Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Mom's Six Tips To Winning Scrabble

Today is the 9th anniversary of my mother's death so I am thinking about her a lot lately. One of the memories I have is of playing games often with her. We both enjoyed games a lot! She was the "Scrabble Queen." Even when she'd win, she wasn't satisfied unless she had over 300 points. I still have some of the scores in my Scrabble set. She shared her strategies with me and I was able to become more competitive. She'd always win so as a kid, the most fun for me was at the end of the game when we overturned all the letters on the board and then dumped them back in the box trying not to flip any over.

The other night when I played on www.pogo.com, I won with 315! (PlSwts is my screen name, feel free to add me as a "friend" if you play on there.) It was like I had her back for awhile.

So, anyhow, I thought I'd share mom's tips with you so here they are:

1) Make longer words early in the game if possible. This helps use the whole board.

2) Use the higher letters on the special double or triple letter squares. Avoid trading these in unless it's very near the end of the game.

3) Always watch for possible words to capture by adding an "S" or an "ING" or "ED" or "ER."

4) Try to avoid making a word that sets up an available triple word square for your opponent unless you have a word you can play on your very next turn, but even then it's better to let your opponent set up the space for you.

5) Don't hold on to words on your rack waiting for a spot to play them more than 1 or 2 turns.

6) It's better to play than trade in letters early.

That's about it. Now get out that Scrabble game and enjoy playing with someone trying these tips and see if your score doesn't improve!

12 comments:

Daisy said...

Scrabble is a very fun game. Thanks for the tips! It sounds like your mom was very smart.

Unknown said...

Oh I love Scrabble too, it is a fun game.

Karen I just love your Christmas look, it is very nice.

Thank you so much for the wonderful comments too and God bless.

I am going to add you to my blogroll and if you would like to swap buttons, I would like that, just let me know okay? I am also going to follow you around, lol!

Jodi

Karen and Gerard said...

Jodi: Thanks for adding me to your blogroll--I meant to add you to mine. I don't use the buttons because I feel my blog is already cluttered up more than I'd like. But thanks!

tashabud said...

Hi Karen,
Scrabble is my favorite board game, along with Chinese checkers. My sister and I used to play all the time. My own family and played some, but not as much. I still have the score sheets from way back also. I use the same techniques you have pointed out, but I don't believe I've gotten over 300 pts.

That's great that you have some great memories of you mother playing scrabble with you.

Tasha

Unknown said...

No problem Karen. I do understand the clutter. That is why I moved my links to a different page, it is so much nicer and clutter free. Thank you for adding me to your blogroll.

Jodi

Unknown said...

Sorry Karen me again, lol! I just wanted to let you know that you have two awards waiting for you on my blog and there are no rules, you can pass them to whom ever you would like.

Jodi

Anonymous said...

We love playing Scrabble around here. For some reason my hubby usually wins.

Susan Cook said...

I love scrabble. I have fond memories of playing with my Grandmother, she is who taught me how to play. Sorry about your Mom, it's hard to lose someone. My Dad died 15 years ago, and I miss him all the time. Take care.

Anonymous said...

Hi Karen, Love scrabble, just can't think quick enough!
Have you been to the new site Author and Book Event Center??? You should take a peek at it, it's a great site with book reviews, forums, trailers, and some great books--your's could be there!!
http://bookeventcenter.ning.com

Anonymous said...

Hi, Karen, thanks for the Scrabble tips. I'll have to remember those next time we play. My husband loves Scrabble, and we really need to play more often.

I used to play Pogo too. My screen name there is pickerupper42 but I basically never play anymore. I spent SO much time on it that I realized my kids' memories were going to be of me sitting on the computer, so I canceled the premium membership. My mom still plays almost everyday. She has a ba-zillion badges.

The Silver Age Sara said...

I enjoy playing Scrabble too and appreciate the hints.

dtbrents said...

I will use your scrabble hints. We play a lot of games. Doylene

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