
Write about what you like and what you do. That’s been some of the good advice I have seen here on blog posts. Well, I know that one of the things I really love doing is playing Scrabble. On Facebook (Zynga) it’s called “Words with Friends” (WWF). The board is a bit different and the letters may not be the same in number, but the rules are the same.
I try to play between 18-20 games at a time. 20 is the max. I enjoy playing the difficult players, but I really don’t care if you are good or not, as long as you keep playing and are having fun. I have noticed, though, that there are several rules strategies that I try hard to play by and, if I stick to them well and get a decent round of letters, I usually win. So, what I thought I would do is to give you some of those strategies and, perhaps, help you along a bit in learning to play or improving your score.
Out of an average of 20 games, I will win about 15-16. I, currently, play good players all round, but have 3 players that will beat me about 4 of the 6 games. I figure that puts me up a bit in the difficulty. Also, I do not use any side programs and I don’t look at a dictionary while playing. You can if you want, I just find the challenge better.
Strategy one: On the first turn, if I go first and cannot either spell a very low 3-4 word score or get at least 16 points, I pass. I do not like to play a lot of low points right off because it uses the letters I will need soon.
Strategy two: Always try to make, at least, two words on each turn. Try to spell your words so that, wherever they connect, changes directions and forms a new word. That way whatever letter(s) are connecting count double.
Strategy three: Try to make the connecting letters be higher point letters. If it’s going to count double, then make it really count.
Strategy four: When you can, make the connecting spot a double word or, at least, a double or triple letter spot. OMG! if you use an “H”(3 points) as a connector, it is worth 6, but if it is on a double letter spot it is worth 12 and a triple is 18 for one letter.
Strategy five: Try to make your higher letters count more. I have had a lot of times when a smaller word gives more points because of which letter is sitting on a double or triple letter space.
Strategy six: When the game is in the last 25 letters or so and you have a poor selection, think about trading in 3-4 letters. Losing your turn is bad, but ending up with all consonants near the end of the game can be horrible.
Strategy seven: Never give up a triple word spot to the opponent. I have had a lot of times when I have spelled a 3-letter word worth only 9-12 points in order to block my opponent from getting more if they have a better choice. Just think: if you spell an 18 point word (pretty good) but leave the triple word spot open to, say, “hug” that’s 24 points for the opponent; you just lost 6 points.

Strategy eight: Buy a Scrabble dictionary and read it sometimes. I used to play a game with the students at school in which we took a 12-14 letter word and made as many words out of it as we could; I played, too. They got pretty good at it and I hated losing, so I memorized a lot of the scrabble dictionary simply by using it over and over. Not all the words in that will work in WWF, but it’s pretty good.
Strategy nine: WWF allows you to play letters and “check” to see if it’s a word. You are playing online, only a few turns a day, so use this. Check and see for some spots. You might be surprised at some English words that work. I think the scrabble dictionary has 200,000 words in it, so…
Strategy ten: Hold on to the letters like B,C,F,J,Q,X, and Z until you can get a high-point word out of them. It’s a bit of a gamble, so, if late in the game, maybe go ahead and use them.
Strategy eleven: Finally, learn weird words. I will give you a decent list below of words that have really helped me through rough spots. know your 2-3 letter words (I doubt you know as many as you think you do for this game).
List: ab, ad, ae, ag, ax, bi, ef, ex, gi, jo, op, oy, pi, qi, um, xi, yo, za
awe, axe, aye, bah, biz, coy, din, fey, jar, jet, joe, kin, lye, ops, qua, rye, urn, vee, zee
Also: daze, gaze, haze, maze, qaid, aide, quiz
I think if you use this list and the dictionary, you will do fine. If you want to play and I have a game open, look me up on Facebook and challenge me. I can’t wait. Let me know how you do. A love of words is a great thing to have. If you don’t, you can develop one.
Namaste,
Scott
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