Reno, NV Scrabble Tournament July 6-11, 1999

Arrived in Reno Monday evening after a nice, hot weekend 
in Phoenix.  Despite a couple Dramamine II tablets, the 
descent to Reno was a bit bumpy and I felt a little nauseous.
MJ and I stayed off site at her friend's home throughout the 
tournament.

Tuesday morning I drove to the Sands and was amazed at the 
number of people and stuff for sale.  Spent the time talking 
to friends from my local Austin area as well as people I 
hadn't seen in a long time since moving.

The first game was against Jason Bednarz; didn't know anything 
about him, but didn't appear he'd be an easy win (little did I 
know he'd go on to win the division!).  I started with a good 
draw and played ZOnED for 48.  I felt it was a good use of a 
blank.  Two turns later I had bingo tiles and played the uncertain
spelling TABULIS, planting the T at the dangerous J1.  Jason 
wasn't certain either, held for a bit, and then challenged,
unsuccessfully.  I couldn't milk the setup for much and ended 
up just blocking the spot with CUT for 15.  Jason soon bingoed 
with DIAMETER and two turns later with SENARII, which gave him 
a 248-215 lead, but also set up the TWS at O8 with ??R??.  I 
could not capitalize so I tried the uncertain wray* which was 
held but left unchallenged.  The game remained close from here 
on out until turn 14, down by 24, I had the final rack EILSSTU 
vs Jason's QRNG.  Already losing time I knew I had to play fast 
and feed Jason the Q.  I went for the quick SAUTES and was 
surprised to hear "hold" and then "challenge".  This brought me 
within 10 and with an 8-point out play and 28 for Jason's tiles 
I had quite enough for a win, despite my 20 point time penalty.  
Jason would have won without the few mistakes, but I'll take the 
377-371 win and 1-0 start.  It doesn't appear Jason made too many 
more mistakes the remainder of the tournament.  

In the 2nd game against Susie Page, I bingoed early with HAUNTER 
and held the lead until the end to win 383-284.

I blew game 3 on time losing by only 1 point with a 10 point time 
penalty, despite the bingoes SAUSAGE and AUDILES.  Recount proved 
Jeff Walker and I both did our math flawlessly.

I was schooled on the word TALA in game 4 and ended up losing to
eventual 4th placer, Robin Schlauch, 418-375.  One bingo for me: 
ORATION.  

For lunch I walked down to the Flamingo Hilton to procure a
$1 craps chip.

Game 5 against Gene Tyszka, one of the digital timer creators, 
whose name reminds me of VIZSLA.  I didn't get to play that 
6-letter zee but I did draw a challenge with GAZAR.  Gene lost 
6 challenges this game, including the attempted cume*, cumens*, 
disneys*, vased*, and vashed*.  My phoney was the successfully
challenged devouts*.  No bingoes for either side and I 
won 311-305.

In Game 6 against Harriet Berkelhammer, I bingoed early with 
NATURES and held the lead until the end: 365-287.

Game 7 was a breeze.  I bingoed early with ATRESIA, and then poured 
it on with JURA (44), JEER (33), XYSTI (72), and QUARE (48).  Final 
score against Andrea Greene: 486-218.

Last game of day 1.  Bob Emberly bingoed early and twice with 
LOTIONS and PLACATES and I drew drek and never caught up.  A 
256-436 loss (including a 30 point time penalty).

Game 9 the following morning against Gregg Wood.  I drew both blanks,
bingoed once with OBELIAS and took the 371-310 win.

Kitty Yamauchi beat me the next game 330-291.  No bingoes for me; 
she had two (bALONEY and SLANDERS).

I ran out of room on my scoresheet in game 11.  There were about 
26 turns.  Evi Pike exchanged four times; I exchanged thrice.  
I bingoed with the challenged DRIVELS; Evi with REPRISES.  With my 
40-point time penalty it turned out to be a close win for me: 333-328.

After that previous long game, handing in the winner's slip, and a 
quick stop in the men's room, I returned to the playing area and was 
greeted by Mr. Fontes who told me "we had to start your clock".  Ired, 
but not wanting to make a scene, I started the game less about a 
minute in a half and took my anger out in the form of a 454-254 rout 
(yes I lost 10 points because of time).  I bingoed with the challenged 
AMNIOTE, as well as ASTOUND.  I also scored big with QUOTE for 79 
(a triple letter, double word).

During the lunch break I walked a few blocks to collect chips from
the Silver Legacy, Circus Circus, and El Dorado.

Game 13 was unlucky for me.  Although I got to play JONES (50) and 
TELEX (45), I had no bingoes and foolishly set up Marty Rosen for 
PIQUE (51).  Marty bingoed with ANODIZE and won 363-315.  I would 
later in the tournament also get to use anodize, one of the AEIO sevens.

I began game 14 with JAYGEE for 46.  Later, somehow I thought orant* 
was good, and lost another challenge when Burke Riley stuck an S at 
the end of BUSTIER, changing what I thought was only an adjective to 
a noun.  This was another game I blew because of time, losing 286-306 
with a 40-point penalty.  I think my rating would be 100 points higher 
if we played with 30 minute clocks!  After returning to work several
days later, I found out why I thought "orant" was good: it's the name
of the directory where Oracle for Windows NT is stored!

Game 15 against Mike Sherman.  When am I going to consistently manage 
time well?  Another time loss 395-397 with a 40 point time penalty.  
I had one good play, a non-bingo ESQUIRE for 88.  Mike bingoed with 
GAROTED.

Game 16 against Barbara with the interesting last name, Drinkwine.  
Barbara started with lOOPIER which I challenged unsuccessfully.  
I was outplayed and lost 320-403.

Game 17 was one of the few games that I started with a bingo: 
ICKIEST.  Despite winning 339-309 over Justine Zollinger, I still had 
clock problems, going 5 minutes over.  I also found out that mung* 
and aeros* are no good.

Game 18 against Bill Lapinsky who played HOOTERS and LAAGERS in the 
same game and won 459-328.  At one point I was afraid to play CUTUP 
and found out afterwards that it's good.  One consolation: I bingoed 
out with PATIENTS.

Game 19 against Susan Love.  I had to work for this win.  I managed 
the clock fairly well (had 16 seconds to spare) and won a close end 
game 377-371.  Susan's recount only produced two points for her.

Game 20 against Sherrie Saint John.  She used both blanks to bingo 
with ToDDIEs and my best was only OX for 40.  It was almost another 
game to lose on time, but I would have lost anyway.  Final score 
322-334.

Pat Burnham was next.  She was near the top of the standings at this 
point, so I knew I had to play tough to win.  I got the tiles to play 
SILVERN and RAINIEST.  Despite a final rack of IIIIEE I won 429-371.

After 21 games I finally get to play Ruth Sawyer, from my local club 
in Austin.  I would play the other Austinite in our division, Harvey 
Wilson, the very next game.  GITANOS for 70 was enough for the 
350-343 win (lost 30 on time -- almost another game blown on time).

Harvey was also doing well, but I RELEASED (77) a ZOOMING (58) win.  
I also played NIXE for 43.  Final 426-368.

Last game of day 3 against Jacquie Stewart.  The first of my two bad 
grammar games; for some reason I thought growed* was good.  It was 
good enough for zero points, although I did sneak the illegal spelling 
jinny* for 40 points.  I later formed it into the acceptable DJINNY 
for 31 more.  I played a risky end game and won 397-366.  

   A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O 
01|#| | |"| | | |#| | | |"| | |#|
02| |+|B|A| |*| | | |*| | | |+| |
03| | |A|Z|O| | | |T| | | |+| | |
04|"| |R|O|W| | |P|I| | |+| | |"|
05| | |E| |E| | |I| |C|H|O|N| | |
06| | |D| |D|J|I|N|N|Y| |U| |V| |
07| | | | | | |"|E|"|A| |T| |I| |
08|#| | |Q|A|I|D|S| |N| |B|R|A|G|
09| | | |U| | |"| |"| | |R| | | |
10| | |M|A|G|+| | | |F|O|E| |*| |
11| | |O|R|E| | | | |O|F|A|Y| | |
12|"| |T|E|L| | |"| |G| |K|A|T|"|
13| | |T| | | | | | | | | |M|E|W|
14| |L|O|U|R|*| | | |*| | | |N|E|
15|C|I|S|T| | | |#| | |T|I|L|D|E|
   A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O   

Jacquie 335 EIROUV? 
Me      298 ENSHIXE to play 
Four tiles left: ALPS

At move 13, I was about to play THINE at 3i but then played ENS at 
f2 for 25, setting up the TWS.  I picked up APS.  Jacquie plays pROVE 
for only 24, but sets up XI at 2j for 50.  I was lucky Jacquie didn't 
see the X setup.  I outed with SHAPE at 3k.  I showed this setup to 
MJ afterwards and she would have played HEX at 14j for 32.  
That's probably a better play.

Day 4 started against Dorothy Laws.  I bingoed twice with EASIEST 
and REPEATED and went on to win 435-302.  Interesting note about this 
game: I played both FAUNA and FLORA.

Round 26 against James Wedell.  He struck immediately with the 
questionable spelling TAbOULE.  I should have realized it was not 
one of the AEOU sevens.  Instead I let it go, rationalizing that he'd 
probably bingo soon with AELOTU?.  This game was my second grammar 
lesson of the tournament.  My erroneous past tense fleed* was taken 
off the board.  My bingo attempt was also challenged off 
(redialer*).  I even lost 70 points for time.  Needless 
to say, I was crushed in this game 232-358.

I rebounded well in game 27 playing on my newly raffle-won round 
board against Mitchell Brook.  Mitch is one of the few I've 
played in my very first tournament in Atlantic City.  I had good 
racks early bingoing back to back in turns 2 and 3 with ANTIRED 
and DEMOTING.  Mitch also managed two bingoes (one a phoney that 
I thought sounded reasonable: vocaler*; the other HARASSES), but 
I also had BUMF (37) and TAXA (46) for a 487-368 win.

During lunch I walked downtown to the main strip, visited some
casinos and obtained a Fitzgerald's craps chip.

In game 28, Tobi Bell started off with the game's only bingo, 
DETECTS for 66.  I averaged only 21.5 ppt over the next 16 turns, 
but still won 346-267.  I played EMYD for the first time.

Game 29 was tough against eventual third-placer, Pat Reed. My only 
bingo was BURNIEs (which was challenged) vs. Pat's FEINTED and 
RAdICALS (which I challenged, being my only hope near the end).  
I also forgot that DEY was good and challenged it.  Pat won 391-310.

Round 30 was my only 3-bingo game of the tournament, against 
Hans Farwig.  I struck early with LASTING and MARINATE, and near 
the end put the game away with LAURELS.  Final score 484-313.

After 30 rounds, I'm 18-12 +649.

Friday night MJ and I drove over Mt. Rose to Lake Tahoe 
and had a wonderful dinner on the lake at the West Shore Cafe.
I enjoyed Pasta Primavera with Salmon and Sierra Nevada Pale
Ale on draught while the sun set.

Game 31 against Florence Laatz who started with MEANT.  I had 
AEISTUV in my rack which turns out to not bingo with anything.  
I knew VAUNTIE did not take an S, but I gambled whether Florence 
knew.  Vaunties* stayed on the board, but it didn't pay off and 
I ended up losing 370-392.

Next was against Rebecca Owen.  My only bingo was inspired by 
the recent NBA champs: SPURRED.  I let the phoney rEdEVISED* 
go, thinking it could just as easily have been televised.  
Didn't matter though; I won 440-317.  

The battle of the board raffle winners was next.  Ted Gest and 
I played a close one, but I eventually lost because of time 
337-356.  This would be my 4th loss of the tournament because 
of time.  I had no bingoes in the game vs. Ted's TEARiNG and 
HaRPIES, although I did have ZAX for 51 and CLINES for 38 near 
the end to make it close.

During the short lunch break I played blackjack at the Sundowner 
and won about $25 before having to return to Scrabble.

In game 34, I bingoed early against Eve Wengler with ANODIZE, 
but she had STINGIER and RESITES (which I unsuccessfully 
challenged).  I was also unsuccessful with the challenge
of FLOURY which gave her 40 points.  A loss for me, 359-449.

Game 35 was against Richard Benjamin.  I had no bingoes in 
this game; Richard had two: rEQUIrED and SERIATE.  He needed 
one more to win though but I actually had enough time to plan out 
an endgame block, sticking a G in row 1, while possessing the 
games only remaining O.  I won 419-336.  Interesting note: 
the word GODS was played in row 1; DEVILS in row 15.

Round 36 against Michael Wier.  Early on I had EFRRSS? and 
eventually found SuRFERS for 77, making sure I wrote down
the blank before hitting the clock.  Two turns later gave me
TINNIER.  That lead was enough for me to control the board 
and despite the allowed dinitros* (it doesn't take an S) I 
won 465-312.  I even played LAAGER to block a good Q spot 
in the end game (I learned something from game 18).

Saturday night MJ and I had dinner with friends and 
then went to the Circus Circus, Silver Legacy, and Eldorado 
casinos.  At Circus Circus we saw a remarkable balancing act 
and played Camel Race a few times.  I came very close to 
winning one of the races.  We played some Wheel of Fortune 
slots at Circus Circus; MJ won about $20; I lost about $2.  
I made it up on the blackjack table at the Eldorado, but 
quickly left the game after I found out I couldn't double down 
with nine!  I don't like the gambling rules in Reno.  Another 
instance: playing Craps at two different casinos I had my 
obligatory $2 or $3 minimum bet on the pass line and when a 
4 or 10 pointed, I wasn't alowed to put a $1 2-1 odds bet behind 
it.  "You have to bet the minimum behind the line," they said, 
despite allowing $1 craps or hardway bets.  Besides I already 
covered the minimum with the line bet.  Ridiculous.  Also,
bought a pint at Brew Brothers brew pub at the Eldorado.

I lost the final three games Sunday morning.  First against 
James Wedell again.  I mistakenly allowed slanter* when I 
should have known STERNA+L only yields antlers, rentals, 
saltern, and sternal.  I staged a possible comeback with 
OUABAINs but James had the perfect letters to turn my 1-point 
lead to a 352-357 loss for me.

Game 38 was against Mike Sherman again.  I started pretty
well with the bingo HABITUE and the unsuccessfully challenged 
SOZINE, but I had to eat the Q right after playing DIGESTED.  
Another game where QI# would have been nice.  Mike bingoed 
with ROUSING (which I turned to AROUSING) and won 406-369.

Final game against Gene Tyzska again, who started with 
JAWED for 48.  I made about three costly mistakes in this game.  
First I allowed anet* because I wasn't paying attention to 
the board.  Then I didn't block a triple-letter double-word 
spot with the Q still out (Gene obliged with QUEsT for 66).  
Finally with a 45 point lead at move 10, trying to block a 
bingo alley I ended up setting up a 53 point REX play.  
Aarrghh!  My only bingo AUDITORY wasn't enough and I 
lost 395-403.

Random notes and statistics:

I ended up beating 4 of the top 6 finishers, although I 
lost to the 39th, 42nd, 45th, and 47th placers.  In 39 games 
I played 34 bingoes (0.872 avg.) and had 37 played against 
me. I exchanged tiles 32 times (0.821 avg.).  Average score 
per game was 371.  Highest game was 487.  Highest loss was 
395 (twice).  I had 21 wins and +837 spread.  I expect a 
slight rating drop from 1237.