leave. i suppose if i draw another E i can get JETTED for a few points, or DEJECT, etc. i hate this and should have exchanged on my first move. quackle thinks the sacrifice from GADJE is not worth it as i only get slightly more points next turn with GADJE than ZAG, but i'm sacrificing 13 pts now. makes sense that this is such a big equity loss. -10.5 #strategylarge
Cesar Del Solar vs. Bruce D Ambrosio (Game 35339)
Strategy Small
H11 OFTER +41
a little sad that FORGETS was blocked and he didn't give me any floaters for a bingo. i was thinking if he bingoes through the L he'd at least give me an E for GOREFEST! i considered GOFER, but not strongly enough, I guess; should have counted it and compared to OFTER. quackle prefers FOG(Y) best, keeping a great leave that bingoes > 2/3 of the time. i tend to dislike not taking points early and staying within striking distance; if FOGY doesn't work out I'll fall farther behind. It's hard to really know. -3 #strategysmall
Joey Mallick vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 33785)
Vision Medium
H7 Q(A)T +12
I think I needed to do K4 VERITY here- while there's no guarantee that I'll dump the Q next turn, it's a little more open, and I do still have 4 chances to draw an I or T. And I score 12 more. #visionmedium
Samuel Kaplan vs. Mitchell Brook (Game 36754)
Tactics Small
B2 URAEI +25
there are reasons relating to precise move fishing that I think AUREI is a better move here. It immediately gives more back, but there is a slight difference in standard deviation which indicates that higher-scoring plays fit there, plays that can be fished for, such as EXAM or EXAMS. I realized this during the game, but figured Carl would be more focused on building into a bingo than into a play like this. +1.1 but in my opinion this is a #tacticssmall
Carl Johnson vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 33058)
Endgame Large
15L Z(O) +21
Played the correct move of DZO and then picked it up for just ZO; it's better to play DZO and then play my M atop CRUOR next turn. For the third straight game I was extremely low on time, didn't record it for these last few moves. #endgamelarge
Robert Linn vs. Will Anderson (Game 33169)
Strategy Small
8G PI +8
att 1-2 i have no hope of making the cold equity play here -- as i said in an earlier game i either am too scared to not bingo immediately, or too scared to fall behind in score, depending on the rack (usually the wrong choice for the rack). PIING or PIG are fine here, but i'm too scared. -3 #strategysmall
Cesar Del Solar vs. Trip Payne (Game 35356)
Strategy Large
4K CA(G)EY +30
I did see AY/AYE/TYE at N5, but CAGEY seemed better. Quackle says this is a serious mistake, because I'm destroying my rack for a block that isn't effective; he still has Row 1. (-19 valuation, -5% win%) #strategylarge
Mark Miller vs. Carl Johnson (Game 34472)
Strategy Large
1A (BO)MB +13
This was probably a huge mistake. I need to exchange here to get vowels to block whatever he opens. Him opening and me drawing two consonants is a disaster. #strategylarge
Joshua Castellano vs. Tijan Jeng (Game 34395)
Endgame Small
15H EX +42
This is the best in terms of win %, winning 7/8. N12 Z(I)G does the same but with a slightly better equity. #endgamesmall and #knowledgesmall for my sad challenge next turn.
Evan Berofsky vs. Joshua Castellano (Game 34962)
Finding Large
13E PARDI +14
giving him an inference of ES here. i didn't see PYXIDIA, but i thought PARDI had some troll value since he knew i had the X. obviously PYXIDIA is the play. sheesh. -35.5 #findinglarge
Cesar Del Solar vs. Joey Krafchick (Game 35114)
Tactics Medium
H6 CWM +20
So excited by the possibility of opening with CWM here, but COWY is still very defensive and doesn't leave absolute dreck. It's not stylistic, it's just wrong #tacticssadder
Matt Canik vs. Ben Schoenbrun (Game 32972)
Finding Medium
3K B(R)UNG +16
Quackle really likes (E)RUV, citing a nice increase in bingo and scoring chances next turn. I think the board is open enough that I don't need to worry about closing the N and O files with (E)RUV. #findingmedium
Joshua Sokol vs. Karl Higby (Game 35780)
Strategy Large
14L Q(U)A +24
i did see OXO but i found it much more important to kill that S hook on NAIRU. but is it really that dangerous? QUA also lets him score to the triple, although there's only a couple hook tiles left in the bag. D3 QAID is fine too. -10.5 #strategylarge
Chris Schneider vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 35418)
Tactics Small
12F VIEW +19
I could go the total opposite direction with 3L ERUV but that seemss very dump considereing the pool. I missed VIRU(S) which at least sheds the terrible U tile, but this was more defensive than anything else besides WIVER, and I thought the R was a bit better to keep. Seems better to play WIVER #tacticssmall
Joshua Sokol vs. Sharmaine Farini (Game 35786)
Tactics Large
14D (F)OO +15
Drawing OOO killed any chance I had of winning this game. C2 APO has the best valuation; it blocks Carl's next play, and the pool is consonant-heavy, so I don't have to worry about keeping five vowels on my rack. #tacticslarge
Alec Sjoholm vs. Carl Johnson (Game 34514)
Finding Large
2B JURAL +34
gawd L8 JARfULS is 105 smackerss and I thought there might be something here ugh this is really bad! #findinglarge
It's sad because I did see the only 8s with this rack, JOURNALS and JUGULARS, but just totally failed to see the pair of 7s.
Bryn Bowen vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 33963)
Strategy Medium
H4 PRIZE +38
1) I should know the extensions for PRIZE if I play PRIZE 2) I should have calculated the difference between ZIG and PRIZE better
3) I should see PIEZO ffs #findingmedium #strategymedium
Joshua Sokol vs. Paul Holser (Game 37395)
Strategy Large
11L U(K)E +9
still in a really good position, even though I can't block the 14 lane without giving back a bigger lane. I would have liked to leave 1 in the bag, but didn't realize at the time how crucial that was. The entire plan with U(K)E or 10M (N)EE is for him to bingo on row 14 immediately, giving me back plays on row 15 that should easily outrun. However, leaving 2 in the bag allows him to fish one, possibly N(U) 12C - after UKE I'm up 60, 58 after the fish. It's really hard for me to block bingoes, and I'm stuck either trying to outrun by playing something clunky on row 14 (again hard to not give back good overlaps, gotta hope for like GENUS or something), or outrunning with a UKES play, which will put me up 84 or 87 (depending on if I draw the G). After he gets my rack, I will be up between 76 and 81, and a lot of his row 14 bingoes score more than that (e.g. GIGATON, INNAGES). I'm still in a decent position given that outcome, but he could also fish for a higher score and still not allow me to block - e.g. ZA or ATE. Perhaps I should do RE(D)E 13K to play 3 tiles, forcing him to bingo immediately. It puts me up 60, but all his bingoes will be on the 14 row, and I saw my T for HIST and S for other HI? plays, so I should be outrunning even his 80 point bingoes very often. Although UKE is great for spread, it opens the door to some really great 1 tiles fishes that I can lose to quite often. #strategylarge
Jackson Smylie vs. Michael Fagen (Game 33098)
Tactics Large
O12 BISE +37
This is the highest scoring play, but it empties the bag, and Ruth may be able to outscore me in the endgame. Quackle suggests M12 LIB, which sets up a scoring lane on row 15 that only I can use. #tacticslarge
Ruth Hamilton vs. Alec Sjoholm (Game 37349)
Vision Medium
1D (A)TTIRE +18
I felt like I couldn't really play ARIETTE with FWW unseen. The best play is RETE C2, which blocks the 3x3 and clears up the rack nicely. (-4) #visionmedium
Carl Johnson vs. Matt Canik (Game 34493)
Tactics Large
2N MI +18
Quackle prefers N1 ALUMNI, which apparently wins 100%. I was trying to prevent bingos. But Quackle hates MI, and indeed something like 15H sELENIC or O1 SILICONEs can still outrun. #tacticslarge
Matt Canik vs. Alec Sjoholm (Game 33067)
Finding Large
1H (B)IZ +14
yuck, kind of hard to see, but i should. DIGITIZE for 94! i was kind of worrying and playing badly here; CATER was quite the wrong move and it led to some crap :( -37 #findinglarge
Joe Petree vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 35113)
Finding Large
2E IF +28
Drat. Still not rock solid on finding the 30k-40k probability 8s like UNFIXITY, which plays at A8 for 89. I'd have had a shot of seeing it if the X had been a natural tile as opposed to the blank designation. #findinglarge
Will Anderson vs. Ben Schoenbrun (Game 34592)
Finding Large
B11 F(U)GIO +23
wow, missing stuff left and right this game. E3 OAF would be enough, but I somehow missed A1 OF as well... this looked pretty ugly and I needed to keep looking, but he was playing the fast game again since I took forever in the opening. #findinglarge
Joey Krafchick vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 35822)
Finding Large
O12 (D)UCT +21
it might be that the best way to win is to try to go out next turn. O9 CONDUIT/NOCTUID score a lot and may be possible ways to do this. totally didn't see them. minus a lot, #findinglarge
Jay Levin vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 32939)
Finding Small
L8 L(AME)R +16
The board is nearly completely bereft of scoring spots after this move (just ZA hooking plays); Quackle calls for K7 LUREX, but I'm very content to stay turtled up here. LAMER badly outperforms all other candidate moves defensively. However, I missed L8 RAMEAL, which is a better equity version of my move. #findingsmall 16:41
Will Anderson vs. Ayotunde Adeyeri (Game 33406)
Finding Large
7F LE(v) +3
completely missing a few plays here, such a tough spot! 5J MES(N)E is pretty clearly best here, sets up a lane that's really hard to block completely. This is all I came up with. I can get something once in a while but mostly, I'm preparing to use the C next turn on row 6 to fork the board. Otherwise, if I want to wait, I can play C(H)EL(A) 11J. This doesn't score enough to threaten much #findinglarge
Jackson Smylie vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 33783)
Strategy Small
4I R(E)BEG(I)N +22
wasted a lot of time here and didn't even find all the plays. NEWB is there as well as WREN (I saw WREN but not NEWB), BR(E)W I didn't even consider, but I don't like it. Not sure what is right here, but I am sure that I overscored this by 2 and Joey called me on it, and 2 points is a lot. B(U)RGER might just be the play at E7. I was trying to get a blowout here also, since if Karl beat Mack, I would have to have beaten Joey by more. I was hoping that my insolence wouldn't cost me the game, so there was a lot of pressure. This is probably a bit much especially since I'm trying to win by a lot. #strategysmall
Joey Mallick vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 34579)
Strategy Large
6J B(U)RP +14
H7 VERB for 9 would have allowed the X spot to be open, although that's not a move I want to make against Mitchell. Against most other players, I might have done that as the opponent would have had to deal with the X hotspot allowing me the VERBS hook. #strategylarge
Mitchell Brook vs. Samuel Kaplan (Game 36290)
Tactics Small
H6 OXER +22
I didn't consider for long enough the option of exchanging OQ. I also eschewed the defensive aspect of LOX. It would appear exchanging down to ELR is best here #tacticssmall
Joshua Sokol vs. Deen Hergott (Game 35775)
Tactics Medium
13L TOE +22
damn OE is just way better. I totally didn't see the TOEA hook and instantly regretted it! even just the straight up 8 point sacrifice for the T is good. #tacticsmedium
Winter vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 35242)
Strategy Medium
13H NE +11
at this point I should be playing RYA 11b. that blocks the SEGO spot, which is now a threat for me. the R is also not so dangerous with 3 in the pool, and especially since Joey has a knack for keeping scoring tiles so his DEV range is less bingoey than one might expect. this sets up AY above, but that may not be enough to consistently outrun SEGO plays #strategymedium
Jackson Smylie vs. Joey Krafchick (Game 34915)
Endgame Medium
L10 NOO +16
I had also completely missed QIS, thought I was winning until he made his crushing move. Having to block RE(G)INA(E) was just the icing on the cake. -7 to LO(G)OI, but this seemed to have the only chance of winning. #endgamemedium
Joshua Sokol vs. Noah Walton (Game 37035)
Tactics Medium
L9 NOPE +16
totally confused here. This was actually pretty awful since he can just re-overlap and fork the board. I did happen to block SUBATOM in two spots, but
#tacticsmedium
Joshua Sokol vs. Scott Appel (Game 33141)
Strategy Small
H4 GROPE +20
It's not like I was a huge fan of this play, but again, it seemed pretty straightforward. It's not. It's way less defensive than POGO and even EGO. POGO is probably the best play #strategysmall
Joshua Sokol vs. Noah Walton (Game 37050)
Tactics Small
C11 V(A)LOR +16
Quackle assigns this the highest valuation, but M11 TOR and a few other plays have undetectably better win chances (99.99 > 99.99 apparently). I considered TOR but I did not realize that it forced bingos ending in S to play on column N instead of column M, thus giving me high-scoring responses. #tacticssmall
Alec Sjoholm vs. Michael Baker (Game 33631)
Finding Large
A4 BOXIn(G) +54
I am most angry at this one. I honestly tried really really hard to see Pe(G)BOX but something in my brain just wouldn't process it. I can't see BOX words, I can't see some ING words, and I just feel like I never will. I literally stared at the -GBOX extension for many many seconds. After I made my play, I saw it, so maybe there's some slim chance I will start seeing more of these things. Until then, #findingsaddest
Joshua Sokol vs. Noah Kalus (Game 37381)