Another one I'd just as soon forget, but important/painful lessons...
1st game
Vs a good player who I rarely play (she's going for most wins in club... plays every week without fail, and 90% of her games are against the weakest players here)
Long story short, she gets everything... my single bingo is ALTHORN, which was the best looking rack I had all game (even if there had been no bingo in it). Yet we're neck in neck at the end. I look at what's left... I have 3 extra letters showing, so I missed something in tracking. Eliminated two O's that were showing for some reason. My clock is low now. She has 3 left on her rack, and I show bt tracking, R IIE. I don't notice the "R" I wrote down before... seeing only IIE... and figure she can't play out. I dump X and L for 17, leaving an H play of 20. She plays out IRE, wins by 3 with the H's 8 points. A double check of the tracking would have shown me IRE left, and I'd have played HEX for 13... the L I'd be caught with would still afford me a win.
2nd game... vs Richard C
I pulled both blanks and an S in this one... after 10 turns, 306 to 226 for me, after he narrowed the gap with CRYSTAL. I'd had a bingo followed by the brutally well timed pick of an X (HOAXED for 68). A couple turns later I phony with HEROIsE (only HEROIZE is good, but nothing to hook with). HEROInE wouldn't hook, and the only other option, cHEERIO, didn't occur to me.
Holding BEFGINR, I wonder about BEFRINGE on the trip for 95. It rings a bell. But it looks SO contrived. Alternatives? He's just opened an easy triple elsewhere, I can dump F(LA)G for 36 safely, and remove that hot spot. Or try BEFRINGE... if challenged and it comes off, I lose turn AND crack at that open triple. I take FLAG, stupid me.
In retrospect, I only looked at it from MY point of view. I didn't stop to think how he'd see it: BEFRINGE played by good player who rarely phonies. If BEFRINGE is challenged and is good, then the open triple goes to him too.
Even if BEFRINGE wasn't good, there's a good chance he'd let it go. And 95 points... is better than 36.
513-302 for me.
3rd game... good player. Another nothing draw. His second turn is sEARING. Tough rack. Towards the end, the only useful bingo lane is ending an 8 on -R. I know he's added the second blank to his goodies collection. My rack after a game's worth of trying to balance, cannot so much as produce a 3 letter blocking play. I take whatever points I can elsewhere. Down goes SmOOTHER. And a turn later, he blocks only place ROUPIER will go. 310-412.
4th game... fairly good new guy. 4th turn, I play RETRIED after challenging off QUEENS/MACINGS. He gets UnVEILS/SQUIRE a couple turns later. After 10 turns, 267-259. All premiums to him so far. After 13 turns, 328-310... with my last full pick, I find the only S and blank he hasn't played. I get (N)OTAbLES down for 71. 420-312.
Coming home, frustrated at the tile gods, I go slumming at games.com... run into an mplayer who was hands down the BEST tile picker against me ever... he gets in this game blank blank SSS, 3 bingos, and wins.
Not feeling terribly redeemed, I go to the Romanian site, take on the highest available player there... who gets blank blank SSS and wins.
Geez.