Aug. 25, 2018, mall Scrabble recap, part 2

By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Aug. 31, 2018

The three games of the tournament’s early session had been scheduled in advance. Upon resuming play around 1:30 in the afternoon, we commenced playing in “king of the hill” battle — the top two players faced one another; the third- and fourth-ranked players played one another; and so on down the line in our 10-person division.

My foe in round 4 was D.D., a younger Charlotte, N.C., player participating in his third tournament. Like me, he was 1-2, having won his opener by nine points before dropping his second and third games by a total of 23 points.

Playing first, my rival got things off to a rousing start with HERTZ 54. His follow-up was DEACON/JO/IN 33, leaving me in an 87-22 hole after I’d put down JILT.

My big early plays were QI/OI 33 in turn 3 and REX/ZAX 31 two moves after that. But that still left me trailing, 150-134. (A zax is a hatchet-like tool, pluralized as zaxes.)

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Aug. 25, 2018, mall Scrabble recap, part 1

By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Aug. 30, 2018

The opening game of the Aug. 25 Scrabble tournament pitted me against S—, the older North Carolina player who had handed me a 100-point defeat around the start of the summer. I had a modest lead of 64-30 midway through turn 3 when, playing second, S— put down sENIORS/GUYS, a 67-point bingo.

I responded with AYE/As/YE/EN, which scored 28 thanks to its placement of the A on the triple-word-score bonus spot at center column–top row. S—’s riposte, BUNKO 22, minimized my gain. However, in turn 5 I played ZA/REZ/MA for 47 points, which gave me a 139-119 lead.

S— reclaimed the lead three turns later with DESIST/SWAG. The play notched 35 points thanks to its utilization of the TWS in the center row–far-left column and put my foe ahead, 200-195.

Cheeps and Chirps for Aug. 25, 2018

By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Aug. 25, 2018

Recent musings from my microblog.

• Politics

Was America always this full of misinformed, deluded and/or downright bad people? https://t.co/VjmcyOaDsP

— ((( Matt Milliken ))) grandson of an immigrant (@memomoment) August 1, 2018

Shared without comment.

‘print a new president’ pic.twitter.com/MU1iBoyGfK

— ((( Matt Milliken ))) grandson of an immigrant (@memomoment) August 1, 2018

The sign that wasn’t there

By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Aug. 18, 2018

The other day, I wrote about my woeful performances in two recent pinball tournaments. What I didn’t mention was that I was feeling a little off-kilter going into this month’s event.

Part of the reason was that my stomach was a bit uneasy that evening; part of it was that I left for the venue a little later than was ideal. That last factor ties into the forthcoming vignette about something else that was distracting me entering the tournament.

Because it was raining and I wanted to avoid getting wet, I drove to the parking deck right across the street from the arcade. The structure has two entrances; the main one is on Ramseur Street, but there’s also an auxiliary entrance on Main Street. I used the latter portal.

But as soon as I’d passed the open gate, a man rose from the stool he’d been perched upon about 25 feet from the entrance and signaled to get my attention. I rolled down my window.

Pinball gizzard times two: My tale of amusement-machine woe

By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Aug. 14, 2018

Two months ago, I wrote (extensively!) about my first-ever pinball tournament championship. I’d now like to recap my performances in the two knockout-style pinball events that I’ve participated in since.

• Date: June 20, 2018
Venue: Boxcar, Raleigh, N.C.
Format: Group knockout (elimination upon three strikes)

Match 1: Total Nuclear Annihilation, Spooky Pinball, 2017 (four players)
Result: Lowest score of four (plus one strike)
Status: Χ

Match 2: Dialed In, Jersey Jack Pinball, 2017 (four players)
Result: One of the bottom two scores (plus one strike)
Status: ΧΧ

Zig-zag: Ruminating upon tournament results

By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Aug. 12, 2018

In thinking over Thursday’s end game, which I detailed yesterday, I couldn’t help but compare that situation, where I folded promising hands, to those in which I’d made all-in calls during the final week of the regular season. In those cases, I didn’t necessarily need to win the event to accomplish my goal, which was winning the venue’s season points championship.

(To be specific, what I needed in those earlier instances was to improve my season points average by recording a high score in one of the last games, which I could have done without a win.)

With the benefit of hindsight, it seems I would have come closer to succeeding in the final week by playing the turtle — that is, by folding and putting off the moment at which I might be eliminated.

On facing another tough poker end game

By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Aug. 11, 2018

Two of the most memorable hands from Thursday night’s tournament of champions were ones I didn’t play.

Before I get to those, please permit me to recount one that I did. Staring with a high pocket pair, I raised preflop to maybe three times the big blind. (I assume the level was 200–400, which would have made my raise 1,200.) I got four callers.

The flop was jack-jack-something. (That something may have been a nine; it turned out to be irrelevant.) The good news here was that I now had two pairs. The bad news was that a single jack would ruin me.

I needed to find out if danger was lurking, so I made a big bet — maybe 5,800, a little less than the size of the pot. If anyone called, that would signal potential danger. If I got re-raised, then I’d have to give serious consideration to abandoning a premium hand. However, everyone folded, indicating that I was ahead the whole time.

Hot and then not: Tales from the tournament of champions

By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Aug. 9, 2018

Two Tuesdays ago, I had a very rough start in my first tournament of the postseason but got hot towards the end of the event, finishing in fourth place. The other night, during the tournament of champions at the same Tuesday venue, the opposite occurred: I started off hot but faltered toward the end.

I hit a big hand after moving to my second table, roughly 20 minutes into the event. (Unlike every other in-venue contest that World Tavern Poker conducts, the tournament of champions has long blinds, so I think we were still in the first level, 100–200.) Having been dealt pocket kings, I raised to 800, only to see around four callers.

The flop was a nightmare: three hearts, while I held none at all. I made a significant bet — 1,600, I think — only to see Paul C. raise to 3,200.

Fortunes of play: Notes on an extended tavern championship run

By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Aug. 4, 2018

Having botched my chance at a season points championship in the World Tavern Poker venue where I play on Tuesday nights as well as the one where I play (and direct tournaments) on Sunday nights, I had extra motivation to want to do well in the two-week “postseason” that the league stages every six months.

My first opportunity at redemption came in the tavern championship on Tuesday evening. This is a single tournament, run with the same length of blinds as all the others. The main differences between the tavern championship and regular games are twofold. In the championship, each top-10 player receives twice the starting stack as other players, and each top-10 player is bestowed with a bounty/re-entry/add-on card.

Here’s how the card works. If a top-10 player is knocked out before the first chip-up break, which occurs between the 500–1,000 and 1,000–2,000 blind levels, then the card enables the top-10 player to get a new double stack (effectively, a rebuy or re-entry). In addition, the individual who knocks out the top-10 player receives a 10,000 bounty.

Any top-10 player who survives until the first chip-up break receives a 10,000 “add-on.” After that point, top-10 players receive no further advantage. A top-10 player can use her or his card only once, either when knocked out or at the break.