1st Charles Reinke's performance wasn't as dominating as some he's had in the past, but the 4-1 +126 record was still good for first place in a field of thirteen players where nobody went undefeated. He was thrown into the fire early with a tough two-on-one match against Mark Kenas and Thomas Reinke. He escaped with a 424-410 win against Mark, playing a single bingo of BESAINT#, but fell well short against his brother, losing 341-447 with his only bingo being SALTIES. Charles' bingo totals started trending upwards as he played two (ENEMIES, UNVARIED) in a 422-327 victory over Lynda Finn, then played four (REALITY, DIABETES, OLEFINS, EGOSURFS#) in a high-scoring 527-453 bout against Mark Kenas, who played ROUTHIER# and TERMINI. Facing the undefeated Dennis Lloyd in the final round, Charles held on for a 415-366 win, thanks to finds of HELOTAGE and PANOCHES (Dennis had VARIOLAS).

Dennis Lloyd went 3-1 +317, scoring well above 400 in each of his wins. He got down his first triple-triple since 2023 when he deployed LUSTIEST for 122 points in a round-one win against James Rollins, 440-318. Dennis also had EARNERS in that game, while James had TREATIES. A game against Ron Malzer required no triple-triples for Dennis to win, 458-275, although a 92-point phony EXCELING* certainly helped. Not content with just a single triple-triple for the evening, Dennis played another one, PRENATAL for 140, in a 483-422 victory against Andy Bohnsack (PRENATAL presumably occurred sometime after his challenged-off phony of PALANTIR*, which is an orb from the Lord of the Rings which possessed dangerous yet alluring magical properties). This victory disrupts a recent streak in which Andy had won ten of the last eleven against Dennis. Sadly, Dennis' night ended not with an undefeated record, but a 366-415 loss to Charles Reinke.

3rd Sara McLaughlin overcame a large first-round loss to win her next three and go 3-1 -137. Sara would not have been blamed if she had simply walked out the door after losing to Lynda Finn 285-541, but her perseverence was rewarded with wins in each of her next three games. She defeated Andy Bohnsack 403-369 with a bingo find of STORIES, overcoming Andy's TRAIPSES and PROWING*. Round three saw her fight to a 393-361 win against Dora Kilburn; Sara was again outbingoed, but this time it was her turn to phony, as she played AGONISER* (real word: ORGANISE) to Dora's REASONER and STRANGER. Sara wrapped things up with a 418-365 triumph over Helen Flores, getting BALDIES and RENTING.

Notable was a game between Lynda Finn and Ron Malzer where both players bingoed with LATRINES. Since this is a professionally-penned writeup, the opportunity for potty humor will pass by untaken.

The highly-contested battle for top spot in the yearly standings is now at a deadlock as both Thomas and Charles have identical 66.7% winning percentages. To achieve total statistical purity, Thomas and Charles will no longer play any opponent other than each other for the remainder of the club season.

Experts
Charles Reinke4-1 +126
Dennis Lloyd3-1 +317
Sara McLaughlin3-1 -137
Thomas Reinke3-2 +501
Andy Bohnsack3-2 +224
Bryan Benwitz2-1-1 +191
Lynda Finn2-2 +135
James Rollins2-2 -140
Richard Lauder1-2-1 -71
Helen Flores1-3 -157
Mark Kenas1-3 -269
Ron Malzer1-3 -454
Dora Kilburn0-3 -266
Intermediates

 
NameWin% W   L  T  Avg  Opp Avg Bingos  Avg Phonies % v2
Experts
Mike Johnson75310438417102.51100
Thomas Reinke66.9814004444012762.28259.115
Andy Bohnsack66532714253791692.0974.15
Bryan Benwitz65.3723814363722242.0262.70
Charles Reinke64.6824504473982822.22258.916
Steve Hartsman63.523131412378651.7657.71
Lynda Finn54.8463803893901211.4421.79
Richard Lauder47.9343713673941041.441110.60
Mark Kenas45.6313704324481462.153121.23
Dennis Lloyd45.3394703703951161.3554.34
Ron Malzer42.912160358407260.9327.70
James Rollins42.116220359380370.9738.10
David Kinzer36.519330351390350.6725.70
Sara McLaughlin34.337710356400890.8233.40
Helen Flores28.922540352401660.8734.50
Ari Smith2514130637530.5000
Tim Creedy12.503128037400000
Nalina Cherr9.1110026640230.27000
Dora Kilburn8.72210300390160.7000
Beth Amos004030939410.25000
Jordan Barger001031446211000
Lesley Salas004029639810.25000
Buffy Hogan004033542310.25000
Ryan Adams004032138900000
Intermediates

Bingos
Thomas Reinke12TRAWLING PILFERED DESTINES FENCERS DELUSORY OUTRIGS ANTIGEN DEVOLVE DIVERSE ABLATOR
SACRARIA athletas
Charles Reinke10SALTIES ENEMIES UNVARIED REALITY DIABETES OLEFINS HELOTAGE PANOCHES besaint egosurfs
Andy Bohnsack10TARRIEST ALEURON TRAIPSES DEMOTES MUSTARD GLOVERS RATINGS DETESTS prowing isology
Mark Kenas8PIPEAGES SLURRIED DYSURIA TERMINI TOWNSITE polings routhier nerines
Dennis Lloyd7EARNERS LUSTIEST RAILERS TANNERY PRENATAL VARIOLAS exceling
Lynda Finn7TINDERS LOGGIER TAENIAE AVIATION DELUSION LATRINES KNIGHTED
Bryan Benwitz6DEMOTES SONNIES MISKEEP YEARLIES ADIOSES latisol
Richard Lauder6FISSATE LINTERS DOLLIED DREAMER RUNDLES agaroth
James Rollins5TREATIES ANODISES SULTANIC SORBATE PERCEIVE
Sara McLaughlin4STORIES BALDIES RENTING agoniser
Ron Malzer4LIKEABLE LATRINES SOLDIER shoulds
Dora Kilburn3BURNOUT REASONER STRANGER
Helen Flores2REVENUES SEIZING
13-Aug: Scrabble at Covenant Church20-Aug: Scrabble at Misty Mountain Games27-Aug: Scrabble at Covenant Church3-Sep: Scrabble at Covenant Church