Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Prize payments

If you win a prize, you'll receive an envelope with an informational sheet that asks you how you'd like to be paid. For security reasons, we only pay prizes in cash if they are $99 or less. Above that amount we offer a variety of ways to be electronically paid. Click here to see the info form you'll receive so you can be ready to receive a prize.

Class Prizes

Depending on the tournament, we sometimes offer class prizes. We use this when the divisions have a large rating difference to help make sure everyone can have a decent opportunity to play for a prize.

Each class is a subset of a division. For example, in a division of 20, seeds 1-10 would be class A and seeds 11-20 would be class B. 

If we offer one class prize for say, class B, then the player who has the best Win/Loss record among all the class B players wins the prize, provided they didn’t qualify for any more valuable prizes. If a class B player, in this example, came in third overall, the top class B player wins the third place prize, and the class prize goes to the next in line class B player.

To see what class you are in, check to see if an A, B, C is next to your seed number on the standings or ask a Director.

Commuter Fee

The commuter fee helps pay for the hotel ballroom for those players not staying at the host hotel, or for those staying outside our room block, or using points. The commuter fee is listed on the tournament flyer page.

When we set up a tournament, we get a free or low cost ballroom to play the games in. The hotel counts on our players staying at the hotel because they see revenue coming in. If you stay at the hotel but outside our room block, the hotel doesn't know, so it doesn't count for us. In addition, booking a room through websites likes Priceline, Orbitz, etc, won't count as part of our room count, and would be subject to the commuter fee.

We allow for four players per room to not have to pay the commuter fee. If there are more than four players staying in the room, the additional players will have to pay the fee to support the tournament.

Divisions

We normally set up divisions for NWL or WOW with ratings cut offs. Generally 0-1199, 1200- 1500 or 1200-1600. We don't change your division for the Main Event based on early birds.

CSW generally is one division, unless we have enough players to make a second division. The choice to make a second division is based on the player count and the number of rounds. See next CSW Divisions for further information.

A player's pre-tournament rating is used to seed all events, including Early Birds and the Main Event, in a tournament.

If two players have the same rating but are in different divisions, we use a coin toss to allow one player to choose which division they'd like to join.

CSW Divisions

To encourage continued growth and better match players by skill level, we use a two division structure under the guidelines outlined below. We believe this brings several benefits: most notably, it gives players a chance to compete in a Division 2, a feature that has been well-received in NWL/WOW events. 

These are the guidelines we use when setting up CSW divisions:

15-Game Tournaments:

23+ Game Tournaments:

Notes:

Pairing Methods

How do we pair players? If you'd like to know how we set up player pairings, we have a page for it. It explains it at a high level, and for those who want more detail, we have a longer explanation as well. Head to this page. 

Standings and Pairings

Where do I find my next opponent and the standings? Who do I know who I play and We try to do almost all our pairings, standings and data entry online. Here's a write up that explains it all.

Late Arrivals and Missed Games

What if I arrive late for the opening few games of the tournament? If you do not let us know in advance that you will be late, and you are not present for round one, we will drop you from the initial pairings. At the next available opportunity (usually the next morning or next session) we will re-add you to the event.

Do I have to play all the games?  What if I am late or miss a game? When you sign up to play in a scrabble tournament, the expectation is that you will play all the games since we are pairing you against other opponents. If you leave early for any reason, other than a true emergency, we will need to file an incident report with the association. Games missed count as forfeit losses, which is a loss and -50 in spread points. 

If you are late to a game your clock will be started 5 minutes after the official start time, or if there is no official start time, 10 minutes after your last score was submitted. If you know you will be late to a game please contact the Director so we know you are coming. 

Can I make up a missed or forfeit game? Yes, if your opponent agrees you can make up a missed or forfeit game. You must make up the game outside of the normal game schedule (before or after the day’s games). Note that the make up day/time needs to be approved by the Director before the make up game is played.

Submitting Scores

Players submit scores electronically via their phone or a provided computer: no paper tally slips anymore! To find out how we do it, check this page for all the details.

Streaming

We stream one game per round, along with expert live commentary, during our events. Generally players will be picked by one of the Directors from the top division of NWL, WOW or CSW.

Thank you for being willing to be streamed as it helps players learn, gets them interested in the game and makes the tournament available to the Scrabble family even if they can't come in person!

To see previous streams, head to this page.