Plays made by the player that were challenged by an opponent. This list may not be completely accurate. Check the 'Challenge Heuristics' section of the about page for more information.
Plays made by the player that were challenged by an opponent. This list may not be completely accurate. Check the 'Challenge Heuristics' section of the about page for more information.
Quackle despises this, but I think it's fine - GOO isn't a good leave but the PLAYMATES spot is quite dangerous and IDEAL does as good a job of blocking it as I can while scoring a lot in the process. I saw GEOIDAL but it leaves lots of stuff like ZEES there and also puts an A in a dangerous spot at K8. Maybe a #strategysmall, but I still think my play is ideal.
Looks like I should definitely play 9D IF here. I bingo about the same amount, but it looks like I drastically overestimated the dangerousness of the -IF hook. Apparently he averages 11 (!) more after FIVE than IF, which is far more than I would've guessed. I suppose I just give him a cheap 30 or 40 with stuff like OH so often. I'm just gonna call this a #strategysmall though since it only sims like 1% worse.
I liked this for defense, but XI bingos so much it looks like it's worth it. Especially for spread purposes it's probably the correct play, which would matter a lot later in the tournament. #strategymedium
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
Mainly considered BOTS, 6I IONS, and D8 VIATOR. I discarded IONS pretty quickly as I felt it needlessly gives Ken an easy like for 7s. The main downside of BOTS was that I can draw 3 Is, but I felt with VIATOR the upside of ISS wasn't that great - in all likelihood I'll be making a play like BOTS anyway next turn, and perhaps not even that if I don't draw an E or O. The one benefit that makes VIATOR worth considering is that it blocks plays like 12A ZETA, but I decided those were unlikely enough and would probably give me a big play back enough that BOTS was worth it. But the best play, which I didn't consider, looks to be 6G SARINS - the second S isn't that valuable after BOTS anyway, and SARINS gives me more chances at the scoring tiles in the pool while minimizing the chances of I trouble. #visionmedium
A rather bizarre play, sacrificing a lot of equity over JEER or either JIMP. I just couldn't stomach the CDIIM leave after JEER, and also didn't like that JEER invited underlaps that block the GURUS hook. EJIDO does a much better job keeping the left hand side open in the long term and floats an E that's not too easy to block without giving back a new lane. DIME(R)I(C) is another option I missed, but I prefer getting rid of the J ASAP since bingoing quickly is of paramount importance. I'm still fine with EJIDO, but Josh preferred JEER and Quackle agrees with him by a decent margin, so I'll call this a #strategysmall.
It's better to go the aggressive route with 2J NTH since it sets up plays like 5I FAS next turn while taking out a lot of Karl's scoring plays hooking YE. #strategymedium
MM: Lots of mediocre choices here. C1 JET sets up DU-- plays but seemed too risky with DKR left to hook EF and AAUU left to hook UTE. I liked that JOLT saved UNFED, which is fairly unlikely to get blocked. Noah pointed out after the game that UNFED first might be better, as I have a chance of hitting 3G JAR next turn for a lot if I can pull one of the 2 remaining As. And DUNE as a leave probably doesn't have much potential to improve beyond UNFED. So going to call this a #strategysmall.
Didn't think NUBBER was good, and eschewed NABBER because of the leave and opening more lanes (remember I'm effectively winning here since Karl needs to beat me by 43). HUE is probably fine over NABBER, but NUBBER is certainly worth it. #knowledgemedium
JOBS is much better equity, but the S seemed really important to keep for the EQUINES hook. Also, the N at O1 is much harder to use than an S for 8s. Even adding +45 to each play (to account for the 43-point head start I have), Quackle strongly prefers JOBS, which I find fairly surprising. #strategysmall?
Discarded L1 FYTTE because of the ugly CGI leave, but it's still probably best win %-wise since it leaves the PHOTOG hook open and opens another lane on column N. At the same time, spread was an important factor at this point in the tournament and FIG does a better job at limiting the chance of a blowout loss, so FIG has its merits too. Tough call, maybe a #strategysmall.
I liked this to save 11C AXED and 12L XED for next turn then the Z the turn after, but Quackle prefers 11B WAXED. I guess 11 points is a lot to give up and I'm really handcuffing myself with the power tiles by essentially guaranteeing I won't bingo for at least 3 turns. #strategysmall
Quackle likes 11E TREYS to score 10 more and restrict the 11 row, but I'm not so sure - between row 11 and SAL I'm pretty likely to bingo with EIRS after NUTSY. #strategysmall if anything.
I wasn't sure if MOVING took an S (it doesn't), so didn't want to play MOVING at 7H or 9H. OM is good in that it gives less back, but EGINV doesn't seem good enough to justify the point and turnover sacrifice assuming I know MOVINGS* is bad. #knowledgesmall
I tunneled in on using the H column and didn't adequately consider J2 ZEN, which keeps a better leave and doesn't give back a bingo lane. Column H isn't too dangerous with the given pool. #strategysmall #zenstillshouldntbeawordlarge
I8 SPOOL looks a little better. NORSS doesn't even bingo more than NRS and is much higher variance, plus SPOOL creates another S hook I can use. #strategysmall
10 points seemed like a bit too much to give up for 11A LEVITY, but in hindsight it does seem worth it. GNS has decent bingo potential with 3 Is unseen, and minimizes my chances of consonant overload since it keeps one less consonant. It also blocks the A11 spot and keeps the A1 spot, which I'm probably a favorite to use over Josh since I can put my S at 6A. The LNSV leave after GUYOT really isn't going anywhere on this board and could turn disastrous very easily. #strategysmall
MM: No. One of my biggest misses of the tournament -- ENZYM/ENZYME at 8A. I saw stuff like 12D ZA and 6C GYOZA, and D12 ZANY but really felt CONGOU/CONGOS needed to be blocked with SSUU unseen. Plus YE saves ZA next turn which is fairly unlikely to be blocked. ZANY blocks the CONGO hooks but AGEE is a pretty bad leave especially with a somewhat vowel-heavy pool, I'm confident I average 20 more after YE as opposed to ZANY. Perhaps this is too paranoid, but I think YE is reasonable over the other options I considered. ENZYM/ENZYME are obviously best by a long shot, though. #findinglarge
Didn't like C10 WIDGET now that EW is good. I thought about just C12 DIG, and in hindsight I think it's actually best - it's a huge equity hit but makes it virtually impossible for Josh to bingo either now or later as I can just close any new openings he makes in cat-and-mouse fashion. And DIG puts me up 80, which should be enough to avoid being outscored without a bingo in basically all circumstances. Quackle still likes WITING, but I'm gonna call this a #strategymedium since leaving Josh an easy way to tie the game with a 7 on column C or an 8 on row 15 seems plainly unnecessary here.
Going for an -ED bingo on column I. I felt plays there like RED or ICED are too easily blockable since they take lots of hooks, but column I gets blocked a lot too so perhaps it's still better than LEE. I also considered NEREID, but that seemed bad as well after he parallels. Everything is quite bleak in any case, so this is a #strategysmall at most.
Considered BIPOD in the same spot, but didn't want to allow high-scoring 7s ending in S with all four Ss out. Also PRO is a much better leave than NR especially with no Ns played yet. At this point I'm pretty much conceded to an open board so wasn't that worried about the BINDI hook, so chose BIND over BOND to avoid a possible onslaught of Is from the pool. The best play is probably 2J IODIN, which I didn't see. #visionsmall
Another interesting call between HEXED, INDEXED, and XI, all of which score essentially the same. Whichever I play, Jackson pretty much has to bingo immediately, since otherwise I can play down through the D in BIND and block everything at once. XI is pretty clearly worse since it blocks nothing and also allows plays like JOINT/BINDI to not empty the bag, which makes it possible that they might outrun me without a bingo (virtually impossible if they empty the bag, as they would after INDEXED or HEXED). As for HEXED vs. INDEXED, it looks like I misevaluated the danger or row 14 after INDEXED. There's really not that many bingos he can have there with that pool, but HEXED gives back stuff like DIVINING, DONATING, DONATION. These bngoes also score more than row 14 bingos do after INDEXED, making me less likely to be able to outrun them. So INDEXED looks like a small improvement. #strategysmall #preendgamesmall
there are no scoring spots on this board, and the pool is clunky. Therefore this is actually a really poor decision over U(K)E or (K)UE. KUE was my other consideration, but I liked how this kept a bunch of things open and allowed me to sscore well next turn if I couldn't bingo. #tacticslarge
I didn't like LIBRI because the CN didn't seem to go well with the C in HAPTIC, but I guess I'm also not completely stuck having to use that C. I didn't like CIB(O)L because it's easy enough to dump an S for 30+ and outrun me. Still, that might be the way. C12 CRIB is also interesting, going all in on using the C next turn. This just doesn't hit enough. #strategysmall
MM: First of several awkward decisions especially as I was getting low on time. Mainly considered this, AVOWED, and PAWN/NU. With still a small lead and 2 Ss unseen I decided the conservative approach was better. AVOWED opens a dangerous 2x2 lane for SO----- bingoes, and NU could give back huge scoring plays with SH--- and such at L4. In hindsight, my small lead didn't turn out to be very safe, so I perhaps should've done with NU. I'm going to hit SNED next turn, and if Noah does hit a big play there (which is still fairly unlikely) he'll give me an opportunity to bingo back with my AEDNS leave. Going to go with a #strategysmall here.
MM: Quickly narrowed my options here to HABU and 2L HUB. Especially with only 1 S unseen not, I think HUB is correct and I once again got too paranoid about setting up S hooks for Noah that he might not have but I already have. HABU puts me up 28, which felt pretty safe on this board, but as will be shown was not safe at all if I have a suboptimal draw. HUB also keeps a vowel which is very important here. #strategymedium I think.
I didn't see NONHErO which I would have been more sure of, and also sure that it doesn't have an S hook. The R placement makes G8 NONHErO the move. #findingsmall
seems clear that I should just do G7 OVOLI now that I am analyzing. I knew I was playing scared here, but felt Mack still had a decent play at H12 despite challenging. #strategysmall
hm, definitely thought WELT had better equity overall. Seems TWEET is slightly better as Mack bingos significantly less given the lack of home for lots of 7s and only 3 floaters. Didn't think of that. WELT seems around a point worse #strategysmall
AWEE seemed to give a lot more easier plays back, but that shouldn't be a huge concern since I'm probably slightly behind regardless, so the extra point, better opportunities next turn and one fewer vowel might be good. #strategysmall
this was really dumb. I can actually outscore if I play K11 OF (or EF which is just slightly worse but same idea). It's 31 points and does actually threaten a lot of stuff when the right letters are in the bag. Really dumb of me. I have to make a play making FEH to reopen the N column, but I can also do other stuff at the same time. This just never outscores. #strategysaddest
I also considered KI in the same spot. Was going to play that until Mack gave me 2 more points for EKING. KI is potentially still better, but Mack is definitely likely to try and block row 5 next and if I don't hit immediately I might be in board trouble. Row 14 and column K are still available after KI, which is probably good enough. #tacticssmall
the issue with EKING bares its teeth. Now I am potentially in range to come back without a bingo at least? Keeping the Z seems to have a lot of value, and I should play JILT 5D. #strategysmall
Duplicate game detected (Tournament 11009, Round 1).
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