G.I. "GastroIntestinal" Joel Sherman
G.I. Joel is perhaps the most well known Scrabble player in the world. After his intestinal ailments forced him from a professional career in bank-telling, he turned his sights to his true calling, Scrabble. Since then, he has won the Scrabble World Championship in 1997, won the National Scrabble Championship in 2002, and made people happy.
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David Gibson
David is the John McEnroe of Scrabble. A fierce competitor, David has taken the Scrabble nation by storm with his years and years of compulsive word memorization. Usually a defensive player, he can turn things around and play super aggressive. He will roll the dice sometimes and play words like "Toque" even though such words take tees at the end and thus could leave a 25% bingo chance for his opponent. Easily the most enjoyable athlete to watch in all of sports,
David's stardom is magnified even more by the fact that he took several years off from the game to write country music with his wife. Though he made some mighty fine music, David realized his incredible gift of scrabbling was going to waste. He reentered tournaments and got his game back to an even higher level than before, and now he is the most unstoppable sonofabitch in the world.
Scrabble/Literati Game Reviews
2/22/04: Literati; Me vs. some guy
Although the game wasn't great, I managed to take a step in the right direction in terms of improving my play. An area that we all forget to consider is the area of making a huge point play without using many letters. In the past, high-point letters were a curse to the high bingoing style of play. However, I have grown fond of setting up 3X letters with them and making small words together so that the 3X big letter counts twice. I make LAX and XI today for a huge score and only used two letters. Of course, I had to set the play up by leaving LA there on the play before, but it was well worth it. And, I dumped the ex and two extra vowels! Just something for all of us to keep in mind as this analysis of ours continues.
1/19/04: Literati; Me vs. some jackass
I continued my string of unranked games that aren't finished by pummelling some jackass who wasn't ranked very high. The highlight came early as there were only about 5 plays before the guy left. After sending me two messages to hurry up, I showed the guy who was boss by playing DALLIERS across the 2X and 3X word scores for 89 points, which I believe to be my highest single play point total. Upon doing this I typed, "sorry for dallying." Clever, right? Maybe even nice, right? Oh no, not to this guy! He accused me of cheating and left. It was an unranked game, he should have been happy I didn't play something bigger after he hung an el in the triple column so early in the game. The analysis never ends now does it?
1/1/04: Literati; Me vs. some guy
I opened up the new year with a bang by continuing a recent hot streak. Though I have played a good amount lately, one game sticks out here. I tallied a 344-219 victory by getting 4 bingos and by capturing most of the triple word scores. I started the game with terrible letters, cut my losses, passed and got quality tiles in return. I then proceded to score 3 straight bingos and demoralize my opponent. The first word I made was SLEETING. It was a very easy play considering I had a blank tile and all the letters except the el. The real reason I'm reviewing this is because of my second play where I made a bingo with PENISES. Both I and the guy I was playing against appreciated this play. I then played RALLIES and TRAILERS on a triple word later in the game.
Having piloted my own games the past few days, I realized how much I utilize the pass option. I usually pass two or three times a game. By hanging on to a couple of good tiles and getting other new ones, there is always a good chance of bingoing after passing. I'd say I bingo 50% of the time after I pass. Certainly if I can get rid of 3 or 4 bad tiles by playing on the board, or if I can score over 10 points without leaving myself nothing good on my rack, I will play. However, too often people play any word they can find and often leave nothing good for future moves.
Literati is not scrabble. There is a far better percentage of blank tiles and bingos in literati. The more letters a player gets, the better chance at getting a blank tile. Bad tiles also are worth proportionally less than in scrabble, and attaching bad letters to other words to create a bingo is dificult. For example, an es is far easier to attach than a zee not only because it goes after many words but also because it can be used in far more two-letter words. Rack management is a huge part of the game, and I strongly believe in passing up a small point play to ditch bad tiles. Also, you want to keep good tiles to have the ability to capitalize off of any aggressive plays by your opponent such as opening up a triple word. Of course, timing is a huge part of a good pass. Passing at the beginning of the game is usually smart because the board is wide open and the letters to get back are usually good. Towards the end of the game, the letters left often are ones that had been passed before and the chances of getting the same letters you just passed are high. In addition, if you are up by a lot, playing a small word with bad letters usually closes off the board. If you are behind by a lot, sometimes you can't afford to forego any points or turns.
The lesson I've learned is that you better bingo early if you want to win. Usually the winner of the game has two or more bingos. I very seldom play against people who pass, and I almost always bingo the most. You have got to have patience and be willing to pass multiple times if the tiles call for such action.
12/26-27/03: Literati; Hanley & Co. vs. unknowns
As we started in on challenge games, we started to have even more success. Having multiple people playing was a huge advantage because of our ability to quickly check words and challenge nonexisting ones. No one game was worth mentioning because for the most part none were very close.
In our first effort, we played ACETONES and then quadrupled WANTERS for 87 points. In our next effore we played JOINERS for 82 points. Our opponent instantly quit the game. In our next game, we started the game off by playing CLITORIS, SOCAGERS, TRAILERS, and tripling up TOGGED on our first four moves. Since we had 172 points at this point, we again won by instant forfeit. More solid plays from early games included SUNDIAL, PELORUS, DIOXIDES, SAURIES, UNFOLDED, and INTUIT.
It was at this point we began in on the challenge games and went 5-0 for the remainder of the eve. In our first game we played NOONTIME. We were challenged and thus got an extra turn. With our next move we played MULLENS on the end of NOONTIME and tripled up both words en route to a 346 point performance. There were a number of other plays that were challenged or otherwise just good plays such as TRIAGES, BOUNTIES, PICKLES, CATTIES, and FAVA with both the word and the V tripled. We also played some words that should have been challenged but weren't such as VEZIR. When our opponent tried to pluralize this nonexistent word, we challenged and got a free turn. Of the 5 games we played, I think 4 ended in forfeit. A very solid night of Literating.
12/24-26/03: Literati; Hanley/Brubaker vs. unknowns
Because we played at least 30 games in the past 50 hours, I don't think I should review specific games. Though we had some incredible games, our overall performance was the most impressive. If I had to guess, I'd say we went about 24-6 in these games. I'll go over some of our most memorable plays and bingos:
Early on, we were initiating Johnny into our style of play, but he learned quickly. In back-to-back games, we found the score tight and needed some big plays. In both cases, the board was almost completely closed off but we had bingos to play. In the first game, we had only 7 tiles left and we down by a lot. Johnny noticed that we had the word CURIOUS on our rack, but there was absolutely nowhere to play it so late in the game. Then, for no reason, our opponent played ERA down the left side of the board opening up one space to attach a word to the E. Tom typed "good game" as soon as the word was played and proceded to confidently lay down CURIOUS and grab a 236-231 victory. As it stands, I think this was the most dramatic victory we've had.
In the next game, a very similar situation occurred in that only one spot existed to make a bingo. As Tom and I checked the existence of the word MARNIES, Johnny asked why we didn't play MARINES. After a good chuckle, we played the word and coasted to a victory. As we played, many more bingos occurred such as MOPIEST for 71 points, CLOSURE, MUNTING, LANTERNS, ARTSIER, REMARKED, and CLASSER.
I took over as the pilot in charge of the computer for one game, and naturally the game got out of control. My plays consisted of DAGO, WHITEY, and making BONE into BONER and bingoing with REPOURS.
Though we won almost every game on Christmas Eve, we had one game that we really blew. We made two plays that were funny but opened up the board so much that we blew an early lead. Tom insisted that we play PUSSY and open up the triple word column with an el. In a similar play, I insisted that we play OIDIUM and open up the triple column with an oh. Though it cleared our rack, this play definately hurt us. We ended up losing by about 5 points.
As the morning approached and we played our last game, we were in top form. We started the game making the word ALEXINS and followed that up with LITTERED. Our next move was TEDDY in the triple column tripling both the Y and the word. We later played THICKET and tripled up HACKIES, though it wasn't a bingo, en route to a 347-250 walloping of a very good opponent.
The next night, with Scrabble dictionaries and new word lists in our hands we continued to dominate and played a bunch of solid bingos such as DOBBERS, PROTEINS, REOILING, MEASLED, DESTINY, RIDINGS, SEERESS, GOALIES, RELEASER, RENAMING, OILBIRDS, INDENTED, STILTING, LIMITERS, FISSIONS and TOSSERS. We also played some interesting words such as INVAR, ORZOS, and PSST. We also had a few memorable games to note:
In one game we started off with the tiles CIIIRV and a blank. I went through the list of 8 letter words that had three i's and found VIRICIDE. Unfortunately, there was no place to play this, and patiently we waited for our opponent to play an e or d. We had to pass 5 times and hang on to the same letters until he finally played a D and we made the word.
In another game, even after playing BUSTIEST and FORAGERS, we were behind and desperately needed to make something happen. We gave away a triple word by plaing INSIDE in the bottom right of the screen. We knew he would focus on the triple word and give us a chance at a bingo using the d or e in INSIDE. our plan worked out to perfection as we were able to play SEASONER along the right side of the board and grab a solid lead and victory.
Our next couple games were not so easy. We found ourselves down big with time running out. In the first game, we managed to make OF into OFTEN and triple it up. Our next move was WORN down the E and N in OFTEN and using the N in WORN to make AWN. Another solid play, but we still needed more. We got more on our next play. There was really only one spot to bingo and it was the triple column on the other side of the board. We played ARREARS and tripled it up for 72 points, took the lead, and cruised to victory.
Our next game was tough, but we really rose to the challenge. We made a 75 point play by tripling up the word GAMBITS while tripling the B and making the word ZITI. All in all, it was a great couple nights of scrabbling.
12/18/03: Literati; Tom and I vs. unknown
Again, T and I found ourselves down early, and with the board getting quite crowded, it looked like we would lose. But then out of nowhere, we pulled off the word ANTINGS across the bottom of the screen making the word LA, tripling up 2 letters, tripling up the word, and bingoing. It was a huge play and not only got us back in the game but gave us a commanding lead and closed the only spot on the board which could be used to make any big scores. From that point, we coasted to victory playing AAS to seal the deal.
12/17/03: Literati; Tom and I vs. unknown
After our opponent, a career 1900-1300 on yahoo, started the game with 2 straight bingos, we found ourselves down 120-8. However, our competitor's aggressive play left the board wide open for us. In our second move, we played FINITES on the recently played ERASING while linking the tee, e, and es in FINITES to the e, ar, and a in ERASING to make ET, RE, and AS. The play was worth about 60 points and brought us quite a bit closer.
After that play, we again capitalized on the open board from the ERASING play. We played ALIKE off of the gee to make AG and tripled up ALIKE. Thou our opponent still had a good lead, he/she shot him/herself in the foot by continuing to play aggressively and opening up triple word scores. Let this be a lesson, when you get a huge lead, start closing off word opportunities instead of opening them up. A last fatal error was opening up a triple word for us to make the word JEEZ. Soon enough, we had a 50 point lead. Unlike our competition, we played defensively and hung on to win 319-289. Although the win wasn't as dramatic as some last-word played wins, this was a very good game because of the high quality words used, high scores, and huge come-from-behind victory.
Other Useful Scrabble References
To become a better player, one must study the game, get playing experience, and, most importently, memorize words. Here are some useful word lists and refences for advancing your Scrability.
Word Lists from the Official Scrabble Site
Popular Bingo Combinations (i.e. SATIRE, ENTERS, TREATS)
When looking at these word lists, I would advise using them as you play to get to know them. The first and most important thing to do is get to know the 2-letter words and letters that go before and after them. This can be found on the Official Scrabble Site above. When using the popular bingo combinations, learn how to recognize when you have one and then refer to the list as you play. With all things, the more you use these lists the more familiar they will become and the easier it will be to spot potential bingos. Also, I would advise getting to know the Q words that do not contain a U because there are not too many words to memorize in that list. In addition, familiarizing oneself with words that contain the letter X, Z, and J is a helpful skill.
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