I did like VOGUE setting up my S better than G5 GUV(s). However, I was not sure if VOGUED was good, and it is. Despite me taking out my own hook, it is clearly better equity. I don't need to be leaving the title of Doctor of Dental Sciences on my rack in this position. #knowledgemedium
Hated to not play on row 14 but those plays just get smashed compared to RIB. But there's a cool nuance I didn't really appreciate here; while plays like sim-winning 14E BITTED surely give up a few more points than RIB does, they actually decrease Tijan's bingo% quite a bit compared to RIB. That's because row 14 after BALDY is much easier to hit than row 15 after BITTED, and RIB also gives him a bonus floater of a B to play with. Quackle is pretty emphatic that this is a #strategymedium.
Always keep looking for better options just when you think you have something. That's what allowed me to find the only bingo that gets the B on the best square. #findingsolid
I correctly determined that this would be 2 more spread points than 11F DID, but I did miss I5 (A)D(ON)IS which is tricky to spot and is several spread points better than ZAS. #visionmedium
I didn't check every possibility for the blank, which is a shame because I3 NaRDINE scores 74 points (and I prefer gRINNED over INuRNED as well). 8B INtERNODE is awesome. #findingmedium
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
This was a big mistake though. I should have realized that L2 (A)V(A) is my only spot to dump my V. Now I allowed him to slow play me instead of forcing him to go out. #endgamequestionable
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 haven't seen DSO in a long time I guess. Didn't even come close. Was lucky to have this backup or this would be a massive mistake. -6 #knowledgemedium
I may have chickened out of DOGTROT here. But maybe that was some other game. GAROTT(ES) seems better since only OI are out to overlap on the O column, and I would be keeping an O. #tacticssmall
Maybe 8A DEV(A) is a little less blocky, or even 9C V(I)G is probably slightly better leavewise, but my win % is still around 8% either way. #visionsmall
Leaving OO isn't appealing either, but AXIAL was missed for 6 more. An exchange 4 is at least random enough to the point where I can just play my game. AXIAL keeps the board open longer, which is what I sorely need to have against Richard. #findingsmall
i missed TEREDO; always gotta practice anagramming. i'm fairly sure that's the best play, it's gotta be. i wanted to play AVIATE but it seemed trivial for him to just go downward and block me. with AVIATED, if he doesn't have an O i can use that lane, but it keeps a subideal leave. -3.5 #findingmedium
wow, it looks like i made a very amateurish bad play. i'm surprised I6 OF(T) and 9I OF sim THAT much better than it. i gotta get better!! - 12.5 #strategylarge
not sure what to do here. i laid down YARROW, and then couldn't pick it up for ROSARY cuz he saw that i had a W, and that's annoying; i thought ROSARY was better after all. maybe it's ok to let him know i have the W! quackle likes C13 YOW or C11 VOWER too. it's hard to make a play like YOW when i'm down by a lot, giving him an easy scoring spot, but it gives me the best bingo chances and i need that. -2 #strategysmall ? seems like a bigger mistake.
missed some flat out better options. although finite is nice to keep the board open, and sets up a hook he may be unsure of, it still gives up Q/X bombs and easy overlaps. 9E FIE or 9F IF are good here, the former to complicate the situation a bit more, the latter perhaps a bit more optimal. #findingsmall
It does give me a good bingo %, but the exchange was not worth it. 10F ZLOTY was missed and is certainly worth it because it gives me a juicy S hook that's not easy for Beth to block. The duck's blood pressure has increased. #findinglarge
i don't have time for this garbage. i need to like take care of my house and work on some side projects, not draw EIIN to INT. so i don't know, excuse me for not fishing again when i'm down by 150 pts with 12L INIA, this game is done. -6 #lucklarge #fml #strategymedium
i saw TARRIER but it seemed dumb to block up a couple of (bad) lanes. however, 10 pts is 10 pts. i should just take the points, right? what do you think? -7 #strategymedium
Hmm. Odd miss of PERCOIDS, I absolutely did not even look through the C at all once I saw this. One benefit of PRODIGIES is that if Tim had a higher scoring tile he probably would have tried to play it last turn, so I'm a favorite to hit the H column hard. #visionsmall
1st live tourney for me in 2.5 years! The drive to Holden, MA was well worth it. I stopped off in CT on the way there the day before to hang out with another buddy and had a great time with him too. Despite some word knowledge errors I made this tourney, it felt nice to use real equipment when it mattered most. So here it goes: I saw SLEEPED* but correctly passed that up. Unfortunately, I thought SPEEL was a noun and not a verb, so I chickened out of SPEELED. #knowledgelarge
Fishing the R hits sevens 22 out of 23 times, only missing when I draw the R. F13 R(EM) is probably slightly better because it guarantees a spot for TARSEAL if I draw the A. #strategysmall
My reasoning for this move was to set up a board where I either hit my fish and bingo or brick my draw and score decently to the triple with OCAS. But AGIRS just doesn't bingo quite enough more to warrant the 10 point sacrifice over ORGIAC. #strategysmall 21:12
missed 3(!) bingos here, and I knew I was missing them too. LOPPERED and LAPPETED I didn't know for sure, and I chickened out of DEPEOPLE. #knowledgeSADDEST
i fish way too much in general. i think i should play EYE here. at B5 it might give up a lot of pts, but if he bingos i might get a big play back, and he seemed like he was going to bingo again. -2.5 #tacticssmall
Maybe H10 FOIL since the F is actually not doing much on this board. I'm not down a ton, so I don't think I need to be desperate to fork just yet. #strategysmall
#knowledgesad for challenge and #findingsad for L4 RITZ(Y). I saw (B)IZ but didn't think it would sim SO much better than SITZ. If i wanna play off these tiles, I can get 5 more pts by making OVERBUYS
14M BYS for sure. I was unsure of SEPTORIAS, which is annoying. I wanted to block RELAND. This is -21. The best non-BYS play is the crazy J13 (T)OR for 5. #endgamelarge
I considered this and A8 REAVED. I saw that a bingo ending in PT could outrun README# but I missed A7 UNADEPT, with which Samson would win by 1. A8 REAVED cannot lose; it only ties if Samson has 15H (R)ETINULA. #endgamesmall
A difficult decision. That bingo is coming, sooner rather than later. I've been very fortunate that he hasn't gotten it down yet. I saw options at N4, but they didn't seem worth it at the time. In fact, all of them are, even though Mark might parallel them. PuGAREE N4, tripling the G, is clearly best among those. (-2% win chances) #strategymedium
best by far is N2 TINDAL# for 41. I've somehow never seen it. I was not 100% on POWN#, and knew this would be at least a small mistake if POWN# was good, so that didn't feel great. Still, I could have spotted NITID C5 which seems decent. #knowledgeSADDEST
looks like WAND or exchange here (CNS or CST are both fine, going for the COBIA hook). CDNST is really lane cause I don't even bingo often, and when I don't I'm not in a great position. WAX also encourages COBIA to be blocked. I think I should exchange. #tacticssmall
Championship Player's suggestions here are not useful. During the stream, chat was suggesting J2 P(OX). I don't think this works out for most draws because he can block the M(POX) hook completely with H2 S(LAD)E or 1K TELI(C) and partially block with 2D LEV or 2D SEV. I looks like J2 P(OX) only wins if I draw the S, which would threaten 13A DOssELS as well as bingos with a blank M on row 1. In all other cases, I don't have 13A DOssELS and he can totally block the MPOX setup or I don't have an M blank bingo that fits even when he can't block (I think). I considered K11 P(O)D, but it seemed like there were way too many bingos in the pool ending in S for that to be correct. I feel like this or something similar like E10 P(OR)E or E10 L(OR)E or E11 (OR)D or D11 (HA)P give me good chances since I have a reasonable shot at hitting bingos on row 1 and row 14. I tried to do a bit of math and it seems like E10 L(OR)E is my best shot. It hits the most bingos to the C and when they do hit they should always overcome his attempts to outrun since I triple the D and P. E10 D(OR)P doesn't hit as many bingos to the C and some of them get outrun by plays like A11 (B)LIVE. This isn't accounting for inferences, but I've already written more than I thought I would so I'll leave that as an exercise to the reader. I've done all of this analysis manually using Zyzzyva, so engines might be able to refute some of these lines or suggest ones I haven't thought of. #strategysaddest
always keep the VOD. This was silly, actually. Sure, more O's out than A's, congrats. DOV still too much worse than ADV and also 4 O's is a lot still #tacticssmall
I hallucinated A1 I(D)OLATOR even though I tracked correctly and made what I thought was a 400 IQ block when there's actually no triple-triple available in the pool and I sacked a bunch of equity. I'm fairly sure this never loses though. #strategysaddest
Odd lapse here, definitely should be playing H1 WINDS. Honestly don't think I thought about ZEKS plays at all or else I surely would have. #findinglarge
Massive blunder. I need to play H1 HUGS here. I thought ING bingos were dead after this, but NUKE is a word. Now I have that hanging over me for the rest of the game. #strategysaddest
I put down 15K (S)HIVA first but picked it up because I was afraid of not drawing enough vowels with FLT to get the bing I need. I didn't even consider Q bombs. RIP. Even 15K (S)HAFT is alright, this is a huge oversight. #strategylarge
missed VOE lol, 23 and also nice for the X hooks. I don't assume he has an S, I think it's reasonable he made this play without one. OXO is cute but EEISV is kinda shitty. #findingmedium
i strongly considered L6 GOJI/JUGA and 11C JIAO as well, which all sim slightly better than my play. i liked being aggressive with the blank and thought it unlikely that he had another A, although i don't really know why. i am again, though, putting a lot of eggs in that basket. it's probably better to just do GOJI; i seem to be doing that thing again where i take bigger and bigger risks when i am doing well at a tournament, and it usually ends up burning me. #strategysmall
Quackle hates this play, and I agree that it is unsound. My idea was to generate turnover for the blank while setting up a marginal lane on column N that is difficult for Noah to close (without opening another lane or sacrificing points) or to hit, because I have the last E. I considered 12H DOWSE, but Noah usually has one or more of DRRRS and can close the board easily by playing on column M. I did not consider any fishing plays. L8 WE is best by far, setting up OKES on column M and tempting a play at 8L that opens lanes for 8s. #strategylarge
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
QUODS is better: it scores 6 more points, and my rack is full of consonants, making the S less worth keeping. K4 VELD is interesting, setting up 8K SQUAB or SQUIB with the right draw. #strategysmall
Thought hard about whether to play 5M DAB setting up KABO(B) which is kind of never blocked ever but I chickened out of it. I think I need to be a little more free with my setups sometimes but I'm glad I spotted this idea (and it does sim best.) #strategysad
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
missing the beautiful (JIN)GKO at 10F. This seemed better than GE(C)K for draws at RESEX* which I hope I would have remembered is invalid. #findingSADDEST
not sure what happened here. If I missed VIEW, if I didn't think it scored anything, what. It's a ton better. I played this whole game like Cesar, especially starting here. #findingmedium