5 BIGGEST beginner Scrabble mistakes!
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- Опубликовано: 4 июл 2024
- Do you love Scrabble but can't seem to get better? Are you tired of losing to your parents, siblings, and friends? Fear not, because this video is here to help!
You'll learn from some of the very best... er, I mean... very worst as they teach you exactly what NOT to do to win at Scrabble! In under half hour, you'll be GUARANTEED to emerge a highly feared Scrabble opponent while laughing the whole way through!
Want personalized help taking your game to the next level? Check out mackmeller.com/lessons! 
Игры
danger levels huh.... wonder where that came from lol
hehe figured someone would appreciate that reference :)
Also the agadmator “I’ll give you guys a couple of seconds if you wanna pause the video. And for those of you who found it, well done. And for those of you who just wanna see…”
Yep 😀. Tried not to copy him exactly tho haha
@@mackmellerTHE ROOK
@@the5thwall343 In Scrabble they should start saying "and he plays... THE Q!"
if you find yourself with IINNN make sure you don't also have GS and a place to bingo with INNINGS before you exchange!
I think the main reason mistakes #1 and #2 happen so much with beginners is that their average score per turn is low (about 15-20).
They're not scared of triple-triples, they're scared that a 50-point play will instantly swing the momentum of a game. Same goes with a 50 point Q-play.
Yeah, fair point. Hopefully once they learn tip #4 and start bingoing more that changes!
One thing that would be helpful for people is making a video on what you would tell someone who is interested in competitive Scrabble, how to prepare, how to sign up for a tournament, etc.
We want to grow the game and this would be something helpful. Also would love to see your perspective on it!
Great idea, I'll see what I can do!
Wow, I can tell how much work you put into this. Here before it goes viral :)
Let's hope so... thanks man!
In return, I offer the 5 biggest expert Scrabble mistakes:
1. Missing key opportunities to pass the turn. Sometimes a powerful bingo on your rack doesn't play immediately. Wait it out. A spot will open itself soon. Don't get so caught up on short term scoring that you forget the big picture and miss those 50 bonus points.
2. Not accounting for word length. Not all words are created equal. Every tile in a scrabble bag has a neutral or positive value, so longer words will on average be worth more. The games of many so-called experts are chock full of piddly 2-tile plays, reflecting an embarrassingly truncated vocabulary.
3. Focusing on tournament play. Tournaments are where all the big fish are. They'll beat you, and it will be your fault for jumping in the deep end with them. Take your Scrabble board to a local board game night. Mention you've never played it before but heard it's popular. Feign a thick foreign accent to suggest lower proficiency. And then half-jokingly offer to bet a few bucks on the game to spice things up. There is so much more money to be made hustling.
4. Playing tiles face-up. This one really should be in the beginner mistakes category because it's so elementary, but it's the pros who overlook it. You reveal crucial info to your opponent and let them combo off your plays. Keep them guessing. Maybe they think they just scored a triple-triple with TAXICABS, but then you flip your tile after it's too late to reveal that they actually played TAXICAQS.
5. Neglecting the psychological element. Remember that Scrabble is 90% mental and only half physical. You need to get in your opponent's head, and fast. If you don't, they'll beat you to the punch. An underhanded comment when they have to exchange, subtly negging them about their skill level, suggesting they must be new, whatever it takes. Especially early in the game, it can feel tough to make a major equity sacrifice and pass up bingoing with DUSTING, but if you open with DINGUS the emotional damage you deal will more than pay for itself as the game progresses.
I don’t understand the 4th one, can you explain ?
LOL. I've actually done #3 before (well, without the foreign accent or betting part). Showed up to an informal Scrabble gathering, pretended to barely know how to play, then proceeded to bingo 4 times (including (FED)ERATION as a 10, no less) and win by like 378 points 🤣. Separately, I also scored 733 in my first ever game at the Lexington, Kentucky Scrabble club last year after moving here and nobody knew who I was...
@@quentind1924it’s a joke where the opponent doesn’t notice you placed the tiles face-down on the board, so all the tiles are blank
@@kub2039 Oh ok, yeah i couldn’t guess that
#5 is legit. I once went second in a game and opened my game with DICKLESS. He didn't challenge and I cruised to victory. It was all due to my power move and the resulting emotional damage.
Most of the time I fall for the inverse of tip #3: I get too focused on my rack that I'll play 12 points keeping a good leave, and completely missing out on a 34-point play keeping a slightly worse leave
And I also have a tendency to exchange upon seeing my rack being terrible, without looking at the possibility of scoring like 8 points while keeping a manageable leave
Yeah, great points -- like every piece of advice in Scrabble, these tips have limits and can definitely be taken too far. Though it's generally better to be too focused on your rack than not at all focused on it, since it's easier to temper it than learn from scratch how to think about leave!
I’m a beginner at scrabble but I did once play VIOLA holding an S on my rack, and then followed up with a bingo of MOTIONS hooking VIOLAS and hitting the triple word score. Plays like these aren’t impossible, and I think anyone could do something like that if they just try hard enough and learn a few words. Tip #4 is certainly extremely useful.
Thanks, very glad you enjoyed it! It's always super satisfying to set yourself up for a play then have it materialize :)
silly but what i found maybe could save some time for some people: fast ways to count up scrabble plays, plays with multiple overlaps, plays that double words, etc, when i play over the board sometimes i spend like 30 seconds counting the score and i feel like that could be a useful video potentially for others as well
Great idea, thanks!
My biggest scrabble mistake is not learning enough words. Thank-you for tip #4.
Haha that's technically true for probably 99% of people, but wouldn't have been much of a video if I was just like "hey guys if you're not getting better it's probably since you don't know enough words" :). Glad you enjoyed it!
Hey Mack, great video! I would be interested in a video going over mistakes that Intermediate players make!
Thanks, will definitely think about that!
So fun! Thanks for the tips and the entertainment!
Thanks! :)
good advice, i loved the way you presented this, made it more memorable
Thanks very much, glad you enjoyed it!
Re tip #5, I might be guilty of doing it too much 😅 like when i have a bunch of one-pointers that doesn't bingo, i'll often play 4-5 tiles making a bunch of small overlaps and scoring like 24 rather than fish off my duplicate tile for 4 like the bot recommends afterwards
Just because the bot recommends it (especially HastyBot, which is pure equity) definitely doesn’t mean it’s right! I hate 4 point fishes too haha
this has got to be your best video ever
Thanks John! I feel like it's definitely the funniest, that's for sure :)
18:08: "...looking for common beginnings and endings of words..."
Oh, oh! I know this one! It's OVERMED! 😆
OVERMED (often stylized as "OVER-M-ED"): like this video (ruclips.net/video/wv6hfLwdhts/видео.html)
Flick could've played RIFLE two spaces lower down, setting up QI, QI and IF. (This will probably be blocked, but not e.g. if Ralphie has an -S bingo he hooks on to make RIFLES.)
True. Only problem is Flick wasn't interested in QI for 47, he really badly wanted QI for 64!
@@mackmellerRIFLE also instantly clues me that he's setting up a Q or X since a play such as FILER or FLIER, scoring 6 more points, would be the normal play otherwise
Yep, for sure. RIFLE where Flick played it is obviously strange too for that reason, but given the movie you can probably guess why I had him play that instead of one of the 5s starting with an F 😀
Awesome content, keep it up
Thanks Eric, appreciate it!
great video, Mack! this was really informative and easy to follow.
side question, what are some tools/methods that you would recommend to start learning words? i'd like to start learning more words but i don't really know how to go about it
Thanks, very glad you liked it! And great question -- you'll definitely want to check out Aerolith (aerolith.org) as a starting point. I actually have a series on studying words as well which you can find here: ruclips.net/video/XSVAA4tARAU/видео.html
@@mackmeller Perfect! These'll help a lot. Thanks!
I used to live in Orlando. I literally was next door to a plantation. Over the years, there were BILLIONS of ORANGES.
I do say that the most important word lengths to remember in scrabble - for any language, even - is 2, 7 and 8 letter words. 2 letter words make for easy overlaps and ways to fit your words. 7 letter words are bingos you can put out in the open, 8 letter words are the length of a bingo through a tile on the board.
Yeah for sure, 3s are super important for overlapping too though (and there still aren't all that many) so I wouldn't discount those either. You make a great point about 8s being just as important as 7s, a lot of folks new to word study memorize a bunch of 7s and skip 8s but 8s are often easier to play than 7s since you can play them through a tile on the board instead of having to fit them with overlaps.
12:14
LLoyd drew d, m and r but failed to see duumvir
Even me who is bad at exchanging probably wouldn't have left such a clunky rack
Lloyd Christmas missing DUUMVIR? Nah, would never happen 🤣
Edit: I’ve got a better one. he missed DUUMVIR and played DUM misspelling DUMB, Harry challenged and it came back good
This is a really handy video! Is there an app that is equivalent to Lichess for scrabble?
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! I'd strongly recommend checking out woogles.io if you're interested in playing online, it's a great site designed by Scrabblers for Scrabblers!
Thanks!
I never fear a triple/triple, unless it is late in the game and there are still 2 blanks unseen. In most circumstances, I just say if you have a triple/triple, good for you, take your points. Not giving your opponent an easy single triple word though is very understandable, like your jeep example.
The Q really does just suck. I play csw so Q isn't as bad as nwl, but it still sucks. Fishing for a Q bingo is like a desperation last chance kind of thing. You will only know how bad it is when you try this enough times and realize that all you did is score few points and you still gave your opponent 20 points in the end.
I exchange probably too often. I have a more defensive/closed board style. I've had many games end in a 6-pass. I think this creates a bad habit where I exchange usually at least once every game. I probably should exchange less often.
I bingo 1-2 times a game. It's just hard to remember the dictionary.
I overlap so often that I often forget you are allowed to make only one word in a turn.
14:51 wouldn't playing INN solve the problem while scoring points (assumming you have a spot to play it)
Potentially, though with 3 one-point tiles it's probably not going to score very many points even if you can play it (which isn't a guarantee). If your rack is IINNN plus two other reasonable tiles and you can play INN, then by all means you should -- more what I was getting at is you shouldn't play off two tiles for just a few points and keep IINNN, since your hopes to next turn are pretty much limited to just INN. Hope that helps!
I have a thought about mistake 1. It's obviously an objective mistake, but in a game between beginners where 300 is a high score and the average turn scores ~20 points i think the TWS inflates in value significantly. The beginner isn't afraid of TAXICA(B)S, they're afraid of BA(B)Y
It's clearly very difficult to quantify, but i wouldn't be surprised if practically it's worth 5+ points more to avoid opening a TWS in beginner games.
Yeah, that's definitely a fair point. I'd still advise beginners to start being less afraid though since ultimately as they improve and their average score starts increasing, that's how they'll want to play. And another thing is if you open a triple against another beginner and they can't use it, they will often sacrifice a ton of points to block it when they really shouldn't (assuming they haven't watched this video!), which is good for you.
I usually try to keep A, D, E, G, I, L, N, O, R, S, and T, and try to get rid of tiles like J, Q, V, and W
That's what I like to hear!
Although the G is generally not a good tile to keep unless you have ...ING possibilities.
For tip 3 if that's how the rules work why did work in this case ruclips.net/video/zIqCUA0zeuQ/видео.htmlm50s
/s
Hmm... very good question. I guess you'll have to ask Lloyd!