Win Scrabble Every Time When You Avoid These 10 Mistakes
1. Playing the First Word You See in Your Tray
When you take a quick glance at your Scrabble tray, what do you see? The first word that jumps out at you might not be your power play, but a lot of beginning players jump on it anyway. Here’s where patience comes in. Take a sec to think about all the other words that might be there, and compare the possibilities.
Also remember to think a turn ahead. If you play the first word in your tray, you might not have a chance at that higher point word later on. It’s all about impulse control here.
2. Squandering Your Blanks on Low-Point Words
Those wildcard tiles are super useful, but they really work best as a strategy to play a high-point word. Don’t just waste them when you don’t have to. If you squander a blank tile on a low-point word, you won’t have it later when you really need it.
Keep in mind, the letter value for blanks is nothing. Zip. Nada. So playing them gets you nothing unless you need them to play a longer word.
3. Forgetting That Where You Play Matters (Don’t Ignore Bonus Spots)
Bonuses are a huge part of Scrabble strategy, so don’t forget to pay attention to where you’re playing. Sure, you could plunk that high-scoring Scrabble word anywhere, but you can max out your score by putting it in just the right place.
Look for double- and triple-word spaces and double- and triple-letter spaces too. Even better, snag both with a single word to really dominate the game.
4. Letting Your Opponent Play on Bonuses
Along the same lines, don’t let your opponent grab those bonus spaces. They’ll be after them. Trust us. This is a common mistake that beginning players can make, but it’s easy to fix. Just play on those spots, even when you don’t have a high-point word to use there. This is an easy offensive strategy that will turn the game in your favor.
5. Not Scanning the Whole Board Before You Play
Scrabble is a big-picture game. It’s not just about this turn; it’s about the whole series of turns you’re going to take. And that means you really need to look all over the board, not just where you’re thinking of playing right now.
Players often just plunk down their word right where they happen to be looking, and that can mean messing up the game in the long run. Before you play, look around. Where else can you play? How would that change things next turn?
6. Waiting Too Long to Play a Great Word
You’ve got this really awesome, high-point word just sitting in your tray, and you’re waiting to play it at the perfect time. Unless you’re diving deep into Scrabble rules and preparing to play a bingo (when you use all seven tiles and score an extra 50 points), don’t hang onto that word for too long. A lot of players do this, and this means they lose their chance to play the word. Play it when you see it unless you have a really good reason not to.
7. Only Trying to Play High-Scoring Words
Yes, it would be great if you could play only high-scoring Scrabble words, but unfortunately, some plays just don’t net you serious points. Beginners can get frustrated and lose confidence or just try to play the highest-scoring words in their tray every time.
Problem is, those big words and power plays don’t really always set you up for your next turn. Shorter words can really come in handy that way. Even two-letter Scrabble words can be a lifesaver when you’re thinking beyond this turn, so there’s no shame in breaking those out when you need to.
8. Setting Up Hooks for Your Opponent
You know how you can score a bunch of points by slapping an S or an ED on the end of someone else’s word? That’s a pretty great feeling, isn’t it? Well, your opponent loves that feeling too.
A rookie mistake is placing words your opponent can easily build off of. These are called hooks. Don’t be this person. Instead, hang onto those S, E, and D tiles and use them to your advantage. Keep an eye out for hooks your opponent leaves open too.
9. Forgetting to Swap Your Tiles When You’ve Got Nothing Good
Sometimes, you look at your rack and see nothing. We’ve all been there. While a lot of the time, you can actually play a word that’s only vowels or a short word that uses up some of those seemingly useless tiles, you may find that you really need to exchange your whole rack of tiles at some point in a game. That’s okay.
Yes, exchanging your tiles will cost you a turn, and that can be stressful. It’s a bit of a gamble too, since you don’t know what you’ll get. At the same time, if you’re dealing with a ton of stinker tiles you can’t use, a full swap is going to open up the game for you. Totally worth the lost turn.
10. Not Challenging Your Opponent’s Suspicious Plays
Sometimes, your opponent will play a word that just feels a little…sus. Don’t ignore that feeling. Bluffing is a big part of Scrabble. People play words that aren’t words all the time, and it’s up to you to challenge them.
Don’t make the beginner mistake of letting weird words slide. If you’re wrong, the challenge can cost you a turn, but chances are, your gut is telling you something. Look those sketchy-sounding words up in a Scrabble dictionary.
Don’t Be Hard on Yourself for Mistakes
Don’t be too hard on yourself if you find you’ve been doing some of these no-nos. Remember, making mistakes is a good way to learn. Think about what you could do differently next time, and then practice. Next time you play, you’ll be even better.