Scrabology #3, May 3 2015 - Quinten Steenhuis



Scrabology #3, May 3 2015Scrabble Enthusiasts of Greater Boston. Prepared by Quinten SteenhuisExchanging TilesSee: Edley Chapter 10, p. 89, summary on p. 101; Scrabble Player’s Handbook p. 58How do you win a game of Scrabble? By scoring! The decision to exchange tiles is a balance between scoring now vs scoring later. Keep in mind an average Scrabble game has 15 turns/player, and an average winner scores 25-30 points per turn.Why exchange? Value of each play is the score on the board, plus the value of the leave. Some leaves are negative in value. Sometimes your rack may be close to a bingo except a few blocking tiles. When exchanging, we are considering the value of not just the present turn, but our next one or two turns, until our rack can be cleared of the “bad” tiles or we expect to reach the bingo rack.Expert players know when to exchange: on average, once every 9 games. Non-expert players may optimally need to exchange much more often, because they have lesser word knowledge to get out of a bad rack/board position.Evaluate your rack and the board:How many points is your best play with the current rack?How open is the board to future scoring opportunities?Do you have any plays that could rid your rack of the most awkward tiles without exchanging? Study the vowel dumps and consonant only word lists, as well as 2 and 3 letter words.Follow the rack balance guidelines below—e.g., 4 consonants to 3 vowels is ideal.Are you close to a high-probability bingo stem (e.g., RETAIN)? How likely are you to draw a letter you can use to form a bingo based on the tiles already played on the board? Is a bingo playable?Study at least the letters forming the highly probable bingo stems, and learn 2/3 letter hooks to find a place to play your bingos.What are the unseen tiles? Are you likely to draw more of a bad tile (what is the consonant/vowel balance of the unseen tiles?) Likely to draw a negative value tile such as Q? Any chance you can draw a high value tile such as the blank?Can you win the game without a high-scoring play?Diagram 10-3 p. 94Exercises in QuackleRemember: Basic Guidelines for managing your rack, avoid need to exchange!Keep the blank unless you can gain 25 points by playing it. Keep the S unless you can net 8-10 points.Play away duplicate letters, even a duplicate S. (E is the one possible exception)Keep a balance of vowels and consonants to match typical English words. Ideal: 4 consonants, 3 vowelsDon’t hold on to “power” tiles if your goal is to play a bingo, especially Q or J which have a net negative value.Don’t “fish” (play off a single tile in hopes of drawing to a bingo) too often at the expense of your score. Two turns of 25-35 points = a bingo after fishing.Exchange when appropriate.Play off consonants when you see that few have been played on the board, and do same for vowels. Be aware of net-negative tiles that haven’t been seen yet (especially the Q).Bingo PracticeReview of study lists, study techniques.Quackle Practice 3-1: Common words (not on study list)Quackle Practice 3-2: High probability on list.Don’t always grab the first bingo you see. An anagram may score more points! Bonus practice:ACENRST (7, 6 common) ADEHRST (6, all common) AEIPRRS (6, all common)Tile TrackingScrabble Player’s Handbook p. 50, Edley p. 246Benefits of tracking:Know risk / benefit of exchanging, what letters to keep on rack for rack management purposesIs the tile that you “need” to make a bingo or high-value play out there?Endgame: does your opponent have the Q, or lack vowels?Frequency of tile (by the tile)By the tile typeA A A A A A A A A (9)B B (2)C C (2)D D D D (4)E E E E E E E E E E E E (12)F F (2)G G G (3)H H (2)I I I I I I I I I (9)JKL L L L (4)M MN N N N N N (6)O O O O O O O O (8)P PQR R R R R R (6)S S S S (4)T T T T T T (6)U U U U (4)V VW WXYZBLANK#1 BLANK#2Power TilesBlanks: 2S: 4J Q X ZTile distributionConsonants: 56Vowels: 42 Advanced StrategiesSee: Edley p. 244, Scrabble Player’s Handbook.Learn your opponents’s strengths and weaknesses:Watch for clues to your opponent’s rack:Playing of an S for small extra points may be a sign that your opponent has multiple SsIs your opponent bingo-seeking? One or two tile “fishing” may be a clue. If so, you may want to play a more blocking style. But if you know that your opponent fishes more often than they land a bingo, maybe you can rest easy.Does your opponent rely on defense too much? If so, make openings to distractDevelop the right attitude:Always look for the best playOnce you found it, look for a better oneAsk yourself how you know you found the best playWhat are attitudes that can block you in Scrabble? How does a frustrating game impact your next game? What are some strategies you use to counteract this?Open vs Closed playScrabble Player’s Handbook, p. 68Ignore in the early gameOpen up when behind, close when aheadOpen when you have a good rack, block when you don’tBlocking is only useful if it is decisiveDon’t be a knee-jerk blocker—conversely, you can distract an opponent who will always try to block the triple word scoreOpening a second spot may be better than blocking the existing oneEndgameBefore the endgame:Be conscious of the number of tiles remaining (you can check, but inform the other player first)If ahead: can you block any bingo lanes? Dangerous hotspots (vowels near triple/double word score) for J Q X Z, or even W/H/M? Or do you need to open these type of spots up to win?If you are concerned of chance of opponent bingoing, you may want to make sure you don’t draw the last tile! Consider the number of tiles your play uses before playing out.Mentally you must play both sides of the gameIt is usually better to go out firstIf you can’t go out in one move, consider the order of your moves carefully! Is there a risk that you will be stuck with a high-point tile if your opponent can go out in one turn?Top 100 most probable 7-letter bingos (non-stem)ANEROIDAILERONALIENORELATIONTOENAILERASIONATONIESARENITERETINAETRAINEEGOATIERANTIREDDETRAINTRAINEDLATRINERATLINERELIANTRETINALTRENAILANESTRIANTSIERNASTIERRATINESRETAINSRETINASRETSINASTAINERSTEARINRUINATETAURINEURANITEURINATEDARIOLEANODISERADIOESROADIESIODATESTOADIESANISOLEISOLATEINERTIAATONERSSANTEROSENATORTREASONOUTEARNRETINOLNORITESOESTRINORIENTSSTONIERROUTINEALIENERLINEATEATELIERETESIANAERIESTSERIATEAERADIOAEOLIANENATIONGRANITEGRATINEINGRATETANGIERTEARINGTAENIAEARENOSEROSEATEELOINERNIOBATEACONITEEROTICAMORAINEROMAINEAMNIOTEGODETIAAGONIESAGONISENEGATORGENITORDILATERREDTAILTRAILEDTRIALEDRANDIESSANDIERSARDINEUNAIREDURANIDEDESTAINDETAINSINSTEADNIDATESSAINTEDSATINEDSTAINEDAUDIENTARIDESTASTRIDEDIASTERDISRATESTAIDERTARDIESTIRADESALINERSNAILERSRENAILSELASTINENTAILSNAILSETSALIENTSALTINESLAINTETENAILSALUNITEREALISTRETAILSSALTIERSALTIRESLATIERTAILERSURALITEAUNTIESSINUATE ................
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