Reno Report
Well, obviously Reno went quite well this year, especially considering what a poor start my trip got off too, and then almost having to cancel out of the main event due to illness.

   Well, obviously Reno went quite well this year, especially considering what a poor start my trip got off too, and then almost having to cancel out of the main event due to illness.

    My TUS-PHX flight was delayed an hour due to mechanical problems, which meant I missed my connection and had a three and a half hour layover in PHX. Or, at least, it would have been that long had the second flight not been delayed an hour as well. So instead of 6:30, I make it to Reno after 11:00. I talked to Gary Smart at the tournament and he said that he and Joe Gaspard got bumped from their PHX-RNO flights entirely and had to fly to Sacramento instead and rent a car to make it to the tourney. U.S. Air sucks.

EB 1

    First early bird starts off well, as I roll off a to a 6-0 start. Only noteworthy play is turning an ugly rack of BEKNRRY into INKBERRY against Miriam Green in R2. Had a big lead against Mark Pistolese in R7, but he hit me with DIUrETIC, BAKELITE, and BOvINES bingo-bango-bongo to win. Not much I could do. R8 vs. Kenji and R9 vs. Rob Robinsky (on his way to a perfect 10-0 tourney) were both close losses with a lot of tough strategic choices, but no major blunders. Maybe winnable, maybe not. Final round rematch with Kenji was a sloppy affair that I won fairly easily after bingoing first and then hitting WIZENS for 84. He lost a turn with the ridiculous FLAVONi(UM); I lost one with AWEARIED#. Final 7-3, good for 4th. (For some reason, putting in Kenji, Rob, and Sam's livejournal links screws everything up, so I'm omitting them).

EB 2

    Gave Rob his first loss of the trip in R4. Could have been worse for him had I been able to convince myself to hook an R to my bingo EVOCABLE. Got a challenge from Sam K on SIMONIAC in R3. Nothing too interesting otherwise. Final 5-3, 3rd.

Illness/ ME

    I went to the 7:30 reception that night and mingled for an hour or so. I then gambled for a short while until my stomach started feeling a little iffy. By the time I got back to my room, I was shivering with the chills. I threw up at 10:30, and every half hour after that until 2:00. I was really worried that I’d have to cancel out of the tourney, but by morning the worst of the illness had apparently passed. I was still weak and very tired, but seemed to be done vomiting. I decided to play and withdraw if I got sick again, but I was pretty sure that if I made it through day one I’d be OK for the rest of it.

     It sure helped to draw the bag my first two games against lower rated opponents. I went 2-0, +617, 8 to 0 in the bingo department. Less luck in game 3 against Cynthia Seales. I did challenge off UNDIVINE#, but couldn’t quite pull out the endgame. Technically it was unwinnable with perfect play, but I think against her most likely play I could have done it. Will probably post position in later post. A ??SSSQXZ draw against Keith Smith in R4 sent me into lunch (i.e., nap time) as the top 3-1.

    More luck that afternoon as I double blanked Widergren and Polatnick for easy wins. I then absolute bagged Robinsky, hitting six bingos on my way to a 609-374 romp. I pulled out a close one against Weinstein to close the day in first place. I might post a pre-endgame position from that one too.

ME Day 2

    I crashed early and woke up the next morning feeling almost 100%, so it appeared my illness had totally passed. No chance in R9 vs. Conrad B-B, as he opened bingo-bango, and later bingo/ 72-point-X-play-ed. I returned the favor against Kenji in R10, hitting two early bingos and later a 70 point Z play.
    Great game in R11 vs. chaithedog  --see it here. MICKIE* was probably a dumb gamble, but other than that I played well. Carl was short on time at the end and thought that mOULDER survived a 3x3 by 6 points or so rather than 1, but fortunately for him the win held upon recount. URODELe is better regardless, of course.
    Another win against my Scrabble son in R12.
    R13 I finally play our tourney leader, whiz kid wantonhalo . A great game that I couldn’t quite pull out: 418-428. I might post positions from here later.
    R14: a rare poorly-played game by drbing . He missed a bingo and played a 27 point phony instead (TOWIER#), which I challenged off. But alas, he bagged me to cruise to victory anyway.
    R15: a good game against SWILLNS champ Lester. I neglect to challenge his S hook on RONDEAU, and later play CROSSING for 63 instead of GRISONS for 79, but still win.
    R16: A close win against Rich Moyer. Late in the game, with the only open bingo line starting from a V, I held EEEGLRT with 3 I’s unseen. Gee, I thought, if I fish off an E and draw one of those I’s, I can bingo with VERLIGTE. Uh, make that VERLIGTE#. Luckily, Rich opened up another bingo lane that I had to block rather than attempting my ill-conceived fish. He made a very nice out in two to close the gap in the endgame.
    A 4-4 day leaves me in 4th place, still well within the hunt.

ME Day 3

    R17: I cash 3 bingos in my first 4 turns against captaino  to take a 280-148 lead and cruise from there.
    R18: My first real screw-up of the tourney. Short on time, I fail to stick Kenji with the J in the endgame. It wasn’t the easiest endgame, but with 6-7 minutes on my clock I think I can find it.
    Similar games in 19 and 20 against Rob and Dominick Mancine. I take medium sized leads and hold on to win when their later bingo fishes come up empty.
    No chance in R21 against Carl Johnson. Opening up with a phony bingo (WHEYIER#) didn’t help, but given that his first three plays were bingos (using both blanks, three esses, and the Q), I don’t think this was my game to win. He later added two more bingos to stomp me by nearly 200. I did get down the nice GORBELLY.
    Game 22 against Ian starts really ugly. After 7 turns, it’s 145-106 in his favor. I bingo and draw what would normally be a horrible rack of EFITTTU, except that I’ve just hung an S for TUFTIEST. I later add VaPORING, killing the last bingo line and winning by 155.
    A great game 23 against Dave Wiegand, slightly marred by two phonies. He got away with UNROLLER*. In the endgame, I trail by 11 with a hideous rack of EEJNPUU. I desperately need an out-in-two for any chance to win, but it’s not looking good. Then I see it--RUNUP from an R, leaving me with JEE and two places to go out! I should win by 2 if the score is correct, which I’m pretty sure it is. Oops--RUNUP is no good! Fortunately, Dave thought it was too and let it go. This turned out to be a critical swing in the tournament. Quackle later found a winning play that neither of us saw--I’ll post the position later.
    So I go into the last game of day three only one game back of Wiegand. I get some great luck against Conrad. With an opening rack of ELLOTRW, he gives me the B I need for a bingo. On turn 4, I 3x3 with aNEMOSIS for a 100 point lead, and hang on to win.

ME Day 4:

    Well, this is it. I control my own destiny. 4-0 wins the tourney; 3-1 might; anything else doesn’t.
    R25: Rematch against Noah. We trade moderate scoring plays for seven turns. He holds me for a long time on KULTUR, but wisely lets it go. I bingo first with HyALINE to grab the lead, but he comes back with XI for 52 and GoONIEST for 82 to close within 8. The critical decision for me is turn 12. With 3 in the bag, a lead of 19, and an ugly rack of EGIINTU, I decide that UN(DREW) is my best chance. Quackle doesn’t much care for it, but it does the job here. Noah realizes he has no chance if it stays, so he challenges. I’ll post the position later. Unfortunately for me, Dave has won this round too, so I’m still one game back.
    R26: I open up bingo-bango against Dominick to take a 150-20 lead. He makes a nice comeback, closing the lead to 10 points before I bingo again. Sitting next to Dave vs. Noah on board 1, I can tell that Noah is winning, which is great for me. He eventually dispatches Dave, which means we’re tied on wins heading into the last two games. But I have a massive spread advantage, so Dave needs to beat me twice. A split, and I edge him on spread.
    R27: Not a particularly dramatic coup de grace. We trade dumping plays on a tight board, and after five turns he leads 143-138. But he’s just given me a Y on E8, and I’ve just drawn AGOZ? to a leave of AU, allowing me to play GAUZY for 84, keeping AO?. I bingo with ADApTOR the next turn to take a 100 point lead, and feel pretty darn confident. So confident, in fact, that I totally botch my next play. Holding BGIRRSS, I see I can play BRIGS for 32, keeping RS. Well, can’t beat that, right? Wrong! I miss RIBGRASS for 72! Oops. But my blindness turns out not to hurt me, as two turns later I hit BLOUSING for 86 and a near 200 point lead, sealing the tourney. Even challenging his nice comeback bingo of MyRIOPOD doesn’t cost me anything but spread.
    R28: Gibsonized, I play Edward de Guzman. He triple triples early with SCRAPING for 167, and even my three bingos of TAUTING, CESTOIDS, and the nice jEROBOAM aren’t enough to make this much of a game.

    I also cashed for 2nd in a poker tournament after day 3, so this was a pretty successful week.