For serious players, there are opportunities to play Scrabble in clubs and tournaments throughout the United States and the world. Many players who study the game of Scrabble and take it seriously find that they quickly are no longer challenged by playing against their friends and families. So to find more serious competition and to continue getting better at the game, many people join Scrabble clubs and play in tournaments. The easiest way to find a Scrabble club is online. The website scrabbleclub.com lists about 25 official Scrabble clubs across the United States and Canada. If there aren’t any in a given area, there are less formal clubs all across the country. Many of the major clubs are centered on each coast. Smaller clubs are found throughout the United States. Scrabble clubs usually meet once a week, but sometimes less often. The skill level varies. In big cities such as New York or San Francisco there may be world-class players present. In smaller areas, it may just be a group of Scrabble players who aren’t that skilled but want to take the game more seriously. Playing at a Scrabble club is easy for a new club member, but official rules are much more stringently enforced. Games are timed, which is a big difference compared to the games that your average home Scrabble player is used to. This forces both players to think quicker and make decisions faster. Going over the agreed upon time limit results in point deductions for each minute over the clock. All in all, a Scrabble club can be a great place for players that want to take the game more seriously and play against competitive opponents. Even going beyond Scrabble clubs are Scrabble tournaments. Tournaments range in size from local affairs held in pizza shops or hotel ballrooms to international championships with five or six figure first prizes. The smaller local tournaments may just be a meeting of a local Scrabble club. A step up from here are regional tournaments that usually feature different skill levels amongst the competitors. The first step to playing in these types of Scrabble tournaments and larger ones is to join the National Scrabble Association and establish a rating. Each player who competes in Scrabble tournaments is judged against how well they do relative to the level of competition they play against. That way, in future tournaments, those with similar ratings can compete against each other. This keeps Scrabble tournaments enjoyable to everyone, whether they be an interested newcomer or an experienced obsessive studier of word lists. By competing in local and regional tournaments, those new to the competitive Scrabble environment can decide how seriously they want to take the game. Those who want to take the game more seriously and pursue cash prizes must build up their ranking by competing against better and better competition. Like any sport or hobby, Scrabble is entirely merit based and each player can decide how seriously they want to take the game. Regardless of your ability, having an interest in Scrabble is all that is required to pursue a club or tournament to further one’s experience at the game.
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