We meet at Round Table Pizza on the southwest corner of First and Bullard every Thursday, except for holidays, from 6:30 to 11:00. For more information you may contact the club director, Lewis Martinez, at (559) 274-1705 or at (559) 582-0503. You may also contact him at the e-mail address listed below.
What you can expect: We play just two people to a game, which is the norm for sanctioned games. Usually we use a chess clock to keep track of the time--each side has twenty-five minutes of thinking time for the entire game. That means one game might last up to fifty minutes. Usually when you are just starting out we won't harp on you about the clock. Generally if you start at 6:30 (you can come later if you like) you will be able to get in about four or five games before the Round Table shuts down.
Most of us are pretty serious about our game, so you might not win a lot of games at first. We let newcomers use a list of two- and three-letter words while playing. This and other useful lists are available at the club or through the National Scrabble(r) Association and other sources.
The word source we use is the Official Tournament and Club Word List (OTCWL), available through the National Scrabble Association (NSA) to members only. The main difference between this word source and the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, Third Edition (OSPD 3), available in bookstores, is that the OTCWL retains several hundred words expurgated from OSPD 3, which is intended primarily for home and school play.
If you don't have a deluxe board or a chess clock, don't worry. We generally have plenty of equipment.
1. Learn your two-letter words, your U-less Q words, and your three-letter words. Learning these words will increase your score and make the game much more enjoyable. You can get these lists at club or through the NSA.
2. Get rid of duplicate letters. Having two of the same kind of letter (except for blanks, S's and E's) will generally penalize your rack by about 6-8 points. That means it's worth sacrificing about 6-8 points to break up two T's or two O's, for example.
3. Keep an even mix of consonants and vowels. Having slightly more consonants is better than having slightly more vowels. Experienced players learn vowel dumps to clear vowel-heavy racks.
4. Keep your bingo-prone letters (Blank, S, E, N, R, T). Get rid of bad letters, such as the Y, F, B, G, W, and Q. Only keep a U if a Q is unseen late in the game and U's are scarce. Play off high-point tiles (J,Q, X, Z) quickly for good scores rather than hanging on to them too long.
5. Get rid of bad letter combinations, such as UI, WU, YI, and FV.
6. Consider exchanging if you can neither score well nor get rid of most of your bad letters without using a good letter such as an S or a blank.
For more advice, see Everything Scrabble by Joe Edley, which is available at major bookstores.