Scrabble in the USA: PEE or POO?

Being in the USA now, I feel the difference and the pain in adjusting to a TWL (Tournament Word List) environment. Coming from a SOWPODS background, where I have been playing regularly for about 5 years, the change in dictionary really affected my game. I have been down-rated from 922 to 900 to 859 over 3 tournaments!

In case you are wondering (like I did) why TWL instead of OSPD that makes up the SOWPODS anagram with OSW, TWL includes words that are deemed ‘offensive’ to the family playing environment but allowed in tournament play.

The Scrabble scene is pretty dynamic in the USA, as there are many more clubs and tournaments available almost every week. Near my home in the city of San Jose, the 2 closest tournament venues are in Los Gatos (15 minutes away) and Hayward (45 minutes away). There are also regular Scrabble playing sessions scheduled in Los Gatos, San Jose and Palo Alto, normally in a restaurant or a bookstore.

I have never considered myself as a super-expert-master-Jedi Scrabble player, merely an advanced intermediate so-so type, who occasionally win better players due to mere luck. My aim in each tournament has always been:
1. Don’t be last
2. Win half my games
3. Be top half

The clubs near my place organize tournaments monthly, and are usually short 6-games tournament. I just participated in one yesterday, on Dec 17, in Los Gatos. Below is an excerpt on my play (terribly, of course). And I show how it might have been better if it was SOWPODS was used instead.

Game 1:
Opponent: Ms. Grace Hersh, rated 846.

The curse of the vowels is on me, with having tiles in my rack such as AEEIILP, EEEEIIL & IIIJRTU. Of course, I had to make it worse by challenging PEE, and lost my turn, because I confused it with POO#, Yes, I know it is stupid to confuse urine with faeces. POO# is currently OSW only, but good in OSPD-2005 and perhaps will be adopted into TWL-2006. Plus, my opponent had the 2 blanks and 3 of the ‘S’, with a bingo of RIGGeRS along the way. Lost badly, 253-399. I hate getting sub-300 point games.

Game 2:
Opponent: JC Green, rated 834.

Mr. JC Green is a regular fixture in the tournaments, being a director of the Los Gatos club. He is a stickler for the Scrabble rules, which usually draw smiles from other regular players whenever he brusquely ask people to keep the noise down, opponents to stop fiddling with tiles on his turn, and when playing with me, to stop announcing my total after my score for my turn. He said it was not legal for me to speak after announcing my score and pressing the clock, as it is his turn and his time and I should not disturb him. We have matched twice, with a 1-1 record.

I started first, with FROTHY (I love it when I get to play coffee-related words, especially having bingoed CAFFEINE once before) for 38 as my opening move, and AgONIES following that, building up a strong lead. I had a 97 point lead by the 4th move, but it all went downhill from there on.

Later in the game, he challenged off my BRINY due to a DI# hook, which I had stupidly forgotten. If I cannot even get my 2-letters right, how am I going to get the 3 or more letters right? I played DA# later as a hook too, but he missed that one. I had simple bingos like PAINTeR and ORATiNG and PaINTER in 3 different racks, but they cannot go down due to a rapidly closed board. Lost this game 294-301, a mere 7 points!! If I only I get my 2-letters right…

Game 3:
Opponent: Martin Mondragon, rated 1034.

This guy is pretty good, and lucky too. He got bingos such as LEANInG and SpANNED (both the blanks!) and played well. I, on the other hand, loved me. ‘I’, as in the letter ‘I’. I had racks like EEIIRTY, AEIIIFR, IIIIRED. Had BEASTIE, but hesitated to play it. Lost 289-419. Martin won this division today with a 5 wins.

Game 4:
Opponent: Ms. Trix Kout, rated 837

Ah, the vowels love me still, with racks like AAAEMUU, AIINOOY, AEIIOUR (where EUOI# would be so, so, so useful). But I got lucky with RETAINS on my 3rd rack, and faked a HaRRIET* (non-word) late in the game, which was not challenged. But got RIVO# challenged off. Luckily, this time, it did not dent my lead, and I won 449-305.

Game 5:
Opponent: Barry Leung, rated 819

Now, this is one game where SOWPODS is a double-edged sword. Barry is a newcomer to the Scrabble scene, but I believe he will continue to climb the ratings pretty quickly. I bingoed with ALeVINS and INSANER, and he SALUTED. But I lost 2 turns in a row to him, for playing OXER#/WEX# (X hook on WE, with R on the triple-word) for a 55 pointer, and HOX#/AX for a 51 pointer. He promptly blocked those spots with relatively low-pointers. Sigh…. anyhow, I won the game by catching him with the Q, E and N with all the ‘U’s already played and inaccessible. There were plenty of exposed ‘I’s, where QI# would have gone in a SOWPODS world, but I won this game 418-408 after adding 24 points from his rack. Will not be so lucky when QI gets official in March 2006, I think.

Game 6:
Opponent: Gloriosa Agdeppa, rated 918

This was a relatively close fought game. I had played Gloriosa before, which I had lost due to playing EE#. This time, the vowels returned, with racks like AEEDUUW and AEEEUUO. Towards the end, she pulled away with a closed board while I had orphaned bingos such as ASHAmED, nAIADES (no, ARAISED# will not work…) and ABUSIvE. Lost 317-345.

Results: 2 wins, 4 losses. Rated 4th in the group of 8 in the lowest division, and ended up 6th, so drop in ratings again! 859 to 836. Oh well. I met 1 out of 3 of my targets, not being last.

Full results available at: http://www.yak.net/kablooey/scrabble/LosGatosDec05results.html

Next challenge! I will be taking part in a 2-day tournament on January 1-2, 2006 in Los Gatos, where I bravely decided to up myself to play in Division 1 (for players with ratings > 1,600 and people who wants to play up). Crazy, I know, but what the heck! I just want to know what level those guys are playing at. With opponents with double my ratings, I am up for a uphill battle!

I guess I really need to sit down and study my word lists. I am playing at less than 100% because I have been second-guessing myself during play, on words I know to be good but perhaps is OSW-only words. PEE or POO!!