Stats for March 20, 2019
1st Thomas Reinke topped a field of players where nobody went undefeated by going 4-1 +414. That outcome seemed somewhat unlikely after his first game, which was a loss to Bryan Benwitz, 415-443. Thomas did have a triple-triple of PALLIEST for 140, but even that huge play, combined with TANAGERS for 61, was not enough to topple the high-scoring Bryaniac, who had bingos of NIGHTIE and GNASHES. After that initial setback, a streak of four straight wins propelled Thomas back to the top of the weekly standings. In round two, Thomas took down James Frankki in a close game, 410-399, despite getting outbingoed two to one (RIDDLING vs. TANNERS and ENTIRES). Thomas began to pick up steam in round three, playing two players at once and soundly defeating both: 478-361 versus Michael David (playing NOTEDLY, NOVATES, and MARRIAGE) and 480-286 versus Mary Becker (playing power-tile bingos JIVIEST and SURTAXES). In the final round, Thomas found himself sitting across from a mirror image of himself in Charles Reinke, and overcame daunting existential quandaries to prevail, 494-374.
2nd Barb Pratzel made a return to the top three with a 3-1 +278 record. Like Thomas, Barb's only loss came in the first round, 371-378 against Michael David. She went up against Charles Reinke in the next game, and came away with her first-ever (but certainly not last-ever) win against a Reinke, 394-380. Her two bingos of GASEOUS and VESTING, plus an unplayable Q for Charles at the end, ensured her victory. Her biggest win (and, as of now, highest score ever at our club) came against the returning Carl Skalitzky in round three. The final score was 470-238, and her 89-point bingo of GLITTERY definitely helped in achieving that large score. The mini winning streak continued into round four, where Barb took down Bryan Benwitz 378-339. Bryan was held bingoless, while Barb got EXISTED and IRONIES. Moral of the story: stop Bryan from bingoing if you want to beat him.
3rd Charles Reinke lost to the two players who finished above him in the standings, but still snagged third place with a 3-2 +328 record. An opening-round matchup against James Frankki ended strongly in Charles' favor, as he won 503-386. James snagged the high A play with POSTMAN for 91, so the four-dollar prize helped to soothe the sting of having to watch Charles play three bingos: DEPRIVAL, CORONAL, and DETINUE. Round two saw Charles embroiled in a two-on-one match, which he split. The loss was to Barb Pratzel, 380-394 (playing HABITED as his only bingo), and the win was against Helen Flores, 470-319 (playing TANKERS and NETIZENS). Charles came back strong after the less-than-ideal result in the previous round by crushing Bryan Benwitz, 535-341. Bryan had the high-probability STEARINS as his only bingo, while Charles had four of them: FERRIES, SNORTED, CALQUES, and PLIGHTER. The embarrassing overabundance of bingos in that game resulted in a drought of them in the next, as Charles lost to his brother Thomas 374-494 without bingoing a single time.
| Avg. Game Score | 384 |
| Avg. Intermediate Score | 0 |
| Avg. Expert Score | 384 |
| Avg. Winning Score | 439 |
| Avg. Losing Score | 329 |
| Avg. Bingo Score | 78 |
