I have to admit that I’m pretty pleased with my results of the Oshawa tournament this weekend.
After finishing last at Silly Saturday in Mississauga last weekend, and losing 90 rating points, I felt like I really needed to have a solid performance this weekend or I would have seriously considered taking that extended sabbatical from Scrabble again...
I finished 8-4 +417, taking 3rd place and pocketing $75.00. Not bad at all.
Game 1 – Anna MiranskyMy outrageous phony of the tourney came in game one. My rack was DEEOSX? The only seven I saw initially was EXpOSED. It wouldn't play. After several minutes, I played DesOX(I)ES* through an open I. Both Anna and I knew that DESOXY was good. She didn't even hold the play. I got some good chuckles when the Outrageous Phony prize was announced for my division but
andysaunders took the prize with his NONDEAL*. (The question is... DEAL or NONDEAL*!) I also bingoed with TREATED Anna challenged RAThOLE late in the game. I already had a 200-point lead at that time. 1-0, 482-255.
Game 2 – Trevor SealyTrevor and I had a close game until I bingoed with (R)IVETING. I should have played EVITING, hooking the G to the top of RIDE. I then bingoed with INSTROKE later. Trevor emptied the bag with six tiles on my rack and I went out with CROUTE. 2-0, 376-353.
Game 3 – Andy SaundersThis was the game where I shot myself in the foot. At turn three my rack was AAEJST? SEAJAnT would have played, but instead I chose to play JAG for 233 points leaving AEST? figuring I'll get a better bingo on my next turn! YEAH RIGHT! On my next rack AEESTY?, YEASTED wouldn't play and played off YEA for 24, leaving me with EST?. I proceeded to draw nothing but junk consonants (not even one vowel) for eight more racks, trading four times. It was somewhere in the middle of that I burst out saying, "Can't I get f***ing lucky just once?" I wasn't until turn 13 that I played OUTEaTS. But by then Andy had more than a 100-point lead. I wrote at the top of my score sheet: "JUST PLAY. SH** HAPPENS." 2-1, 305-424.
Game 4 – Steve OzorioSteve used to be a 1700 player but doesn't study much (if at all) anymore and has dropped into the 1300-1400 range (but doesn't belong in Division 2). He ultimately won the tournament. I bingo early with ANNELID and then DILATION (he blocked my other bingo – CONIDIAL). The score at turn 10 was 280-279. But then I attempted VERID* which Steve challenged. And while I drew nothing but consonants the rest of the game, Steve made plays of 30+ four turns in a row. 2-2, 350-428.
Game 5 – Lisa KesslerA tough opponent whom I have beaten at club but never in a tournament. I held Lisa on NABE and ROPEY but let both go (good thing, they're both good). I played QUAG early in the game in the bottom left corner of the board. Lisa extended it to QUAGMIRED* for 66, which I did not challenge. The game was tight until then, but the Lisa ran away with it. Had I challenged, who knows. 2-3, 315-406.
Game 6 – Maddy PalazzoI bingo first with ENTREAT and she comes right back with SHEETING. I drop an "x bomb" with PIX for 59, and then REALIsE for 64. With VERY good tiles left in the bag, I still elected to empty the bag, playing EVZON(E) for 28, giving me a 95-point lead. Mad's final rack is DINORP?. PONIARD would have played but she didn't know the word. She attempted ORPINeD* which I challenged off and then went out. 3-3, 427-298.
Game 7 – Kevin TurnerOne of my favourite opponents. Kevin studies probably as much as I do, so I know his word knowledge is solid. I open with GRAPH for 30 and he plays HADJEE from my H for 34. My next rack is FISHED? I didn't see either bingo DEAFISH or REDFISH or the 8 DEALFISH though the A in GRAPH. But I played off FISHED for 60 points, hooking my S to HADJEE, with the F on the TLS through a DWS. Two turns later my rack is ACOPS??. I hunt around for a bingo that will hook the S to GRAPH and puts the C or the P in the sixth spot on the DLS. I finally found CArhOPS for 86. Kevin draws a bunch of crap and I'm able to shut down the board. 4-3, 381-317.
After day one, I'm 4-3, and in third place behind Andy and Steve who are both 6-1.
Game 8 – Roger CullmanRoger is my second-most played opponent, behind Vera Bigall. Roger bingoes first with PRETEND but I come right back with OOGE(N)IES which Roger holds but does not challenge. He then plays SHOFAR for 48, which I hold. Roger is notorious for phoneys. Good thing I didn't challenge. I play HOOF for 33 and then bingo with AWAITER(S), which Roger holds but doesn't challenge. Even though I know my hooks, I wasn't 100% sure on AWAITERS but he let it go. The game was close until I played BARBS for 38, hooking the S to HOOF for HOOFS, which Roger challenged. That let me take a lead and win. 5-3, 439-320.
Game 9 – Hilda SchlechterUntil this game, Hilda had been my "Scrabble Daddy" (I had never yet won a game with her.) My opening rack was PRATTLE for 74 but Hilda comes right back with cHANCED, hooking the D to PRATTLE for 85. Three turns later I have the nicest bingo of the tournament. My rack was EELSSTZ and through the P in PRATTLE, I played S(P)ELTZES for 88. Hilda bingoes with DaNGLER but I come back with OTA(L)GIES, which she holds but does not challenge. That gave me a 100-point lead. I followed with OAKUM for 40 and QI for 31 giving me my first win against Hilda, 6-3, 494-381.
Game 10 – Lisa Kessler (second time)Lisa and I trade early bingos in this rematch. I played ASC(R)IBE and Lisa counters with MASTERS. Lisa gets a 90-point lead until I play ADORNIN(G) for 70, but putting the A in the triple row with a blank unseen. Lisa then attempts DIABLO(S)* which Gene Tzyska had played against me a couple years ago and I knew it was phony. I make a 30-point play to bring me within 10 points, but she comes back with a 30-point play of her own and I have junky tiles at the end. 6-4, 355-388.
So, going into the two KOTH rounds, I'm at 6-4. Andy and Steve are both at 8-2, and they've already played twice as well. There was some kerfuffle about whether or not Andy and Steve should play again in round 11 because they're both two full games ahead of the pack. John Chew (who was not at the tournament all weekend) showed up to settle the matter. Andy and Steve did play in round 11.
Game 11 – Mad Palazzo (second time)I get out another phony bingo in this game. My rack was EIRSUU?. I could have played USURIEs but instead elected to play U(N)InSURE* as a double-double for 78, which Mad does not challenge. Turns out UNINSURED is good but not U(N)INSURE*. I get the other blank and play FREAkI(E)R for 61, giving me an 80-point lead. I then shut down the board for Mad's potential bingos. Low scoring game. 7-4, 348-300.
Game 12 – Roger Cullman (second time)Andy and Steve are both 9-2 at this point and guaranteed first and second place. Roger and I are both 7-4, so we're playing for third and fourth.
My opening rack is RANTING. Roger pulls out to an early lead scoring 54 for PEEP and then immediately 68 for ANOXIA. I double-blank bingo with SKAkIlY for 89 but he comes right back with COUNTIN(G). The game goes back and forth until the very end. With one tile in the bag, my rack is ADEIRST and the unseen tile pool is ABEEEIQY. My only bingo would have had to be a nine-letter word through -RE-. Roger has the lead 357-339. After several minutes of thinking, Roger passes his turn. Through the (RE), I play TI(RE)DER for 29, leaving AS on my rack. Roger holds for a while. After a minute I announce that I am going to draw my "provisional tile"... it's the Q. There's an I open (the one I just played), and there's also an open U on the board for me to play QUA if he blocks that. Roger plays BYE for 26. The score is now 374-383 in Roger's favour. I play Q(U)A for 22 (Q on the DLS) clinching victory. Roger now has AEEI on his rack. He plays a phony three-letter word, and I go out with my S. Win 408-383.
A pretty good tournament all in all. I lost 90 rating points in Mississauga, gained back 24 in Guelph and another 60 or so this weekend. Before Mississauga I was 1427 and now I'm 1421, so I'm only down six now.
Other interesting tidbit:
Entry fee for Mississauga: $50.00
Entry fee for Guelph: $25.00
Entry fee for Oshawa: $70.00
Total: $145.00
Winnings in Guelph: $70.00
Winnings in Oshawa: $75.00
Total $145.00
So I played 31 games of Scrabble in the last two weekends, and the only "cost" was my gas and buying my supper at the pub in Guelph. Apart from that, I broke even.