This is a quick post that was sparked by a discussion we had at the the last Adelaide Pub Scrabble club meeting.
It’s a feeling we all know: you have a rack that makes a beautiful 8 letter word on your opening rack and your opponent is going first. You just need them to play the right floater so you can lay down your bonus.
My rack was NOTATON so I just needed my friendly opponent to give me an I for NOTATION (or an M for MONTANTO which I did not spot.) Opponent did not oblige and I was left to play TOON.
After the game we were musing as to whether you’d rather be in the position of hoping for an I or hoping for an E. There are more Es in the bag but opponent may be more likely to keep the E on their rack.
So, here’s the situation: You’re going second and really feel like a bonus to boost your confidence. Which of the following racks do you most want?
| ELOJSUZ |
| EEISQUZ |
| BCEHKOX |
| AEFINYZ |
| CIMORSX |
| AERSWYZ |
| AACHPOZ |
| ACGHIJK |
| AEFIMNZ |
| BEIMOUZ |
| AACCHOZ |
| EMOSYYZ |
| AEIIMXZ |
| DGHINUZ |
| AAEMPXZ |
| ACJKMPU |
| EEHINUZ |
| CHIIMOZ |
| HKOOVYZ |
| ADDIQSZ |
| EHILMQU |
| EEHIMQU |
| ACHIJKP |
| GLLOOYY |
| AKOONUZ |
| ABCEIKW |
ADDIQSZ, seeing that led to one of the few eights I saw – and that eighth letter has a better chance than most of being placed.
However, as I expect my opponent to not comply with my wishes, I really would just prefer EEISQUZ.
LikeLike