The first CoCo tournament in New Mexico began this past Saturday, Oct. 7. Notable plays on the first day included Laurie Cohen's MURDEREE, Gary Smart's outbingo of PRIVETS for 105 (securing a 5-point victory), and Becky Dyer's GLORIFY for 100. After day one, Joel Wapnick sat in first place with a record of 6-2, +426, followed closely by Becky, who was 6-2, +283.

In the evening, most of us went to Namaste for a delicious Indian and Nepalese dinner. We also saw a lot of balloons that were launched during the first two days of the annual Balloon Fiesta.

Joel and Becky continued to lead the field on day two, as they both won their games in rounds 9 and 10, putting them both at 8-2 with similarly very impressive spreads.

In round 11, despite scoring 474 points, Becky lost her game to Yukiko Loritz, who scored 504. That game featured both the high win and the high loss of the tournament. Meanwhile, Joel won his game against Laurie, meaning he improved to 9-2 and Becky was 8-3.

In round 12, Joel lost his second game against Laurie, while Becky won her second game against Yuki. So, at this point, they both had 9-3 records with three games still to play - and meanwhile, yours truly had won all four of his games on day two and was also sitting with a 9-3 record, though with a barely positive spread.

Becky and Joel faced each other in rounds 13 and 14, while I faced Yuki. In round 13, Becky defeated Joel 427-353, and Yuki beat me 454-380. This meant that in round 14, the penultimate round, Joel needed to win in order to stay alive, and Becky needed to win to clinch. Their game was quite a nailbiter, with the lead constantly shifting. Toward the end, Becky played a bingo to take a pretty good lead. Joel responded with his own bingo and drew the final seven tiles of the bag. Although Joel had retaken the lead, when he drew the final seven letters, he quickly realized that he did not have the goods to win. Becky had drawn the X and played SIXAINE for 45 points. The final score was 467 for Becky and 443 for Joel. Becky had clinched the tournament with one game to go. Becky was to be DYERIZED (aka DIARISED)!

Meanwhile, I lost my round 14 game to Yuki, which meant Joel and I would be matched in the final game to determine second place. Joel won that game, 460-421, which looks close but really was not, as Joel was in command the entire game.

Amazingly, Becky went 6-1 on day two, and her only loss came despite her scoring 474 points! Becky commented that her opponents made several amazing plays against her, including Gary playing DECLARING from DE and Laurie playing LONELIEST through EL.

Becky's first place finish earned her $325. Joel earned $250 for second place. Given that we only had seven players, there was no prize money for third place; however, there were lots of fun prizes. Yuki won $25 for high game (504) and $25 for high play (SINGLETS for 140). Gary won $25 for low win (364), and Becky won an additional $25 for high loss (474). Finally, Laurie won $50 for playing the best New Mexico word (VIEWS), which are truly phenomenal in many places, including the west-facing windows of my home.

Lunch on Saturday was a fun chicken casserole that was topped with Ritz crackers that Yuki painstakingly crushed for me. We also had salad and pecan pie. On Sunday, we had beef fajitas, hummus, beans, and tortillas. It was much easier to eat at the venue than to drive 15 or 20 minutes to a restaurant. Besides, the weather was amazing - around 72 degrees and sunny, with a slight breeze.

Playing Collins is a blast. Although there are a lot of additional words, enabling more bingos to be played and higher scores, defense is still part of the game. All of those extra word choices require more analysis of which play is ultimately most likely to give you the best chance of winning the game. And, the less draconian challenge rule (5 points per word) discourages you from playing phoneys and encourages you to challenge questionable words. If you have not tried Collins yet, you should give it a shot.

The CoCo's North American Collins Championship (NACC) event is coming up Nov. 10-13 in Seattle. If I can swing it, I think I will go, and I hope to see all other Collins enthusiasts there too.