Scrabble Time

As some of you know I play tournament scrabble. I have been competing for over six years now and have played 546 rated games. I only need 3 more wins to reach 300. I have enjoyed playing board games as far back as I can remember. I played scrabble off and on over the years but did not find out about the tournament part of scrabble until 1999. That year while working on a long boilermaker job my fellow-worker Danny Kidd asked me to play during our lunch breaks. He taught me much about the game during those times and prepared me for tournament scrabble. I learned the importance of knowing all the 2 and 3 letter words, tracking the tiles to help know what tiles are left toward the end of the game, playing with a clock, and most importantly the advantage of knowing as many 7 and 8 letters words as possible for bingoes. A bingo is when you use all seven of the letters on your rack and earn a 50 point bonus. Danny and I probably played 600 or more games during our time on that job. Today Danny is still one of my favorite people to play during tournaments. We have a great time and enjoy trash talking with each other as we play. Below,I have added a picture of the board of one of my favorite games with him.I needed a bingo on the last word to win and found the word NAVIGATE using the N already on the board. You may also want to look and see if you can find the two Phonies (a word played that is not in the scrabble dictionary but that was not challenged off by the opponent)on the board.