Spoilers for Thursday 24th June 2021 (Series 83, Second Semi Final)

[Rhys Benjamin]

I know it's 12:23am but I should get this posted now so we have the stats

JAMES BURLEY
Highest score: 127 vs Edward Carter, game 2
Lowest score: 84 vs Paul Gaskell, game 1
Score: 919
Average: 102.11
Max faced: 1,278
% score: 71.9%
Raw score: 974
Raw average: 108.22
Raw % score: 76.2%
Conundrums: 8/9

ADAM LATCHFORD
Highest score: 115 vs Jacky Treacy, game 3
Lowest score: 72+TB vs Conor Morgan, game 1
Score: 831
Average: 92.33
Max faced: 1,214
% score: 68.5%
Raw score: 864
Raw average: 96.00
Raw % score: 71.2%
Conundrums: 9/10

[Ryan Lam]

The penultimate episode before Nick Hewer retires, in less than 24 hours from now it'll all be over. Nine years has gone by in a flash and the time has nearly come for him to leave, but before that, of course there's still the second Semi-Finals today before the all important occasion tomorrow! Also, not sure if anyone noticed, but someone in the control room clearly switched the camera view at the end too early, whoops...

Letters: Unlucky start when both got peonic (In fact, several people in the Daily Chat made the same error too), but at least they scored points in R2 especially with James' RADIOUS. Woah, Adam has MATIPO in R4 to widen his lead. Later on, I feel James, he looked so frustrated when he could have had PLAGUER in R8 but chose not to risk it A dodgy nine (underbets) subsequently gets both players again after the second break but James has MACULA in R12. Sadly, it was not enough to catch up after the nice spot of COALISED in the next round.

Numbers: James decides not to risk in R3 and with Adam getting a perfect solution the gap opens wide! Adam gambles and oh my, double "1"s in R6 with "4 Large", that's not something anyone wants, but clever him, got as close as he could. Seeing what happened by this point, James admits he has no choice but to gamble with "6 Small" in R9 but it doesn't pay off with a manageable round. Finally, Adam made the move that would seal his opponent's fate, not to risk in R14 and with that, the game is over with an easy round for the Finals.

Conundrum: James might have lost but he still tries one last attempt to get the Conundrum and sadly doesn't get it Adam tries at the very end with a funny incorrect answer until the same cameraman that laughed one week ago in the exact same round did it again . Oh the facepalms when the answer came out, even this escaped me which left me having the same reaction too. Who knew one could have SAT near the TABLESIDE and have an EDIBLE meal (and I just so happen to have one in my garden, so all the more, yikes!)

As someone in the Daily Chat had anticipated, the numbers round would decide the game and boy was that person right with Adam edging out as the winner. This match was too close to call for me but ultimately I predicted that Adam would win by around 20 points and I was quite right with the margin at 17 points! Poor James, even if he had risked PLAGUER and MACULAE, it wouldn't have saved him from the jaws of defeat (the score would have been 67 - 82), but he played well. As he said, nerves and differences got the better of him for the fumble at the start which made him unable to catch up. Nevertheless, I'm sure you had a wonderful time and good sportsmanship you had there when you were commending Adam at the end. All the best in your teaching through this pandemic and press on! I'm sure your students have been quite supportive of you!

So there you have it, for the first time since the Series 76 Grand Final four years ago, we have the #1 Seed facing the #3 Seed and for the first time since the Series 78 Grand Final back in 2018, the #2 Seed failing to make it to the Grand Final. It will certainly be an uphill battle for Adam in terms of his statistics thus far but how will he fare against Luke who could potentially be way up there on the Xicount List with Luke Johnson-Davies last year? The final episode with Nick Hewer, the lights are about to go out, be there at 2:10pm BST wherever you are! I'm sure this is going to be a memorable episode...

Progress:
QF1 (17 June): Luke Boynton (#1) vs Dave Lomax (#8) (99 - 47)
QF2 (18 June): James Burley (#2) vs Tom Vincent (#7) (100 - 66)
QF3 (21 June): Adam Latchford (#3)* vs Declan McGurk (#6) (99 - 40)
QF4 (22 June): Louis Ross (#4)* vs Coral Heath (#5) (88 - 83)
SF1 (23 June): Luke Boynton (QF1 Winner) vs Louis Ross (QF4 Winner)* (98 - 76)
SF2 (24 June): James Burley (QF2 Winner) vs Adam Latchford (QF3 Winner)* (65 - 82)
GF (25 June): Luke Boynton (SF1 Winner) vs Adam Latchford (SF2 Winner)*

[Gavin Chipper]

This was a good game between two good contestants and everything, but I don't think it's too disrespectful to say that I think the contestants should take a back seat here, because it's been announced that based on her performance on this show, Rachel has won the non-sequitur of the century award. That's right - they closed nominations some 80 years early because they just knew it couldn't be beaten. Here's a reminder of what happened:

Nick tells us the story of the longest professional tennis match in history, between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon 11 years ago.

Rachel (slightly paraphrased): Yeah, I can totally relate to that. I made some vegan Yorkshire puddings and they turned out awful.

Amazing, as I'm sure you can all agree.

[Tom S]

Always feel for players who are frustrated with their performance- which was evident in James's case I'd say. Still, no mean feat to make the semi-finals, and is so far the only finalist to get a century during these finals so far. Plus, he came across very well, too

Good performance from Adam considering the nasty selections! Look forward to the finals tomorrow!

[Marc Meakin]

James was clearly not at the races today making some schoolboy errors although when he declared 9 with Underbets i thought he may have gone for the more likely SUBRENTAL.
Still, well done for a scrabbler
Luke by 2O+ tomorrow

[L'oisleatch McGraw]

Well played to both, but especially Adam. The months of Apto-training very much paid dividends today. Strong showing.

I reckon his newly earned title of "Jammiest-Series-Finalist-Ever" will not be topped any time soon... as it was an administrative error that saw him face the easier S6-S2 path to the final, rather than the S5-S1 path he'd have faced had the seeding been correct.

[Toby McDonald]

Good game guys, well done Adam and unlucky James. R6 was a particularly good spot by Adam. Should be a good final tomorrow.

DENTURES in R10. Surprised Susie missed that.

R9 Alt.: (10*4+6/2)*5 = 215

[Carl Harrison]

I reckon his newly earned title of "Jammiest-Series-Finalist-Ever" will not be topped any time soon... as it was an administrative error that saw him face the easier S6-S2 path to the final, rather than the S5-S1 path he'd have faced had the seeding been correct.

I presume you will take that comment back if Adam beats Luke in the final. If that is the case, you could argue that Luke might be the “Jammiest-Series-Finalist-Ever” as he might then have lost to Adam in the semi final rather than the final

[Gavin Chipper]

James was clearly not at the races today making some schoolboy errors although when he declared 9 with Underbets i thought he may have gone for the more likely SUBRENTAL.
Still, well done for a scrabbler
Luke by 2O+ tomorrow

The letters weren't there for SUBRENTAL!

[Carl Harrison]

James was clearly not at the races today making some schoolboy errors although when he declared 9 with Underbets i thought he may have gone for the more likely SUBRENTAL.
Still, well done for a scrabbler
Luke by 2O+ tomorrow

The letters weren't there for SUBRENTAL!

SUBRENTED maybe? (would have been a good guess but hyphenated in ODO)

[Marc Meakin]

James was clearly not at the races today making some schoolboy errors although when he declared 9 with Underbets i thought he may have gone for the more likely SUBRENTAL.
Still, well done for a scrabbler
Luke by 2O+ tomorrow

The letters weren't there for SUBRENTAL!

SUBRENTED maybe? (would have been a good guess but hyphenated in ODO)

Yeah thats what i meant, its ok in Scrabble though

[David Williams]

Surely the tactic when you're well behind, your opponent declares a nine, and you don't have anything cast iron, is to go for a definite eight or a seven? UNRESTED for me.

[Tom S]

I think James probably felt obliged to go for the 9, as he'd have been over 40 pts behind if Underbets was valid and he'd not gone for it. Plus, they may know their poker terms! https://www.888poker.com/magazine/poker-terms/underbet

[Sam Cappleman-Lynes]

I reckon his newly earned title of "Jammiest-Series-Finalist-Ever" will not be topped any time soon... as it was an administrative error that saw him face the easier S6-S2 path to the final, rather than the S5-S1 path he'd have faced had the seeding been correct.

I presume you will take that comment back if Adam beats Luke in the final. If that is the case, you could argue that Luke might be the “Jammiest-Series-Finalist-Ever” as he might then have lost to Adam in the semi final rather than the final

I love it when a plan comes together.

[David Williams]

I think James probably felt obliged to go for the 9, as he'd have been over 40 pts behind if Underbets was valid and he'd not gone for it.

I daresay that's true, but at 23 points behind you have a chance to be either 15 points behind or 41. Against an opponent who really isn't likely to give you the two more opportunities you need to get within crucial conundrum range, I'd see that as a chance worth taking even if it was odds against.

[L'oisleatch McGraw]

I reckon his newly earned title of "Jammiest-Series-Finalist-Ever" will not be topped any time soon... as it was an administrative error that saw him face the easier S6-S2 path to the final, rather than the S5-S1 path he'd have faced had the seeding been correct.

I presume you will take that comment back if Adam beats Luke in the final.

Yep, I take it back, and revise it to "Jammiest-Series-Winner-Ever"
Well played, Snackrite Latchford!