Almost everyone knows the game Scrabble. People have wildly different opinions about the game. Everyone has played it, but not everyone likes it. Some people couldn’t care less about the game. On the other hand, some people dedicate their lives to the sport.
It is a game that is well-known around the world. It’s popular in non-English speaking countries as a fun method to improve English ability. In some places, the leaderboard determines the household pecking order. And the Scrabble champion reigns as King or Queen.
If you enjoy the game, or you have a vexing roommate to best, then the best way to improve your game is to study the methods that are used by the world’s best Scrabble players.
Do What The Pros Do
Scrabble is highly competitive. People literally dedicate their entire existence to the mastery of the game. So it’s no surprise that they’ve developed a variety of techniques to improve their performance. So do what the pros do, and you’ll be well on your way to dominating your friends and family on game night. Or you can just “play” on your phone when you’re waiting for your turn while you secretly unscramble your hand at Unscramble.org. Just don’t get caught. If anyone tries to look your way, accuse them of rubber-necking your letters.
The first thing that the pros do is memorize. We’re not saying you should open Webster’s to page 1 and get started. No, at least not yet. The best way to get started is to memorize the entire list of 2-letter words. Make sure you memorize the internationally recognized list, that way there aren’t any squabbles over spellings and legal words. Memorizing words will make you smarter in general as well.
2-letter words are particularly useful because it allows you to get rid of difficult letters easily and sometimes yields the opportunity to slap a high-value letter on a doubler. The list is only 127 words long, but it needs to be reviewed because many of the words are not intuitive. Anyone knows what a mm is? How about zi? Right. But they are acceptable words according to the international rules list.
If that wasn’t enough for you, it’s time to move on to the 3-letter words. I mean, it’s only 1,300 words long. That’ll make for a fun weekend!
Play The Long Game
Professionals play Scrabble like chess. It isn’t just a matter of picking the biggest word and putting high-value letters or doublers or triplers. Instead, it’s important to do all that with a few things in mind.
Be mindful of the letters that you leave behind. That is to say, you don’t want to play all your vowels and easy letters to create a mediocre scoring word if it leaves a lot of trash on your tray. What will you do with a tray full of j and w? You’re pretty much out of luck in that situation and get ready to skip your turn for the rest of the game. Make sure you think ahead of the current round and prepare for the next few turns.
Playing the long game also includes several other things. For one, you should always be mindful of the letter count. There is a limited amount of each Scrabble letter tile. If you know the tile count, you can easily look at the board and estimate what is left and what people have on their trays. This is a bit like counting cards, but it’s totally acceptable and no one ever has to know you’re doing it.
Another important method is to watch the board space. You might be preparing your ‘Royal Flush’ only to have that open ‘a’ tile get used up. It’s important to be flexible. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
High-Value Words Are Essential
This is a no-brainer. After memorizing the 2-letter words and possibly 3-letter words, it’s a good idea to memorize as many words utilizing the high-value tiles as possible. But it isn’t as simple as finding the highest-value word with lots of obscure letters. That’s because words like that are almost impossible to play.
Instead, it helps to memorize words that have just a single high-value letter inside. So for example the letter ‘x’. Juxtapose is too difficult because you need both j, x, and u to play it, it’s also too long. Sure, if you pulled it off, you’d be well on your way to victory. However, that’s not likely to ever happen in actual play. So choose common words with the letter x, like ex or ax. Or even.
Scrabble Superiority Is Within Reach
Using the tips mentioned within this article will help you become the feared Scrabble master you’ve always wanted to be. Improving your Scrabble lexicon with 2 and 3-letter words is a great way to get started. Learning some easy to use high-value words is also a great idea. And finally, make sure you change the way you see the game. It’s more like chess than checkers, so play it that way.
