Though the scoring of Word-sport^TM is quite simple, there may be more to it then meets the eye. As you know, the winner scores 10 points for first place, second place scores 5 points, third place sores 3 points. There are three rounds per game. But let’s take a close look at the results of a three game series played among Mike, Tom, Mary and Sue. Being serious players, they played according to the tournament timer rules using a tournament timer (no Wild Tiles).

Game One: Tom was the winner of the first round but Mary came back to win the next two rounds and the game with a total of 25 points. Mary also had the fastest finish time of 3:45. Tom finished second with 20 points and Sue was third with 6 points. Mary wins game one.

Game Two: Tom wins the first round again, but finishes second in round two and third in round three for a total of 18 points. Mary wins round two and finishes second in both round one and three for a total of 20 points. Mike manages a first place finish (and the fastest time of 4:09) in round three and a third place finish for a total of 13 points. Mary wins game two.

Game Three: Mary starts off with a win in the first round, Tom comes roaring back with two wins in a row. Tom wins this game with a total of 23 points while Mary finishes second with 15 points. Mike and Sue are tied for third with 8 points each. Tom wins game three.

Overview: Mary may have won two of the three games and turned in the fastest win time in the first game (3:45), but look at the grand totals… Tom came out ahead with 61 points to Mary’s 60 points. So who is the real winner? Tom and Mary may then play a one round melt down between themselves (using 50 tiles) to determine a tie breaker. What would you do in this situation? Sort of like golf, after many holes of play, it can be a fine line between finishing first or second.

Click here to read about scoring regarding Superior and Inferior Word Play. From there you can go to another page where you can read about Advanced Scoring in Word Tournaments.

Number of Place Finishes

Player	1st	2nd	3rd		Points	No. of Finishes	Fastest Time
Mike	1	1	3		24	5	4:09
Tom	4	3	2		61	9	4:15
Mary	4	4	0		60	8	3:45
Sue	0	1	4		17	5	-0-

In the above score sheet, you see the names appearing at the top of each game. Normally you wouldn't do this in a game situation. We just did this for the sake of scrolling this page on computer screens with smaller resolutions. However, if players change during the game play, you would enter their name in the appropriate box.