Things I learned from club last night...

Game one:

1. GOWD is good, I've reviewed it perhaps once, but didn't see it.

2. GORRA* isn't good, and I have no idea why I thought it might be. Just BEGORRA(H).

3. If you have a Z,G, and S, and there's an A to play through, you should play ZAG, not ZAS. Yep, I did that.

4. JAUP is the anagram of PUJA. Wasn't 100% on it.

5. Other than those mistakes, I made decent plays during the game- but lost 288-408. Sometimes things just don't go your way.

Game two:

1. BEEILNY plays through an R.

2. ISOPODAN is good. Though I played SADI(R)ONS instead of IS(OP)ODANS.

3. Sometimes when you have a really unlucky game, you get really lucky in the next game.

1-0 Club night

I know, it's kind of lame that I only play one game at my local club, but until my bosses figure out how to let me work less than twelve hours on a Monday, one game is all that's happening. And unfortunately, it's a rushed game, because I'm doing it on a late evening 'lunch break'.
Here are the things I missed that I should still have spotted if I was in a rush:
1. from a rack of AEILNRZ, playing things like ZEIN or ZE(B)RA for 50+ points, rather than L(E)Z for 32.
2. remembering the anagrams of RATANIES that have the R near the end. I rattled them off once I was home, but blanked during the game.
3. NOVENaE is good, NONEVEn* isn't. And if you aren't 100% sure, you should just play something for less points that's enough to still win the game.
I did luck out though, in that my opponent didn't see their out play, plus they tried to put an S on SIERRAN, which I challenged off. Though I deserved to lose the game given my ending phony bingo play.

0-1 Club tonight

Played a pretty horrible game at club tonight- follow along here.
I tried to figure out what my worst mistakes were, but will gladly take any of your input- for example, does anyone have a 'don't fish more than x number of times' rule? It's tough when you have almost-good racks that don't score.
If you don't want to trudge through it, skip to this turn for a fun 'find the possible bingo' quiz. I'll leave what I think are the answers later.
I also didn't mention in the notes that I learned that RUDERY takes a front hook. (as does RUDERIES)

9 Things learned from club last night

1. I make a lot of bad plays when I'm tired. (When I'm not tired, too, but more so when I've worked 11 hours.)

2. MUNCHY* still isn't good; can't believe I played it again (stayed on). HUBBED* isn't good, glad I challenged it off. HAJEE* isn't good, though I was pretty sure of that (challenged off). KHAN is good, haven't seen the HANK/ANKH card in a while. TOLENES* isn't good, I don't know why I even tried it (challenged off). And these were all in one game!

3. Chickened out on (UP)WAFT for 54. Darn.

4. Uh, NI isn't a word. Yeah, I let that one get by me.

5. ADINV?? plays to an M.

6. ECHE is good, haven't seen it enough to know it. (Had four E's and played ACHE, so it would have been useful.)

7. AAANRSU plays with a G on the board.

8. ACIMNRSU has two anagrams.

9. SANDELS* and SANDLES* are not the correct way to spell SANDALS. (there is a good word in there, though- are you reading, Saloma?)

6 Things I learned/ was reminded of from club tonight

1. SOU takes an S, SAU doesn't (one's a former French coin, the other is a Vietnamese coin. I knew SAU didn't take an S but was thinking of it when I thought of SOU... so I didn't put down EFIORST! Crud!) SOUS takes an E.
2. BECAP is good- add it to a ton of other BE- verbs that are weird. (I sense a podcast feature here...)
3. REVET is good, and takes two different front hooks- T and B.
4. Somehow I knew BREGMATA, but not BREGMA. (BREGMATE is also good, and BREGMA doesn't take an S.)
5. REPEG is good.. Hm, I'm sensing a theme here: five letter words.
6. There is a bingo in GHIINVY with a C on the board!
You can check out a game I played vs. Mike F, our club's best (I think) player, in which I luck out and win. (I originally simmed this to show Mike, hence the comment directed to him early on.)

5 things I learned from club last night

1. If your opponent opens with exchange 4 and your rack is AAAILOR, playing RAIA for 8 is a bad idea. Sure you keep them from cashing in on the double word score, but a) you don't cash in on it, b) ALO isn't that great of a leave, and c) your opponent will play ZA for 40 something points as a reward for your stupidity. (which is what happened.)

2. Fun hooks: I got to play CENTAUr/C(OVERALLS). Missed the OVERALL hook with the first C, but was lucky enough to get the 2nd one and remember. What I didn't know is that CENTAUR takes a Y!

3. Sometimes you just can't draw to save your life. In my second game, I had three 6-vowel racks. One was a post-bingo rack, and the other two were after playing off 5 and 6 tiles, so it wasn't as though I was asking for it. And later I played off JO from AEIJORS (with 25 unseen and an open L on the board) and drew UU. I was able to bingo twice, but still lost by 30- but I was happy with even that.

4. READMIT also plays through an O. (and has a front hook that I didn't get to play.)

5. AINSSU? plays to an L ( I played SUNdIA(L)S.)

 

3 things I learned from club this week

Played one quick game at club- we both had 15 left on our clocks. I drew both blanks and all 4 S's, so it was an easy win, 464-300. If I had known #2, I would've had the distinction of playing all the S's in two plays.

 

1. AEEINV? has two anagrams; one scores more as an opening play. (I played NAIVEtE, that's not it.)

2. BIASED can be spelled with two S's! Didn't even occur to me as a possibility; It would have been a 100 point play rather than 28!

3. LNOSRT? plays to an E.

8 Things I learned from club this week

1. DEINRSS thru a U: two bingos.

2. It sucks when you play what, strategically, is the right move:O(G)EE, to balance your rack- and your opponent holds CDKNORU, looking for an E.

3. BOUGHT takes a front hook of A. (duh, past tense of ABY! maybe if it were spelled ABUY* I'd remember?) It also extends to BOUGHTEN.

4. Balked on REGAVE. I figured you couldn't give something again once you've given it, but hey, what do I know? Well, I now know that GREAVE is also         good, and it takes a D or S.

5. MUNCHY* isn't good. Neither is MUNCHIE*, for that matter- only MUNCHIES. I hooked MUNCH with PROGENY- it was either that, or PYROGENE*, which I     thought I was totally making up, but the anagram of PROGENY is PYROGEN- no E hook on that one, though. Thankfully it stayed on.

6. There are three 8's you can make from AEEIQSU?, but the one I didn't know was through the T on the board. 

7. SPERMS takes OO as a front extension, which then in turn takes a Z front hook. 

8. ENTANGLE takes a D,P,R, and S. Oh, well one is a front hook, the others are back.

 

 

6 things I learned from club tonight

Only had time to play one game- I made a few bad mistakes and missed some bingos, but was able to hang on for a win thanks to opponent exchanging, challenging incorrectly, and some luck.
1. AVA is an adverb meaning 'at all'! It doesn't take an S! I should know this by now.
2. ENTREAT + A = ANTEATER. Opponent took my spot (with AVA), it was the only playable bingo after that.
3. ENACTOR + C = ACCENTOR. Didn't know it. (actually is defined as 'a songbird', interesting.)
4. If you're playing a five letter word and there's a letter hanging one over and five up from the TLS, see if it'll fit there. (I played NARCO/NAN/MEGA for 19 when it would've been 26. The only unforeseen benefit was that it drew a challenge in this position.)
5. DEIKNSW has a good anagram. I think I even made it up in my head, but it was totally as a joke. (means 'to toil'.)
6. Don't open up the triple lane when it's probably the only way you can lose. (This is where the luck came in, opponent wasn't sure of FEAL for 50, but also had the S, which could have made a spot for a bingo.)

7 things I learned from club this week

1. CHAIR has two 3 letter front extensions: ARM and BED.

2. EUPHORIA can be extended with -NT.

3. NIELLO is good. (It's both a noun and a verb, plural is -LI or -LOS.)

4. TALUK is good. (another interesting 5 I didn't know, it takes an A or S.)

5. An F (or any other high point tile) will score you more points on a TLS (in two directions) than as part of a DWS.

6. COELIAC is good. Luckily I didn't challenge- CELIAC takes an S, but this one doesn't.

7. I don't think I knew TELOI. A highly probable, but not playable, five.

 

Here's the game I played against Mike, our club's best player- I only needed both blanks and a late Z/S draw to win it. I try and explain some of my strategy, flawed though it may be. Feel free to leave your input. 

 

7 things I learned from club tonight

1. POLDER is a word, and is a better way to open then PONDER. Two reasons, I think: POLDER will more likely draw a challenge, and RES will bring them     to the TWS.

2. TOTTER and SOLDIER both take the same unusal hook. Didn't think of it for the first til after, and didn't know ir for the second.

3. LEGIT takes a convenient front hook.

4. Chickened out on ZINgARO and went with OR(G)ANIZe. I couldn't remember if the -ANO or -ARO spelling was correct. Turns out they both are. I think I       would have tried it, except the G was played so I went with the 100%-sure-bingo rather than the 90% one.

5. VASSAL is also a good word with only one S. Again, wasn't 100%, and it was a 50+ point play.

6. LUTHIERY* isn't good, and it's a good thing I didn't have a way to play it because I was sure it was.

7. However, EHLTUY? through a D has one anagram.

 

4 things I learned from club this week

1. Club was pretty noisy this week. I'm hoping that's the reason I missed AEILORV, CEEIOST and AENRSTV, all words I've studied numerous times.

2. Playing phonies against lower rated players is a good way to gain spread! I ending up playing all lower rated players just because of the timing of               things, and had three 500 point games. (WEENINGS*, GLUCASE*, ECOTISE* and HOTTY* all stayed, the last three all in one game.) I never usually           play phonies, which is one of the reasons I think I got away with these-  so I have to be careful now, they may be on to me! 

3. MINNY and FORKY are good.

4. EFOPRT? through an M has an anagram, and BEILORTT has two.

6 things I learned from club tonight

1. Exchanging DHLV from an opening rack of DHLQTUV can go very badly (even though it actually sims high). I drew BTUW.

2. VIVES* isn't good, but VIVAS is. I knew one wasn't good, but couldn't remember which was which. It seems strange that one is an adjective and the             other a noun since the definitions are almost identical.

3. DURR is good, I think it's one of the 4's I haven't made it to yet. Yet I knew DURRA.

4. REMAILED is good. I held it, and it's sad that I wasn't sure since I work for the post office. I need some REMEDIAL study on eights.

5. ENDOSTEA takes an L, and not an S. It didn't come into play (though I'm happy I found the bingo), but good to know.

6. KAIN, KANE and CAIN are all the same thing. Not sure I ever made that connection.

 

3 things I learned from club tonight

1. I'm actually not that bad at finding the right play (especially early in the game)- as long as I take the time to think about it. My first three moves (in the one game I played) all simmed highest even though they were all small rack balancing moves; i.e. opening rack EEFINOT= 8G FOE.
2. I managed to get the challenges right this time- challenged off TITER/RAGIN* (knew RAGIN* was bad, but wasn't sure on TITER), which opened up a spot for my bingo. Held SWEER for 43 but let it go- luckily. My opponent even didn't think it was good, but it was- I don't know my 5s well enough and I needed to stay ahead at that point in the game. I'm learning to let go of my 'if I don't know it, challenge it' rule- it may be a good way to learn words, but it's also a good way to lose games.
3. OVERDECK is good. I breifly considered it, but couldn't come up with a plausible definition in my head. (means to adorn extravagantly); I ended up playing R(E)VOKED for 40, so all wasn't lost.

5 Things I learned from club this week

OK, 'from club' rather than 'at club', since most of the things I don't find out until I go home and go over my games. except this first one:

1. Always, always take a minute to look for a better play! ZA is on the board, 6 spaces away from the TWS. I hold G for, like, 6 turns trying to come up with     a word (chicken out on GURNET). On (what should have been mine and their) last turn, I have EEGINRV and immediately plop down GRIEVE for 46.         Smack the time clock, smack forehead. There was a lane starting with S on the board. Luckily I was already way ahead.

2. ZEBRAS takes an S! Neat. I didn't actually have the opportunity to play this, but was looking up extensions of ZEBRA since it was on the board. Winners     are ZEBRAFISH and ZEBRAWOOD.

3. RICING takes a front hook of T(and P)! Luckily my opponent didn't know either, it would've cost me the game.

4. I'm learning the value of playing phonies a bit more, especially against lower rated players. Played OVERLINE* and FULMATED* even though I was           pretty sure both weren't good. In both games, they were my only bingos and definitely helped me win in one. 

5. On the other hand, I need to take a little more time to block potential bingos after an opponent plays a phony and I challenge it off. Got rid of BLARIER*     and BRAILER*, but left an E open and opened a lane with an M in it- both not terribly difficult words to find. Whoops.

8 Things I learned at club last night

1. FETTLES is good. And while I'm learning new _ETTLES words, you can put a P there too. (They're both verbs.)

2. KNAUR is another way to spell KNAR/KNUR. And speaking of K words...

3. VAS takes a front hook of K. I knew that, but when VAS was on the board, for some reason my brain was too busy making sure I didn't try and make it         AVAS*. Anyone have a tip for getting myself to find the possible hooks on the board, especially less ordinary ones? I have a bad habit of completely           whiffing on them, even when I know them.

4. I knew the other two _ELIC words, but not MELIC. (adjective, pertaining to a song)

5. Don't know if I knew BRIO. Challenged off BRIO/I(MAN)*. There's a Brio Cosmetology Academy here in town that I deliver to all the time, so it's ironic           that I didn't ever look the word up.

6. There are quite a few ordinary words I need to add to my cardbox, because I don't see them on a rack. PATIO is one of them.

7. DEOTUZ? has an anagram; I've seen it but never studied it. Missed it.

8. TRIFE* is not a word. I didn't play the phony front hook to RIFE, but was tempted. It may be because I've heard it in the song Bada Bing by                         DANGERDOOM, which is an album you should listen to if you like hip-hop and don't mind a little bleeped-out profanity.

10 Things I learned at club this week

Another demoralizing night at club- went 0-3, and all 3 games were winnable...time for a therapeutic review:
1. EGRSU is considered a strong leave. And, don't burn your S on your first turn for 18 points. (played ERUGOS/ TAVS)
2. I need to take longer after saying 'hold' to decide whether to challenge. Not only to think about whether or not the word is good, but to consider other factors. I challenged SUBAH and pretty much lost because of it, since it was during the end of the game.
3. EYEFOLD is a word.
4. GINNOSU from an A has an anagram.
5. Just because a word isn't played for very many points doesn't mean you shouldn't hold it if you're suspicious. (A(MORE)*)
6. My two weakest areas, strategy-wise, are not thinking about my vowel placement in regards to hot spots, and not thinking about what will happen in an end game AFTER I make my play. (i.e. coming up with an 'out in two' play, but not realizing the first one opens up a spot for them to score a bunch.)
7. BUNTERS/BRUNETS/BURNETS has one more anagram that would be useful if you're trying to bingo down from the top right corner.
8. FRIZING is good. (knew FRIZES, but not as a verb)
9. With an opening rack of DEEIITU, the correct play is ETUI, not ETUDE. Duh.
10. REQuOTES* isn't good, and you shouldn't try it if you can play QuOTES for 62. PINNATE doesn't take an S!!!!

10 things I learned at club this week

I've realized the these post titles are inaccurate: these are 'things I learn after club is over, with the help of Zyzzyva and Quackle'. Doesn't quite have the same ring to it, though. Here goes:

1. UNPOINTED is good. (took a risk that it was, drew a hold, but no challenge.)
2.TWITTERY is good. (darn, haven't studied it, though I think I knew the unusual twitter hooks, had it as a natural! )
3. GRAVID takes an A. (no S. though, GRAVIDAS or GRAVIDAE.)
4. TSARITZA is good. (double darn, didn't know it, had it as a natural from the same T!!!)
5. If you're up by a 100 points and have a 5 tile out play you're not quite sure is good, and your opponent has lousy tiles, just go for it. A lot of the time if you have to piddle your way through the end, you'll end up losing a lot of spread. (I couldn't remember if (KIN)A was good and had AECIA. Would have been 150 points of spread, but ended up with 122. Strangely, if I had played AECIA and KINA wasn't good, I still would have had 120 points of spread, only a 2 point difference.)
6. ACEFIS has an interesting one word anagram, and it looks like a plural noun,  but it's not. Same turn: FASCIAE can be spelled without the S. CIIOTT is another interesting six- think I've seen it before.
7. CDEMNSU has an anagram through a U.
8. MARROW is a verb. (means to marry) And it takes a Y back hook. So ARROWED takes F,H,M, and N as a front hook.
9. Missed DEORUX? through an N. Interestingly, XU for 38 was the top sim choice. (as well as a couple other X plays. Anyone have insight on this? I ended up drawing the second blank, too.)
10. 8 letter words have front hooks, too. (Was blind to LUSTERED front hooks, I think because it's an 8 and didn't think to even look.)

Things I learned at club this week

1. PIANO takes a front AND rear hook of FORTE. (Didn't help though, since it was her opening play at 8D)
2. AELNOTY has an anagram. (Knew this, totally missed it. Fortunately I had 4 bingos otherwise.)
3. BUB is good. I've seen this a bunch of times reviewing the 3s, but that's easy when Zyzzyva shows you BBU. It's one of those rare 3s I've never played and so I started doubting myself on it. Got a 3 you've surprisingly never played? It would have been a great out play, luckily this wasn't a tournament because it would've cost me a lot of spread.
4. Missed GOOZ through an A to the TWS for 78 points. Very bad.

things I learned at club tonight

I played Mike F. 3 times at club tonight, and managed to find a way to lose 3 times.

In the first game, I drew too many vowels at the beginning of the game, but didn't trade for a while because each time I was able to make a decent scoring play. I ended up with both blanks at the end with nowhere to play them, and no way to open up the board without being blocked. A frustrating 261-447 loss.

Second game: I keep it close with after his 2x2 ANTSIER on turn 2 with DEND(R)ITE, but don't have the guts to try LOOKUPs, Have nowhere to play the newly learned FIKLSU? (blank's a T) and then blow two turns trying FRAGILe(S) and FRAGILe(R). I should have known the second was bad after he challenged off the first and played an R in the triple lane. Finally get down GnARLIe(R), should've played GLAIRie(R), though becuase he may have challenged that. End up with the wrong tiles at the end, lose 382-393.

Third game: Start out with TENOURS hooking to his SQUAB, which was interesting because it was more points than TONSURE(S) down from the triple word and OUTE(A)RNS as a 2x2. Rather than losing this game by playing phonies, I lose it by not challenging them. I held both mOLTaGE* and TINDER(ER)S* but let them stay. With the first one, he had so many other viable options, I didn't see why he'd try a phony, and the second one just looked too plausible. Adding INTERRED and TRENDIER to the cardbox now. Mike knows a lot of words, so it's always tough figuring out when he's guessing, playing an intentional phony, or playing a good word. Lose 338-413.

Other misses:
-BDEEIRU through an R (I looked for this for a while, came very close to seeing it, somehow still missed it.)

-Had ADEIIOT with an N on the board, so of course he played through it.

-Didn't know the hook to RUBE other than S.

-Missed ECHILSV through an E (was focused on the T in the triple lane which opened up. Grrr.)