What Travel Money???







Saturday, May 16, 2009

When I first looked at the Akron flyer and noticed that the start time was 12:30, I figured I was golden. No wait I could possibly be late. But of course I can always find a way. After staying until 6:00 for my final day of work, so I could bank extra travel money, I decided that it made more sense to see Angels & Demons up in Fox Lake rather than sit in Friday traffic.

The film was underwhelming, and though shorter than it's predecessor, it was still nearly 9:30 when I left Fox Lake, with 420 miles to drive. No traffic thru Chicago, as I hoped, but I lost nearly 30 minutes at the Chicago Skyway toll plaza--what the hell was that all about??? The upshot was I no longer had time for 8 hours of sleep, not at 70 MPH at least. Given this, I decided to gamble and lay up at the first rest area in Indiana in the hopes that I'd be able to drive faster during daylight.

The risk of stopping was that I wouldn't be able to start driving early, but I managed to get up before 7:30. That gave me plenty of time, but since it was actually 6:30 central time, I was not going to be able to avoid fatigue.

Arrived at the Holiday Inn with time to spare, but I immediatly felt disappointment when Dan Stock reported that the field had not grown from the 11 that were listed on cross-tables. In fact, one player did not show, so the prize pool was going to be pretty slim. Rats. While I wanted to go 11-0 and see if I could hit a new peak, what I really wanted was travel money.

Though I won by 50, I actually felt a little worried there against first opponent 1157-rated Christopher Sheppard. Perhaps my racks seemed clunkier due to fatigue, and that in itself was worrisome given that it was just the first round.

Had trouble adding numbers and all-around thinking straight against Pete Ziegler, but it wasn't greed instead of fatigue that nearly cost me against Pete Ziegler. After opening with MURRINE and then taking a chance on ISOlOGS and seeing it stay, I was emboldened to try OVERBL(E)D even though I was pretty sure it was no good. Pete wasn't having it, and after a small 9-point turn, he went on to score (L)ONELIER, 34, 17, 44, and CREDITO(R) to threaten to overtake me. With the blank unseen, a loss was a definite possibility, but fortunately the tile pool was so clunky Pete couldn't get another bingo down. In the end, I was forced to decide between a blazing hot spot and blocking, and if I had not lost that turn those extra 20-30 points would have made it much easier to justify blocking.

Hellz, yeah! Finally got to play (O)SNABURG, and Dan Stock challenged. Apparently he did not remember the anecdote, from CGP and/or LiveJournal, about how David Koenig was discussing the word before the opening round of Atlantic City... and then went on to have the word on his opening rack against Scott Appel. (I may have the details wrong, but I had the word absolutely right!). INTWINED followed, and later on three other bingos for a 576-point game.

HOLY FUCK!!! On the heels of Dan having pronounced that I probably wouldn't lost the rest of the evening with him and Pete out of the way, I almost lost to 1148 Eileen Popich!!! How, you ask? Well, as has happened before, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I've studied fives that don't take an ess, but that is a hard, hard list to learn. Somehow I thought ANION doesn't, and so I challenged her ETAmINS/(ANION)S play. No sweat, I figured, it was just her second play, and I had plenty of time to recover. So I felt no qualms whatsoever about challenging her next play, TEA(BOX). It was good!!! I was then down 78 after her play, and I was still not worried, but the board was suddenly getting tight. My bingo of STELLAR was forced into the triple column, which allowed Eileen an easy comeback, and then she got down BEGORRA. At that point, I was worried. Had I not drawn better tiles, and had she not forgotten I had the blank and opened a bingo line for DEFiCIT, I would have been toast.

Annotated Game


A group was going over to some Japanese hibachi place, and I considered it, but in the end I was just too tired to be sociable.


No troubles against Pat Hardwick, nor Walter Konicki, but afterwards I discovered something troublesome. If Chris' estimate was correct, first prize would only be $31.50??? What??? That wouldn't even cover the entry fee, let alone gas and tolls for the detour. I hoped he was wrong, because it would really suck to have such a low prize for one of the few times that I was actually playing for money instead of rating.

I figured I would get offers of a place to crash, and I did, but I had to pass. It was 8:30, and nobody goes to bed that early. I didn't want to have to wait until poker ended, or cause somebody to go out of his way. It was much easier to drive over to the Wal-Mart, and I was soon fast asleep.

5:00 AM, for no real reason, left the Wal-Mart and drove over to the ACME parking lot. As I went back to sleep, I felt I had a leg up on all those poor suckers who suffer the misfortune of living in a stationary location. See, if you live in a house (apartment, condo, etc.), and you wake up in the middle of the night and feel like a chance of scenery, you probably don't have many options. Perhaps you can move to a different room, or the couch. Owners of large estates could perhaps walk over to the guest house. But in a car, in a city, I have myriad options. Don't like the ACME lot? There's the Lowes. Too many Canadian geese honking--just head over to the lot behind Donato's. Even in a small city like Akron, there I saw no end of opportunities to



Sunday, May 17, 2009

First round, I got down the phony SKOP* for 51, but Pete wouldn't take my UNFL(OWE)ReD*, sweet a find though it was. I went on to bingo three more times, but it's not like the game was a rout. Pete scored consistently, 30-40 points a turn, and even after my bingo-bango-bongo, (A)IRBRUsh, PINN(U)LAE, and (B)ICOLORS, I was just a bingo up. Pete then bingoed to come within 51 points, and my lead could easily have evaporated had my tiles not been so great.

Annotated Game


Second game, and I am the first to admit that it would have been unfair for me to win despite three lost turns (UNGUATE*, VE(LO)UT*, A(W)K*). Yet, the amazing thing is that I still would have had the win if I had just seen the lone spot for Pete's I, (Fa) (R). But, as has happened before, the blank A threw me off. Once again, I choked at a critical moment, and I let Pete have his first victory.

Annotated Game


I finally won a challenge, HERI(T)*, against Pete, but I couldn't win against his four bingos.

Annotated Game


OMG, another close game. It seemed I simply could not have an easy time of it that morning. After leading most of the game, I made the mistake of playing IRE(D) instead of IRI(D)S, and that compounded the effect of Rack Collapse Disorder. Though I blamed the tile bag as I continued to draw vowels, AIOORSU, AAOORSU, AEOORSU, I would have never been in trouble if I had just played IRI(D)S for 31 instead of IRE(D) for 15. Frankly, I lost the game with my mistake, but Pete let me escape by missing the R hook to AURA. I basically gambled that he would miss it when I played, and I spent the next few minutes on pins and needles wondering if he would see it.

Annotated Game


Final game started off great, with BrANNED, consistent scoring, and another bingo, SNIFTER, a few turns later. I led by 133, and I wasn't at all worried by Pete's 68-point bingo. Perhaps I should have been, given that my racks for the rest of the game were drek: GGILTVY, GGIITTY, GGIIIOU, AGGIISU, and EIIINRU. This crap allowed Pete to slowly catch up, and I only eked out a win by the skin of my teeth. Had I lost, the damage to my pride would have been great, after having lost a match just two months earlier to Steve Grob.

Annotated Game


Well, it was no joke--first place did pay out just $31.50. One reason was the small turn out, of course, but another was the fact that Chris paid out 7 places, which seems silly in a field of ten. Had Chris paid out just three places, or two, I would have at least gotten my entry fee back. I can't imagine $7 bucks made much of a difference to the seventh-place winner, where not winning back my entry fee, let alone gas money, was rather irksome to me.



Opponents' Bingos
sHOVELE(D)
GROUSiN(G)
(L)ONELIER
CREDITO(R)
ALGERI(N)E
ETAmINS
BEGORRA
P(E)ARLINg
COA(T)LeSS
SLATT(I)NG
STELLaR
(P)ULSAtES
DEC(R)ETAL
REEDIEs(T)
REHIRED
ANIlINE(S)
SHEILAs


My Bingos
BATTENS
INSWEEP*
GuANINE(S)
MURRINE
ISOlOGS
(O)SNABURG
INTWINE(D)
ARO(I)NTeD
(R)EPLACES
PAINTEr
STELLAR
DEFiCIT
SILTIER
(R)EADINGS
GASE(L)IER
(A)IRBRUsh
PINN(U)LAE
(B)ICOLORS
REM(O)TEST
(V)eRSEMAN
MOIST(E)NS
LIStERI(A)
bRANNED
SNIFTER


Missed Bingo Turns
bRAVUR(A)S,gRAVUR(E)S
SHOALER
TRISKEL(E)
(A)lIZARIN
UNR(I)FLeD
R(E)ANOINT
BREWISE(S)



Analysis

#1 - W - Sheppard    
-----------------    
3 (F)UCI  
0 ROA(D)IE  
2.7 WUD  
0 BATTENS  
0 ZI(N)  
0 AX(O)N  
2.7 SAGIER  
5.1 OAF  
0 QUA(G)  
6.5 T(A)G miss S(EGO) hook
0 SPIC  
6 ERN unsure of Chris' rack so try to block
0 PLoT(Z)  
     
     
#2 - W - McCarthy    
-----------------    
0 INSWEEP*  
4.7 MOD  
5.4 OBJETS/(INSWEEP)S*  
0 OF  
6 WISED WADIES
3.8 RAPHE PEAHEN
1.2 GuANINE(S)  
0.6 IONO(N)E  
0 ZE(E)  
0 AIRY  
18.8 T(A)V  
3.7 GU(T)  
0 ROILIE(R)  
     
     
#3 - W - Ziegler    
----------------    
0 MURRINE  
0 ISOlOGS ISOGOnS
38.7 lose turn (OVERBL(E)D*)  
0 (HO)VEL  
0 FORBOD(E)  
0 OWE  
0 ZEATIN  
1 JO  
26.3 TYEE EYEWAT(ER)
0 (ZA)G  
0* SWAP  
2 MET  
     
     
#4 - W - Stock    
--------------    
0 (O)SNABURG  
0 INTWINE(D)  
32.1 VARUS bRAVUR(A)S,gRAVUR(E)S
2.9 J(A)M JeMAD(A)R,JeM(I)DAR
0 ARO(I)NTeD  
2.5 WOK  
0 (R)EPLACES  
0 BUC(K)  
0 PAINTEr  
0.7 (Z)OO(M)  
12.6 IF/F(LUX) can't lose so want 6th bingo
20.3 (A)A ditto
11 AUGERS  
0 (E)N  
     
     
#5 - W - Popich    
---------------    
2.7 LIMB  
0 (BO)X  
31.8 challenge (ANION)S  
27.1 challenge TEA(BOX)  
27.1 OH SHOALER (unsure)
7.1 STELLAR 10A 7B
4 WI(L)ED  
0 JA(G)G  
0 RIO(J)A  
4.9 (A)LE  
1.3 (N)UT must keep E!!!
0 WIZ  
11.8 (I)RK must keep vowels and open line
12.9 (T)H(AE)  
0 DEFiCIT  
0 (FE)U  
0 (TO)O  
0 (O)D  
     
     
#6 - W - Hardwick    
-----------------    
11.9 EX  
2.1 TOGAE  
0 Q(I)  
6.9 F(O)RMER  
3.5 WAIF  
1.8 HOVE  
0 BODIES 0 AY
0 UT  
57.4 K(OI) TRISKEL(E),KR(A)IT (unsure)
4.9 SILTIER LISTERI(A) (never seem to get that one)
17.6 ED  
0 (R)EADINGS  
     
     
#7 - W - Konicki    
----------------    
0 ZOEAE  
0 LY(MO)NITE*  
0 (Z)IP  
0 GASE(L)IER  
3.5 JUDO(S)  
24.1 OB(J)ET BI(J)OU
1.4 -IUUUW (RT)  
0 BIDI  
0 RO(U)T  
1 (HI)RN*  
0 AN  
0 TAVERN(S) VANNER(S)
0 VID  
9.9 G(A)P  
2.9* NUCH(A) CHUF(A) L4 (unsure)
0 FURS  
     
     
#8 - W - Ziegler    
----------------    
0 VAGI  
0 SKOP*  
43.2 lose turn (UNFL(OWE)ReD) UNR(I)FLeD
20.1 FLU(I)D  
17.4 NAZI (A)lIZARIN
0.7 (A)IRBRUsh (A)IRBURst
0 PINN(U)LAE  
0.4 (B)ICOLORS (B)ROCOLIS
0 JIAO  
0 YUAB  
0 REM(O)TEST  
0 O(G)EE  
   
     
#9 - W - Ziegler    
----------------    
0 WHOOP  
1.3 DEV  
0 JEU  
10.1 (J)OLE miss (CODE)N hook
0 LININ  
35.1 lose turn (UNGUATE*)  
0 (Q)UAG  
34.3 lose turn (VE(LO)UT*)  
0 (L)UV  
0 WET  
0 (V)eRSEMAN  
0 HOB  
0 TI(DE) unsure of C(RAPE)
34.5 ZIN ditto
27 lose turn (A(W)K*)  
29 A(G)  
     
     
     
#10 - W - Ziegler    
----------------    
0.2 PARVO  
0 FAB(S)  
30 ON R(E)ANOINT
0 RIF  
2 ATONE  
1 (NE)XT  
0 GOB  
0 OVATE  
1.2 MA(R)K  
29.7 MOIST(E)NS MONISTS,SIMON(I)ST
9 N(E)RTZ  
34 IGG  
0 PIU  
0 A(H)  
     
     
#11 - W - Ziegler    
-----------------    
6.7 MAW  
2.7 LIStERI(A)  
3.9 COVEY  
2.9 OXEN EXPO
23.5 PUR(E) UPRI(V)ER
2.8 DE(A)F  
0 EH  
0 JI(l)T  
29.1 WEB BREWISE(S)
7.4 IRE(D) IRI(D)
15.2 (P)IU SOUARI (empties bag with S still wide open for bingo)
6.7 (KIN)O (J)OUA(L)
10.7 AURA  
5 (LOX)ES  
2 OF  
     
     
#12 - W - Ziegler    
-----------------    
1.6 AEON 8E  
0 bRANNED  
0 VI(E)W  
13.8 MEZ(E)  
0 LUX  
0 GOB  
0 SNIFTER  
15.6 LE(V)Y  
0 T(A)T(T)Y  
4.9 OI  
6.1 GAGS cannot leave that spot open!!!
4* REI  
6 IRI(D)  
5 NU  


1 - 1157 - W - 1.5 (20)
2 - 1438 - W - 3.4 (44.2)
3 - 1625 - W - 5.7 (68)
4 - 1740 - W - 5.9 (82.1)
5 - 1148 - W - 7.3 (130.7)
6 - 1099 - W - 8.8 (106.1)
7 - 1122 - W - 2.7 (42.8)
8 - 1625 - W - 6.8 (81.8)
9 - 1625 - L - 10.7 (171.3)
10 - 1625 - W - 7.7 (107.1)
11 - 1625 - L - 7.9 (118.6)
12 - 1625 - W - 3.8 (53 )


Avg: 6.0


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