club, denny's, club
2-1 at utica monday night. 0-2 at denny's (informal club of two) after, 1-0 for the only game i could make it for in albany last night.
my schedule for the next couple weeks is a bit overwhelming.
any lack of continuity here is due the fact that i wrote half of this yesterday and the rest today.
utica round 1: don, L 327-436
considering all of my games against don have been blowouts in my favor, i was kind of due for a loss, although i didn't go into it with that attitude. i had some early power tiles, but no bingo racks, so i just did my best to score well, and was well enough in the lead that his first bingo hardly phased me. the board was pretty open and i managed to score well enough that even his second bingo only put me forty or so behind, but he was able to get higher-scoring plays than i, and his third bingo (to my none) with two tiles left in the bag pretty much iced the cake.
ur2: jim W 405-333
i traded in an ugly opening rack...i didn't write it down, but it was one of those where my best play was less than 20 points and left me with all vowels. of course, i drew more crap, but was able to score well enough -- after playing off my g and i for 8 points, four of my next five plays scored either 34 or 35, and then i managed to bingo, and kept a lead from there. his late double-blank bingo didn't score well enough to get him back into the game, and his late j-play gave me a perfect out in two that i would not have had otherwise.
ur3: denise W 391-386
this game started off in yawnville...after five moves each, we were tied at 85 and then we each changed four tiles. i opened out of desparation and she bingoed off of that...i got to ditch my Q for 42 after that, but had a hard time catching up. the board kind of sucked, and with both blanks and a couple esses unseen, i was wary of opening too much. late in the game, i played HOW down from an H at C5 after she played off the Z...i didn't need to bingo to win at this point, figured i could back-hook my F onto HOW if needed for the triple, just get enough points to keep it close and maybe win, but my best play on my next turn was GANEF/GO/AW at B6. well, this would have been my best play had it not opened her to play BORDERS down to the triple for 95, but fortunately i had both blanks at this point. unfortunately, i suck at playing with both blanks. even less fortunately, i was 106 points behind. a bit more fortunate was that she drew the last two tiles and i had eight minutes on my clock, and all i needed was an amazing bingo out with IKRPU??. at first, i put down SPUnKIeR off her S, but that didn't score nearly enough and i knew it. i was pretty sure she had two one-point tiles on her rack, so i wasn't getting a big payday for going out. but...that GANEF play payed off, and i played PUnKIeR/eGO/Raw for 107, giving myself a one point lead, plus four off her rack. the prize for that round was for the winner of the closest game, which i was sure i had, except chris managed to beat heather by only three...but the scratch-offs he won were duds, so it doesn't really matter.
denny's first round: L 360-408
my early bingo-bango followed by a 41 point X play was somewhat promising, but after that the racks got pretty ugly. i played CODS when i should have played DOCS (which i intended to do, and just put it down wrong in haste), which basically made an entire quadrant of the board unplayable. then, i had no vowels. he was catching up when he played a phony bingo, and i let it go. why? chris rarely plays phony bingos. and i have to assume that there are some town names in NJ that are acceptable words, but TEANECK* ain't one of them. i didn't like it and should have challenged -- pretty sure it would have won me the game. i had the last two esses, but was unable to use them for anything decent. the late Q made things a bit annoying as well. the moral of this game is to challenge silly stuff, even if the person playing it is rated several hundred points above you and studies all the time. :)
denny's second round: L 349-453
my early attempt at a triple-triple was challenged off the board. he was scoring well, and my first bingo came after his second one and hardly put a dent in the score difference. i was about 130 points behind and able to bingo, but i chickened out on OVERfISH to an H on a triple and played OVERtIPS instead for far less points. not that it really would have mattered, i was clearly getting my ass kicked. he got a bunch more points than i did in the last few plays. i'm not sure if i could have pulled out a win here...maybe if i had played smarter in the beginning, not gotten frustrated with my racks, etc. hard to say. it was late.
the thruway was covered in a thick fog that reminded me of home.
last night, i went to work, which was kind of from hell. i snapped at a co-worker (in my defense, it was somewhat called for), left in a huff and drove to club for the last game. kevin gauthier handed me the printed results of north salem as if (a.) i don't know how to use my computer and (b.) i really need to be reminded of north salem. whatever. i got a cocktail and had a smoke at the bar. i was paired against jane, who i had played the week before.
albany: jane W 497-293
i changed AAAKO keeping ES and drew OOEER. oh, joy. she opened with MAIZE, i ditched OOE through the Z, which opened her for POUTY for 27, but i had SERVERS for 82. drew and ditched the J. played SOA(P)dISH* on the next turn, which i only slightly questioned (and, at the end, everyone was surprised to find that it was a phony...oh, well. now i know. now i also know that SOAPWORT, SOAPSUDS, SOAPSUDSY, SOAPBARK and SOAPLESS, amongst other silly soapy things, are all valid. heh.). a couple turns later, she tried to front hook an N onto ES, which i quickly challenged...and a minute later, i looked at my rack and was glad i did...had the play stayed, it would have blocked INFECTED for 90. she continued to review her threes while i found all sorts of cool stuff -- DIF/DANDI(ER) for 34...BEAUX didn't score amazingly well, but it overlapped stuff and looked cool. i questioned REBUY, but played it anyway to give myself an out in two.
i attempted some online clabbers when i got home, but got distracted by thai noodles and veggies, especially when i realized that i had neglected to eat anything else all day (other than a bite of baked good someone brought into work, and maybe a couple tortilla chips or something). i think i prefer clabbers live. i also think i should avoid trying to play online when i am doing other things (like cooking).
as usual, i have little interest in going to work tonight.
my schedule for the next couple weeks is a bit overwhelming.
any lack of continuity here is due the fact that i wrote half of this yesterday and the rest today.
utica round 1: don, L 327-436
considering all of my games against don have been blowouts in my favor, i was kind of due for a loss, although i didn't go into it with that attitude. i had some early power tiles, but no bingo racks, so i just did my best to score well, and was well enough in the lead that his first bingo hardly phased me. the board was pretty open and i managed to score well enough that even his second bingo only put me forty or so behind, but he was able to get higher-scoring plays than i, and his third bingo (to my none) with two tiles left in the bag pretty much iced the cake.
ur2: jim W 405-333
i traded in an ugly opening rack...i didn't write it down, but it was one of those where my best play was less than 20 points and left me with all vowels. of course, i drew more crap, but was able to score well enough -- after playing off my g and i for 8 points, four of my next five plays scored either 34 or 35, and then i managed to bingo, and kept a lead from there. his late double-blank bingo didn't score well enough to get him back into the game, and his late j-play gave me a perfect out in two that i would not have had otherwise.
ur3: denise W 391-386
this game started off in yawnville...after five moves each, we were tied at 85 and then we each changed four tiles. i opened out of desparation and she bingoed off of that...i got to ditch my Q for 42 after that, but had a hard time catching up. the board kind of sucked, and with both blanks and a couple esses unseen, i was wary of opening too much. late in the game, i played HOW down from an H at C5 after she played off the Z...i didn't need to bingo to win at this point, figured i could back-hook my F onto HOW if needed for the triple, just get enough points to keep it close and maybe win, but my best play on my next turn was GANEF/GO/AW at B6. well, this would have been my best play had it not opened her to play BORDERS down to the triple for 95, but fortunately i had both blanks at this point. unfortunately, i suck at playing with both blanks. even less fortunately, i was 106 points behind. a bit more fortunate was that she drew the last two tiles and i had eight minutes on my clock, and all i needed was an amazing bingo out with IKRPU??. at first, i put down SPUnKIeR off her S, but that didn't score nearly enough and i knew it. i was pretty sure she had two one-point tiles on her rack, so i wasn't getting a big payday for going out. but...that GANEF play payed off, and i played PUnKIeR/eGO/Raw for 107, giving myself a one point lead, plus four off her rack. the prize for that round was for the winner of the closest game, which i was sure i had, except chris managed to beat heather by only three...but the scratch-offs he won were duds, so it doesn't really matter.
denny's first round: L 360-408
my early bingo-bango followed by a 41 point X play was somewhat promising, but after that the racks got pretty ugly. i played CODS when i should have played DOCS (which i intended to do, and just put it down wrong in haste), which basically made an entire quadrant of the board unplayable. then, i had no vowels. he was catching up when he played a phony bingo, and i let it go. why? chris rarely plays phony bingos. and i have to assume that there are some town names in NJ that are acceptable words, but TEANECK* ain't one of them. i didn't like it and should have challenged -- pretty sure it would have won me the game. i had the last two esses, but was unable to use them for anything decent. the late Q made things a bit annoying as well. the moral of this game is to challenge silly stuff, even if the person playing it is rated several hundred points above you and studies all the time. :)
denny's second round: L 349-453
my early attempt at a triple-triple was challenged off the board. he was scoring well, and my first bingo came after his second one and hardly put a dent in the score difference. i was about 130 points behind and able to bingo, but i chickened out on OVERfISH to an H on a triple and played OVERtIPS instead for far less points. not that it really would have mattered, i was clearly getting my ass kicked. he got a bunch more points than i did in the last few plays. i'm not sure if i could have pulled out a win here...maybe if i had played smarter in the beginning, not gotten frustrated with my racks, etc. hard to say. it was late.
the thruway was covered in a thick fog that reminded me of home.
last night, i went to work, which was kind of from hell. i snapped at a co-worker (in my defense, it was somewhat called for), left in a huff and drove to club for the last game. kevin gauthier handed me the printed results of north salem as if (a.) i don't know how to use my computer and (b.) i really need to be reminded of north salem. whatever. i got a cocktail and had a smoke at the bar. i was paired against jane, who i had played the week before.
albany: jane W 497-293
i changed AAAKO keeping ES and drew OOEER. oh, joy. she opened with MAIZE, i ditched OOE through the Z, which opened her for POUTY for 27, but i had SERVERS for 82. drew and ditched the J. played SOA(P)dISH* on the next turn, which i only slightly questioned (and, at the end, everyone was surprised to find that it was a phony...oh, well. now i know. now i also know that SOAPWORT, SOAPSUDS, SOAPSUDSY, SOAPBARK and SOAPLESS, amongst other silly soapy things, are all valid. heh.). a couple turns later, she tried to front hook an N onto ES, which i quickly challenged...and a minute later, i looked at my rack and was glad i did...had the play stayed, it would have blocked INFECTED for 90. she continued to review her threes while i found all sorts of cool stuff -- DIF/DANDI(ER) for 34...BEAUX didn't score amazingly well, but it overlapped stuff and looked cool. i questioned REBUY, but played it anyway to give myself an out in two.
i attempted some online clabbers when i got home, but got distracted by thai noodles and veggies, especially when i realized that i had neglected to eat anything else all day (other than a bite of baked good someone brought into work, and maybe a couple tortilla chips or something). i think i prefer clabbers live. i also think i should avoid trying to play online when i am doing other things (like cooking).
as usual, i have little interest in going to work tonight.