Hobbies And Interests
Two- and Three-Letter Words
After you have learned the basic rules of Scrabble (see Resources for Scrabble rules) learning all the two- and three-letters words is vital. Before you object and say you play using only real words, you need to understand that all playable words contained in a Scrabble dictionary are real words. Some may be unfamiliar to you, but they are real.
Begin with a list of two-letter words. As you browse through the list you will probably discover that you already know many of these words, such as "an," "at," "on" and "in." Highlight words you do not know and study them. Within a few days, you can easily commit two-letter words to memory.
After you have learned all two-letter words, move on to three-letter words. This list is a bit more challenging. Pay close attention to three-letter words that are formed by adding a letter to either the front or back of a two-letter word. These are valuable for adding words when your opponent has played a two-letter word.
Word Lists
Study word lists using the big-point letters such as X, Q, Z and J (see Resources). The more words you know that use these letters, the better your chances of placing them on premium squares and earning big points. Pay special attention to Q words that do not require a U. There are only four "U"s in the game. Chances are good that you may draw the Q without a U.
Manage Your Rack
Learn to manage your rack and keep a balance of vowels and consonants. More than three vowels are difficult to play and will likely result in low-scoring words. Letters such as C and V decrease your chances of forming a bingo (a word using all seven letters in one play) and should be played off or traded to improve your chances.
Manage the Board
Become familiar with the premium squares on the board. Use them to your advantage by placing high-point-value letters on premium squares. Whenever possible, place letters to form two words in opposing directions. You earn the point value of each word. A double or triple letter or word space suddenly increases to four to six times the original value, depending on the premium square used.
Think ahead and use caution when placing words near premium squares that your opponent may be able to use to his advantage. Making high-scoring plays is important, but preventing your opponent from doing so is just as important.
Finding Bingos
Rearrange letters on your rack to increase the chances of finding bingos. Place common combinations of letters like "ck" or "ing" together when looking for words. Look for common suffixes or prefixes. Keep the letter tiles that are part of the word stem "a-i-n-e-r-t-s" whenever possible to increase the odds of forming bingos.