i strongly considered C2 BRO, which sims best, but i feel like i should stop screwing around. i'm holding on to a bit of a tenuous lead, both blanks and X are unseen, etc. it seemed good to kill a few lanes here and score and stuff. #strategysmall ?
I have a habit of misevaluating Gs and Vs. 7G MOG is clearly better, bingoing a whopping 10% more often and yielding 7 fewer points per turn to Matthew. Oddly, I'm not sure it crossed my mind as an option. #findinglarge
ok, so back when he played REARMING i immediately thought "don't forget the P hook" and was looking for a P all game. right after JAYS played, i realized that i missed KEET, and that BIDE was never a bingo fish. you can imagine my brain immediately short circuiting. what happened? this was the last game of the morning. was i hungry? THIS whole game right here is why i'm not coming close to winning nationals unless i change something, and even though i now know that it is my focus that needs help, actually getting to that deeply focused state requires so much effort (for me) that it is insanely difficult. i pulled it off to a small extent at lake george (and still made a bunch of silly mistakes), but i haven't been practicing. what is my POET even doing; i'm going to let him score a bunch off the P, and i'm not even setting up a hopeful S hook. i seem very undeserving of a 2000 rating when i make mistakes like this, which explains why i'm almost never there. -19 #strategySADDEST #focusworst
another poor decision. I felt I had a larger grasp on this game than in actuality. I should play 8L (O)OZE for more and leave the R open
not challenging last move was #knowledgelarge
this move is #tacticsmedium
Definitely better than 7B KH(ET) as I keep a better scoring tile for next turn, but 10B BL(E)AK seems a bit better for 3 more, a little more balanced leave, and blocking the good floaters Eric has to bingo. #visionsmall
Yea, the V is bad enough that 4 points isn't quite worth it to do this over L1 DRAV(E). ADM is that much more flexible than AV is on this board. #strategysmall
Yea, this is not going well. Probably 12A VIEW is a better play at this score. This doesn't give me enough volatility compared to VIEW and also gets more clunkers off my rack. #findingmedium
should probably just do LUM M2. I thought this might get a hold/challenge or at least unsettle Jason if he didn't know the word. Then I noticed A(LUM) and was annoyed at that prospect, although that could be good for me if I draw an A. I didn't think Jason would miss a play with ALUM. DU(A)LLY was an option I didn't consider. I also considerd (A)DYTUM but that looked to make the game too easy for him and too tough for me with my LL leave. #strategymedium
9F MAXI is a _perfect_ move here, especially after he took so long on DUCKS (it was several minutes, which strongly implied to me he kept a blank; it seems like an easier play to make if he's holding another S). -4 #strategymedium
UNFRESH* #knowledgesaddest
After this game I think I looked up all the FRESH words and that allowed me to win a turn on FRESHING against Jason Li some months later in Ottawa.
i told a few people this is the worst mistake i've ever made in a tournament game. i think this is correct. what hurts most is that this was day 4, and i'd been playing in the top 5 tables all tournament long pretty much. i had just beaten will and was still hanging around 6th place, just needed a run to get me to the finals. and then i play this. it doesn't make sense. of course i saw caressed, and in my infinite wisdom i decided to keep looking for bingos. i didn't remember studying addresser* but surely it's a word since adressee* is a word. when he challenged it i was kind of shocked and was like "that seems like a common enough word to me" but felt ok because i still had two playable bingos. #knowledgelarge
C12 OGEE has the best equity, but ODEA is more effective in blocking JIHADI; OGEE still allows -IE- words on row 15. So Quackle prefers OGEE over ODEA by a wider margin now? #strategysmall
not good enough. 12A SWIVED scores more and i might be able to score next turn too on the S. VICED though sims best, for 38 vs 33 and keeps the W to score with. -6 #strategymedium
does BESNOW ever win? I didn't think so. Thought I could get us into a complex endgame where he accepts and probably still wins. Never thought I would play a synonym of the phony 3x3 I got away with all those years ago at 2014 Nationals.
Mack Meller found F7 B(O)W which fishes for LG, L? or G? and hits LONG(HO)USE through HO. That's got to be the best shot by a mile. Maybe not that long, but it's pretty long. #findingsaddest
Was really close to playing SLY; somehow missed J4 IDYLS which looks good too. DITZY gets hit way harder in response and scores much less. #strategymedium #findingmedium 21:44
Could play 1A REBATO, but covering the W reduces Seth's scoring for next turn and the AEGT leave bingos a little bit more than a lone G. I somehow didn't consider 4A BOATER, which also scores quite well and covers the 4A scoring spot, which will score a lot if Seth can play a six hooking EX. #strategysmall
no clue. I thought about this and AVANT. Regretted not doing AVANT. The V is bad reminder #1248793751 and also no need to open unneccessary lanes #strategysmall
I could go for more bingos with MOMS, which sims best. MOCS keeps a better leave overall, but I wanted to keep the O for the 8 row, which I realized might be not so important, as many other vowels are lurking. This seems like a small mistake #strategysmall
I didn't do C9 CIR(C)LE since that gives Bryan TU(C)K for a good score and the same can be said about C11 (C)ERIC. C9 LI(C)ENCE would have been fine since Bryan can't really do much with his clunk. #endgamemedium
wow this is actually horrible! I only really win with the A and L draws. with the other draws he has a lot of 1 and 2 point wins, often stuff like R(I)VAL or V(I)TAL saving TU(R)F and TUF(A), and some other stuff. I realized that the O setup here was kinda weak, but still just assumed I was in a great position. That's totally not true. I missed F2 JIAO, which is far better. #endgamelarge JIAO only loses with a V draw to 14G TURF setting up LAT. Although JO will win a lot in reality cause most of the endgames are somewhat difficult, it's still horrible and a massive oversight
The only bingos are 1G WHIlLIED# and WHILlIED, which I did not know. However, Quackle prefers 13A IWI#, which keeps a better leave than WILI# (including two vowels, which is important given the consonant-heavy pool) and gives me a chance to play a bingo from 1H-1O next turn. I considered 9M WAI#, with the same idea; but WAI performs slightly worse than IWI and the bingos, likely because it blocks column L. #strategymedium #knowledgemedium
I almost played OPIATE/AVAUNT to go for the blank, and then I didn't because I was worried about the spot it created. So fucking stupid, because O11 is already a thing. Idiot. #strategylarge
In addition to having higher equity than FINNED, 7M FIN allows fewer immediate bingos, more effectively blocking those making GAITT# which I didn't see. #visionmedium I guess
Played ZHOS quite quickly but didn't stop to think of N2 SHASH, which scores 9 more and draws into a boatload of heavy Z plays on column A or at the very least O1 ZO/ZOO. #findingmedium 14:42
probably EpEEIS(T)S 5C for 2 fewer to not set up long-term forking potential with the W hook or something. Not the 2x2 ending in E thing, no, not that!! #findingsmall
errrr QI is straightforward here. i thought it just destroyed the board though, but BILGED probably does a better job of that! probably a hard move, but it feels so tough to play QI and then not have anywhere to play my bingo next turn. at least BILGED gives me a chance at a dump like QIS for 41, etc. -4 #strategymedium ?
i got so afraid that he would have some 3-3 through IT that i decided to block it, instead of just play AA, keeping EINRS for the triple-triple (or a likely bingo) myself! i really psych myself out a ton when playing top players. -10 #strategylarge
This is the best bingo, but 15H MIRID is better. It sacrifices 34 points, but it takes out the (WALLEYE)D spot and keeps ?N, which often draws into bingos hooking UPDRAW#. #tacticssmall
quackle prefers taking the pts with B4 NAV (and also killing that part of the board). RTU? should bingo pretty often, and it's good to score more points here. -5.5 #visionmedium #tacticsmedium
Obviously not opening after YIN. LUN preserves HAZAN/AZAN possibilities for the future. The only other move I would potentially do here is 9C HULA, which should be pretty difficult to bingo with. #strategysmall 14:46
I briefly thought about doing 5C OHIA or 5C CIAO as well as this, but those gave up too many points, and I still have Columns C and D to use. J2 OHO would have also been an interesting move setting up my C, however, I'm still not likely to win this game. And that's the hardest for Robin to block. #visionlarge #strategylarge
i think ORB doesn't necessarily imply an incredibly strong leave, but let's give him IRS; quackle still prefers 4D RATHE. i don't know what i was thinking. there are two open lanes, and i have a bigger comeback if i let him bingo on lane 14 a lot of the time. i can't block them both, so force him to bingo there. -11.5 #strategylarge it's a new day and i'm back to my bad play.
maybe TITHE keeping the R hook for next turn? quackle likes 12A TITLE, which seems counterintuitive to me, but i think i need to keep scoring spots open for myself too. -2.5 #strategysmall
i turn over UUF to my nice leave of ANRT and it's very frustrating. i didn't even look for a bingo, although i did write down AFLNRTUU. it only triggered the slighest stirring in a couple of neurons deep in my brain. #knowledgeSADDEST -46
VI(N)E is a play I considered at 6I. This is a good practical decision, but VINE seems too strong to discount. It does a great job outrunning. #strategysmall
Tied for best play with 11F ELONGATE scorewise. Seeing the board is open as is, I might as well get others going. This was held but not challenged. #tacticssmall
MARKING is better than MAKING cuz of the pool, i think. quackle still doesn't like blocking, instead playing 15H MANGEL to open another lane? i really disagree, i think hitting the L would be a lot harder than a wide open lane with MANGEL, and another lane in row 3 or 4. 3B RAGMEN seems to be the best play that blocks the lanes in the top left, and it keeps the K for scoring. -5 #findingmedium #knowledgemedium
another poor decision. I felt I had a larger grasp on this game than in actuality. I should play 8L (O)OZE for more and leave the R open
not challenging last move was #knowledgelarge
this move is #tacticsmedium