Scrabble pro proves his S-K-I-L-L-S

With a Scrabble board in front of us, Mike Weepie and I draw lettered tiles from a pouch to see who plays first. His letter is “N”; mine, “A.”

If you think that's a sign of luck to come my way, think again. Mike is a professional Scrabble player. He's ranked No. 1 in Iowa and, since 1992, has played in tournaments in 35 states.

Knowing from my limited experience that games often start slow, I play “taco” for 12 points.

Mike follows with “agio” for 10.

I come back for 10 more with “frog,” prompting Mike to play “widening,” using all seven of his letters plus one on the board for 67 points.

“I got lucky,” he grins.

I don't think so.

By the time 97 of the 100 tiles are used, Mike trounces me 502 to 139.

Does he see scores like that in tournaments?

“Oh yeah,” Mike says. Then he pauses. “Well, maybe not the 139.”

Oh, thanks.

But Mike, 44, is a pro. He loves words, having finished 10 crossword puzzles this morning before going to work as a Web developer for attorneys and law firms through Enlighten Technologies. He figures to have completed 3,000 crosswords last year.

As he grew up in Cedar Rapids, Mike enjoyed board games. He played chess for a while but says, “To be good at chess, you've got to dedicate your whole life to it.”

Not that Mike doesn't dedicate his life to Scrabble. He's memorized the 101 legal two-letter words and carries Merriam-Webster's “Official Tournament and Club Word List” that includes the 170 offensive words allowed in tournaments.

Once he begins a 50-minute tournament game (25 minutes per player), Mike keeps score and tracks each letter on a pre-printed sheet of paper as it's played. He constantly arranges and rearranges the seven letters in front of him.

“I know anybody can beat anybody,” Mike says. “I've lost to 12- and 13-year-old kids.”

But he won all 10 games to capture the amateur crown in his first tournament and has been a Scrabble nut since. He pays $50 to $75 to enter tournaments, travels as far as Las Vegas regularly, and can win $400 or so.

He's looking forward to a big tournament in Des Moines in February.

Many times, when people hear that Mike plays tournament Scrabble, they say things like “My grandma's really good. She could beat you.”

Maybe.

But Mike says Scrabble is really a math game. And he proves it by playing “X” (8 points) on a triple letter square for two words - “lax” and “ax” - to put me away.