Strategy Small
exch IOO +0
Balked at playing G7 AGIO and making big scoring spot, but ZO and JO already go down at C9 for a lot. Just grab some points. #strategysmall 17:10
Will Anderson vs. Terry Kang (Game 33397)
Strategy Small
8H OK +12
the previous game against chris schneider was one of the worst games i've ever played. i know i like saying that a lot and hyperbolizing, but it really truly was; it's up on cross-tables for your viewing needs. i still blame it on that first round loss; i truly believe that if i had won the first game i would have won this tournament, but instead i am sitting here at 5-7 with 8 games to go. after tacos el gordo, one of my favorite restaurants in north america, i felt like it would be a waste of my time and money to not give it my very best shot, so i resolved to play the next 8 games as well as i possibly could. i think KEG or OAKED are a little better than my move, though. -1.5 #strategysmall
Cesar Del Solar vs. John Karris (Game 35441)
Strategy Small
I11 M(I)X +41
13A MAX gives back a lot on column A and row 14, but there is already a lot of scoring potential on this board, and MAX unloads one of my A's and scores one more point. #strategysmall
Alec Sjoholm vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 32680)
Finding Small
12K HEX +37
missed H10 H(OY)DEN which if I see I should play instantly because it will tilt the hell out of Matt. It's also probably best? #findingsmall
Matt Graham vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 34816)
Knowledge Small
O8 KOANS +41
okras is the play here. even though RS > NS, the difference is small on this board, and OKRAS gives back enough fewer points from that overlap that it's worth it. i'm still sad about playing KOANS instead of KAONS, which sims half a point higher. it's a tiny difference, but it had a huge effect, and that's why it's important to make as few errors as possible. it seems impossible to get rid of all these little leaks. -1 #tacticssmall #knowledgesmall
Alec Sjoholm vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 32703)
Strategy Small
8D TEAZE +30
VOD at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94Vjc9MeBB8. I didn't like the potential responses to 8G YEZ, but it makes him bing slightly less and me bing slightly more. #strategysmall
Joshua Castellano vs. Austin Shin (Game 37535)
Finding Small
J2 JOHN +36
Q actually recommends SOH at J8 for 42 points here. I suppose it holds JEAN at J2 next turn. This and JEON are neck and neck, I suppose it's a matter of how volatile I want next turn to be #findingsad
Howard Pistol vs. Matt Canik (Game 32980)
Tactics Small
2J KEPI +36
i didn't see PINKOEs here, but it might not be worth bingoing. my first choice KOP is best. i want to give myself the best bingo chances next turn. -2 #tacticssmall
Cesar Del Solar vs. Jonathan Kent (Game 32940)
Tactics Small
2N AT +28
or ZA. I only hit 11/46 on the O column but another 6/46 on the 6 row, 4 more on column E, and also OVERTASK on row 15. Looks like a small improvement over AT #tacticssmall
Chris Cree vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 33112)
Knowledge Large
12E GARNETs +66
this is a very poor placement for my bingo, reminds me of playing newbs who play a blank bingo hitting nothing for 20 fewer than an actual good play. my main problem is that i just completely forgot HUMERAL took an S. if he had put an S on it i would have been like oh yeah! also, the pretty R(EH)EATING is available, and should be eminently findable by me. even BERATiNG is a ton better. i suppose i was trying to play defense, if one was to assume HUMERAL didn't take an S, my move might be defensible compared to BERATING. in any case, i'm very likely to win this game now no matter what, but i should learn the words better. #knowledgelarge -22
Cesar Del Solar vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 32702)
Strategy Small
4J AQ(U)AE +14
Amazingly, I didn't realize until after I played that I really should have at least considered C8 AQUA for 9 more points; the scarcity of the Es in the unseen pool led me to want to play through, but Quackle still slightly prefers exchanging down to just E. #strategysmall
Will Anderson vs. Winter (Game 34378)
Finding Large
2B ELOIGN +24
should definitely find a block of AEFRSTW here. This gives way too much back. TEAWARES and SOFTWARE. I think I probably missed both. His leave after JUN basically never contains an F or W, so there are so many reasons why this is a bad play. #findinglarge
Joshua Sokol vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 27790)
Finding Large
B10 TOTAL +22
Sheesh, you know DOTAL. What a garbage play this was. I also missed 10I TROD, which I think I like best. Interestingly, TROD loses to TROT in that spot in the sim, and they both lose to TRAT. Keeping the DO for B10? DOTAL wins the sim. #findinglarge
Chris Lipe vs. Bill Rexhausen (Game 35558)
Knowledge Small
J1 CU(Z) +22
G2 UNCOPE wins more. I didn't want to give up all those floaters during the game, but most of them aren't that easy to use. Turns out it's not about the floaters, but denying my opponent an additional turn thus giving him fewer chances to fish. #strategymedium and #knowledgesad for the challenge
Daniel Blake vs. Joshua Castellano (Game 36969)
Strategy Large
N10 ADROIT +26
DIATRON doesn't play, wonderful. If Jamie is gonna bingo anyway even after I do L9 ODOR, maybe do that instead. This was too aggressive. #strategylarge
Jamie McCune vs. Samuel Kaplan (Game 36405)
Tactics Small
9F NOW +24
Tough call here; went for most aggressive opening. DOW is most defensive; LOW sims better but I don't have hooks for it. I guess DOW is what I should've done. #tacticssmall
Joshua Castellano vs. Will Anderson (Game 34398)
Tactics Small
E4 DURR +22
Q prefers DUH by a bit, hmm. I feel like I want a better leave to deal with openings he may make, and HUV is more likely a non-exchange rack than RRUV. Q seems to think my average leave after DUH is better next turn, interesting. Maybe more exchanges? I'll say #tacticssmall but I'm not sure.
Nicholas Tam vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 35376)
Tactics Small
O5 CORNlAN(D) +80
Played over CONURBAN because I hoped it would drop Matthew's bingo% more; but actually CONURBAN yields about 1% fewer bingos than CORNLAND because it blocks both the B and the O (and I suppose the F of FIGGY) compared to just the D. #tacticssmall
Matthew O'Connor vs. Will Anderson (Game 34616)
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)
Knowledge Medium
15D AUGITE +29
I was trying to decide between 8A GUY and 15D AUGITE. I figured if I kept the Y, I might be able to cash it at 15L after his bingo, but 8A TUYE(R) looks better. #knowledgemedium
Tim Weiss vs. Joshua Castellano (Game 34399)
Strategy Large
3K CAZ +39
Sim despises this. I get it, EEIO is weak despite the lopsided C/V ratio unseen and I'm still just letting the LABS hook sit there undisturbed. I was close to doing 11E ZODIAC but balked at the possibility of Vince opening column A with a play from 12A, creating situations with multiple very dangerous bingo lines available. 10D AIZLE is a fine way to score nearly as well as ZODIAC, block a couple lines, and make it more difficult to open the left side of the board while also scoring anything. #strategylarge
Vince Castellano vs. Will Anderson (Game 34595)
Strategy Medium
13B WEX(E)D +32
I think NEPHEW crossed my mind but I don't think it occurred to me that it sets up my X. WEXED gives back much higher scores as well. #strategymedium
Chris Lipe vs. Will Anderson (Game 34978)
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 Small
J4 LUCKS +32
J6 WUS a smidge better defensively and much higher upside for me next turn, CKLN crushes the H1 triple a lot with vowels. (CALKIN, LUCKEN in particular score massively) #tacticssmall 20:04
Ben Schoenbrun vs. Will Anderson (Game 33416)
Knowledge Large
E4 CRoCEI(N)S +94
I'll give myself a #knowledgelarge for challenging the valid 4 even though it only ended up costing me 5 points; it could've been much, much worse to have chickened out of a valid bingo on row 10.10:55
Will Anderson vs. Marlon Hill (Game 33170)
Knowledge Large
3N Q(I) +11
Incredible. Not only did I not know 14J QuIST, but I also chickened out of putting the S on JETSOM and didn't think to play 14J WRIST. This move is so bad that I'm tagging it with multiple mistakes. #knowledgelarge #knowledgelarge #visionlarge
Jason Ubeika vs. Joshua Castellano (Game 32545)
Strategy Small
H4 PETTO +20
This was just a clear misevaluation of an opening position I think. The math in my head was all wrong. There are three plays better than this one, I like VET the best #strategysmall
Joshua Sokol vs. Paul Holser (Game 37370)
Finding Medium
8D VOLT(E) +12
this was an odd decision by me. I don't think I saw or considered NOH 12C at all, the clear equity play blocking the clear scoring spot. However, I really enjoyed the look of the board after this. If he uses the full scoring spot at 12A, I might get a very nice score myself, even a 3x3. However, Joey is more prone to playing at 12C or 12B than he is to play at 12A given his style of late, so perhaps this was an oversight, since things aren't great when he does that. The bingo lines are mostly airballs and he has a significant lead before my turn. NOH seems standard and totally fine here. HOV(E)L also seems decent, setting up two lanes. #findingmedium
Joey Krafchick vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 35822)
Strategy Large
14K JI(B)E +26
I was paranoid about Z plays on row 15, but 6J JO(I)NE(R) looks best here (and also 15M SAZ still plays, sad!). I can probably only lose to a bingo after 6J JO(I)NE(R) and it blocks a bunch of them. #strategylarge
Terry Kang vs. Joshua Castellano (Game 37520)
Vision Large
I2 LIPiDES +69
Spent some time seeing which bingo would be best. Definitely wasn't sure what to do, but even if I saw 12H PIdDLE(R)S, I think I should have at least given more thought to doing I6 DESPoIL or DISPELs. This move definitely could have been better. #visionlarge
Samuel Kaplan vs. Connie Creed (Game 37171)
Knowledge Small
11G COXES +45
EXED much better, fewer points, but blocks Wendy's best chance at winning COXES making LORDINGS also good, didn't know that was valid. #endgameSAD #knowledgeSAD #strategySAD
Wendy McGrath vs. Danielle Barker (Game 35343)
Finding 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 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)
Strategy Large
14J (K)AURI +18
I did see O10 ARGUER, but what prompted me to keep EGR was the open I in TRIGO and the 4 unseen Ns. I didn't think this would sim too far back, but Quackle doesn't seem to like my move, and I understand that knowing ARGUER is 11 more. #strategylarge
Samuel Kaplan vs. Libero Paolella (Game 37170)
Strategy Large
12I HEME +33
i just make bad decisions when i'm sucking. i think i'd only won 2 games this whole day by now, and even though i did see BEVEL at 11K i thought HEME was better for some reason. i just want points now even though he can score a lot overlapping me, and EHM? is a perfectly good leave. -8 #strategylarge
Jason Bednarz vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 35389)
Strategy Medium
J9 (A)GGRO +11
14J TROGGS sims best, but I'm not sure if I prefer that given her range. Although I really liked what J9 (A)GGRO did to the board with my leave, I don't think this is correct, though I'm not really sure what is. N4 GROG and 13K GORG(E) seem like reasonable options. #strategymedium
Terry Kang vs. Joshua Castellano (Game 37520)
Tactics Large
9G (Y)IRR +10
Quackle strongly favors exchanging keeping only the S; the best play on the board has over 6% less win chance. I can't explain that, but YIRR has the shortcoming of providing two extra lanes for Betty to play a bingo--columns J and K.#tacticslarge apparently
Alec Sjoholm vs. Betty Cornelison (Game 33768)
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 Unspecified
C7 QAT +27
Definitely not doing N10 DATOS here. While I didn't even consider doing 11D QATS, that would have been worth it with 3 more Ss left. The sim does easily concur. #strategyquestionable
Samuel Kaplan vs. Edwin Roth (Game 36747)
Strategy Medium
4K (W)ITE +20
D10 ETUI is fine, but this isn't. I was afraid of making another S hook, but at this score I think the equity doesn't justify what I did. #strategymedium also #knowledgesad for the challenge.
Joshua Castellano vs. Randi Goldberg (Game 37522)
Knowledge Large
I11 C(A)D +26
Whew, not a gamble worth taking - honestly thought SCAWING* was a word. Just CAWINGS. Lucky that the score was close enough that Bob didn't feel he could afford the five points. The crazy thing is that TAR bingos an amazing amount more often than TAD, which I was debating playing instead of CAD - Quackle says 33% to 19%. Quite surprising. CAD does actually sim quite well, but I gotta give this a #knowledgelarge 12:30
Will Anderson vs. Robert Linn (Game 33409)
Strategy Large
1H NEON +16
I wanted to take the ONUS hook, but I don't have a play that does that and keeps well. 11D VENIN is best, blocking 2x2s and leaving ONUS for next turn. #strategylarge
Alec Sjoholm vs. Betty Cornelison (Game 37348)
Strategy Medium
8A JO +31
i'm pretty sure i passed up eNJOINS here, i remember seeing it and immediately ignoring it without counting it. i may have been wrong. also, J10 JO is better than my JO as it sets up an S-ending lane! -4 #strategymedium
Cesar Del Solar vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 33784)
Strategy Large
B6 ELOIN +20
So many lanes, so much potential! I spent more than 5 minutes looking for bingos and didn't see one. After the game, I gave the rack to Alec and he found the only bingo in about 30 seconds. Dude is *sharp*. Also, LENO 1A is better than any other play by far. I must have gotten flustered after wasting all my time failing to find the bingo that I didn't take more time to find the right non-bingo play. (-30) #visionlarge, #strategylarge, #timemanagementlarge
Alec Sjoholm vs. Carl Johnson (Game 34492)
Finding Medium
5K OM(A) +18
I saw O10 FAKEER as I entered this rack into Quackle. Surprisingly OMA is only about 7 points worse, but that is likely because it keeps FAKEER for next turn. #findingmedium
Alec Sjoholm vs. John Karris (Game 32989)
Tactics Small
12A CONSTRU(E) +76
maybe I should do COUNTERS here, I think that is fine. I don't want the top left to get opened, and right now it's gonna be pretty hard to open it. I didn't 'know HOROLOGER, and I think with my huge lead I'm taking I should take COUNTERS and be more defensive. #tacticssmall
Joey Mallick vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 34931)
Tactics Small
C1 BAH +36
NOH might be better because it saves QA(T) 8D which is currently my best Q spot, and unlikely to improve much. I could also play QA(T) now #tacticssmall
Joshua Sokol vs. Kevin Gauthier (Game 35885)
Strategy Small
I6 JESS +22
Huge tank on this turn as I tried to figure out which way to go. At various points I was close to playing M10 or N10 JESSIE and H7 JASS. Sim wants M10 JESSIE, drawing more tiles for blanks and leaving the VARIAS hook open without exposing the triple lane the way N10 JESSIE does; makes sense to me. #strategysmall
Will Anderson vs. Andrew Golding (Game 34608)
Strategy Medium
15A PAS(H) +27
why does she have to have another P? PAS there was great. this move is not so good. i was nervous as i usually am in a game like this where my opponent keeps bingoing and i have to play perfectly to win, so somehow i thought i had the last two Ss. but since there is an unseen S, that makes taking the QUODS hook important, and doing so with O1 ANSA looks pretty good here. i still don't like how closed the board is though; my bingo % after ANSA is abysmal, and i kill a good scoring lane for only 30.. idk. -5.5 #strategymedium #focus
Laurie Cohen vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 35445)
Strategy Large
14L EARS +30
i don't know about this. i think i was a bit unfocused here and unable to figure out how to break ahead. i saw my S wasn't worth a ton on this board and i need to score. but 12L LARS looks a lot better. -8.5 #focus #strategylarge
Cesar Del Solar vs. Frank Tangredi (Game 35148)
Finding Large
G8 (I)X(I)A +36
french rant incoming "J'ai beau voir qu'il a joué IXIA pour 36 ici, je n'ai simplement pas réussi à voir où..."
All the accents are probably screwy in the annotation. Anyways, I couldn't see where the hell ixia played for 36. Ugh. I'm giving myself a #findinglarge even though it's not even my play.
Maxim Panitch vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 35783)
Strategy Small
A4 (U)GALI +18
Tough move here. I think after Rasheed's OKE perhaps UGALI isn't the best idea. It feels like 13B RIZ is much better than usual after that play, since he probably rarely has a G and certainly never an F on that move; unless maybe he can have ING leaves with OKE? Hard to say. I think I like RIZ here, but other Quackle favorites like G13 GI/GIE don't seem smart. #strategysmall
Will Anderson vs. Rasheed Balogun (Game 34992)
Tactics Small
O12 YAM +26
such an insane bingo available here. Can you find it? This is probably worse than MAY L11 because although I block myself with MAY, I also give him a lot less to work with, and I have the blank, so I don't really need to leave everything open. #tacticssmall #findingmedium #knowledgemedium
Joshua Sokol vs. Eric Harshbarger (Game 35819)
Finding Medium
F8 (F)AX +29
Despite opening a triple-triple, WASA(BI) (great sushi there by the way) is probably the right play, since it distracts Jason from the X-bomb at J10 #findingmedium
Joshua Castellano vs. Jason Keller (Game 37342)
Strategy Large
9H UG(H) +11
Completely tanked on this move. I didn't even consider keeping the U, which might led me to G12 (M)EG or G10 UN(M)ET. The metrics I used for this turn were off, I was too focused on dumping the U, so #strategylarge.
Dean Saldanha vs. Joshua Castellano (Game 32771)
Strategy Large
C12 NEE +12
this is a poor effort. was banking on the D being in that bag, making it very hard for him to block. however, he can just play TI or NU and block pretty thoroughly. I think NEE I11 is an interesting idea. any NEED blocks will either make a lane going left or going right. might be marginal if he plays GRIDE, but still something. Q likes EH/WOOSH, but I'm worried about plays around there because the G can block so well. #strategylarge cause this isn't very good.
Jackson Smylie vs. Ross Brown (Game 35380)
Strategy Medium
H2 TOUN +7
I had her on sticks including the D after this. Since I didn't have a good block I'd thought I set up my S, though maybe I should have just done H1 TONUS. I'm not really sure how big of a mistake this is, I'll just mark it as #strategymedium
Becky Dyer vs. Joshua Castellano (Game 32751)