Tactics Small
11E RICRA(c)S +32
i held for another 3-4 minutes, and decided that it's very likely good and i had to let it go. i'm glad i didn't make a steam challenge. about my play - i wasn't super enthused about blocking some lanes but i just don't know how to catch up without scoring points. i decided i was going to need to get lucky so i thought scoring 32 pts and bingoing asap next turn was better than fishing. H7 SIR sims best though by win %, it makes sense. #tacticssmall
Thomas Reinke vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 32668)
Finding Medium
13C YACHTS +39
This normally plays good bingo defense, but after I once again can't shut everything down, O1 CHAYS for 15 more is worth it this time because I can't even draw any more Ts. #findingmedium
Beth Mix vs. Samuel Kaplan (Game 45116)
Knowledge Small
B2 LAPP(E)D +22
this was a really interesting spot. I would have played PALPED had I known it to valid. Barring that, tons of options existed. I doubted how important the hooks on LAPPED were in the grand scheme of things, other than their effect on standard deviation from the norm. A1 plays were kind of likely to block that hook. This board was also full of scoring potential, and I didn't like squandering myself at all here with equity values. DAPPL(E) was an option, I thought of APPLED* and doubted it. TAPP(E)D leaving LN seemed ugly. I didn't see LAPP(E)T or APPL(E)T keeping DN. That looks fine as well. #knowledgesmall for PALPED.
Jackson Smylie vs. Josh Sokol (Game 37663)
Vision Large
N9 (E)VITED +36
ridiculous, my bingo doesn't fit anywhere, although that's what i was trying to do i suppose. VI(EWE)D here is better than EVITED for sure. i may have just not seen it. -8.5 #visionlarge
Bob Becker vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 35143)
Finding Large
N10 BOW +30
sad miss of BROWbON(E). I saw BORON but I just lose so often after an S bingo. Sure, him playing YE doesn't mean much, but he probably has a lot of balance. YES is 13 more points, but I think Jon would be saving a case S with SAUTOIRES on the board and the game being close. I thought that after BORON and a BORONS bingo I could sometimes return the favor on row 14 with overlaps, and with 9s through the letters on columns C and D, and even more rarely with B column bingos. It's hard to set things up if I miss, and even harder to outrun. Quackle prefers BORON in a vacuum by a steep margin of 8 points. There are also a ton of N's left to duplicate, and the same issues apply after a BOWS bingo, but then it's even harder to overlap, and harder to play 9s. Still, if I bingo next turn, it's hard to imagine losing, which isn't really the case after BORON, unless that bingo is on the 15 row. Anyways, it's all moot I guess, because of BROWBONE. #findingsaddest
Josh Sokol vs. Jon Shreve (Game 47749)
Endgame Large
1J CLI(P) +29
I'm supposed to play one tile at a time because my opponent is Q-stuck. 14G (ME)L, then B12 C(OKE), and going out with A8 (DIV)I. #endgamesaddest
Fidelis Olotu vs. Nitya Chagti (Game 43270)
Tactics Small
J4 BIMA +23
M7 MIB is a lil better it seems, at least defensively. -4 #tacticssmall -- actually, i can't see why AEIP results in a higher average score next turn (but lower bingo %).. anyone?
Ben Schoenbrun vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 33035)
Endgame Large
14C SENT +22
I had no time. There's two in the bag, so The Duck *should* be able to figure this one out and it's saying E11 (MAW)N at 16.67% win. Maybe I have to play that and hope to draw the other S, I'm not sure. Anyway, #endgamelarge I'm sure.
Joshua Castellano vs. Marty Gold (Game 34776)
Finding Small
M7 LOBE +28
I missed M5 OBLIGE, the best play. This is second-best, now fishing for A8 GLITZ. LOBE is better than LOGE because LOBE + GLITZ scores one more than LOGE + BLITZ. #findingsmall
Mary Logullo vs. Alec Sjoholm (Game 33770)
Strategy Small
13B JO(T) +20
I needed to pay better attention to the pool. My opponent is unlikely to bingo. I don't need to block the A column. In fact, I kinda need it to stay open for myself. L2 JO(L) is fine. #strategysmall
Daniel Blake vs. Nitya Chagti (Game 43264)
Strategy Small
I1 HEW +28
I had problems focusing and counting plays here. I don't remember exactly, but I remember counting both plays and getting it wrong and then trying again and getting it right, but blocking the TO and partially the E in AUTOED is much better for bingo defense than blocking up top. This is a stupid decision on my part. I think I thought I could deal with the right side later. #strategysmall
Even if the scores of both HEW plays were reversed, I should still play under AUTOED.
Josh Sokol vs. Joey Mallick (Game 33805)
Knowledge Large
J2 MOV(I)E +25
thought about ENMOVE# but didn't like it. Thought this was a good time to block SHOVELED, since it didn't seem like a big equity swing. But ENMOVE is too good. #knowledgesaddest
Josh Sokol vs. Jason Keller (Game 42566)
Finding Large
O4 VOI(D)ER +42
holy shit did i just miss overnice. i felt like i was missing a bingo but still. jesus. the sadder part is ive definitely never missed that on aerolith. #findinglarge
Evan Mahnken vs. Evan Yurko (Game 33274)
Tactics Large
4B ZEBU +32
update: ONIE did not block a lot of bings
Wanted to do HUB to set up the Z plays underneath but thought the math didn't work out. Still, I should be playing more romantically than this. And the math does work out. #tacticssaddest
Noah Slatkoff vs. Josh Sokol (Game 39701)
Tactics Large
12C RUI(N) +8
I did this... to set up a big Q play next turn and not give her an easy play of CIN(Q)S or DIN. This is still quite pathetic, and I have no idea why I did it. #tacticslarge
Josh Sokol vs. Fern Lindzon (Game 33978)
Knowledge Medium
L4 (N)oNVOCAL +63
A tiny voice in the back of my head said "NONVOCAL takes an S" and I chose to ignore it because, well, it just doesn't seen like NONVOCAL should take an S
spoiler alert: nonvocal takes an S but we both didn't know it
#knowledgesadder
Mike Baron vs. Matt Canik (Game 33084)
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. Josh Sokol (Game 33963)
Strategy Medium
11K WORN +26
Definitely wasn't sure how to feel about WO in the same spot as I didn't love EILNR on this board. Maybe WON is a little better for the leave, but there's still 4 Ss left and I don't give up an S hook with WORN over WON. WO is a reasonable play because Robin will want to score thru the V in VETOED some of the time which could open up a bingo line for me. I did not spot D8 WOL(V)ER which would have given me a nice fork and scored a couple more. #strategymedium
Robin Lewis vs. Samuel Kaplan (Game 36974)
Endgame Large
B3 (J)O(L)E +17
-21 #endgamelarge. i should do better. I10 TE(L)OI looks best here. i considered GIT/GIN/AGIN, etc, but didn't see EONIAN. eventually i just said screw it, let's see if this works.
Wes Eddings vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 33864)
Endgame Medium
M7 TACO +23
This is lazy AF. What does this accomplish, really? Anything at all? Probably FAUCET. But like, this doesn't even do anything other than win the game without tracking, which you shouldn't be doing at this level. #endgamemedium
Kenji Matsumoto vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 38964)
Strategy Medium
9I (G)UY +14
ugh this is too difficult. with such a small % chance of winning, i don't know what's right anymore. it seems in these types of situations i have to limit the amount of damage he can do, so something like 4K AY or YA is going to sim best despite keeping a U. the problem with GUY, even though it does play short and keeps a good leave, is that it gives back so many points; i know this but have to hope he can't punish it too much. -3 #strategymedium
Joel Sherman vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 34026)
Strategy Medium
L3 TWA +27
this was a pretty bad move. i was going to play P(O)W, and i talked myself into this somehow. i think a large part of it is that i wasn't sure if POWS was good. but clearly, POW is much better than TWA. i could at least play it at 10E. i think once in a while, i just have one move where i completely don't have a focused brain, but hopefully this will improve! -7.5 #strategymedium
Cesar Del Solar vs. Joey Mallick (Game 33804)
Vision Medium
L7 sCENTED +83
I unfortunatly rushed this play because I realized this was better than anything else I had before Dan played MODISH. But the fact is, 11E T(R)ENChED or C(R)ENaTED are better regardless of what Dan played prior. #visionmedium
Dan Wachtell vs. Samuel Kaplan (Game 50253)
Vision Large
11J A(N)OA +15
almost played ANNO(Y), which would have blocked RALLYE unwittingly. I wanted to block REFRAINS stuff, which is obviously far less of a factor given RALLYE. I thought this did a good job outrunning 14E plays. I could play EAU at L11 to also block the dangerous REFRAINS hook as well as scoring plays to the Y, but I was more worried about getting outrun from 53 ahead instead of 62 ahead, and that would allow Jackson time to play something on the N column like OE maybe, since EAU protects that sort of opening. #visionsaddest for RALLYE again.
Josh Sokol vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 41797)
Strategy Medium
4G EVIL(E)R +26
tough spot. Thought I was in bad enough position to fork with this, but with VIL(E)R forks are threatened and outscoring is threatened. And the E really really helps my rack. So I think I screwed this one up. Sad, because VIL(E)R was my instinct. #strategymedium
Jason Li vs. Josh Sokol (Game 40600)
Strategy Medium
G5 YURTA +15
interesting position, depending how I view his odd placement of BLITE. it could be something weird like a scoring rack where he wants too make two spots, or a K. most likely is probably an X. not really sure. it's hard to justify blocking the X bomb cause my plays there are pretty bad and leave the G column. I could also counter-setup with ZA/BA, which mmight actually be fine anyways. this play was a sort of counter-setup, keeping 12a possibilities and h1 possibilities. Q thinks it's way too big a sacrifice, that I should just play YA. i'll call this a #strategymedium
Jackson Smylie vs. Matt Graham (Game 34536)
Finding Large
O10 SOUND +24
Well, I missed URODELANS, so that's not good. But Quackle also hates my choice of SOUND over something like L10 DUO. My thinking was that on this board, the S isn't really a key tile; the key tiles are the I to play TINY or LINY hooking QI, the H to play HO/HUN, and the X just because it's the last power tile. Rather than play L10 DUO, I wanted to get more cracks at any of these three tiles to maintain tempo advantage. #findinglarge for sure and not sure if this is a #strategymedium as Quackle indicates it is.
Will Anderson vs. Sue Tremblay (Game 34594)
Tactics Small
J7 FEUD +19
DUFF is actually a little bit better. frank played FIR rapidly and confidently. he probably has a good leave. i didn't want it to be too easy to bingo, i guess, but FEUD doesn't really block anything. -2.5 #tacticssmall
Frank Tangredi vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 33829)
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)
Strategy Large
H1 PANTOS +40
Big mistake. I was low on time and did not see that 2B BRAINI(A)C was available in the pool. The best play is L10 (GO)AT by about 30 equity points (I have no idea why Championship Player says it's that much better). 11K (HOO)N is second best making a strong S setup. Other winning plays are stuff like N11 POTT. #strategysaddest
Jason Keller vs. Joshua Castellano (Game 38738)
Strategy Medium
exch LLRR +0
quackle really thinks i should play through this rack. i didn't spot O4 LARDER, that seems ok enough, i suppose. or I10 REAR? gross choices here. -7 #strategymedium
Cesar Del Solar vs. Jeffrey Nelson (Game 33819)
Strategy Medium
L7 O(X)O +10
I considered sim-winners OE/AEON 7K, but it seemed like Will would be able to control the board after that, whereas OXO ensured that I would have a place for my bingo if I drew one. Quackle says this gives up too much. (-7) #strategymedium
Will Anderson vs. Carl Johnson (Game 34494)
Tactics Small
K4 OOZIE(R) +30
DOOZIE might be 6 more but I figured the odds of Rob having a B or W weren't great so might as well try to get back in it this way. This is 2nd behind DOOZIE. #tacticssmall?
Robert Goetz vs. Samuel Kaplan (Game 34998)
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 Large
5E POI +14
This hits a few sevens, but they're all too easiliy blocked. The best play seems to be 10L (G)OV, which Championship Player says wins 14% of the time. I guess if I draw a bing that ends in S or starts with A, E, I, or O, my bing can't be blocked? That's the only thing I can think of. #strategylarge
Rasheed Balogun vs. Joshua Castellano (Game 34972)
Strategy Large
O4 CARIE(S) +33
why was i so nervous? my brain settled in on CARIES and considered nothing else except CRANES (which is better). but I didn't like CRANES because if he draws the S he can have an easy high scoring overlap like MATED, etc. but i didn't think of the simple CARERS, which keeps a vowel (i DID notice the bag was vowel heavy, but i was so nervous at this time after the RAKIS mistake ...) and i'm quite likely to draw an E because the bag is E heavy, but i thought of nothing else!!! #strategylarge
Joey Krafchick vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 35032)
Tactics Medium
K9 TAKAhES +83
I'm far ahead that I can sacrifice over ten points of equity to avoid allowing triple-triples. In this case, I should play 10D SIKA. This play got probably the longest hold of my career, because Michael was directing the tournament and a bag of tiles was spilled. #tacticsmedium
Alec Sjoholm vs. Michael Baker (Game 33631)
Finding Large
8K (I)NURE +18
Would've been funny if I played my other choice of 2B URP because then I could say "Your play: URP" - I somehow missed 2D PRURIENT. Pretty lazy. #findinglarge
Winter vs. Will Anderson (Game 34408)
Vision Medium
D3 TURNI(P) +16
Right idea with the turnover and blocking the HUMPS hook. I will say that TURNIP is a worse play than it usually is because I should not be keeping 2 Os with 3 more usneen. While TURNIP isn't egregious, I should be looking to address my O problem while also blocking more indirectly with F2 UNROOT or even 4C UNROOF. #visionmedium
David Firstman vs. Samuel Kaplan (Game 50665)
Knowledge Large
H4 WROTH +30
tip: if you have a bingo on your first move of the tournament, play it. You'll be infinitely more likely to win said tournament if you do. I saw TROWTHS, but ROWTH didn't have a hook in my head #knowledgesaddest
Josh Sokol vs. Annette Obrestad (Game 39462)
Knowledge Large
O1 KEELHOl(E) +0 (Lost challenge)
KEELHALL, KEELHALE, KEELHAUL, KNEEHOLE, KEELHOLE*. I knew that this was very likely to be one of those one-two punches of letting a phony go because it gave me a phony. But I couldn't think of ANAGOGE, and I couldn't think of all of the KEEL words that this wasn't. Only KEELHALL. I knew there were more. I also wasn't sure of PEEKHOLE*, but then eventually remembered PEEPHOLE. I didn't know KNEEHOLE. I hated ANAGOGUE* at the start, I needed to act on that gut instinct. #knowledgesaddest
Josh Sokol vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 37678)
Finding Large
14I RAPIN(I) +26
was a huge ball of nerves here. Missed the easy FRA(N)C. This was just me throwing tiles down and hoping it was enough to win. #findingsaddest
Josh Sokol vs. Joey Krafchick (Game 41015)
Knowledge Medium
F3 SH +17
I want to do (NA)RDS 5J even though it blocks the D in FOOD, because YARAKS is good! I always forget that because of its definition: a fit condition for hunting: -- used of a hawk. The last part confuses my brain into thinking it's an adjectiive or an exclamation. #knowledgemedium #tacticsmedium
Josh Sokol vs. Wes Eddings (Game 33883)
Strategy Small
11I BAGEL +31
I realized after I played this that I missed A10 LAVAGE, which both I and the sim prefer over BAGEL. The equity play, A12 VEGA, performs equally with LAVAGE. #strategysmall
Mark Francillon vs. Alec Sjoholm (Game 39659)
Finding Medium
D3 VIG +17
nah, I couldn't have missed MIGG, could I have? ... #findingmedium I guess? I liked this over C5 for some bizarre reason
Josh Sokol vs. Jason Li (Game 39468)
Time Unspecified
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)