Reading Your Rack
Keep a shortlist, not a hand
Why committing early costs you the game.
Intermediate · lesson 3 of 22
Early on, the strongest players are not the ones who pick the best hand fastest. They are the ones still holding two or three plausible hands while everyone else has committed.
A shortlist is worth keeping because you have no idea yet what the table will give you. The tiles that come back in the Charleston, and the first few discards, tell you which of your candidates is actually live.
Tip
Look for the tiles that serve more than one of your candidates. Those are the ones to keep. The tiles that serve only one are what you can afford to pass.
There is a point where holding options stops paying, and that is coming in a later unit. For now the mistake to avoid is the opposite one: deciding on a hand before the table has told you anything.
Reading ahead is fine. The path takes lessons in order, so this one ticks off once you get here.
See where you are