1st game... strong non-tourney player.
I'm getting to feel bad about this guy, I save all my best draws for him, and tonight no exception.
I go first, holding BEIOOPW, and dump OBI for 10. He's all consonants, plays FORD thru the O I provide. That leaves the I free for my WIPEOUTS. He's still all consonants, and makes a 3 letter 4 point dump.
Holding ACEOPV? now, the only potential bingo I can think of is overpack, but there are no R's or K out... and nor is it even a word, I learn now. Doesn't it sound intuitively good though? Lots of people overpack when they go on holiday.
Despite recent remarks in favour of "C", all it was to me now was a quick way to get rid of V without being unnecessarily hooky, so out goes COVE. He AGAIN has an all consonant rack, and trades 4. I dump something for 16, he takes 34, and I've now got ADJSST? on my rack... not too hard to figure this one out... 116 points, double double.
He takes another 34, opening a rather easy triple, and my hooking RATO in there gets me 30 points plus an unexpected challenge (I thought RATO was pretty routine...?). I've drawn Z now, dump it for 32. 10th turn, I play SABEING for 70, he challenges, and loses another turn. Now 408-143 for me. 12th turn he finally gets rEQUIEM down for 91, leaving an E 4 spaces under a TWS. Tracking showed him with pretty cheap tiles that couldn't really use it or block it effectively. I had VIGDR , and he had NOR. Playing GIVE or DIVE immediately gives him his only out play (NORI or NOIR), so I dumped RD elsewhere for 11. As it stood, the most tempting play was hooking ETCHING, so he does OR/RETCHING for 16 (no room for the N). I take GIVE now for 24, ends 541-319... I had every S, plus a blank.
2nd game... intermediate player.
This is the player I consider the blank magnet. When I first arrived tonight, she had just started her first game. Out of a sense of foreboding, I glanced at her tiles... yep, 2nd turn in, already with a blank.
So... what's her 2nd play against me? sTEEPLE. Left easy hook to the triple... I had nothing for it (racks like WAEENAO). I'm dumping nonstop, getting good leaves, and draws that negated them. After sTEEPLE, naturally she draws S, down goes PECS for 33. After 7 (where she plays the J), I'm down 190-126, and I haven't drawn anything more useful than a few E's.
She now plays RAIsING hooked as PIUs*, which I get rid of. AGAIN, she draws both damn blanks within the first half of the game!!
And knowing her rack, I have very few safe options. (She missed LATI/INGRAIN on that turn). I dump once again, for 12, she dumps INIA. After 10 I'm down 229-172, still looking for an S.
She plays ZaX for 55. Okay, no more Z, X, blanks to worry about. I answer with a 51 point parallel play of my own. She tries dumping SD as SUD* for 15, I challenge off. I've drawn Q now... holding QUOTIEA, and play TOQUE for 39, risking what I thought was a phony hook, LATTE (It's good, but only recently... it's not in my OSPD 2). I had a "legitimate" 37 point hook elsewhere, but it left the E directly under a TWS, whereas this one left the E beside the TWS (a W was missing... so took the one that was 2 points more and DIDN't offer 30+ point WE hook).
Of course I now draw the W, with INIS. I play the best endgame I can find... WIS/FORBS for 24, then out with INIA/IWIS on the trip for 17. All that did was get me to 351 against her 372.
3rd game, Dick... relatively new player. I draw a blank off the top, and bingo with ENPLAnE next turn. I had VOLPLANE the previous turn, but doubted it, dumped VAN for 14...geez.
He takes POUTED/ENPLANED for 40, and I've drawn a U-less Q already. I play some pretty useful turns, apparently (37, 48, 23) before I can get rid of QAT for 31. He's doing not too badly though... after 7, he's just 52 behind, reducing the margin to 43 after 9. He plays UNLIST* for 24, which I'm 95% sure is garbage, but it's not blocking the 8 I see, and it burns an S pretty harmlessly. Should have challenged, but, what the hell.
I have the choice of MANITOUS or TINAMOUS, and decide TINAMOUS looks sillier. He says he trusts me and figures it's an adjective related to tin... (a tinamou is like a pheasant, from S. America). I draw a J with a load of I's. I dump OIL for 6, setting up JEER for 42. He goes out, with me holding III. 386-319 for me.
4th game, Will, strong intermediate player... but not that good today =)
Will claimed to be familiar with SABEING when the first guy mentioned me playing it... yet in our game he tried phonies as... gee, I'm tempted to say pathetic... as WER*.
Anyway, it's a game where nothing seemed to happen for either of us for most of the game. After 10, it was me leading 159-133. I'd had one exchange turn (TNRCBFN)... the bag was vowel heavy, I risked keeping TNR, ended up with NITRITS... which offered 2 potential 8's. I saw only NITRITES, which wasn't available. The other one, INTROITS, probably wasn't either, the way the board was setting up. At turn 13, I challenge off RECLEaR, and play ZEATINS there... almost ashamed of resorting to a stem bingo =). I challenge off another phony, dump JOIN for 33 on the TWS opened by ZEATINS, and now hold ABGNOS?. I'm dying to play NOSEBAG, but there's nowhere for it. I see BAGNIOS, GABIONS, and GABOONS... and they all look kinda iffy to me... an open F makes me almost go for FOGBANkS*, but I doubt that one even more. GABoONS it is. I saw BANDOGS and doubted that too! I remembered there was an -ONGS word, but couldn't think of BARONGS. BROGANS and GOBANGS, the other two possibilities, didn't enter my mind at all. And there were no legit 8's from the open F.
I draw the Q and U.. QUAY for 43. Down to OSIER on my rack (OSIER went nowhere, so I played ROSE/AGO/RYAS/something for 23. Ended 484-249.
Richard the erratic fisherman was distracted all night, listening to the Blue Bombers (Winnipeg's Canadian football team) game on his walkman. So too bad I didn't play him =).
At the end, several of us discussed the Calgary tournament in mid Oct... I mentioned I was sort of considering it, seeing as Lori G was planning on going. They didn't know who I was referring to =)
Winnipeg's having a one day, 8-game sanctioned tournament in November on a Saturday (the 17th I think?). Entry fee $12 Canadian, as it stands.