Houston Bayou Bash Sept 1 - 3, 2006
| Round |
Opponent's Name/Rating |
Points |
My
Score |
Opponent's
Score |
Spread |
Cumulative
Spread |
| 1 |
Janice Porter / 578 |
1 |
397 |
251 |
146 |
146 |
| 2 |
Kathy Johnson / 716 |
0 |
306 |
344 |
-38 |
108 |
| 3 |
Debbie Scholz / UNR |
0 |
300 |
317 |
-17 |
91 |
| 4 |
Caroline Boyd / UNR |
1 |
328 |
247 |
81 |
172 |
| 5 |
Patricia Lehtola / 722 |
0 |
288 |
428 |
-140 |
32 |
| 6 |
Jack Krull / UNR |
1 |
349 |
309 |
40 |
72 |
| 7 |
Peggy Altazan / UNR |
0 |
208 |
420 |
-212 |
-140 |
| 8 |
Quentin Babb / UNR |
1 |
348 |
309 |
39 |
-101 |
| 9 |
Henry Baldwin / 695 |
0 |
291 |
330 |
-39 |
-140 |
| 10 |
Andrea Meeden / 716 |
0 |
257 |
451 |
-194 |
-334 |
| 11 |
Cynthia Hughes / UNR |
0 |
331 |
358 |
-27 |
-361 |
| 12 |
Heather Amuny / UNR |
1 |
514 |
283 |
231 |
-130 |
A few comments on the tournament....
It was fabulous! I wish I could have watched the top ranked players play. But I was playing as well, so couldn't do that. I won 5 out of 12 games. Yeah, not great, but so what? I had fun. My brain was mush after game #12, but it was okay. It was a humbling experience. I'd do it again in a minute.
Here's some unasked for advice for those new to a tournament:
- Don't go in cocky. Really. You may be top dog in your home-town. You may think that just because you've been placed in the bottom division that you don't belong there. You may be thinking that you deserve to be in the top division. Hey, you may even be right. But you know what? You may end up being exactly where you belong. I know I did. I went to my first tournament thinking that just because I mostly won back home that surely I could beat anyone in the bottom division. I didn't tell that to anyone. I didn't even really consciously think it. It was just there in the back of my mind. First game, I won. Second and third games, I lost, but not by much. Fourth game, I had my head handed to me on a platter. By then I was tired of playing. I had driven 3 hours to be there on 4 hours of sleep. I was tired. Not thinking straight. I didn't really care so much about playing. I played badly in the fourth round. Plus Patricia Lehtola got all the good tiles. All that cockiness was driven right out. Patricia is rated 722. She won big and deservedly so. Me, not belong in the bottom division? Um, yeah...sure.
- Bring a timer and protiles and best of all, your own customized ROUND board. Those are sooo cool.
- Relax! Don't think about winning or losing. Just play the best you know how.
- Memorize those 2 and 3 letter word lists.
- Don't challenge a word, unless you are absolutely sure and it makes no difference to your score. On the other hand, if it's the last round and your opponent is going to get 100 points by playing a word you think may be a fake, go ahead and challenge.