Playing on-line typos occur fairly frequently. When I'm playing Eric we usually challenge (assuming the play is invalid) and pass when obvious typos occur under the rationale that that doesn't happen on a board, but, as I found out at club last night, sometimes it does.
It began in my first game of evening when I tried to play UNUA to dump some vowels and block a triple word line. I realized immediately after announcing my score (so immediately after it was too late) that I had transposed the second U and the A. In that same game my opponent, Rebecca Lambert, played the invalid bingo RUSLTERS. Again, I didn't notice the mistake until just after it was too late. Then in my last game of the evening I played AEROLE (instead of AREOLE), but my opponent didn't challenge. In fact, I didn't even notice it until long after the game was over. I was at home thinking about the game and realized from how the game ended that I must have made an invalid play. Sloppy, sloppy.
Overall, however, it was a decent night. I went 2-1 with a spread close to +200. My only loss was to Rebecca, but aside from my typo and missing her typo, I played pretty well. I was double blanked and had to fight through some ridiculous vowel-heavy racks, but still managed 402 points. I would've won if at the end I had a place go out with BANDS on my rack, but I didn't and ended up losing by 8. At one point, I had five vowels on my rack and I played the aforementioned UNUA, which resulted in me retaining the same crap rack and scoring nothing. I exchanged 5 on my next play and drew 4 vowels, so I played a vowel dump on my next turn for nominal points, and then proceeded to draw all vowels which required me to exchange again my next turn. I had netted about 10 points in 4 turns. Not surprisingly I was down big, but I tried not to get frustrated, and just focus on making strong plays. To a large extent it worked as I came back with two bingos, ENTERAL and ORGEATS, the latter of which was quite nice because the only place to bingo required a front hook of both WO and OY with the last two letters of the bingo, so it pretty much had to be TS.
The other two games I won fairly handily, although one of them could have been very close if my opponent had challenged AEROLE, or if he had not played AFRO, which I challenged off the board (I guess he never saw "Word Wars") and instead played FORA for way more points. He played GNAWINGS on me, which I challenged, but much to my surprise, it's valid. The only other noteworthy thing that happened on the night is that I bingoed with three Ns in my rack, and that's barely noteworthy since it was the rather boring TANNING and I had both blanks.
I am slightly put-off by the club format. I wish that the last three games included a one-and-done tournament between the top 8 people at club that night. I think it would be fun to have a conclusive "winner" for that week and it would be a much better way to pair opponents, in my opinion, than having the director do it almost at random. It would require slightly more organization by the director however, which might be a problem considering that there seems to be a new one each week. I can't complain too much though. The directors are just volunteering, and it's not like I'm offering to do it.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
You can find me at the club
I've been back at club the past two weeks. In 8 games I'm 4-4 with a spread right around 0 -- almost the definition of average, but I do generally play the better players. Yesterday I had a strange game against Brian Bailey in which there were 5 challenges. I'm going first and on my rack is ANPSTU?. I know that there are bingos in this rack, but I'm having trouble finding one. (The easiest one is PEANUTS, but also I should've seen UNSTRAP and DUSTPAN). I see both STANDUP and UPSTAND, but I don't know if they are valid (they are), as well as UNTAPES (invalid). After minutes of dithering I become slightly flustered and decided to play a safe word and save the blank and S, so I lay done UNTAP. The problem being that UNTAP is not a safe word at all. It's invalid. I didn't even think twice about it. I must have confused it with UNCAP, or something, I'm not sure. It's challenged off the board, and then Brian exchanges some tiles.
With the board still empty I'm going through the same process as before. This time I put down UNTAPES, the one invalid play out of the three I'm considering, and again it comes off the board. On his play Brian bingos ENTERON. Now, I'm ready to try STANDUP, but I notice a play I missed before, OUTSPAN(S). I try this one, because it's more points, off the O in ENTERON. For the third straight time the play is challenged (the director is getting a work out), but thankfully this time the play is valid. Five turns and we have two words on the board, both bingos. (By the way, PULSANT is the only other valid play not mentioned above in my opening rack).
A few turns later I draw DDEIST? and bingo TEDDIES (not challenged) then subsequently draw EEINSST. On the next play I hit SENSTINES for a 2x2. Unsure of this variation, Brian challenges, number four, but it stays. I was 99% sure it was valid (ENTIES = RAVI'S SLY MINX CHILD). Now, I'm up big when a few turns later Brain hits the 2x2 REAVAILS for 91 points. Convinced this is a desperation move, it sounds completely phony to me, I challenge, but shockingly, it's valid (REAVAIL and LEVARIA). Luckily, on the subsequent draw Brian gets a bunch of garbage, and continues to do so for the rest of the game, which is pretty uneventful. I win fairly handily. Overall, this was a very fun game, probably more fun for me since I won, but I complete outdrew my opponent, he did a good job just to keep it somewhat close.
With the board still empty I'm going through the same process as before. This time I put down UNTAPES, the one invalid play out of the three I'm considering, and again it comes off the board. On his play Brian bingos ENTERON. Now, I'm ready to try STANDUP, but I notice a play I missed before, OUTSPAN(S). I try this one, because it's more points, off the O in ENTERON. For the third straight time the play is challenged (the director is getting a work out), but thankfully this time the play is valid. Five turns and we have two words on the board, both bingos. (By the way, PULSANT is the only other valid play not mentioned above in my opening rack).
A few turns later I draw DDEIST? and bingo TEDDIES (not challenged) then subsequently draw EEINSST. On the next play I hit SENSTINES for a 2x2. Unsure of this variation, Brian challenges, number four, but it stays. I was 99% sure it was valid (ENTIES = RAVI'S SLY MINX CHILD). Now, I'm up big when a few turns later Brain hits the 2x2 REAVAILS for 91 points. Convinced this is a desperation move, it sounds completely phony to me, I challenge, but shockingly, it's valid (REAVAIL and LEVARIA). Luckily, on the subsequent draw Brian gets a bunch of garbage, and continues to do so for the rest of the game, which is pretty uneventful. I win fairly handily. Overall, this was a very fun game, probably more fun for me since I won, but I complete outdrew my opponent, he did a good job just to keep it somewhat close.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Update of very little
It’s been a while since I’ve put a post up on this blog, because I haven’t done anything worth posting in a while. And I still haven’t, truth be told. My Scrabble life has been basically stagnant since
My studying has gone down, because I don’t go to the gym as often (I memorize words while doing cardio) but I still make time. I learned a set of 10 or so new stems in the past few weeks. I’ve also been playing on-line a lot. My averages are all up. I only dip below 20 pts per play during really dry spells, and I’ve been as high as 23 pts per play. I think with a little luck I could really gain some NSA rating points at my next tournament. Also, Eric has been teaching me some new words during his routine beat-downs of me. He’s getting really good (living in the middle of nowhere can help you Scrabble game, apparently). I can give him a game though, and I beat him just enough to not get completely frustrated. Recently I put up nearly 600 on him. My big play was DEMENTIA – a 3x3 for 140 pts. Nice find.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
On-line annoyances
I've played an unusually high number of annoying people on-line the past few days. One person called me an "asshole cheater" immediately after I beat him, and then no-played me. Another person didn't challenge a phoney I played (GROIT, got it confused with the valid GRIOT), and then said to me, "ur word is no good, I didn't challenge to be nice." Then I wrote to him, "if it's phoney, just challenge it right off the board." So he wrote, "it's not my style." Whatever, that's fine, but I'd prefer to play a competitive game. I didn't reply, so he wrote, "I'd rather just my opponent say 'thanks'." I didn't think there was anything to say thanks for, as I don't consider what he did a favor. On the contrary I find it slightly condescending. I was going to type this, but then I thought, why bother, and just didn't say anything. So then he wrote again, "Is the word 'thanks' not in your vocabulary???????? Now I regret it." This I found extremely irritating so I wrote back and said, "I'd rather you challenge, and not be annoyingly self-righteous." We didn't correspond the rest of the game, and then he no-played me when it was over. Well, at least these people are no-playing me. My list is full.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Playing in Division A in Urbana
Four of us are going to the Urbana, Illinois tournament together. Eric and I are in division 1, Matt and Mark, playing their first ever tournament, are in division 4. They’ve never played anything more serious than a coffee table game, they never study words, and they don’t quite have the twos down – the task that Eric assigned them before the tourney. (We give Matt a cram session on the way from Chicago to Urbana, but he’s still a little shaky going into things. “What about RA?”) They each get a couple of wins though, Mark goes 3-9 and Matt 2-10. Eric has the best tournament at 7-5. I go 6-6, not bad at all given I came in ranked 15th in my field of 18. (I should get a bit of a ratings boost, probably around 25 pts). However, .500 is a bit of a let down given that I was 5-2 after the first day. On to my games…
I start things off against Darin True. With a nearly 1700 rating he’s number 3 coming into the tourney. Late in the game I’m hanging in there despite not getting an S or a blank. I bingoed (TRAINEES) and hit-up a 66 pt triple word score (QUIZ). But down 34 with about 10 tiles left I have take to take a risk. I lay down the potential bingo ARIETTE by hooking an E on VOLVA to make VOLVAE. I don’t know if VOLVAE is good or not (it isn’t), but I figure it’s my only chance to win. Luckily, for me he doesn’t challenge, and instead opens a bingo line for himself, as he has some bingoable tiles and the last blank in his rack. Double luckily for me, however, I draw BANDIES from the bag and bingo out to win by 125. I’m feeling great about this win. I really stole one.
My next game against Linda Hoggatt doesn’t go quite as well. I’m completely outdrawn and lose by 170. At one point I try to get back into the game by playing a phony bingo, IOGENES, but she challenges it right off the board. (It’s kind of close to IONOGENS which is good.) After the game she told me ISOGENE was good in that rack, but it’s actually not. Too bad I didn’t try that one instead, but how can one know one phony will better than another? I give Ken Dutch a 114 point smackdown in my next game. He makes two bad challenges (HAZER, AGINNER/JUGA), which really costs him. One big play is pretty much the difference in my next game. With not many tiles left in the bag, against Jacquelin Fyr, I lay down EXTINCTS across a double word square with the X on a double letter square for 92 pts. I win by 94. I actually wasn’t 100% on EXTINCTS (it’s good), but it was too tantalizing not to hit up. Going into lunch I’m 3-1, and feeling good.
After lunch things pick up right where they left off. I thoroughly outdraw Frank Lee (aka Santa Claus) and win 463-334. It was one of those games where the only plays you can see are great plays. In succession I play: THRASHED (80), QUEAN (48), FEU (27), CUSHY (41), COXES (55). Then after I dump some tiles with WINY (11), I hit back-to-back bingos: TIDIEST (72) and BRINDLED (64). Frank is a great sport (unlike some of the other players there), but even he can’t help muttering under his breath after this one. Another 400+ big win follows against Matthew Ridout. I liked this win because I didn’t get all the great tiles. In fact, he got all the esses and one of the blanks. With the exception of one easy-bingo rack (DEELRT?) I had seemingly terrible tile combinations all game. Still I was able to make solid play after solid play in cruising to a 443-352 win. For example, I had IIIORUV on my rack and was contemplating an exchange when I noticed I could put down VIRTU on a double word square with the V on a triple letter square. It was worth 42 points. I then drew AINX to give me AIIIONX, and was able to play AX for 49 on my next turn. It was that type of game. Afterwards Matthew congratulated me and told me I “just flat outplayed” him. It was a nice compliment. Lisa Slankard totally kills my buzz in the last game of the day. I can’t get anything going, I don’t bingo at all, and I lose 319-388. After the game I have the following exchange:
Her: (looking at phone) My kids keep calling me during my games
Me: Oh
Her: One called to tell me he thinks he’s going to be a father.
Me: Oh, that’s nice.
Her: He’s 21, not married and an alcoholic.
Me:
Her: Then my other son calls to tell me he’s dropping out of college.
Me: Well, at least your tournament is going well. (She’s only lost once.)
I end the day at 5-2, not too shabby at all. Eric is 4-3, Mark is 2-5, and Matt is 0-7. Mark hit up EQUALIZE which is pretty sweet.
Back at Mark’s I watch Mark and Matt play a few after-hours games. They are very entertaining. It’s Scrabble wild, wild, west-style. They both know that the dictionary is full of ridiculous words and they both know that the other one doesn’t know the dictionary very well, so the amount of phonies played is off-the-hook (TAIR, RIT, ALBERT, to name a few). Matt wins two games in a row. On the first play of the first game (after not bingoing once in tournament) he busts out BREEZED for nearly 100 points. It was pretty funny (even more so because he didn’t place it so that the Z was on the double letter square). Although, it was not nearly as funny as the night before when Matt missed the center square on the first play of the game. He put down TIE and none of the letters were on the star. There are specific instructions in the rule book for just this situation and once Eric and I were joking about it, because it seemed too ridiculous to ever actually occur. Eric claimed Matt’s misplay was, “the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time.” He was in hysterics laughing about it.
I open the next day’s games against Harriet Lakernick. I really want to beat her because I’ve found her board-side behavior throughout the tournament extremely obnoxious. She complains loudly and frequently when she’s not drawing well. It’s completely distracting and inconsiderate to her opponent and those who are playing near her. She’s also pouty, she curses at the board, and she’s pretty rude. There are about three or four people in this tournament like her. Earlier in the tourney a woman was playing Eric at the board next to mine and it was a non-stop bitch-fest about her tiles. She went so far as to show Eric her racks (I guess so he could see for himself how bad they really were), and she’d sarcastically celebrate when she drew an S. This is such bad sportsmanship. And it’s flat out rude to your opponent. If you play enough Scrabble you will have games where you draw super poorly (and super well). The people in the top division know this and they certainly have had games where they’ve drawn badly before, so you would think they would know how to deal with it in a way that isn’t so self-centered, and irritating.
Anyway, Harriet’s tournament is not going well, as she only won 1 game in the first day. But, she beats me. She gets the blanks and the point tiles and two of the esses. There is little I can do to avoid a 97 point drubbing. In my next game I come out with the short end of the stick in great battle against Samuel Smith. With him up two bingos early I’m able to get back into the game due to a bingo by me, and a gaffe by him. With OIRRWS? in my rack I play WORRIERS through an open R, one of two playable bingos I see (the other one is the almost equivalent WARRIORS). Unfortunately it places the W immediately below the triple word score, setting him up for a big play. However, he plays ACED there not realizing he made EW in doing so. I challenge it off the board (he has a d’oh moment, as we don’t even look it up), and then I play JO there for 42. It pulls me within 28. When I bingo ENTOILED late in the game I really like my chances of winning, as I’m up about 25 with a decent rack, and all the point tiles, both blanks and three esses already played. Unfortunately two turns later he bingos STYLING to clinch a victory. Final score: 403-471.
The next game, a rematch against Darin True, is my favorite game of the tournament (just ahead of the game against Frank Lee). On the second play of the game I hit the 2x2 OILSEED for 96 pts., and subsequently draw CEIMNOP. I see a nice play if gives me an L to play through, which luckily he does. I put down COMPLINE for 70+. He holds the play, and I’m hoping he challenges because this word is on a random word list in my office that I made while watching old games on cross-tables, so I’m almost certain it’s good (it is – def.: the last liturgical prayer of the day). He doesn’t challenge though, instead he counter-bingos (LATTICED) to keep it close. I then spend most the mid-game trying to block bingo lines with my racks of mostly vowels. I’m successful in doing so, as afterwards he tells me I twice blocked his only bingo spot. When I hit up DIVERTS for 80+ with the bag nearly empty I seal a victory. For the second time in the tournament I beat Darin by over 100 points.
I get trounced in each of my last two games meaning I finish 1-4 on the day and lose 5 of my last 6. It sucks to finish this way, but in the context of the entire tournament, my first one in the top division, I’m mostly okay with .500. Also, I would like to note that in those last 6 games I drew only 3 of the 12 possible blanks (one each against, Samuel, Darin and Lisa). In my second to last game Connie Breitbeil puts up over 550 points and beats me by about 220. She plays OUTMANS for a 158 pt 3x3. I unsuccessful challenge, and then she follows with DISRATES on a triple word score for about 75. It would have been worse, but I catch her playing a phony (BITED), and she doesn’t challenge my 96 pt. phony bingo (TETCHES). I liked OUTMANS, and had it not been a 3x3 I would not have challenged. I was by no means 100% on it though, and I feel I have to challenge something that’s that devastating unless I’m sure it’s good. After the computer validated the play she gave a little fist pump, and a smirk right in my face. I just ignored it, but it was pretty obnoxious and unnecessary. There is no reason to gloat about winning a desperation challenge, especially when I said while walking up to the computer, “I like it, but it’s too good to not challenge.” Also, after the game I told her (clearly and audibly) “good game, well done.” And she didn’t even acknowledge me. Eric said she wasn’t a very good sport when he played her also (he crushed her).
Speaking of Eric it just so happens that we’re both 6-5 going into the final round and we play each other. Both of us are out of the money, so the game is just for “better tournament” and bragging rights of the only tournament game we’ve played so far. He gets to brag after this one. I’m mostly outdrawn, and it’s not very close. He hits up some point tiles early and then draws both the blanks. His big play is LOUVRED on a triple word score hooking the O to BEAN to make BEANO – very nice. I do bingo twice late, but it’s not nearly enough, and he wins handily.
Overall, it was probably the most fun I’ve had a tournament. At 6-6 I have no reason to be disappointed, and no reason to be ecstatic. I feel if I could’ve drawn a little better the last day, 8-4 was a serious possibility (although had I drawn worse earlier I could’ve just as easily been 4-8). At 7-5 Eric might get a ratings bump also, but it will probably be small. He started out on fire, but hit a stretch of about 5 games where he drew terribly and lost to players with much lower ratings than him. I’m curious to see where Matt and Mark are rated. They say they’re playing again in October in Wisconsin. I’d love to join them, but there is no way that’s happening. I’m going to hit up Baltimore in September and then after that I might not play a tourney for a while. It’ll just be club and on-line.
I start things off against Darin True. With a nearly 1700 rating he’s number 3 coming into the tourney. Late in the game I’m hanging in there despite not getting an S or a blank. I bingoed (TRAINEES) and hit-up a 66 pt triple word score (QUIZ). But down 34 with about 10 tiles left I have take to take a risk. I lay down the potential bingo ARIETTE by hooking an E on VOLVA to make VOLVAE. I don’t know if VOLVAE is good or not (it isn’t), but I figure it’s my only chance to win. Luckily, for me he doesn’t challenge, and instead opens a bingo line for himself, as he has some bingoable tiles and the last blank in his rack. Double luckily for me, however, I draw BANDIES from the bag and bingo out to win by 125. I’m feeling great about this win. I really stole one.
My next game against Linda Hoggatt doesn’t go quite as well. I’m completely outdrawn and lose by 170. At one point I try to get back into the game by playing a phony bingo, IOGENES, but she challenges it right off the board. (It’s kind of close to IONOGENS which is good.) After the game she told me ISOGENE was good in that rack, but it’s actually not. Too bad I didn’t try that one instead, but how can one know one phony will better than another? I give Ken Dutch a 114 point smackdown in my next game. He makes two bad challenges (HAZER, AGINNER/JUGA), which really costs him. One big play is pretty much the difference in my next game. With not many tiles left in the bag, against Jacquelin Fyr, I lay down EXTINCTS across a double word square with the X on a double letter square for 92 pts. I win by 94. I actually wasn’t 100% on EXTINCTS (it’s good), but it was too tantalizing not to hit up. Going into lunch I’m 3-1, and feeling good.
After lunch things pick up right where they left off. I thoroughly outdraw Frank Lee (aka Santa Claus) and win 463-334. It was one of those games where the only plays you can see are great plays. In succession I play: THRASHED (80), QUEAN (48), FEU (27), CUSHY (41), COXES (55). Then after I dump some tiles with WINY (11), I hit back-to-back bingos: TIDIEST (72) and BRINDLED (64). Frank is a great sport (unlike some of the other players there), but even he can’t help muttering under his breath after this one. Another 400+ big win follows against Matthew Ridout. I liked this win because I didn’t get all the great tiles. In fact, he got all the esses and one of the blanks. With the exception of one easy-bingo rack (DEELRT?) I had seemingly terrible tile combinations all game. Still I was able to make solid play after solid play in cruising to a 443-352 win. For example, I had IIIORUV on my rack and was contemplating an exchange when I noticed I could put down VIRTU on a double word square with the V on a triple letter square. It was worth 42 points. I then drew AINX to give me AIIIONX, and was able to play AX for 49 on my next turn. It was that type of game. Afterwards Matthew congratulated me and told me I “just flat outplayed” him. It was a nice compliment. Lisa Slankard totally kills my buzz in the last game of the day. I can’t get anything going, I don’t bingo at all, and I lose 319-388. After the game I have the following exchange:
Her: (looking at phone) My kids keep calling me during my games
Me: Oh
Her: One called to tell me he thinks he’s going to be a father.
Me: Oh, that’s nice.
Her: He’s 21, not married and an alcoholic.
Me:
Her: Then my other son calls to tell me he’s dropping out of college.
Me: Well, at least your tournament is going well. (She’s only lost once.)
I end the day at 5-2, not too shabby at all. Eric is 4-3, Mark is 2-5, and Matt is 0-7. Mark hit up EQUALIZE which is pretty sweet.
Back at Mark’s I watch Mark and Matt play a few after-hours games. They are very entertaining. It’s Scrabble wild, wild, west-style. They both know that the dictionary is full of ridiculous words and they both know that the other one doesn’t know the dictionary very well, so the amount of phonies played is off-the-hook (TAIR, RIT, ALBERT, to name a few). Matt wins two games in a row. On the first play of the first game (after not bingoing once in tournament) he busts out BREEZED for nearly 100 points. It was pretty funny (even more so because he didn’t place it so that the Z was on the double letter square). Although, it was not nearly as funny as the night before when Matt missed the center square on the first play of the game. He put down TIE and none of the letters were on the star. There are specific instructions in the rule book for just this situation and once Eric and I were joking about it, because it seemed too ridiculous to ever actually occur. Eric claimed Matt’s misplay was, “the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time.” He was in hysterics laughing about it.
I open the next day’s games against Harriet Lakernick. I really want to beat her because I’ve found her board-side behavior throughout the tournament extremely obnoxious. She complains loudly and frequently when she’s not drawing well. It’s completely distracting and inconsiderate to her opponent and those who are playing near her. She’s also pouty, she curses at the board, and she’s pretty rude. There are about three or four people in this tournament like her. Earlier in the tourney a woman was playing Eric at the board next to mine and it was a non-stop bitch-fest about her tiles. She went so far as to show Eric her racks (I guess so he could see for himself how bad they really were), and she’d sarcastically celebrate when she drew an S. This is such bad sportsmanship. And it’s flat out rude to your opponent. If you play enough Scrabble you will have games where you draw super poorly (and super well). The people in the top division know this and they certainly have had games where they’ve drawn badly before, so you would think they would know how to deal with it in a way that isn’t so self-centered, and irritating.
Anyway, Harriet’s tournament is not going well, as she only won 1 game in the first day. But, she beats me. She gets the blanks and the point tiles and two of the esses. There is little I can do to avoid a 97 point drubbing. In my next game I come out with the short end of the stick in great battle against Samuel Smith. With him up two bingos early I’m able to get back into the game due to a bingo by me, and a gaffe by him. With OIRRWS? in my rack I play WORRIERS through an open R, one of two playable bingos I see (the other one is the almost equivalent WARRIORS). Unfortunately it places the W immediately below the triple word score, setting him up for a big play. However, he plays ACED there not realizing he made EW in doing so. I challenge it off the board (he has a d’oh moment, as we don’t even look it up), and then I play JO there for 42. It pulls me within 28. When I bingo ENTOILED late in the game I really like my chances of winning, as I’m up about 25 with a decent rack, and all the point tiles, both blanks and three esses already played. Unfortunately two turns later he bingos STYLING to clinch a victory. Final score: 403-471.
The next game, a rematch against Darin True, is my favorite game of the tournament (just ahead of the game against Frank Lee). On the second play of the game I hit the 2x2 OILSEED for 96 pts., and subsequently draw CEIMNOP. I see a nice play if gives me an L to play through, which luckily he does. I put down COMPLINE for 70+. He holds the play, and I’m hoping he challenges because this word is on a random word list in my office that I made while watching old games on cross-tables, so I’m almost certain it’s good (it is – def.: the last liturgical prayer of the day). He doesn’t challenge though, instead he counter-bingos (LATTICED) to keep it close. I then spend most the mid-game trying to block bingo lines with my racks of mostly vowels. I’m successful in doing so, as afterwards he tells me I twice blocked his only bingo spot. When I hit up DIVERTS for 80+ with the bag nearly empty I seal a victory. For the second time in the tournament I beat Darin by over 100 points.
I get trounced in each of my last two games meaning I finish 1-4 on the day and lose 5 of my last 6. It sucks to finish this way, but in the context of the entire tournament, my first one in the top division, I’m mostly okay with .500. Also, I would like to note that in those last 6 games I drew only 3 of the 12 possible blanks (one each against, Samuel, Darin and Lisa). In my second to last game Connie Breitbeil puts up over 550 points and beats me by about 220. She plays OUTMANS for a 158 pt 3x3. I unsuccessful challenge, and then she follows with DISRATES on a triple word score for about 75. It would have been worse, but I catch her playing a phony (BITED), and she doesn’t challenge my 96 pt. phony bingo (TETCHES). I liked OUTMANS, and had it not been a 3x3 I would not have challenged. I was by no means 100% on it though, and I feel I have to challenge something that’s that devastating unless I’m sure it’s good. After the computer validated the play she gave a little fist pump, and a smirk right in my face. I just ignored it, but it was pretty obnoxious and unnecessary. There is no reason to gloat about winning a desperation challenge, especially when I said while walking up to the computer, “I like it, but it’s too good to not challenge.” Also, after the game I told her (clearly and audibly) “good game, well done.” And she didn’t even acknowledge me. Eric said she wasn’t a very good sport when he played her also (he crushed her).
Speaking of Eric it just so happens that we’re both 6-5 going into the final round and we play each other. Both of us are out of the money, so the game is just for “better tournament” and bragging rights of the only tournament game we’ve played so far. He gets to brag after this one. I’m mostly outdrawn, and it’s not very close. He hits up some point tiles early and then draws both the blanks. His big play is LOUVRED on a triple word score hooking the O to BEAN to make BEANO – very nice. I do bingo twice late, but it’s not nearly enough, and he wins handily.
Overall, it was probably the most fun I’ve had a tournament. At 6-6 I have no reason to be disappointed, and no reason to be ecstatic. I feel if I could’ve drawn a little better the last day, 8-4 was a serious possibility (although had I drawn worse earlier I could’ve just as easily been 4-8). At 7-5 Eric might get a ratings bump also, but it will probably be small. He started out on fire, but hit a stretch of about 5 games where he drew terribly and lost to players with much lower ratings than him. I’m curious to see where Matt and Mark are rated. They say they’re playing again in October in Wisconsin. I’d love to join them, but there is no way that’s happening. I’m going to hit up Baltimore in September and then after that I might not play a tourney for a while. It’ll just be club and on-line.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Very average in Philly
Yesterday I played in a Philly tournament in which I went 4-3 with a spread of +34. Given that I played 4 people rated lower than me (1387) and 3 people rated higher than me, it was almost an exactly average tourney. I imagine my rating will not see much of a fluctuation, though a little bump up would be nice.
For the third straight time in a Philly tournament I picked a blank on my opening draw of the tournament. Against Linda Oliva (1423) I parlayed it into an easy bingo, DEALING, for 71. A few fishes later I hit up RELAXES for 86. I was never behind and ended up winning by 41. She did a decent job making a game of it, but an unsuccessfully challenge of URP was the nail in the coffin. Incidentally I challenged URP against Peter Barkman in the last Philly tourney, so I knew it was good.
In the next game Brain Galebach (1296) thoroughly outdrew me in a 106 point rout. I know Brain from DC club and I was kind of hoping not to play him, because he was so underrated going into this tournament. (Although I think he went 6-1, so he won't be underrated for long.) He drew both blanks and most the power tiles hitting them all up hard. I did draw all 4 esses, but I had three of them in my rack at one time -- I bingoed AMASSES -- so it was not as good as it sounds. In my third game, against Samuel Moch (1407), I was outdrawn again, though I can't really complain because I might have let a phoney bingo go by at a crucial point. I think he played DAVENERS (I lost the score sheet so I can't check) on me which I forgot to look up immediately after the game, but did so just now -- it's no good. I did not even think to challenge. I do that sometime for some reason. It's really bad. I should at the very least think about challenging words I don't know. New rule: I hold every word I don't know. Really that is just be common sense. It shouldn't even have to be a rule. Anyway, Going into the lunch break I'm 1-2 with a -125 spread.
After lunch things start out terrifically. I draw the bag against Sharon Moser (1407) and win by 106. I get both blanks in my rack at the same time. I use one of them in a 72 point non-bingo, ROQUES, and then bingo REPTILE with the other a turn later -- a nice little sequence of events. I squeak out a victory against Nancy Hanley (1304) in my next game. I went up a bingo early with NUTRIAS (which I almost didn't play because I had to hook ELD/ELDS and I wasn't 100% on ELDS), and then closed the board down. Oddly, she did not seem to be making an effort to open it. Louis Berney double-blanked and 3-essed me the next game in a 70 point loss to put me at 3-3 on the day. I exchanged all seven tiles in consecutive turns because I had a load of absolute garbage and all the good tiles were unseen. It just killed me. I did miss a hook I should not miss (QUART to QUARTE or QUARTO), but I could not have hit it up very hard anyway.
The last game was make or break for me. If I won I would consider it a salvaged tournament, if I lost I would be pretty disappointed. I won by 91 against Paul Olmick (1295). He bingoed twice early on, but I immediately counter-bingoed to maintain a narrow lead. I was then able to parlay some klutzy racks into big scores -- QI for 46, PETTY for 36, and JOE for 44. When I drew the final ess late in the game and hit up DINS for 44 (it hooked ZAP on a double word square) I could breathe easily. He kept setting up big play spots in hopes that he would draw the final ess. It was really all he could do. Instead I drew and used it to ensure I a positive spread on the day.
Eric had another forgettable Philly tourney. He went 3-4 in D1, a bit of let down because coming in he was rated in the top half off the field. He did rally in his last to games to somewhat salvaged a 1-4 start. Marlon Hill won D1. I'm not exactly sure who won D2, but I think it was Samuel Sussman.
For the third straight time in a Philly tournament I picked a blank on my opening draw of the tournament. Against Linda Oliva (1423) I parlayed it into an easy bingo, DEALING, for 71. A few fishes later I hit up RELAXES for 86. I was never behind and ended up winning by 41. She did a decent job making a game of it, but an unsuccessfully challenge of URP was the nail in the coffin. Incidentally I challenged URP against Peter Barkman in the last Philly tourney, so I knew it was good.
In the next game Brain Galebach (1296) thoroughly outdrew me in a 106 point rout. I know Brain from DC club and I was kind of hoping not to play him, because he was so underrated going into this tournament. (Although I think he went 6-1, so he won't be underrated for long.) He drew both blanks and most the power tiles hitting them all up hard. I did draw all 4 esses, but I had three of them in my rack at one time -- I bingoed AMASSES -- so it was not as good as it sounds. In my third game, against Samuel Moch (1407), I was outdrawn again, though I can't really complain because I might have let a phoney bingo go by at a crucial point. I think he played DAVENERS (I lost the score sheet so I can't check) on me which I forgot to look up immediately after the game, but did so just now -- it's no good. I did not even think to challenge. I do that sometime for some reason. It's really bad. I should at the very least think about challenging words I don't know. New rule: I hold every word I don't know. Really that is just be common sense. It shouldn't even have to be a rule. Anyway, Going into the lunch break I'm 1-2 with a -125 spread.
After lunch things start out terrifically. I draw the bag against Sharon Moser (1407) and win by 106. I get both blanks in my rack at the same time. I use one of them in a 72 point non-bingo, ROQUES, and then bingo REPTILE with the other a turn later -- a nice little sequence of events. I squeak out a victory against Nancy Hanley (1304) in my next game. I went up a bingo early with NUTRIAS (which I almost didn't play because I had to hook ELD/ELDS and I wasn't 100% on ELDS), and then closed the board down. Oddly, she did not seem to be making an effort to open it. Louis Berney double-blanked and 3-essed me the next game in a 70 point loss to put me at 3-3 on the day. I exchanged all seven tiles in consecutive turns because I had a load of absolute garbage and all the good tiles were unseen. It just killed me. I did miss a hook I should not miss (QUART to QUARTE or QUARTO), but I could not have hit it up very hard anyway.
The last game was make or break for me. If I won I would consider it a salvaged tournament, if I lost I would be pretty disappointed. I won by 91 against Paul Olmick (1295). He bingoed twice early on, but I immediately counter-bingoed to maintain a narrow lead. I was then able to parlay some klutzy racks into big scores -- QI for 46, PETTY for 36, and JOE for 44. When I drew the final ess late in the game and hit up DINS for 44 (it hooked ZAP on a double word square) I could breathe easily. He kept setting up big play spots in hopes that he would draw the final ess. It was really all he could do. Instead I drew and used it to ensure I a positive spread on the day.
Eric had another forgettable Philly tourney. He went 3-4 in D1, a bit of let down because coming in he was rated in the top half off the field. He did rally in his last to games to somewhat salvaged a 1-4 start. Marlon Hill won D1. I'm not exactly sure who won D2, but I think it was Samuel Sussman.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
High Game
In an on-line game I scored 633 points. I believe this is my highest score ever. I don't recall ever scoring in the 600s before, and I doubt that I once did so long ago that I don't remember it, because I wouldn't have been that good back then.
It was my second ever five bingo game. I hit HERNIAS (83), LEISTER (86), SHORTIE (84), MARLINES (80), and REGALERS (80). I never exchanged and also made some strong non-bingo plays. I had 455 with 11 tiles in the bag, but I played two bingos and went out to score 178 points in my last 3 turns.
Great game. Let's hope I have one like that in Philly tomorrow.
It was my second ever five bingo game. I hit HERNIAS (83), LEISTER (86), SHORTIE (84), MARLINES (80), and REGALERS (80). I never exchanged and also made some strong non-bingo plays. I had 455 with 11 tiles in the bag, but I played two bingos and went out to score 178 points in my last 3 turns.
Great game. Let's hope I have one like that in Philly tomorrow.
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