#1 Look to play Bingos
Playing a seven-letter word will give you a quick 50 point bonus. Champion Scrabble players would rather exchange a bad draw of lettes than play a 5 or 6 point word. DON'T be afraid to exchange letters...especially at the beginning of the game when there are lots of open places to play a bingo.
#2 Play two directions with a hook
Add one letter to a word then go a different direction. This can quicly gain you additional points for an normaly run-of-the-mill word. Use the s, r, and d letters to your advantage here. Find a word that ends in e and many times you can add any of these letters and then play your own word in a different direction. Look especialy for higher point words that you can add onto.
#3 Don't waste double and triples
This may seem obvious, but expert Scrabble players are always looking at the high value tiles they are holding and planning what spaces they could possibly play these on the board. Use the high value letters on a double or triple letter or word space. For example. If you have the X in your hand, don't be too quick to get rid of it (unless you are nearing the end of the game). Wait for an opportunity to play this tile on a triple letter square (ox, ax, xi, xu or two letter word like that). This will get you a quick 25 points or more. Better yet, is finding a place to place your x on triple letter space and make two words out of it. You can pretty easily set yourself up for this and your opponent most likely won't see it coming. Here is an example. Your opponent plays "shop" vertically and there happens to be a triple letter space next to the O. You could play the word "hat" off of the H that was in "shop". The triple word space which is now between the a and the o is probably not something your opponent will take much notice of. On your next turn play your x and get the triple going in two directions (25 points for ax and 25 more points for ox)! example:
s
h a t
o x
p
#4 Two-letter words
There are lots of avice pages out there that will advise yout to memorize ALL of the possible two letter words. If you don't have anything better to do, go for it. For most of us though, just memorizing a few of these helpful words will make a word of difference. Here are the ones that I think you will get the most mileage out of:
AA, AB, AY, CH, FE,
FY, JA, JO, KA, KI,
KO, KY, MU, NY, OB,
OD, OM, OY, QI, WO,
XI, XU, YU, ZA, ZO.
#5 Play along side another word
If you can play a word that runs along side of another word on the board this gives you the opportunity to create a number of two letter words to boost your score. An example would be playing a word like "tore" next to a word like "atom". Not only will you get points for "atom", but also "at", "to", "or", and "me". This is a great play when you don't have a lot of high scoring tiles on hand.
#6 Use the Q without a U
The Q tile can often be the downfall of a good Scrabble game you may be having. Getting stuck with this tile without a U could mean you have to hold it for several rounds and possibly still have it at the end of the game. Here are 10 of the best short ones that you will probably remember (there are some longer ones, but I doubt that any of us would remember or realistically be able to use these obscure words): QI, QAT(S), QADI(S), QAID(S), QOPH(S), FAQIR(S), QANAT(S), TRANQ(S), QINTAR(S), QWERTY(S)
#7 Mix up your letters
You should be constantly reshuffling your letters between turns to see what possibilities you have. Even if you have found a great word (maybe even a Bingo) keep rearranging. Often the place you were planning to play your killer word will get used by your opponent. Be ready with several words in case one isn't an option. It is also often the case that you find a better word if you keep looking. Just don't forget the words that you already found!
#8 Defense
Playing defense can be helpful at times in Scrabble, but should be used sparingly. Here are some defensive strategies: -Eventually someone will have to play a word that sets up the triple word spaces...don't be the one to do it. -Don't play a word that leaves a triple letter space open next to a vowel (especially if the X and J have not be played yet...your opponent may be waiting for just such an opportunity). These can be helpful strategies, however there is much to be said for plain old aggresive playing. A player who focuses too much on blocking their opponent can easily lose sight of scoring points themself. Scoring a lot of points is always a better way to win the game than simply keeping your opponent from scoring high. Too much defensive playing can lead to a stale board with no good places for anyone to play.
#9 Play with good Scrabble players
Find others to play with who are masters at the game. You will learn a ton from watching good Scrabble players. You may be beaten pretty badly the first few times, but if your sharp you'll learn their tricks quickly. Then when you go back home to play with Aunt Susie, you'll have a whole new bag of tricks that will amaze her. You can actually find articles about championship Scrabble games as well and what words they played on each turn. These are worth reading as you can learn a lot from them.
#10 Don't be afraid to open things up
Nothing is more frustrating that playing a Scrabble game where there is NO WHERE to play. At times, it may be in your best interest to open the board up (even if you end up setting up your opponent) by playing a long word with several hooks. Often this may require using 5 or 6 small value tiles and getting a relatively low score on that turn. Try and set it up so that after you opponent hooks onto the word, that you will also have a place to hook as well.
What are your secrets to winning? Let us know!
Also see our Scrabble Hall of Fame and Scrabble Dream Board Contest.
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