Ultimate Scrabble battle: Grandmaster vs. AI! Game #14

In this series, I'll be playing the AI-powered BestBot in 100 games of Scrabble! Who will prevail? Watch the videos to find out -- and hopefully pick up a few tips too!
BestBot is the upcoming ultimate Scrabble AI from Woogles.io, to be launched in 2024. For questions, please email [e-mail].
Want personalized help taking your game to the next level or a fun gift for a friend? Check out www.mackmeller...!

[@AlexDings]

31:20 LUNT plays no role at all - it doesn't do anything like that. It's one of the features that is still not part of this engine at all (it's available in Macondo, but not implemented in BestBot). The other huge gap in the engine, of course, is its utter lack of trash talk in the game chat.

[@youtubecomments2740]

"Bestbot can't trashtalk"
Bestbot: 10:20

[@mackmeller]

Got it, thanks Alex! Makes sense. And haha at the last part of your comment :)

[@benjaminschmutter]

99% sure GAOLER is pronounced like JAILER

[@davidh7779]

yeah was going to comment this. it's an archaic spelling of the word. see also 'gaol' - 'jail'

[@vharmi.]

May as well tack on here and say that UPBOW is not a part of a ship, but rather a violin playing technique. So it should be pronounced /ʌpboʊ/ instead of /ʌpbaʊ/

[@lucas29476]

I noticed but have given up correcting Mack's pronunciation as he seems to use them to help him remember the word phonetically. Like YCLEPT some videos ago (started with a short "ee" sound and not the letter-Y sound).

[@Mathemagical55]

I was perplexed by Mack's pronounciation of EYRIE (an eagle's nest) but according to one website he pronounced it the 'British' way. Well I am British and have only ever heard it pronounced the same as EERIE so I don't know what's going on here.

[@hankhees8622]

I'm pretty sure Mack was pronouncing the valid word EYRIR which is what the bot might have played horizontally across the top middle triple word (if setting up ROM vertically up there first for EYRIR to then hook onto the R in ROM).

[@lucas29476]

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[@almightyhydra]

The hero we needed! Thankfully, while I was watching at least, the youtube app didn't rotate this comment .

[@AmyAltman-g4f]

i saw ouch immediately and mack took so long to find it i was 100% convinced i made up the spelling.

[@thatorange08]

Mack: *starts with 3 bingoes in a row*
*a few turns later*
Mack: "My lead is 30 points"

[@5cr4bb13]

Wow, some well deserved luck at the beginning after what the bot has gotten earlier in the series, even it comes scarily close to making a comeback at the end. As to your questions on inferences, I am fairly certain that while inferences are a (work-in-progress) feature of Macondo, BestBot does not actually implement them yet, so it assumes a random chance that the X is still in the bag. What you seemed to be describing (the bot simulating your turns to see when you would have played LU(N)T) is indeed how the feature works, but as it is computationally intensive and does not appear to make it play any better yet, it is not yet part of BestBot.

[@JohnDoe-ti2np]

Inferences of this sort raise the fascinating possibility of bluffing. Are there any convincing examples in Scrabble where the game-theoretically optimal play causes your (game-theoretically optimal) opponent to infer that, with high probability, you possess a tile that in fact you don't possess?

[@-Mopo-]

​@@JohnDoe-ti2np Well, knowing that I know that you know that I know....

[@mackmeller]

Makes sense, thanks!

[@aromeran]

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[@lukemini9021]

ur a hero

[@carteryott7710]

What are your thoughts on the new words added to NWL

[@iwersonsch5131]

Bundle of sticks is the kind of play that never goes unnoticed

[@fadeleaf845]

Making up some ground as you rise to the challenge

[@Joslinmeister]

Great win, Mack!

[@mackmeller]

Thanks! About time :)