Stats for August 30, 2023
1st Thomas Reinke returned from a compulsory club-wide hiatus (dang those 100 degree temperatures) without missing a beat, finishing at 4-0 +499 and averaging 521 points per game. His best game was a monstrous 629-433 drubbing of longtime expert Mark Kenas, thanks to his bingos of GYNECOID, TABOURET, ISLEMAN#, PLASTRON, and UNGROUND. Mark, meanwhile, found BEATIER#, HIERATIC, and ASTEROID. That score of 629 somehow does not crack the list of Thomas' ten highest scores ever, but it is his best game this year, as well as third-highest this year among all players (behind Charles' 649 and Bryan's 634). Thomas' "worst" game was a "mere" 438 points scored against John Bialek, who scored 316. John found a bingo of FIDDLING, but Thomas responded with the high-probability SAUTOIR as well as ERASURE. A perfect record was sealed when Thomas took on his brother Charles and triumphed, 556-487. After playing five bingos against Mark in the previous round, Thomas' list of four bingos seemed positively paltry: BRIDLED, QUINTALS, UNEDITED, and NAVICERT.
2nd Charles Reinke didn't quite reach the lofty heights that his brother did, but still finished quite well, going 4-1 +228. Aside from an enfortunate encounter with his brother in the final round, Charles' scoresheet reflected nothing but wins. The first of those wins was a relatively low-scoring 393-358 win against Bryan Benwitz. Bryan played BEAGLING, which was never hooked to make BEAGLINGS, while Charles had NANOBOT and MISLEARN. Charles followed that up with a solid 486-384 victory against Mark Kenas, playing just one bingo (FUTHARCS for 101) and proving that flashy bingo totals aren't strictly necessary to win games (although more bingos is generally a good thing). A rematch against Mark also ended in Charles' favor, 512-436, this time with Charles playing three bingos: GELATIS, EQUATED, and BASTIDES#.
3rd Richard Lauder went 3-1 for the second consecutive session, this time ending at 3-1 +199. His standout win was a dominant 503-313 showing against Wendy Bialek, propelled by bonus plays of CREAMING and BLEATING. Richard upped his bingo output in a later game against Bryan Benwitz, getting down PERSONA, LOGIEST, and RIOTING in a 408-332 victory where Bryan was uncharacteristically held to zero bingos (remember, Bryan is the one who played fourteen bingos in four games just two weeks ago!). Richard's win over Bryan also snaps a rather long losing streak for Richard against that particular opponent, stretching back to pre-COVID times - Richard's last win in the series was in December 2019. Richard's single loss was to second-placer Charles Reinke, 319-403.
4th Helen Flores also went 3-1, but fell seventeen points short of a medal with her +182 (note that any mentioned medals are purely metaphorical). For her efforts she gets a short mention in the writeup.
| Avg. Game Score | 387 |
| Avg. Intermediate Score | 0 |
| Avg. Expert Score | 387 |
| Avg. Winning Score | 422 |
| Avg. Losing Score | 353 |
| Avg. Bingo Score | 73 |
