Stats for January 10, 2024
1st Richard Lauder prevailed amongst a clump of 3-1 finishers with his 3-1 +312 record. Tasked with playing 2023 club champion Bryan Benwitz in the first game of the night, Richard kept his composure (and then some) with a merciless 454-291 win. Bryan did not get down a bingo, while Richard had DEACONS, HALOGEN, and SATINET. The trend of knocking off top players continued when Richard breached the 500-point marker with a 504-355 win over Thomas Reinke. RELATION was Thomas' only bingo, while Richard again bingoed thricely with ABALONE, LAMSTER, and NUMERALS. More bingos were in store for Richard in his match against Sara McLaughlin, but his RECLINER and RELATES still led him to a 384-386 loss. That two-point defeat was neatly offset in the final round when Richard beat Dennis Lloyd by two points, 316-314.
2nd Thomas Reinke finished 3-1 +157, continuing his strong start to the club season. Two of those wins came in Collins-dictionary games against Mark Kenas. The first of those ended at a score of 415-303, with Thomas getting down the only two bingos played in the game, COURTIER and ROSEATE. Both players' scores ticked up in the second encounter, but it was still a comfortable win for Thomas, 476-403, thanks to TEENTIER#, FENITARS#, GALILEE, and CURRENTS. A 355-504 loss to Richard Lauder dashed Thomas' hopes of going undefeated for 52 straight weeks and running away with the club championship, but he got back on track by defeating Francesca Lazio 471-350, with each player getting one bingo (ELUSIVE for Thomas, RANTERS for Francesca).
3rd Bryan Benwitz went 3-1 +104, reversing his 1-3 record from last week. A bingoless 291-454 loss to Richard Lauder was not the start he was looking for, but things started looking up when he defeated Dennis Lloyd, 410-380, finding the straightforward SONNIES and ROADIES to score some much-sought-after fifty-point bonuses (Dennis found BROODED for 50 extra points of his own). Bryan played two more bingos, OBLIGEE and PRUINOSE, while besting Charles Reinke, 438-344. Facing off against the undefeated Sara McLaughlin in the final round, Bryan turned their game into a rout; he monopolized the bingo situation with STIPEND and RACIEST, resulting in a final score of 473-330.
4th Sara McLaughlin rounded out the 3-1 finishers with her 3-1 -15 record, including a one-point win over Sue Goldstein, 361-360.
Other tidbits include Dave Kinzer's 487 points against Sue Goldstein, which featured a 122-point non-bingo triple-triple of MIDDLING played through IN on the board. Also noteworthy was Mark Kenas' 650-point game against Charles Reinke (who scored a respectable 434). Mark played six bingos: LORDKIN#, LUTECIUM, UNBASED, CROTTLE#, OPIATING, and WATERIER. Their combined of 1084 is the second-highest at our club since modern recordkeeping was instituted in 2011.
| Avg. Game Score | 393 |
| Avg. Intermediate Score | 0 |
| Avg. Expert Score | 393 |
| Avg. Winning Score | 437 |
| Avg. Losing Score | 348 |
| Avg. Bingo Score | 74 |
