Sunday, March 13, 2005

silver hands and sliver hair do not an android make

Okay. Tourney over. Today I went 2-2, bringing my record to 8-7, and, well.... we won't talk about my cumulative over/under.

Again, I won the first half of my games easily. At 8-5, I was right up there at the top. I think I was #6, or so. Again with the power-versus-power matchups in the latter part of the day. Again, I didn't win those games.

Again, I was able to bingo in every game. Two each in the first two games, then one each in the last two.

In game 12, I played KERATIN, which drew a challenge. I was hoping it would because I needed a cushion in that game. The lost challenge gave me that cushion. Later, I was able to play TRAINER. I eventually won that game 398-343.

In game 13, there was a lot of action. I opened with the bingo EARNEST, and later played INHALER. I had the phony REMAINER challenged off the board. Later, I correctly challenged RINGLEAD off the board. I ended up winning this game 408-280. That one put me back in the positive on cumulative point spread, but it was short lived.

Game 14 wasn't pretty at all. I was able to get INTAKES, but late in the game I was drawing really poorly, and I was overmatched anyway. He bingoed out, and I was stuck with Q Z and some other garbage. He got the additional 56 points for my unplayed tiles, which brought the final tally to 500-262. I knew my hopes of finishing in the top ten were done.

Game 15 wasn't any better. Again, I bingoed on my first go with a difficult find, ASUNDER. I thought I would be off and running, but I couldn't do anything good for the rest of the game. I lost that one 413-217.

I was ravenously hungry, cranky, and mentally exhausted at the end.

I wish I could have done a little better, but I'm pleased with the results. Most people say that they got decimated in their first tournament and that I should be ecstatic with a winning record. I can also take some relief in the fact that five of my seven losses came to folks who finished in the top 5 of my division.

Now playing: New Pornographers -- Electric Version
New Pornographers Electric Version

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