In learner's area you will be learn about how to play scrabble, information about rules of playing scrabble.

Know your two letter words

There are more than 100 two letter words that can be used in the game. If you are willing to learn anything specifically for playing Scrabble then these are the most important words to learn. They are useful to create parallel plays or for squeezing in a good play on a blocked board. Utilizing the 2 letter words, you can often play a high scoring letter in 2 words simultaneously scoring 4 times its worth on a double or 6 TIMES ON A TRIPLE.

Scoring Points

A good starting point to decide where to play is to ask yourself; what is the highest score I can get? However, it's not the only consideration. You need to think whether you are getting value for the tiles you play and consider what letter you are leaving on your rack.

The best tile is a blank. It vastly increases your chance of getting a 7 letter word and collecting a Bingo bonus. As a rule of thumb, a blank should be held unless it increases your best play by upwards of 25 points. Think about setting target points for the other letters such as S, J, Q, X, and Z.

Try to keep a balanced rack, i.e. a rack that has similar number of vowels and consonants. Try to place duplicate letters (if you have 3N's you may take a few points less in score in order to be able to play one of them). Try to keep the letters from the word RETAINS on your rack as these are the letters most conducive to making 7 letter words and getting those elusive Bingo's.

Triple Word Scores

Triple Word squares are crucial. So don't make them easily available to your opponent.

However, don't be so concerned about these squares that you ignore good plays that open up the triples. Try to weigh up how many you score against what your opponent is likely to get. A play which covers the Double Letter square, which is to be found 4 or 5 spaces from each Triple will considerably depress the score on a Triple and make the likely score from your opponent MUCH LOWER.

Word Hijacking

Always look at the board to see whether there are any opportunities to "hook" onto existing plays. "Word hijacking" is a letter that can be placed on the front or rear of a word to make a new word. There are "front Add-ons" like 'S' onto PIN to make SPIN or rear add-ons like E onto PIN to make PINE. Some everyday ones which may not immediately come to mind are S onto END to make SEND or ENDS . There are thousands more.

The S is the best letter for adding onto words already on the board.

Keeping Tabs

Scraba Guru says do not look for big words by playing two letter words. The most common letter in SCRABBLE is "E" , there are 12 E's in the set out of a total of 100. Scraba guru says on an  average you only have a 1 out of  8 chances to pick an E and that the chances of picking any other specific letters are lower still. Near the end of the game, however playing two letter words becomes  more viable, when you won't know precisely what letters your opponent holds, but you can see what letters have been played and take an educated guess at what's left in the BAG.

Shuffling

Shuffling or changing tiles is very important part of playing the game. Normally players never change letters fearing waste or turn and giving lead to opponent player. But when you are scoring 10 or less points and are finding vowels or appropriate letters in scarcity or almost extinct from your RACK, SCRABA GURU says change your tiles at once. Shuffling pays in many manners one you get rid of unwanted letters, two you get the chance of scoring more points, three your rack becomes more balanced and may give you an edge on your opponent by offering a BINGO( 7 letter word with 60+ points scoring opportunity). Shuffling tiles also helps in getting rid of letters with high points like J , X, Q, Z which may be stuck with you in end and helping your opponent with more points or When the scores are close, the board is blocked and there are many useful letters left in the bag, using what you can win the GAME.

Finding High scoring words

The best thing in the game is Bingo or better known as the 7 letter word. And here comes the use of your skills in finding the Bingo's from tiles available on your rack. This search is also known as ANAGRAMMING which is a common acronym used for finding 7 letter words. SCRABA GURU hints look for prefixes like -AGE, -EST,
 -FUL, -IEST, -URE, -ABLE, -UN, -IN, -RE, -S, -ED and -ING.  

Tracking letters

SCRABA GURU says keeping track or tiles/words is very important when playing the game. Keep in mind what all words have been played and what can come up next when you play your words. For it might be possible that you play a word for 20 odd points and your opponent comes out with high scoring word using premium tiles such as X,Z,J,Q and scores more points. Or comes out with other tiles and scores more with triple's. Tracking the tiles helps you playing words with ease and also blocking your opponent from playing high scoring words.

Premium Squares

SCRABA GURU says when playing always keep an eye on premium squares i.e. Red, Pink and Blue squares and try to play words across them to make more points. Never leave such squares empty for the benefit of your opponent.

 

SCRABA GURU says before you start playing refer to dictionaries for valid words. We have kept some lists of valid 2 letter, 3 letter and 4 letter words from different languages for you on our tips and tricks section please have a look at them and download them for reference.