Strategy Medium
L12 MILD +32
bingos aren't worth it here. but L11 positioning is best. L11 MID sims best here; my move gives back way too much for no reason. -5 #strategymedium
Cecilia Le vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 35314)
Strategy Small
exch HNNUU +0
Q's simulation slightly prefers NUN. JS tells me that he prefers that board shape against a lower seed, but I also feel like I don't want a bunch of one-pointers that don't really bingo that often. Sim has nun up by less than a point #strategysmall I suppose?
Matt Canik vs. Jeff Fiszbein (Game 32963)
Strategy Medium
O7 W(U)RST +8
10B WIENERS is far superior, but even if I don't see that something like C2 WRIEST is absolutely fine...way too big an equity hit with WURST just to get another S hook on the board. #strategymedium #findingmedium
Steve Pellinen vs. Will Anderson (Game 34980)
Strategy Medium
E9 (C)OZIED +36
i need to consider defense more. the problem with COZIED is that it gives back a lot more points than ZOOID, which has an atrocious leave but scores 39 pts. i didn't really consider OUZO; i think that's an in-between play that i would have made if i'd thought of it more. J7 DOOZIE is also decent. -6 #strategymedium
Cesar Del Solar vs. Frank Tangredi (Game 33679)
Knowledge Medium
10B W(A)E +33
just totally missed the beautiful wellsite. the funny thing is i remember thinking of it at some point. maybe later in the game. luckily my play is not much worse. (well it might be if he has a bingo). -3.5 #knowledgemedium
Cesar Del Solar vs. Bryan Richgruber (Game 32935)
Strategy Large
B10 QU(A)D +34
M7 MOD is way better. It lets me fish for B10 Q bombs and even if they are blocked I can probably do something with the Q. I didn't see M7 MOD because I tunneled on getting rid of the Q. #strategylarge
Joshua Castellano vs. Sam Kantimathi (Game 32567)
Tactics Small
M8 (U)P +14
i always struggle a bit with making obvious fishes like this but it seemed to work with a lot of letters, and through the A, etc. quackle prefers N1 PST for 29 or O7 PHT for 14. i think i would have played PHT if i'd thought of it. -2.5 #tacticssmall #visionsmall
Nigel Peltier vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 32701)
Finding Large
E9 FAU(G)H +24
wow, this is a plain bad play. i don't think i even looked that long, FAUGH seemed obvious to me. but surely 13L AHOY for 34 is great, and E10 FUGIO looks good too. -10 #findinglarge
Alec Sjoholm vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 32680)
Finding Medium
D8 (H)AIKA +24
A bunch of plays sim better, including G6 AKA, E5 RAKIA, and a few more plays on the G column. I played HAIKA quite fast - clearly I should've slowed down and looked harder. #findingmedium
Will Anderson vs. Matthew O'Connor (Game 34613)
Strategy Small
9G WOK +31
Played this WOK thinking I keep the E for EWE but there are more front hooks to WE if I play the other WOK, but I realized after I hit my clock I should've probably played the other one because of JEW and other hard-hitting overlaps there. #strategysmall
Kenneth Rubin vs. Mack Meller (Game 34726)
Strategy Large
10F J(E)T +26
big error, and I didn't properly find my options here. My thought process was very much focused on JET, and I really remember kinda pretending to myself that I was looking for other options when I was really just excited to play JET cause it felt so good. I want to not make these sort of excitement errors in the future, and truly look for other options. I think I was temporarily unaware of the SEGO threat or something, because once I notice that longterm threat I should be less satisfied with JET. JIB(E)R is absolutely the play here. Not only cause PLT is better than BILPR on this board (more flexibility, not as many problem consonant racks), JIBER takes out the SEGO spot which will be a bitch to block, and the recursive threat will let joey wait for a big play there. #strategylarge even though I didn't find the play, it was based on being unaware of the threat, and JIBER isn't hard to come up with once the threat is noticed
Jackson Smylie vs. Joey Krafchick (Game 34915)
Knowledge Large
A8 PAUA +63
INHOLDER does not take a P, but my other options score so little (F6 PULAO 15 is best), and if it does take a P I don't want Joshua to be able to use the spot. Somehow Joshua was only a PINHOLDER* holder and not a PINHOLDER* challenger. After the game I learned that INSETTER takes a P. #knowledgelarge
Joshua Sokol vs. Alec Sjoholm (Game 33072)
Vision Small
11H SUMY +26
I missed the MOHO hook this turn. I would have probably played YUM there, keeping the board full of S hooks. MY is also okay, but YUM bingoes far more. #visionsmall
Jackson Smylie vs. Howard Pistol (Game 33118)
Finding Small
N1 (V)I(D)UAL +24
Missed a couple options here - 2K TELIA is ok, but the normal top equity move of 5B AUDIT also looks pretty good, and I missed it. VIDUAL was not held. #findingsmall 21:07
Chilee Agunanna vs. Will Anderson (Game 33404)
Strategy Medium
M12 YUK +33
I was so close to just doing M11 KYU instead of YUK to be safe. Yes, there is huge Z-bomb upside to YUK, but Vince has one of the *fifteen* unseen Es and Os so, so often to play there himself, and it's instantly by far the best scoring spot on the board. However, I need to add that Vince put down QUID, then looked at it in frustration and picked it up to play QUIN - I kind of read this as an admission that he didn't have an E himself on that turn, which does tip the odds a fair bit in my favor. I probably should still have played it safe here. #strategymedium
Vince Castellano vs. Will Anderson (Game 34375)
Strategy Medium
H1 (B)I +4
BI "only" bingoes around 78% of the time. i always miss ZEDA, something like 1K ELAIN is pretty good; i'm a little less enthused about stuff like 10M AIL. i don't know. i didn't realize this was that bad, although i thought it might not be best. 10M AIL bingoes more than 50% of the time, which seems slightly high, but i guess i can buy it. -7.5 #strategymedium
Jason Bednarz vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 35389)
Strategy Small
N5 A(X)E +16
I saw APE C11 but figured I was closer to a bingo than Josh, and didn't want to block D13. This turned out to be a pretty costly mistake. (-3) #strategysmall
Carl Johnson vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 34480)
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)
Tactics Medium
H10 RAD +17
i didn't think of G7 HERD. it seems relatively easy for him to block downards though, with either HERD or my play (column G down, or even something like AE, lol). i'm in more trouble than quackle thinks. quackle likes N12 DENE but that doesn't open a new lane. should i do it anyway and try to open a lane later? i don't know. -4 #tacticsmedium
Cesar Del Solar vs. Joel Sherman (Game 32936)
Tactics Small
L1 HOED +30
was worried about a worst case scenario J play down L1 here followed by a bingo. I should probably let that worry go and play K3 EDH. #tacticssmall
Joshua Sokol vs. Joey Mallick (Game 32721)
Tactics Small
9C RELOA(N)ED +62
or OLEA(N)DER. Karl wasn't sure whiich to play, and neither am I really. I guess OLEANDER forks the scoring spots better. #tacticssmall
Karl Higby vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 34809)
Vision Small
I2 MEALIEs +71
I thought about A11 MAILE but not 13I EMAILEd. I think MAILE is actually fine, MEALIES opens up a big scoring spot for him, but also E? isn't great here cause bingoes need to start in vowels or use the blank as an S. that was why I decided against MAILE, but EMAILED looks better, he averages not even a point more than after mealies but my average goes up cause i'm opening the board more generally and not just one spot. #visionsmall
Kenneth Rubin vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 35378)
Knowledge Large
12J ERR +14
oof. i chickened out on RETRACER, wrote it down but couldn't pull the trigger. ERR is still not right if retracer was phony, maybe something at 12 A like CARET/CERATE/CREATE. -38 #knowledgelarge
Eric Harshbarger vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 32700)
Tactics Small
J11 TEIN +13
I don't know why I played this over J11 TENIA--maybe to keep the A for G9? Quackle prefers short plays like 4N DA, 14H AIT, and O10 AIT, but it doesn't realize that Mike has just fished. I like J11 TENIA best. #tacticssmall
Alec Sjoholm vs. Mike Frentz (Game 33068)
Strategy Small
8G DOR +8
-3 exch R actually sims ok, although DOR sims better on 4-ply. main problem with DOR is that it's relatively easy to block and i only hold one hook for it. i thought of GRIND as well but didn't consider -R. #strategysmall
Cesar Del Solar vs. Rafi Stern (Game 35399)
Strategy Medium
D6 JAG +20
i got a bit upset after this move as i noticed the far better 8B JAGG shortly after hitting my clock. i was low on time, and worried that a bingo from him might end up winning him the game, and i kinda freaked out! -4.5 #strategymedium
Richard Popper vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 35101)
Finding Large
O12 MUSO +35
I missed E2 MISSOUN(D). I looked through all the other letters, never shuffled or put in MIS- as a prefix. Sorry Tunnicliffe for I have failed you once more, bingo finding with prefixes and suffixes is still hard for me. #findinglarge
Darrell Day vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 33130)
Finding Medium
14I SNEAPEd +82
once again being safe, though I missed SPElEAN in the same spot which I would be sure of as opposed to SPEANEd, which I was not, given I always confused SNEAPED SPEANED with SNEAKED SKEANED*. #knowledgemedium #findingmedium
I suppose he could have S(E)RAGLIO, the only playable 7 on row 14, and nothing else. I should therefore play deP(L)ANES A2 or fish with E(ME).
Will Anderson vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 32878)
Finding Large
5E RET(O)TAlS +78
This turn, I completely failed to see TRISTE(Z)A through the Z, which was yet another case of complete blindness to a bingo I looked for. I realized I had TRISTEZA right after I made my play.
I also looked for 5-way overlaps, but failed to see the only one, STARETS at I2. That's the play. I really didn't want to make an X spot, so failing to see STARETS and TRISTEZA, I could still make an effort to see RHEOSTAT, which doesn't create the X spot. #findinglarge
Joshua Sokol vs. Nicholas Tam (Game 35784)
Strategy Large
10I (V)O(E) +8
Drat. NOESIS scores 45, and playing parallel to OBOE on column M with any number of things retainng one S is just far better than fishing just an O. Might've been a bit tilted drawing my third consecutive unplayable CSW bingo - but the disappointing thing is that in this particular case, I might've been more apt to find NOESIS since I already had ANOESIS# in my mind. #visionlarge #strategylarge
Matt Canik vs. Will Anderson (Game 33560)
Strategy Large
14F FLARERS +0 (Lost challenge)
yeah really bad decision here. I usually don't like phonying with stuff where you know what the definition would be, but the doubt is on whether it is included. I feel like people are usually more likely to challenge cause they don't give you as much blind trust as if you plop down some crazy shit. If I didn't have (A)RF available then this decision would be more okay, but I had already talked myself into playing FLARERS and playing it quickly, so when TOO came down I still just went with my decision, but it's so much better to just play ARF. #strategylarge
Jackson Smylie vs. Tom Bond (Game 33106)
Tactics Small
2I DO(C)KET +30
maybe TO(C)KED (which I doubted) to induce a challenge. I realized shortly after playing this that LO(C)KET might actually be better as I retain the last D which goes a bit better with the pool and board. #tacticssmall
Norma Lovett vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 33543)
Strategy Unspecified
G8 (Q)UIT +14
Wasn't exactly sure how to feel about telegraphing another S here. L3 HUTS would have really blasted the board open better and he would have a really hard time closing the board down after this. #strategymeh
Samuel Kaplan vs. John Karris (Game 36205)
Tactics Medium
5B BU(R)AN +26
BURAN is the pure equity play, but 5H UNBE handily wins the sim. There are up to 5 E's in the bag and no A's, and UNBE blocks column K and scores one more point. #tacticsmedium
Alec Sjoholm vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 32680)
Tactics Medium
J10 JETES +41
But the sacrifice was worth it, as (alas) my 93-point JETES was blocked. Quackle picks 1A EME, blocking 1A and ensuring that my M scores well while saving D6 JEST or J10 JETS. #tacticsmedium
Alec Sjoholm vs. Thomas Reinke (Game 33066)
Finding Unspecified
O8 CLIP(T) +27
LIBEL 11I is actually simming better; i suppose there's the dangerous hotspot i'm creating, plus it's relatively easy for him to score a bunch at 11K as well with the right letters. -2 #strategysmall #finding
Matt Graham vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 35136)
Strategy Large
5C GID +29
H1 GANEF; let's keep some good leaves, open boards, and score. GID keeps an inflexible leave for next turn and i will struggle a bit more to score. -10 #strategylarge
Cesar Del Solar vs. Joey Mallick (Game 32732)
Strategy Medium
3F DRUB +17
i did actually see BUSLOAD but i didn't love using my S like that. dunno, DRUB is overall pretty weak, i suppose. should just take the points. -5 #strategymedium
Cesar Del Solar vs. John Karris (Game 35441)
Finding Small
10E BURN +21
I need to play BOURN here, also makes his parallels give back more, another shot at the extremely important S. Sliiiightly fewer bingoes on average though, but still looks worth. #findingsmall
Michael Fagen vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 35379)
Endgame Large
15E SAhIB +21
I was out of time, and in fact went OVERtime, and didn't see SABIR, let alone BAs O11, forming ZEBRASS. Ouch ouch ouch! (-17) #endgamelarge, timemanagementlarge
Leesa Berahovich vs. Carl Johnson (Game 34482)
Strategy Medium
1A OUREBI +33
Another difficult decision. What's better, BOWER for 40 keeping IU, or OUREBI for 33 keeping W? It's close, but I think BOWER actually was the play. It scores seven more points and opens a new lane on Column O. Also, even though IU is a terrible leave, it 's probably better than a W for bingoing, and at this score I probably need to bingo. (-1.2% win chances) #strategymedium
Carl Johnson vs. Rafi Stern (Game 34485)
Tactics Small
M3 AA +13
So admittedly I missed 2J ARIOT here which looks pretty nice, but picking which fish to make here was tricky. I don't think I appreciated that M1 HOA would bingo a similar amount to the plays fishing off two As. That looks definitely best thanks to the extra 6 points. But F6 AJAR vs M3 AA vs J10 AA was a tough call. I thought M3 AA would help me get down more bingos but apparently AJAR bingos just as much and doesn't open anything up - it certainly would've worked out better here. #tacticssmall
Will Anderson vs. Jason Keller (Game 34609)
Tactics Small
11K AW +28
i always absolutely hate having to make decisions like this. is AW a fish? it seems like i just have to score. quackle likes it too, but it also likes 11C EARWIG. upon further thought, i think i would have played EARWIG if i'd seen it. #tacticssmall
Jack Peters vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 32682)
Strategy Medium
C9 T(H)IRL +18
I can see why I didn't want to play sim-winner ZIN at L8 or G4, but that doesn't make this the right play. It opens a lane that is basically impossible to block. Maybe RITZY 12G or ZINS 11B? (-6) #strategymedium
Carl Johnson vs. Matt Canik (Game 34493)
Strategy Medium
B1 (Q)I +22
a bit of a hard move here. i had a feeling this wasn't quite right, but it seemed worth it to go for the small chance at IKEBANA/ABELIAN (~12%), score 22, and if it doesn't work i can fish next turn too. quackle likes D3 ABA for some reason, ugh. or BAIT 6B. i don't know. -3 #strategymedium
Cesar Del Solar vs. Joel Sherman (Game 33553)
Tactics Small
B6 C(HI)RP +24
UP/PHI over this mostly because of my next turn's leave, which Q thinks is really good after UP but bad after CHIRP. This is a bit too much disparity, cause it's probably keeping CERT type leaves that are really not good on this board. Still, I'm at a deficit, so keeping better bingo options is good. I could also do P(RE)CURE, which opens the board more nicely. I think UP or PRECURE should come down. #tacticssmall
Stefan Fatsis vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 33117)
Tactics Small
11H MEOW +36
I didn't like 11I MOW because it didn't give me an S hook, but I still bingo so much more since 8s are a thing. I could just do DOW if that bothers me so much. #tacticssmall
Michael Fagen vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 35777)
Strategy Small
1H PEON +38
My leave is so bad that N11 POYOU may be better. Although I didn't know the hooks to pAtHOGEN, so I thought 1H was the only hotspot. #strategysmall
Alec Sjoholm vs. Joey Mallick (Game 32723)
Endgame Large
1L (J)ELL +33
wow, M(AI)LE H1 is available for a whopping 42, but best is to block (L)UNGI D2 with C1 R(I)LE, R(I)EL or L(I)RE because MAILE is unblockable. -20 #endgamelarge
Linda Espallardo vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 36351)
Finding Medium
F2 GR(I)M +15
must have missed M(U)GG, obv better. I didn't like that this also closes the option of opening the top left later on, GRIM opens this marginal G line but prevents me from doing a good setup there later. #findingmedium
Stefan Fatsis vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 33117)
Finding Large
C5 ENSNArE +64
M7 ANNEXES is 7 more but this has certain advantages as you will see later.
Josh: I completely missed ANNExES. This should have cost me the game, this is a very bad mistake. #findinglarge
Jonathan Lindh vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 33812)
Strategy Medium
4D YAR +26
if i play AOUDAD here, josh is just blocking and i lose. i don't think i have a realistic chance of winning this game. quackle is so optimistic. i was hoping to keep scoring as much as possible and maybe i'd draw some miracle pREX or kYAR bingo. lol. I think DOURA gives me the best chance, though. #strategymedium
Cesar Del Solar vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 33833)
Vision Small
10F HILLY +41
D4 KILL(JO)Y. I'm pretty sure I would have known this was good if I had seen it and I didn't even look at playing through JO, making it a #visionsmall mistake. Also #knowledgesmall for the +5.
Joshua Castellano vs. Daniel Milton (Game 31567)